This Burdened Heart: Poem

This Burdened Heart

This burdened heart speaks low but clear
That today destiny’s lanes are not very clear;
That pain, like rain, can mist up the eyes
That clouds, like pain can block out the skies

That somewhere else my heart wants to go
There are dreams and all I had to forego
Burdening my heart: where lies happiness
If my mind lies elsewhere, oscillating and vacillating:
Restrained and constrained, layers within layers
Life is but a stage and we, the players
But also when total liberty beckons, perplexed
My soul is vanquished, there are no walls to demolish
No mountains to climb, no one to care;
Nobody to say, nobody at all
“Not now, not like this, not this time”
That somewhere in this century we are alone, bewildered,
Abandoned, that we are
Parts of burdened hearts, that lie lost, thrown aside
Neglected, dejected, rejected
That there are no signposts on the crumbling way.

This burdened heart stops and starts
Carries on, bump-a-lump; will not give up
Life is but a brimming cup.

Copyright: Rani Turton

Secrets, Murmured When Alone: Poem

SECRETS, MURMURED WHEN ALONE
.

When alone, and matters come to mind

Secrets that I alone could understand

Secrets placed somewhere to the left centre

Of my soul, beating softly, beating like a drum
.

Tapping out words I thought I could forget

So I whisper them to the sky
.

And thus to  the branches of an old tree

That must be wondering why
.

Secrets that I alone could understand

Should be murmured to the stone, when alone.
.

Copyright: Rani Turton