Stars In The Southern Sky (A Quatern)

Glenn Frey Photo © Gus Stewart/Redferns; Photoshop Creation by Colleen Breuning

Stars In The Southern Sky ~ A Quatern

There are stars in the southern sky

Smiling as the full moon floats by.

Hear my voice on the summer breeze,

Sweet songs drifting across the seas.

The world keeps spinning, do or die.

There are stars in the southern sky.

The candle flickers, growing old.

Starkness of winter blowing cold.

My days get shorter, wracked with pain

In this deluge of freezing rain.

There are stars in the southern sky,

Hidden by clouds as angels cry.

Watch as I defy gravity,

Set free from this purgatory.

And when I twinkle, you’ll know why

There are stars in the southern sky.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2016

January 19, 2016

Written in memory of Glenn Frey of The Eagles… inspired by one of my favorite of their songs, “Seven Bridges Road.”

Gentle Rain

Photo Courtesy Morgue File Free © 2015

Gentle Rain

Listen to your heart beat softly

as summer burns in effigy

restless crickets voice sad disdain

to the rhythm of gentle rain.

Piercing cerulean sky yields

to the soft bloom of cotton fields

nimbus clouds releasing their pain

to the rhythm of gentle rain.

Peace beckons where green river flows

night falls in shades of indigo

mourning dove grieves in dark refrain

to the rhythm of gentle rain.

Listen to your heart beat softly

to the rhythm of gentle rain.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2015

December 8, 2015

Des Larmes Pour Paris (Tears for Paris)

Des Larmes Pour Paris  (Tears for Paris)

It all started with just a seed of hate

propaganda straining with the weight

suicide bombers, lives torn apart

as desperate screams pierce the heart.

Day without sun, stars without night

moon without glow, what a lonely sight

in a river of fear all hopes drown

as the levee comes crashing down.

And the wayfarer never makes it home

his spirit cast away, to forever roam

pierced by the shrapnel, left for dead

as the streets of Paris turn scarlet red.

Point the finger, place the blame

but we shall never be the same

damage done, no turning back

as the tower lights fade to black.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2015

November 17, 2015

Written with deepest respect, condolences and love for the victims and all affected by the Paris tragedy… never forget!

Refrain (A Kyrielle Sonnet)

"Park City Sunset" by Colleen Breuning © 2015

Refrain

Night echoes in my heavy heart

Painted darkness, my work of art.

Words and anguish mingle with rain,

My soul released with each refrain.

Voices clash, intentions aground

When everyone has his own sound.

Sing out chorus, relieve this pain,

My soul released with each refrain.

Hope abides in blue skies and seas,

The mountain range, the forest breeze.

Harmony restores, peace sustains,

My soul released with each refrain.

Night echoes in my heavy heart,

My soul released with each refrain.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2015

October 12, 2015

Amethyst Sky

Photograph by Colleen Keller Breuning © 2015

Amethyst Sky

Rain has fallen five days straight.

The levee breaks, hope comes undone.

Tears from heaven flood the grass,

Sparkling like diamonds in the sun.

But it’s all right, I hear your voice

Whispering as twilight draws nigh.

Your smile beckons from distant stars

Twinkling in the amethyst sky.

Now westward winds stir restless,

whipping up the anger and wrath.

Flames shadow dancing in the dark,

the fire casts its light upon my path.

But it’s all right, I hear your voice

whispering as twilight draws nigh.

Your smile beckons from distant stars

twinkling in the amethyst sky.

I don’t want this pain anymore,

It’s been far too many years.

Give me shelter from the storm,

Ease my anguish, dry my tears.

But it’s all right, I hear your voice

whispering as twilight draws nigh.

Your smile beckons from distant stars

twinkling in the amethyst sky.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2015

October 7, 2015

Between Black and White

Between Black and White

Between black and white, there lies a lot of gray.

Colors mingle, fading away in a torrent of tears.

I was stuck in the past, longing for yesterday…

Caught up in a tangled web of pain and fears.

Colors mingle, fading away in a torrent of tears,

Heart crushed beneath an avalanche of sorrow.

Caught up in a tangled web of pain and fears…

The hours slipped away with dread for tomorrow.

Heart crushed beneath an avalanche of sorrow,

Tripping over countless lies and a barrage of sins.

The hours slipped away with dread for tomorrow…

In games of a kid – rock paper scissors – nobody wins.

Tripping over countless lies and a barrage of sins,

I could no longer distinguish between truth or reality.

In games of a kid – rock paper scissors – nobody wins…

When merely breathing seems an exercise in futility.

I could no longer distinguish between truth or reality,

Drowning in a deep pool of denial every single night.

When merely breathing seems an exercise in futility…

I lifted my head, opened my eyes to the purest light.

Drowning in a deep pool of denial every single night,

Replaying the tape in countless loops inside my mind.

I lifted my head, opened my eyes to the purest light…

Finally, a place to rest and leave my troubles behind.

