Stricken by Red Rain: Poems by Jim Bellamy

HOW NOW DO DEAD KINGS LAUGH WHILE STRICKEN BY RED RAIN
(a villanelle that doubles as a song)

In twilight's hush, where shadows softly sway,
How now do dead kids laugh while stricken by red rain?
Their echoes drift, as if they still had play.

The crimson drops like petals fall, betray
The innocence that once danced on this plain.
In twilight's hush, where shadows softly sway,

The laughter's gone, yet memories stay,
A haunting tune, a bittersweet refrain.
How now do dead kids laugh while stricken by red rain?

They ran with joy, not knowing of dismay,
Nor thought their laughter would become such pain.
In twilight's hush, where shadows softly sway,

The sky weeps blood, the earth cannot contain
The sorrow of the young ones we've slain.
How now do dead kids laugh while stricken by red rain?

So hear their mirth, in ghostly disarray,
A chilling laughter, under skies arcane.
In twilight's hush, where shadows softly sway,
How now do dead kids laugh while stricken by red rain?


WHERE ONCE BLUE MIDNIGHT BURNS

Where once blue midnight burns, what then for babes midscream?
In dreams, they clutch at stars now far beyond their gleam.
The night's cold lullaby, where shadows dance unseen.

The moon, a silent witness to the quiet, keening theme,
Whispers through the willows, a soft and silver stream.
Where once blue midnight burns, what then for babes midscream?

The sky, a tapestry of wishes and of dream,
Holds tight the secrets of the heart, a vault supreme.
The night's cold lullaby, where shadows dance unseen.

What tales will be told of the light that once did beam,
When innocence was cradled in the arms of esteem?
Where once blue midnight burns, what then for babes midscream?

The stars, like sentinels, their steady gazes deem
To guard the slumbering youth from the world's harsh regime.
The night's cold lullaby, where shadows dance unseen.

So sing the babes a song of time, a flowing ream,
And rock them gently 'neath the midnight's azure seam.
Where once blue midnight burns, what then for babes midscream?
The night's cold lullaby, where shadows dance unseen.


TODAY, ALL SWEETHEARTS

Today, all sweethearts will blossom in a glass cage,
Where whispers cling like ivy to the walls.
That gaols all fevers under vows, sage.

In crystal confines, love's eternal stage,
Each heartbeat etched upon the pane, it calls.
Today, all sweethearts will blossom in a glass cage.

With every breath, they sketch a new page,
Inked with passion, as twilight softly falls.
That gaols all fevers under vows, sage.

Their touch, through glass, a timeless adage,
A dance of shadows, love's tender brawls.
Today, all sweethearts will blossom in a glass cage.

And though the world may change, turn, and age,
Their sealed ardor never stalls.
That gaols all fevers under vows, sage.

So let the lovers their pure wars wage,
For in this prison, love enthralls.
Today, all sweethearts will blossom in a glass cage,
That gaols all fevers under vows, sage.