mona lisa xanadu

from where you stand
look me in the eye
watch my smile
twitch and lift
your heart out of your head
you saw it, didn't you?
you should know me
there's nothing up my sleeve
you're inventing the magic
the mistress
the pregnant virgin
the ill maiden
the lover's apprentice
the artist
just believe
what you see and
whatever you say
i am
just as i've always been
in your mind
for you


Rene Foran ~ March 2011
for Magpie Tales

sediment

The River Irwell ~ R..A. D Stainforth

no one ever asked me why
not that i'd tell them
but you would think
along with all of the curiosity
there'd be a need for definitive answers
really
it's not everyday
you run into a woman
covered in mud


like it or not
there I am
in the coffee shop
at the crosswalk
in the last pew on the left
with you always
watching you all wonder
as you go along your way


where does the fault lie?
when did the dam break?
i'm reinvented by main street
every single day
some touch on the truth
some make me giggle into my soup
and my crackers


some give me money
which, while i am thankful,
i do not need
some talk with me
oh so politely
like all of this is perfectly normal
as i awkwardly avalanche
down the front of my coat


i give them the show
shuffling off singing
where oh where
does the fault lie?
only the river
the river knows why
only the river
your lover and i


Rene ~ May 2012 ~ The Mag

red roofs

le toits rouges ~ marc chagall 1953-54

it's an endless space
that blessed place
of nails and prophecy

where an angry bridegroom
mourns a bride
he never knew

where a lost soul
wanders and jingles
a beggar's purse sized heart

where kisses
soothe like wine
or sting like fire ants

where a mother
holds her son singing
safe tonight

it's an endless space
that blessed place
of nails and prophecy

where the moon
passes over
red roofs bright


rene ~ April 2013
for The Mag

pillars of sand

a reputation on trial
dirt
from the offending transgression
under many pointed fingernails
yet
this sin was her name
her sin alone

they summoned
him
to begin the breaking
of a body to dust
locked and loaded
they waited comfortably
blind to a fault

he held up a stick
as he listened to testimonials
solid as stone towers
silently picking away
at their foundations
counting each speck
knowing each name

spelling truths in the sand
he sang
all you righteous
pitiful fools
look at the bottom
of your filthy soles
i've got news for you

eyes burned open wide
stained hands thudded stones
to earth unspent
go on and walk away
free and uneasy now
walk the way of peace
from now on

Peace ~ Rene

*Previously published and reworked for d'Verse Poets Open Link Night

mara

Image: ParkeHarrison
Magpie Tales

when the dark presses
faith
scatters like paper
lit on fire

courage rises
and pratfalls
darkly
down waxed hospital corridors

prayers
soaked in sour wine
blister the tongue
unanswered

the body a vessel
the soul
a marionette
hijacked, voiceless

help me
if you can
reach me
here i am

Rene~March 2012
for d'Verse Poets

"The Nightmare"
by Henry Fuseli

looking glass

Image credit: Duane Michals
Magpie Tales

look at them
just look at them
oh that beautiful pair

the them, the they
the sum total of
a celestial equation

but who am i
now that i'm alone
by myself

i'm too afraid
to know but...
that i do

i am what i am
a victim
of a time jester's truth

a crone, a nobody
tossed overhead
smashed underfoot

superstition's deathbed bride
seven white candles
burning bright

a puff of breath
a ring of fire
a cracked mirror, mirror

crazed, silent
yet still
i am alive

Rene ~ March 2012