Lampedusa

Photo © Dawn Allynn



Into the solitude I went,
Dusky shadow, murky shade,
And viewed the change rock underwent,
Beneath the moonlit promenade.

Wandering paths of twists and turns
And shrubs of pungent, oily spice.
Feel my heart? It pulls, it yearns!
Into the solitude enticed.

So high it soars, this crag of stone,
A palisade non-ending sheer.
The rock beneath cracks not just bone,
There death not lags, but lay sincere.
Below sharp summits waters roll

And sing with voice like wind and breeze.
Dancing from depths as dark as coal,
And wearing dress of moonlit seas.
What splendid sights this isle holds,

How flawless is her loveliness.
Like a child, I am soft, cajoled,
In lithesome darkness’ sweet caress.

-1992

Choices

Photo © Dawn Allynn

when you walk
away
from everything
you ever breathed
and loved
and hoped for
do you ever
think of me?
when the lady you court
like death itself
pulls you into the streets
to give away
all you have
to sell
all you had
all you are
is there a moment when
you consider
how it will break my heart?
your addictions
siphon your soul away
and sometimes
I feel mine
is slipping
away too
sighing the dying wind
forgotten
in your heart

~2000

Nusery Rhymes

Graphic © Dawn Allynn

I have a little ponytail

It bounces to and fro,

And I wear a pretty ribbon

Everywhere I go.

Sometimes the boys pull it

Because they're mean to me.

But when they do I turn and smile

And kick them in the knee.

Graphic © Dawn Allynn

I take a bath most every day

'cause Momma says I hafta

she scrubs my skin and dries me off,

and kiss me right after

It seems like such a waste of time

I guess Momma doesn't know

That as soon as I go back outside

It's mud from head to toe.