"The Corner of My Eye"

Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpse a laughing ghost    

she morphs into my fancies      

as she alters my reality    

I sigh her name and capture her hand—   

but she vanishes into the mist of who I was     

so I release her when she smiles        

recognizing myself reflected in her twinkling eyes 
 

"Dragon" by David Chapman

Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpse a noble dragon    
she sparkles with childhood jewels    

as she flies into view     

I reach out to touch her, to skip my  fingers across her scales     

but she slips out of reach      

as she beckons me to follow her flight  

back to simple pleasures
  

"Climbing Fae" by David Chapman

 

Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpse  a dancing fairy      

she glimmers with tomorrow's blessings     

as she throws a kiss my way         

I long to turn my head and follow her as I boogie along        

but she’ll vanish from sight        

so I let her tease me and entrance me all day         

listening for her breath and the whisper of her wings      

Copyright 2011 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman

"On The Outside"

Required attendance 

Yet superfluous and unnecessary  

once there  

out of place  

in the drunken alien celebration  

every weekend of the year  

Standing unnoticed  

Sitting ignored  

Free to observe  

the tribal dance around the fire  

Invited out of habit  

Mandatory appearances  

Yet resented and misunderstood  

for Differences  

pointless as a fork in a bowl of cereal    

Copyright 2011 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman

"Careless Words"

Careless words cast without thought   

bristle under my skin   

leave me empty   

Careless words sucker punch me   

demean my life   

belittle my dreams    

Careless words stated as fact  

insult my views 

binding me in heartache  

Careless words spoken to wound

choke and repress 

make me mourn     

Copyright 2011 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman

"The Lingering Dream"

"Smoke Lady" http://desperadofromhell.deviantart.com/gallery/?q=smoke+lady#/d21pmk1     

traces of a dream       

nonsensical, inconsequential,   

inescapable     

mood tinting      

skewing my day      

blurring the boundary with reality      

chasing an elusive image      

whispers of memory     

a scent    

here and gone      

Copyright 2011 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman

"Summer Begins"

Summer begins     

shedding stress by      

lusting for Father Ralph     

I become Meggie   

slipping into heartbreak       

reliving my own devotion   

veiling my Catholic guilt under Italian lace  

missal clutched in small, white-gloved hand   

crystal Rosary, blessed by Pius XII,    

soothing my restless fingers    

his Irish brogue a supple song 

his blue eyes like laughter 

he kneels before me, eye-to-eye   

proposes a date   

he’ll be my father—   

a surrogate breaking bread  

erasing my disappointment 

drying my tears with his finger tips 

tugging my hand to the crook of his arm   

his brilliance dazzles me

my heart worships him   

Copyright 2011 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman

Every summer, to "come down" from the stress of the school year, I'd retreat into The Thorn Birds for a week. I'd either dust off the novel and reread it, or I'd pull down the series. Either way, the hours spent with these characters put distance between me and my work.