Tapestry

By Solitaire Parke

"Tapestry" is a vivid sojourn inside the mind of the poet; it reveals his inspirations, hopes, fears, loves, disappointments and successes. Great to ponder in the wee hours of any long and lonely night. This is a collection of poetry which has been compared to the style of Edgar Allan Poe, with a classic, medieval tone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9781435790247

Solitaire Parke

Solitaire Parke is an author of Science Fiction/Urban Fantasy, Poetry and Larger World books. He is a lover of dragons, the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, and has a large collection of science fiction books and movies. After becoming an award winning photographer and earning a degree in music theory, he worked in graphic and web design, but he always returns to writing.When he is not writing, you can find him reading, watching a sci-fi television show or movie, or researching a new “techno gadget” on the internet. He now resides in Arizona with his family and two very spoiled dogs!

Book preview

TAPESTRY

Solitaire Parke

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TAPESTRY

Copyright © 2022 Solitaire Parke All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording, or otherwise, without the permission of the author.

ISBN 978-1-4357-9024-7

CODE OF HONOR

Always answer the calling with prayer

Never forget to ask God for guidance

Protect those who walk in the path of righteousness

Never forsake the family of man

Approach the weapons with reverence

Never leave the battlefield once you've entered

Always fight through the eyes of dignity

Never take first blood

Live each moment as if it were your last

Never let your wounds face away from your enemy

Be impeccable in your appearance

Never turn your back on courage

Be respectful in the face of valor

Never let your fear overwhelm you

Preserve the weapons of those who have fallen

Never drive the quickening from your heart

Wear your symbol bravely and...

Never fight on holy ground...

COAT OF ARMS

The time will show destruction's abating,

So, peace of mind will tell us the clue.

But carefully trod that path of resistance,

For the bowman's strike flies ever so true.

I've been through that block of reality,

A resting place for the singer of songs.

But only one, holds the invitation

To issue death to the maker of wrongs.

The forces know that I'm out there waiting,

No solitude with this burden I bear.

So beware, and don't ever anger me

Or this coat of arms will meet us both there.

SURVIVAL

No law is complete for

Without it you die alone.

Distances fold back upon themselves,

But survival is all that's known

No time is lost in death

For that river of life goes on.

But if you don't live fast enough,

Then the moment of chance is gone.

Deny your fate in life

And the hour of truth will show

How the fall you've had from grace alone

Is to plummet to earth below.

Run forever wild and free

Till the blade comes down.

Death is the last mystery

And always the final sound.

OASIS

Oasis - dead ahead

But the future's light has shown

The night to trip this thunder

And fall asunder heavy-laden peaks of snow.

Oasis - water's madness

And memories speak of how

You seek to end this sorrow

For on the morrow,

I lift my eyes to finally know.

Oasis - once behind

There's none to tell of how

You fell to desert sand.

A tortured land where quietly

The waters flow

AVALANCHE

It simply begins,

First heard as a pulse.

A soaring utterance of surprise.

One lacks the nerve

To repeat the act.

A state of calm to receding eyes.

It now has become like an ongoing wave,

As it impacts upon you again and again

In a deluge of confusion,

One hides from at night,

That rushes you headlong to an unyielding end.

Fragmenting last

In a shower of light -

December's breath condensing the air.

Each part has become

But a piece of the whole,

As the avalanche strikes

What your heart cannot bear.

CLOUDS

Spinning in a circle,

You see it all for miles.

High above the ground we know

The wind forever blows.

Castles and the shapes unknown

Transport us all,

To whence it calls -

A land in which the endless river flows.

Weaving patterns paper thin,

A hollow dream at best.

The land below is moving,

Yet we're forever still.

Mountains and the valleys low

Transport us all,

To whence it calls -

A land where dreams lie just beyond the hill.

Bursting bubbles made of hope,

Our wishes cast aside.

A fortress built from dreaming,

Forever out of reach.

Highlands and the marshes deep

Transport us all,

To whence it calls -

A land where life is washed up on the beach.

WINGS OF FURY

Closing darkness creeps toward midnight

And knives through cauldrons causing sunlight.

No golden ramparts stripped of sight

Shall ever sharpen wings of fury

To give us back this day.

It's true you saw great birds a winging

And from their beaks a deathless singing.

But was it truth that they were bringing,

Or merely death on wings of fury

To steal from us this day.

I'm still not sure of what they're taking,

With lipless mouths like tunnels gaping,

Profuse with tattered souls from rapings,

Clutching tightly onto wings of fury

And surviving one more day.

THE LAST ONE TO KNOW

I shall always be the last to know

From where I'm driven or where I'll go,

Beginning to end this path ever wrong.

Shortened but over and endlessly long.

The darkness preys on me night after night

And daybreak forever retreats from my sight.

From whom am I running and where will it end?

The sounds have me fleeing sightless again.

And yet these dreams force a man to take stock

Of the power within him that trembles with shock.

How much of a man is reduced to despair,

If his heart can be broken - Just smoke in the air.

I have been told oh so many times

Relationships ended is your life in decline.

Then fractured and hollow like a shadow at noon

Does the hurt start increasing, yet it passes so soon.

To leave behind it the passage of pain,

Like a map to your nightmare that always remains.

These forces at work have me blinded and so....

It seems I will always be the last one to know.

BATTLEFIELD

Many have come, so many will fall.

They save themselves to save us all.

Dreamlike they battle till morning's light.

Our nightmares in turmoil extending their fight.

In darkness they run,

Until there is one,

Who walks silent, alone in the night.

From far away, the warriors land.

Ancient visions - the master plan.

Weapons withdrawn, an unholy sound.

But blades will not cross while upon holy ground.

Then the battle begins

Until in the end,

Only one of these heroes is found.

Wave after wave, these battles proceed,

To satisfy an inner need.

Each one believes they will see the day

When only one sword is left to show the way.

In the sunlight he runs

For he is the one.

The champion of life - walks away.

THETRAVELER

I step upon the path -

And strain my eyes to see ahead.

I walk to strengthen my resolve

And resolve will make me walk instead,

Throughout my life,

Toward the light -

For answers to this strange and tangled thread.

I move upon the road -

And hasten toward the light I see.

I run to manifest my hope

And hope it finds my inner need,

Throughout my days,

A thousand ways -

For answers that are always plaguing me.

I fly above the highway -

And stretch my wings up to the sky.

I soar because the dream is real

And real is cause to fantasize,

Throughout the years,

And all the tears -

For answers to this haunting lullaby.

REMEMBER

Tomorrow may be gone.

Look at my image and know.

The cause is all that you have left

A banner of courage wherever I go.

The shadows stretch so thin

To meet each other within my sight.

A caress into the darkness,

A light in my heart for the blackest of nights.

I write these memories

As witness to the way I feel.

It's hope I send into your dreams,

I long for your touch - my life is unreal.

I should be home soon-

But if not, remember how I needed you.

Think of life and all we had,

And remember - I love you....

Remember.

MAYBE TOMORROW