BETWEEN FLAGS

Between flags

The ocean pledges

To control  its waves

Between flags

The sea concurs

to limit its rage

Between flags

A lifeguard

stands by

as if on  stage

Between flags

Between  flags

of yellow 

Only strong swimmers
ought to dip

Between flags

The weak

on medium hazards

sea water sip

Between  flags

A lifeguard
now

tightens his grip

and loosens
his zip

Between  flags

Outside  flags

There is 
insurmountable
danger

Outside  flags

strong  currents
caress the bathers

Outside  flags
The rough sea brags

Of foams which gag
and breast which sag

and bodies dragged

Outside flags

Between  flags

of Red 

Red over Red
The lifeguard 
enters rough waters
with much dread

And  flips  tides
of life or death
From dry to wet

Between flags

Between flags

safely planted
on shore

The wind blows purple

and microbes soar

It does not take a lifeguard
To tell for sure
That bathers ought not
to explore

the colours of  purple
Between flags

Between  flags
Floats
aren't just limited

For all  inflatables 
are prohibited

but naive swimmers
won't be inhibited
By ocean's nag

With daring  buoyancy
They contend
Between orange flags

These flags  all are
A Life guard 's tool
And those 
who fail to
read them
Are but fools

                        At the ocean’s mercy

                        At the tide’s fancy

                        At the wind’s whim

                        At the life guard's epiphany

Are fools

Who dare swim

Between flags

Copyright©2019 by Camille Caliscia Patrick

WHERE OCEANS MEET

Where oceans meet

They leave a long line 

of difference

defined only 

by the colors

of their waters

Where oceans meet

they touch

but do not mix

matters 

that can be questioned 

by others

Where oceans meet

Invisible boundaries

Forever rise 

to their arrest

Where oceans meet

Temperatures change

And so

Without redress

Where oceans meet

Big ships and whales

And other huge matters

Cross boundaries 

without care

But 

for the waters

themselves

These unseen laws flare

Where oceans  meet

Copyright©2019 by Camille Caliscia Patrick

IN THIS CORNER

In this corner

one road 

runs 

into another

but they do not 

cross each other

In this corner

quick decisions

are made 

by guesses

on how 

to maneuver

In this corner

there is an end

and a beginning

and a beginning

And an end

The actual encounter

of this lone edge

On the traverser 

depends

In this corner

there are 

memorials laid

For those who failed 

to survive

In this corner

there are also 

road signs

For those 

who dare 

stay alive

And above this stool

on this corner

a name dangles

from an old sign

and though the paint

Has  flaked and falls 

on this edge

I can still see

that the name 

is mine

Copyright©2019 by Camille Caliscia Patrick

MUDSLIDE

The trees move

The earth  shakes

The living things, fear

None will find an escape

From this mudslide

Disruptive

eruptive

impulsive

destructive

Just like the thought

of us

And I’m alarmed, still

By the trees that  get caught

Or maybe just the thought 

Of this moving avalanche of love

Copyright©2019 by Camille Caliscia Patrick

LITTLE WORLDS

We all have our worlds 

which we resort to

Those places,

where days become years

And life rolls by without  cares

Where we can honestly say

I, don’t ,give, a damn!

Or something more explicit…

For some of us

These worlds are real

And for some,they are just

Spaces we feel

Between turmoils

A silent,nagging,

whatever!

A constant,

I don’t give a care

forever

A parliamentary paradise

Copyright©2019 by Camille Caliscia Patrick

WOMB WAILINGS

Showers and rushing currents

Squeeze through

Leaving marks of scarlet pain

These tears ,tear the passage

Opening gates, to mind games

As weeping wombs wail

over what could have been

An opportunity

To avoid the floods

And stop a nine month rain

Copyright©2019 by Camille Caliscia Patrick

COLD SILENCE

I’ve silenced this heart

so that these veins

won’t feel

the vain circuit of illusions

brain devices

brane confusions

and depths of true emotions

to debts of  love

I’ve muted these desires

tamed this tongue

quenched these fires

with tyres,

that won’t tire

on this pilgrimage of squires

to retire

to this mountain

of chained footprints

from  love

And still,

dumb hums

to vibrations

which dare penetrate

these inner drums

when blind roaming eyes

sweat release

to still spirit pains

though, this

skin be  numb

Copyright©2019 by Camille Caliscia Patrick

The Throb of  Silence

PAPER VOIDS

The tree has exacted

it’s revenge on mankind

for each leaf

combined into pulp

Years of growth

Years of sacrifice

Years of hope

Now ass-wipe

No value, no hype

Just 8 hour days

And 40 hour weeks

by 52

Entire years

mapped out

on landfills

of pulp

with no exchange

value

The tree has exacted

its revenge

on mankind

for each leaf

combined into pulp

Years of growth

Years of sacrifice

Years of hope

Now ass-wipe

For sleepless nights

And exam jitters

Six years of life

mapped out

In frame-like blights

And more landfills

Of paper

With no exchange

value

The tree has exacted

it’s revenge

on mankind

for each leaf combined

into pulp

Years of growth

Years of sacrifice

Years of hope

Now ass-wipe

Contracts

Voided by contacts

And conflicts

And bedposts

Of tree ghosts

that exact revenge

Lifetimes

mapped out

on landfills

of paper

with no exchange

value

Copyright©2019 by Camille Caliscia Patrick

MOTIONS OF UTTERED GRAFFITI