Maximòn

Photographer: Scott Wilcox, Fuzion Photography, 2017

“…fine tuning the in-between of harmony; hearts, earth & sky” JD Butler

Maximòn,

the epitome of balance:

patience & frustration,

softly spoken & vehement.

Ritual billowing, vaping

new life

into old lungs,

filtering

pure tobacco into undulating balls of steam.

His stage is an altar.

We dance, cleansing much more than our spirit,

fine tuning

the in-between

of harmony; hearts,

earth & sky.

Our effigy, enlightening the soul & keeping her secrets,

venerable in his wisdom.

Our Columbian overlord garnishes

the Mayan temple our grandfather’s bestowed.

Protective.

Upcycling shadows, illuminating the light –

breathing new life.

He is the embodiment of patronage & the people,

regenerating

health, crops, marriage, business, revenge & death.

Holding

our community together.

© Copyright 2018, Jodine Derena Butler & Poetry Out West. All Rights Reserved

Maximòn

Glimmer

Vows

Jason
you are my best friend
my confidante
my partner
my lover

The best day of my life was when you said you would run with me.
I love you Jason with all of my heart.  I will run with you forever.

I promise to make a faithful and passionate marriage with you.
I promise to treat you with kindness, respect, appreciation and playfulness.
I promise to participate in our relationship, even when it might be hard.
I promise to make laughter an integral part of our family.
I promise to love you all my life until we meet again in the next.
I promise to be your _______________________ for the rest of my life.

Thank you for loving me.

© Copyright 2013, Jodine Derena Butler.  All Rights Reserved

I Found My Heart

 

I found my heart

on the borderline

of too late

just in time;

a fine lined

delicate box

inlaid with

criss-crossed

tongue and groove

timber framed
and paper thin –

(such was the state it was in)

I found my heart

shaped box

tucked away

under the debris;

no recognition

of her guild

thick-skin scarred

tiny cracks

intricate and interlaced

weather worn

like washed up

driftwood

I found my heart

a mantle piece

and set it

alongside a glass

vase filled

with floral Oriental’s

her lip sealed

tightly shut

innocence and sin

full trust

representative of love

anaesthetized by pain

I found my heart

magnified by you

and your telescope

my vision opaque

like liquid amber

in silver teardrop earrings;

in remembrance of

friendships once

lost to train wrecks

a heart shaped

box filled with

precious memories

is where I found my heart

in all her glory –

thinking of you

© Copyright 2009 Jodine Derena Butler.  All Rights Reserved

First Published, Live Lines, volume 4, Anthology, 2011,  ISBN: 11787767, Poetry Live, http://www.poetrylive.co.nz/live-lines.html

Lying in the sun thinking of you

feeling the sun on my face

turned upward to meet your gaze

those furrowed lines like carvings

splitting rivers of skin further apart now

a permanent marker

I notice you; you’re living lines, played out on my page

rays pierce my canvas of you seeking solace

closing my eyes I forget about how it was

© Copyright 2009 Jodine Derena Butler.  All Rights Reserved

Ours

Our hearts, snatch moments
filled with remorse, vehement
in truths. open
sesame seeds sown
willy nilly in back yard hovels –
dining on scraps
while junkyard dogs
howl.

Our time, spent
gorging on coronary
disbelief, tethered.
strings like chains,
embedded injustice;
cross over
invisible lines,
separated by fools.

Our past, mirrored
back and forth. etched
early Victorian details
beautifully inscribed.
a time of certainty
in knowing places. my
fractious splinters
render.

Our life, stapled
to tea-chests in storage
cubby holes. cramped
piled high walls
lived in once, now
embroidered in newspaper
cuttings – yesterday’s
old news.

Ours, together
demoralised. sucked dry.
used but(t)s,
in overflowing
ashtrays; crutches
stubbed into cajoled corners.
ashes to dust
till death do us part.

© Copyright 2009 Jodine Derena Butler. All Rights Reserved

Sheep and Mosquitos

Sheep follow
one, after the other
two, blind to see
the fence was an imaginary
escape route to nowhere

in particular –

juxtaposed with mosquito
banter on migration to a
carbon dioxide induced
acid trip

A palpable end
to an otherwise
paltry existance
for those not otherwise
engaged in slumber.

Blind and blood thirsty,
rhetoric is
not lost – who pulls
the shrouded woollen
scarf across their eye’s?

Semi clothed in
parachutes, attired
belligerence and
artificial libido,
comfort wrapped

as if –

fences don’t exist.
Premature collisions
run roughshod
over ruminating
premarital cliffs

sheep follow
one, after the other,
the blind leading the blind
relentless in pursuit
of happiness

a pantomime of
mosquitos dance,
while I endure
a never ending
kaleidoscope of noise

© 2009 Jodine Derena Butler.  All Rights Reserved

Sycophantic Juggernaut

back to back
fused spinal columns
an unorthodox
paradigm
shift(ing)

displaced jaw
a grind of bones
and teeth
(re) fused
together unyielding

Orion’s milky
sheets
starched stiff
clean in
crinkled embraces

an excuse
unconsciously
ironed flat
a greasy haired
yellow pout

a tight lipped
sycophantic
juggernaut
imploding
premature breath

quashed embers
flaming
subservience
married and
ugly

buried where
whores and
die
pass judgement
and skeleton keys

jingle

© 2009 Jodine Derena Butler. All Rights Reserved

First Published, Live Lines, volume 4, Anthology, 2011,  ISBN: 11787767, Poetry Live, http://www.poetrylive.co.nz/live-lines.html