Maia
When the flower moon nears full
They step around a wooden pole
Tying ribbons in the wind
With gleeful songs that do ascend
Toward the goddess of the spring
All-in-all their offering
Is a frenzied playful dance
With hope for harvest and romance
©️Kay Salady
No Longer Mine
A heart worn on a sleeve
Pledged to never leave
One so divine
You are no longer mine
Where there was Paradise
There are self-soothing cries
And shame a newfound friend
Putting to an end
The glory days
©️Kay Salady
Second Chance
A steep decline
down the ladder of hope
Sucks away all faith
like air from the lungs
And I flutter to the ground
to grovel at your feet
Clutching clods of earth
from the garden of our love
Where have I failed you
A thousand times I cry
Scratching at your window
to know the reasons why
you’ve turned your face from me
and forgotten who I am
Still I follow you
like some wayfaring lamb
Taking all my anger
and tossing it aside
To fools who care to listen
All that’s left inside
are memories of us
The us that used to be
I have forgotten who you are
You have forgotten me
A stranger to a stranger
keeping up the dance
A dance of want and longing
a dance of second chance
Trees within the wind
asking it to blow
in some unknown direction
that neither of us know
Confusion settles in
to dirty up the soul
Words are lost somehow
A long-forgotten goal
drifts upon the wind
foreign and obscure
When I lost your love
I am no longer sure
©️Kay Salady
Pheromonic Smell
It’s inescapable
Baked into these bones
And unavoidable
Never leaving me alone
An itch that can’t be scratched
And a burn I’ll never soothe
Freezing me to death
With fear that seems to ooze
Throughout my pores
That pheromonic smell
It’s like leaping into hell
With a taste of rust upon my tongue
Cold wet fingers getting numb
Vertigo and a sense of dread
Wondering if I’ll soon be dead
I am where I was before
Paying for an old-time score
It’s inescapable
Baked into these bones
That pheromonic smell
Never leaving me alone
That sense of fear and sense of dread
Always spins my little head
Backwards
©️Kay Salady
Straws
They drew at straws
To come up short
And then what’s more
Covered in blood
They tried to run
But slo-mo danced
Some took the chance
To risk it all
By standing tall
Against the reign
And dreadful pain
Of terror
Despite the sin
Or color of skin
Once again
They did not win
Too high a price
For another slice
Of flesh
©️Kay Salady
Drum Song
Pounding out the pain
A distant drum
Calls out your name
From deep within
And once again
I feel the beat
Of my own heart
That met with yours
So long ago
Familiar rhythms
Return to me
As passion surges
Throughout my veins
The sparks ignite
Scenes of the past
A frenzied dance
Of fervent song
So loud and true
From soul to hands
As I release
It all to you
©️Kay Salady
Mine Only
Where is the one I’d come to know
My Valentine of long ago
Soft painted lips of cherry red
Sealed with a kiss the words that read
To my dashing Romeo
The one who truly loves me so
Today I lie upon this bed
With Valentines of pink and red
Recalling days of tender bliss
Caught up in memories of each kiss
Pondering greetings sent to me
Signed with the phrase he’d always be
Mine only
©️Kay Salady
Salad
Cool bites of freshness
So colorful and crispy
Gifts from the garden
©️Kay Salady
Image Credit: Kay Salady
Brandish
Have my days become
Spent in moments of silence
Null and void of words
Incapable of reproach
Toward the infiltrator
©️Kay Salady
Kay Salady's Poetry 