Previously published in 2009 at vox poetica dot com

I really like this!

Ray Sharp's avatarThe Bard of Liminga

You and I are parentheses

There is a space between us

Unvoiced, ironic, bounded

By thin moons of restraint

Two bodies symmetrically opposed

Enclosing whispered knowings

What comes next must be said

Aloud

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Snapshot #15

I found this fat worm curiously curled up next to a pair of tiny, faerie birds near the faerie dwelling. I’m calling this one, “Too Big to Fail.”

Faerie Update 

I had not been to check on the faeries in our backyard since returning from Clearwater Beach. This morning I went out bearing a gift of chocolate, but before I got too close to their home, a flash of blue caught my eye. 

Afraid to move any closer, I took this photo and then zoomed in. Can you see them? Two faeries, one on the porch and another beside the fallen ladder. Perhaps they’re working to put it back in place. 

I’ll give them time to make repairs before going out again.

Peace, people!

Before We Were Kings

Photographic Art by Julie Powell

“Before We Were Kings”

by Leslie Noyes

Before we were kings, we slept half the day rising at noon for our breakfast.

Before we wore robes, we frolicked like fools behaving as if it would all last

We snuggled and snuffled, snorted and sang, trumpeting our joy to the masses

And no one chastised us lest we succumb to a crippling, pachyderm sadness.

Oh! It was roll, roll, tumble and flow until the grand day of our crowning

Now we sit tall, on thrones one and all solemnly judging and scowling.

For more wonderful photography, visit https://juliepowell2014.wordpress.com/

Call and Response

Photographic art by Julie Powell

Call and Response

words by Leslie Noyes

Time ceases to exist
When the old man speaks
Yet trembles when he listens.

Draw nearer, friend
Better for him to hear
Above the fray and frenzy.

Whisper loudly, for he is
Stone deaf and ancient
Beyond our reckoning

His tears flow like cold sap
Weighted with the detritus
Of aging arteries

But, flow they do in silent
Sympathy with all that has
Befallen man, and all that is to come.

No platitudes forthcoming
Today he listens only.
Tomorrow, he may speak in tongues.

Please visit https://juliepowell2014.wordpress.com/ for more amazing art.

Small One

Art by Julie Powell

“Small One”

words by Leslie Noyes

Precious is this tender life with which we’ve been entrusted.

Within every whispered sigh, every tender flutter lies the question:

Will sanctuary be offered through all the trials of time? 

My breath is yours. My heart has your name inscribed.

But, life is fleeting, How can such solemn promises be kept?

Hold fast. Cling with heart and hand, in sickness, in health.

And when we expire? What becomes of our love then?

Energy refuses mortal boundaries and so remains.

Keep me then; I am yours, you are mine, and our ends untimed.

Precious is this tender life with which we’ve been entrusted.

This poem is the latest in my collaboration with photographer, Julie Powell. Please visit Julie’s site for more of her beautiful work: https://juliepowell2014.wordpress.com/


In Case of Fire

In case of fire…by Leslie Noyes

In case of fire,
worry about yourself and keep the precious things close:
teddy bears
rhinestone rings
crackerjack puzzles

locate the nearest exit, noting it
might be behind you.
above all don’t
hesitate or
procrastinate

walk, don’t run to the lighted
doorway, leave
no one behind,
no stone
unturned.

though that might’ve been another part of the equation,
like stop,
drop,
and roll.