Raw Earth Ink
Spit mixed with dirt – Muddy words flow
Thin Ice
you reach deep
wanting to feel good
wanting to feel
something
you bury yourself
in desire
in speculation and metaphysics
in coming times
in what once was
in a grief never formed
and because of this
you lasso others
without intending to
without realizing it
and they, too, become the reach
the reach for
for
for something more
and I, I hold on
confused and
unable to form words
willing thoughts from
my great void
and
what has become
of the idea
of us
tara caribou | ©️2025
Exaltation No. 9
oh my love when I, in my minds eye, think of you, my heart lifts and leaps, my lungs sigh, my tongue dances, my arms ache to hold you, my cheek longs to rest upon your chest, I remember the cadence and timbre of your voice
this desire doesn’t fade, instead it grows, having once known the grace and safety of you, my soul can hardly bear to be separated, for in you, every moment is a gift, a pleasure, and my lips part in anticipation, to be in your orbit anew, for wholeness to be mine again
my love, you are the one true great love of my life, I was created to love you, and now I am sustained and completed, in you I am found, there is no reason to search any longer, for you are the finisher of my endless wanderings, I am smitten, struck down to the core, and now with you, being rebuilt one moment at a time
you cause me to be who I am meant to be
tara caribou | ©️2025
Exaltation No. 8
your love encircles me
slow train rides of memory, fleeting
a picnic, perfect, ‘neath twisted branches
you smile as you turn back,
looking over your shoulder, quietly playful
feed me as I drive or do dishes
sharing what you love with me
we can love it together, you insist
a sunrise, two moonrises
countless morning commutes
drifting off to your arm across my chest and
the quiet breathing of dreams
suffering in the summer sun for fair rides
driving, driving, driving past fields and lakes and echoes of history
wanting this every day for the rest of my life:
you, me, us together
fingers entwined, hearts beating
moved to tears, joining
pleasure and delight building
fulfilled and healing little by little
each day a gift
my love embraces you
the bloom of something bigger
than either of us
tara caribou | ©️2025
The Reed in the Wind
bend me
bend me
bend me over
gently
don’t break me
soft pushes
mold me
give me a chance
to bend
to change
only be patient
bend me
don’t break me
(I fear I will shatter)
don’t break me
just yet
tara caribou | ©️ 2025 photo by me
The Gap
Are you there?
Please.
I need you.
My voice echoes back,
Unheard.
I’m cold and alone.
Dangerously abandoned.
Destitute.
Desperate for a touch.
Even my memories have fled.
Every breath, a fight.
My eyes, painfully bloated.
Tears, my only companion.
Compassion, denied.
Every motion, weighted.
My hands hang low.
Undone.
I want, hysterically,
To simply sleep.
For rest.
For companionship and comfort.
For you
To fold me in your arms.
Squeeze me into you.
Let me melt,
Sigh and release.
To love me.
Just. Love me.
I am convinced,
Your love could heal me.
I am weak.
Unable to brave the gap.
Knock-kneed and feeble.
I close my eyes,
And pray.
Do you hear me?
tara caribou | ©️2024-25 photo by me
A repost from last year which seems incredibly relevant tonight. Nothing changes, apparently.
The Fool
Oh fool! Fool!
What a foolish girl!
Follow your heart
And be fooled!
Tear out the roots!
Cast down the cost!
Believe that love
Can carry you through,
Oh what a fool!
It never changes,
Does it?
Comes the whisper
So painfully clear.
It never, ever changes.
You will
Never
Be good enough.
You will never
Be enough.
The same foolish thoughts
From the same foolish heart,
You say.
… .. .
And still.
This ache deepens.
Longing to be soothed,
For once,
In peace.
Foolish heart. Foolish hopes.
Foolish dreams.
Foolish girl.
tara caribou | ©️2025
An Untitled Poem to Start Out September, Apparently
may sleep come soon
in this great dark chasm of emptiness
together, alone
dimly aware of the spaces between us
whispers become braying
an ass with that same old song
I wish I could say: this too shall pass
instead I join in, a melody of my own
same lips though
even in the joining, I despise myself
my weakness
my neediness
my
loneliness
the chasm widens
but instead of peace
my scratchy eyelids widen
still wide awake
still
alone
same ass’s song
different night
and I keep laying on “my side”
though
utterly pointless
in my restless daze
my arm, of its own purpose,
snakes and slithers
finds cold
and (being cold-blooded)
winds back to the warmth of my breast
and the loneliness ascends
while my mind descends
and, alone on a moon-less night,
I howl, I bray
I refuse to acknowledge the tears
and I begin a numbers ritual
something with patterns, I’m sure
self-soothing
but still lonely
tara caribou | ©️ 2025
Untitled Poem
that early morning sigh
sun still beneath the horizon
I slip on your skin
like a robe woven in love
intoxicated by the scent of you
but completely sober
awake to reality, it’s you
the finisher of my now
the weight of your hand on my hip
before you draw me closer
the most natural movement
together we exhale deeply
mostly asleep
at peace, finally at peace
safe, protected
whole
this completeness covers me
excites me, I crave you
even as you plunge in
plumbing my depths
diving to an ultimate finish
I bloom, then fade into peace
the morning sky shifts
grey becoming nearly blue
I turn and wrap myself around you
it’s your turn to wear my skin
murmuring I love you
as we drift down the river together
tara caribou | ©️2025
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