Chiaroscuro

The dance between
Darkness and the light
Is so much more than
Most can comprehend;  
Go stones arranged
In spiraling boxes of  
Black and white.

If we were honest
With ourselves,
The keen eyes of the
Renaissance painters
Understood balance
Better than most.
The light accentuates,
And darkness obscures,
Yes, but both are truth.

Our inner balance is
Akin to the stars above.
Like the deafening blast
Of pulsing stars, adrift
In an endless ocean of
Sheer and empty void,
We cling to the lights
That arrive in our orbit.
And just like the stars,
None of them last forever.

MSBQ

Dangerous Scales

Most people think
Of the ocean as
Peaceful, serene;
But they could not
Be more wrong.

Beneath the waves
Lies a world full of
Dangerous scales.
Light up above and
Only death below,
And each current
Brings endless rows
Of predators’ teeth
And stifled cries for
Help, god, help
As they are ripped
To the bones.

Though it may be
A disquiet place,
The sea conveys a
Deeper balance of
Life and death.

MSBQ

Nightfall

Noiseless whispering:
Our new crime scene.
Lift the veil, and enter.
Your eyes will adjust
To the darkness within.
As wind rustles leaves
On the trees outside,
We move silently,
Shapes in the dark.

Both hidden and bare,
We will let the night
Take the helm and drive
Into sweet oblivion.
Before the sun rises,
We shall have taken
More than we can give
And lie in the morning.

MSBQ