Anessa Blue

A glass eye shattered when a claymore tripped
Glass dreadlocks dropped in hardened mud
The sky had gone glass, so rain softened
To snow, fell on landmines
Like a finger on a child’s lips
To say Hush…soldiers are sleeping
Like children pretending to be dead in playgrounds



Holding onto their guns given female names
I wonder…how many times
Anessa blue



Has perforated hearts with perfumed bullets
Let light peer unashamedly through
Vietnamese helmets in claret conceptions
For freedom, for fields to be clear under Vietnamese skies
Blue as the eyes of the enemy
All falling, yet charging forever
With blue eyes and silver bayonets




That is the sound you hear when it rains
I think
Of men camouflaged in explosion like so many
Dead stars
Thrown into the grey and red of a film noir
A snuff movie never seen



And in the aftermath
Nevermore
Beautifully silent
As when the last shell settles

_









Then I think of your eyes
Picasso painted, jazz tinted
Stained glass sainted
Beautiful and mad
As when the world is playing dead
Buildings sleeping as the sun creeps up on them
Everything forgotten
But the routine of dawn, and the sky
Astoundingly
Already blue






His eyes, two stars keeping their composure
to the very instant before exposure
Unchanging, an old harbour
His eyebrows like the lifting bridges
Full of conceptions
Doves, rivers, bullets
During and afterwards
Stained glass, all blue
Somehow he is holding it all together



Holds his breath
A train pulling into its stop,
Underwater swimmers in their lengths
His vision aims through grey bodies
Into the stillness of the sun
Like a child peering through a grid
At a dropped coin





As the bullets hit everything but his calm
Held you in his arms
Anessa blue
Looked through your sights


You were different, a bullet not amongst the carnage
wouldn’t let your shell be cast off



..pulled the trigger, released a sigh
Shot at the sky
To be as far away as possible



-





.
.
.
.

It started snowing
fell into the upturned helmets
Like a mothers hand on a feverish child
Fell into bullet paused mouths
Like a thumb shaping out the dark mouth of a clay model





There was no distinguishing the uniforms
Fires were extinguished under shards of snow
(even you kept your mouth shut)
Your automatic .50 cal birth cry
That could make any man wince


Grey bodies, amidst the shells
Like slugs found on pavements suddenly lit
Armour-less
In red not silver trails

When the snow cleared, everything was gone
And then your shriek, strained, shone through, brand new
From a crumpled red face, like stained glass

• On Wednesday, December 9, 2009, The Prophet Untold (522) wrote:
  
  Humbled. I miss this caliber of work. It's rare to come by anymore... When you read works like this, every blink is a sin. Never in a hundred years could I achieve such beauty. Epic. +tpu+
  
  
• On Wednesday, July 1, 2009, surething (78) wrote:
  
  this struck so many of my senses, so utterly lush in all its intricate beauty. I am so glad to have stumbled upon this.
  
  
• On Wednesday, June 10, 2009, saintedmad (1425) wrote:
  
  im always amazed.
  
  
• On Tuesday, April 28, 2009, Bakkhus Unbound (1055) wrote:
  
  "Buildings sleeping as the sun creeps up on them" Brutally beautiful, stained blue, the poignancy of this poetic story told as only by you. Pure brilliance...
  
  
• On Thursday, April 23, 2009, saintedmad (1425) wrote:
  
  again, your words are oxygen on a suffocating dae [or night]....one of the few poets i run to read.. . .. . .and this alwys brings such a warmth......a smile. .. . .a tendered heart beauty.....thank you.
  
  
• On Saturday, September 27, 2008, saintedmad (1425) wrote:
  
  i still adore this...so very deeply resonant for me.
  
  
• On Friday, March 7, 2008, saintedmad (1425) wrote:
  
  ... i was caught quite offguard. ... this makes me wish so many things; so many myriad things. ..mostly i. ..am again stilled, some kind of eclipse youve done on my sunshine 'stillness of the sun'..the world in this write ['doves, rivers, bullets'] is so stark, lovingly blind and desperately hopeful...a wee bit needful....i never knew so much could compound a name. ...egads- --i am still----and still captivated... 'the world is playing dead'. .. and when will it be real again?. ...wow...just pierced. ~ness
  
  
• On Friday, March 7, 2008, blue (1606) wrote:
  
  ha, you're on a short list of people who can hold my interest as of late. dig it. ~b
  
  
• On Friday, March 7, 2008, Alanarchy (1483) wrote:
  
  Makes two of us. Beautiful work.
  
  
• On Friday, March 7, 2008, denver nitze (410) wrote:
  
  i'm on my tenth round. still trying to think of words worthy enough to praise this piece. wow is all i have so far. must go expand vocabulary. i will return later. *cheers* on another awesome write. ~ta
  
  
• On Friday, March 7, 2008, Anna Helianthus (972) wrote:
  
  this is such a masterpiece..so very emotional and moving, and so powerful..this left me amazed. like a story, but almost a dream-story..but at the same time, so very real. i am truly in awe of your talent, and you keep getting better and better.
  
  
• On Friday, March 7, 2008, SGT Bloth (180) wrote:
  
  WOw man...thank you for being a writer...I really enjoy your works..this on holds a soft spot in my heart. I'll think about it next time I'm killing people, and breaking things some afternoon over here
  
  
• On Friday, March 7, 2008, Niemand (549) wrote:
  
  Amazing. So thought provoking and breathtaking...
  
  
• On Friday, March 7, 2008, Dancing_Monkey (1550) wrote:
  
  Gave me shivers, gave me breath, took my breath. Made me thing, lost my mind. In awe
  
  
• On Friday, March 7, 2008, Ainsof (2120) wrote:
  
  such vivid imagery strung together like sparkling jewels dangling in an evening sunset...lined up like multi-colored candy canes on xmas morn... beautiful, tasty, and penetratingly intense....a tribute to a soul all of this and more... a poem so fitting, for a person beyond deserving.... both, utterly amazing *bows in reverence*