KENNETH NORMAN COOK

THE EYES BENEATH THE BED

She peeks out
from under her bed
where she lies
on the hard floor
trembling in the dark,
cold and alone,
eyes wide with horror
as the shouting,
the slamming-banging
and the cries of pain,
the cries of terror
penetrate the walls,
echo through the house
and set her heart racing,
her knees quivering
and her head pulsing
with a fear known
only to the young
and the innocent.

YOUR DREAMS

I'll enter
your dreams
whenever
your heart
is broken,
and dance
you away
with me
to a place
where dreams
are the color
of joy.

THE STARS ARE LIARS

The stars are liars;
twinkling in innocence
and glimmering in silence.
The stars have been watching
the deaths of children
and the spilling of blood
over countless ages
of reckless human folly.
The stars are liars,
with their silver shimmer
and mute mockery.
For the stars have known
all along, the heartbreaking truth
of the human condition,
yet still they feign innocence;
still they twinkle in silence;
still they lie into the dark night.

[~ Kenneth N Cook]