Literary Diaries

Madame Mysterious

by ALAN OCHELTREE JR.

We meet again,
as we have the past few months.
At twilight,
on the bridge over Penny Creek,
I approach your silhouette.
You come into focus.
Raven hair, ruby lips, green eyes;
all in perfect contrast to your fair skin.
Like every night before,
we talk.
The subject of our conversation,
blurred,
yet again.
With winter’s chill upon us,
I pull you close, for warmth.
A closer examination of your radiance
causes my mind to wander.
Like the times before,
the thought of asking your name,
escapes me.
We sit in silence,
grateful of each other’s company.
Suddenly, it fades.
Your magnificent image,
absconds from memory.
I open my eyes to sunrise,
and think,
“Will I meet you today, Madame Mysterious?”

 Aroma of a Memory

by  ALAN OCHELTREE JR.

The lingering fragrance
of a perfume
I thought only you would wear,
my mind spins about –
wanting to catch a glimpse
of your beauty.
The scent sends memories
streaming through my eyes,
a quick look around
reveals that it is not you
my senses picked up.
The thoughts of our former love dissipate,
along with the scent
that reminds me of you.
Perhaps someday it will be yours.

The Last Frontier

by ALAN OCHELTREE JR.

The sun drops low, under the winter’s snow
All goes dark as stars fill up the night’s sky
Our moon peaks up, giving off a subtle glow
Off in the distance is an Owl’s cry
As it spreads its wings and starts to fly
Trees once green, covered in frozen cotton
Wide open land, peacefully forgotten.

*The rhyme royal stanza consists of seven lines, usually in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is a-b-a-b-b-c-c. In practice, the stanza can be constructed either as a terza rima and two couplets (a-b-a, b-b, c-c) or a quatrain and a tercet (a-b-a-b, b-c-c). This allows for a good deal of variety, especially when the form is used for longer narrative poems; and along with the couplet, it was the standard narrative metre in the late Middle Ages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyme_royal

Yes

by ALAN OCHELTREE JR.

I sat with her on the coast
of a sapphire sea.
As the deep saffron sun sets
The red-violet sky becomes our backdrop.
I look into her chocolate eyes;
Leaning forward, just slightly
to give her a hint of what I had in my mind.
She understood.
As her carnelian lips touched mine
I felt the unyielding love she had for me;
we needed each other.

Our lips separated,
looking down at the arsenic rock
upon which we were perched
she told me she loved me.
I touched her chin ever so slightly
just so she would look up at me.
In a soft voice I stated, “I know.”
I reached into my pocket,
pulling out a small bistre box.
Inside contained a white gold engagement ring
with a diamond and two rubies.

As I opened the box and uttered the famous words,
“Will you marry me?”
Her eyes lightened, to a soft fallow;
and a tear started to form.
Her cheeks,
which were previously fair,
turned carmine.
With little hesitation
she said, “Yes.”

Charles

by ALAN OCHELTREE JR.

There is no paper,
with keys and bars.
But still;
sound fills the room.

Notes swirl about his head,
while he tickles the ivories.
Vibrations of the song
emanating from his instrument,
make their way to the ears of his listeners.

-His audience cheers-

The band that surrounds him
plays to the melodic tune,
full of soul,
praise,
and love.

As it began, the song ends-
there is applause,
not a person in their seat.
He stands,
takes a bow
-walks off stage.

However all this legend sees,
is darkness;
even in his brightest moments.
All his work is done
by feeling the music-
hearing what is played.

You do not need to see to become great,
just believe.
Ray Charles did.