ANN CHRISTINE TABAKA - POEMS

Ann Christine Tabaka has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize in Poetry, has been internationally published, and won poetry awards from publications. She lives in Delaware, USA.  She loves gardening and cooking.  Chris lives with her husband and two cats. Her most recent credits are: Ariel Chart, Page & Spine, West Texas Literary Review, Oddball Magazine, The Paragon Journal, The Literary Hatchet, The Stray Branch, Trigger Fish Critical Review, Foliate Oak Review, Better Than Starbucks!, Anapest Journal, Mused, Apricity Magazine, The Write Launch, The Stray Branch, Scryptic Magazine, Ann Arbor Review, The McKinley Review.

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Face like Vodka
​

​A face like vodka,
a soul like wine,
cocktail of life
drained dry by time
 
Your cruel departure
left a hole in the universe.
All existence has ceased.
 
Drowning in intoxicants,
vestiges of sanity gone,
a scent of grapes lingers on.
 
Birds overhead observe me
grounded supine,
my roots reaching downward
Into the dead earth.
 
Searching for a reason to exist,
dreams like bourbon,
voice like rum.
 
You are gone from my life.
Now life becomes a river
of drunk deception. 
 

A Song to the Twilight
​

​Ruby studded sky,
the horizon calls to me.
It knows my name by heart.
I have stood here all eternity,
watching a coral glow of evening,
as geese fly past the moon.
Stories of past lives
unfold before my eyes.
On wings of imagination
my mind takes flight.
The night is my master.
The night is my friend.
It folds me in its warm embrace,
darkness pulls me in,
like a lover waiting to be kissed.
I sing a song to the twilight
with voice soft and sweet.
Dancing stars join the refrain.
Night is my salvation,
its magic lives within.
Everlasting is its song
 
 
 

Rapture
​

​Delicate fragrance of life,
plucked before it is ripe.
 
I cannot live beyond this
realm, where moonlight
dances, and swallows
speak in hushed whispers.
 
Stars sing to lost loves
and sheltered fears.
Caressed by wind
and washed by rain.
 
I once loved in the real world,
before falling from the sky
into your arms.
 
No longer with the living,
I find myself in a place of
dreams and expectations,
where reality does not exist.
 
 

Inner Beauty
​

​Your visceral beauty
cannot be denied.
Countless torturous
paths have been trod,
yet you remain a pillar
of strength. Darkness
that surrounds all else,
does not encompass
you. One luminous star
in an vast ebon sky,
dispersing brilliance
on all you encounter.
A wisdom beyond words
emanates from within.
Teacher, lover, friend. 
You wear your beauty
like a cape, enfolding
all in love. A shinning gift
bestowed on humankind.
Beauty is your name.
 
 

Open Door
​

​Once he is gone,
the door will open.
In will fly the summer breeze.
 
Harrowed life left behind,
a new life to commence.
Change and chance will attend.
 
Finger worn beads
cast aside at last,
strewn across eternity.
 
Inhale deeply
invigorating radiance
infused with compassion.
 
Tattered emotions release.
Feathered dreams fly off
carrying forth intentions of balm.
 
Learning to affirm,
you walk through the
open door, into acceptance.