Replaying the tape in countless loops inside my mind,

Searching for answers, testing the limits of my sanity.

Finally, a place to rest and leave my troubles behind…

This was the beginning of my quest for serenity.

Searching for answers, testing the limits of my sanity,

Learning secrets of a dark world I didn’t want to know.

This was the beginning of my quest for serenity…

With the stark realization that I had to let you go.

Learning secrets of a dark world I didn’t want to know,

I slowly gained the strength to cast away the strife

With the stark realization that I had to let you go…

In time, you healed, bringing color back into my life.

I slowly gained the strength to cast away the strife;

I was stuck in the past, longing for yesterday.

In time, you healed, bringing color back into my life...

Between black and white, there lies a lot of gray.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2015

September 22, 2015

This is a deca-pantoum poem dedicated to my son Vincent.  Thank you to all my family and friends who knowingly (and unknowingly) supported our family with love and prayers during our journey…. I am eternally grateful. xoxo

Tattoo Me

Tattoo Me

In the realm of the mad god

where desperation seems real,

I am a man of a thousand faces

hiding beneath ink and steel.

Self-praise is no recommendation,

for I am a deviant to behold.

You cannot see beneath my skin

where the real drama unfolds.

Years of torture and abuse

hidden away, stripped of pride.

Cut the rope and tie me up,

one hundred lashes, my pleas defied.

Because I am so horrendous,

you shudder and back away in fear.

But you cannot comprehend my pain

and you cannot see my tears.

Cruelty has scarred my heart

as the needle scarred my hide.

Though I’ll never reveal myself to you…

I am still human deep down inside.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2015

September 6, 2015

A Runner's Prayer

A Runner’s Prayer

Evidence of age descends like acid rain

In an ugly torrent of unrelenting pain.

Like bitter poison from the devil’s cup…

I may fall down, but I’m never giving up.

Hear me, witness my quadragesimal sacrifice:

Forty days of abstinence, countless bags of ice.

Time out, time is up for this twisted knee…

Angel of devout runners, keep watch o’er me.

So I leave my will to you, with promise made,

Submitting to the skill of surgeon’s steel blade

Pressing against this delicate sheath of skin…

Oh steady hands, undo the mangled mess within.

Darkness, darkness, take my body home

To twilight sleep where my mind can roam,

Speeding past the birds, the deer, the trees…

So that I may breathe and run again, forever free!

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2015

February 10, 2015

Across The Miles

Across The Miles

Embraced by autumn’s amber glow,

The day dissolves to indigo.

Night sky beckons, half moon beguiles…

I feel your touch across the miles.

November brings familiar pain,

Cooled by gentle Kentucky rain.

Heartache scorches, truth and trials…

I feel your touch across the miles.

Stars fading, but I linger on,

Hope rising with the break of dawn.

Memories replace tears with smiles…

I feel your touch across the miles.

Embraced by autumn’s amber glow,

I feel your touch across the miles.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2014
November 15, 2014

Bitter Soul

Bitter Soul

wine

on lips

parallel

lines on my face

unrequited kiss

ennui of sweet and dark

hidden deep within my heart

black shadows linger in my mind

genie in the bottle is released

as lightning flashes against the night sky

Where are you? What are you doing to me?

It is far too late to change the past

as we race toward the finish

my heart bleeds from intense pain

and words have no meaning

walk the path alone

as twilight fades

bitter soul

losing

hope.

Colleen Keller Breuning

October 25, 2014

This was written for Hebrides Moon Etheree Challenge #4.

I used all of Tyler’s words in this etheree:

unrequited, wine, words, past, shadow, parallel, genie, lightning, ennui, race

Stairway to the Stars

Stairway to the Stars

He speaks to me from an anguished past,

His gentle words wash my troubles away.

Lone spirit walking with a wooden crook,

Tending sheep in woolen clouds of gray.

He beckons me to pastoral meadows

Where white tail deer frolic in the rain.

Cool winds to soothe my fevered skin,

A healing balm to soothe my pain.

I know you are out there somewhere,

I feel you up there in night skies afar.

Do you have a beacon to shine the way?

Do you have a stairway to the stars?

I look toward the blue ridge mountains,

Where a solemn sunset begins to glow.

His voice echoes in the strains of music

A song of sorrow that we used to know.

All I ever wanted was to dance in the sun,

Free from my worries and free from strife.

You led me to that place of serenity,

You promised me magic, gave me life.

I know you are out there somewhere,

I feel you up there in night skies afar.

Do you have a beacon to shine the way?

Do you have a stairway to the stars?

I do believe that second chances exist,

For I see your smile defy the foggy mist.

But I hear that rumble of that distant train.

I lost you once -- don’t leave me again.

I know you are out there somewhere,

I feel you up there in night skies afar.

Do you have a beacon to shine the way?

Do you have a stairway to the stars?

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2014

September 4, 2014