Poetry by Nina Heiser

      Darren Ellis CC





Credo

before the days I failed
to please 

             I believed I
 mattered

pounding words onto the blank page
        
that took my rage

I let the grieving flake 
and peel

plucking off
              the person You wanted 

smashing down
              the person They said 
I was
        
I have looked
              into the eyes of the dying

seen the past hurtle fast
                          into the unknown

I know

what we place on the page
matters 

​




Creviced Forever 

In my home there is always danger
Bears in the closet ghosts at the window

               I wake to the rattle of ghosts at the window
               I am alone afraid a child again

Decades pass and here am I a child again
Courage drowns in sounds of my own heart

               I search through the darkness of my faraway heart
               We will never speak of this again

I was there at the top of the stairs
Bring charges please I heard 

               His mother say please
               Please I whispered but no one heard    

Because we never speak of this again
The man’s face becomes everyman 

               The usher in the aisle of the church 
               The intern the stranger on the plane   

Every man becomes this man
And I am the crazy one in my long silence

We do not in this family break our silence
In my home there was always danger

​




jumble joy

I sing your praises
words of grace and emulation
I invent answers to questions never posed
with words blurred at the edge of a lunar ring
within the maelstrom where I wept
where I erred wingless shoulders shuddering
I find my way along the ledges
cloaked in velvet shadow strands of harmony
that crystalline cove at the core of love
I move sinuous and shy seeking sanctuary
at the foot of the precipitous
we plunged silver-tongued
sleek as the sun setting into the sea
sleek as the sun setting into the sea
we plunged silver-tongued
at the foot of the precipitous
I move sinuous and shy seeking sanctuary
that crystalline cove at the core of love
cloaked in velvet shadow strands of harmony
I find my was along the ledges
where I erred wingless shoulders shuddering
within the maelstrom where I wept
with words blurred at the edge of a lunar ring
I invent answers to questions never posed
words of grace and emulation
I sing your praises
                                




Nina Heiser is a poet and writer, living on the coast of Central Florida. Her work has appeared in anthologies and journals, including Gargoyle Magazine, Writing in a Woman’s Voice, Vociferous Press, Pendemics, and Of Poems & Poetry. 
​