POETRY CHAPBOOK BY CAROLINE TISS

 Romance Labyrinths

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By : Caroline Tiss

VALENTINO’S CASTLE

 Greenery of Valentino’s Castle

 Armor and Bastille

 Blossoming Violently with Violets of Scarlet and Blue Merry in the morning, Laughing by the afternoon 

 Johanna, you seem so very cold, with eyes of silver dew and lips as purple as nightshade

 Could I sit by your side if till the clock strikes midnight? 

Mayflowers and whiskey on the Bar back You never know the thrill of it until the wind brushes your skin with all the seduction of a woman on fire.

MAGDALENE’S LOVER 

Magdalene’s Lover Did he love his woman well? 

Mary Magdalene weeping at the sinners well, Was she a woman or the archetype of a heathen’s love spell?

 Tender is the heart of a woman, Soft to the touch is her skin like satin, Cinnamon and Sugar Sensations, Tangerines and Summer hazes Hearts Beating Like waves of summer rain against a tin roof

 “Would you lie to me?” She asks you, with love in her eyes As she lies next to you in your bed and the rain pours ceaselessly,

 And you look to her, Her eyes so sweet you could get high off the sensation, the aroma of her perfume lingers like a sweet starry haven

 And you tell her “Never would I lie to you, my love.” 

Will men ever know the height and depth of a woman’s love 

To love a man is a fragile, volatile thing, 

Filled with all the fire of mars, and the current of the waters rapids. 

When real love comes knocking with her chalice of wine, Would you turn her away

ROBIN 

 Perhaps they see me as a mockingbird, I can’t be caught, captured, or burned I will rise with the dawn, always 

Who knew young women had this in them? 

But despite what they may say, I am much more of a robin when I am alone, 

Despite how they try to kill the mockingbird with their vile words, 

I am a robin, Crying red robin tears 

With my songs through the years, 

And to the blood in my veins, in the earth, in the streams, 

I am a robin girl, A little red bird, And I will sing my robin tune to all who will listen with open ears,

 I will be their robin girl, I will hold their hand

AMBROSIA

 Who knew? That love could be so freely given,

 That it is not earned or written in stone,

 It’s the rain, it showers when it desires 

And to love someone is to stand beside them, 

Hand in Hand, When the world is up in such hot and wicked flame

 We will be okay,

 Because how can you live a full life, if you have never loved? 

How can one hold onto his grip, If he will never love,

 And I could crumble right here, I could die in the arms of the dark angel and he would weep for me, 

But I am strong, 

Stronger than a blazing tower, 

Stronger than any ungodly hour, I will rise

, Like the street singer pours out her heart, so will I, 

I will belt out my heart to the heavens,

 Give all my love to the sky, 

To all the world, I say I want to live, And I want to live with love

SAILORS WHISTLE 

 Ever-turning Tumbling sea 

Winding mystery 

Take my pain

 The lingers heavy in my breath

 I know there’s something that hears my prayer

 And I don’t know what that is yet

 Salt of the ocean

 Dry my wounds

 Carry my weight upon the shoulders of your lapping waves

 Cool my spirit raw 

Hear my plea 

You are the greatest love of mine

MONACO

Lilies grow in Monaco and Ophelia floats down her river bed,

 Am I one of the lonely ones who never rests her head?

 Another life, cool marmalade in the summertime 

Where am I? 

My homeland is not where I reside. 

The lonely ones, the orphaned children. 

Oh lilies, how I wish to bloom like you in summer heat by dry rocks, and be sweet 

Never have to leave where my sanctuary holds me under angels wings, 

Safety, Is she foreign to you? 

She is like the mother I have always wanted,

 She is the warm breeze when the air is hot and dense,

 These lilies are gilded with gold, It hides their true color, pale and serene.

 The way this world likes to give us glory.

 Oh God, where is your love?

 The heartbeat of humanity is weeping. 

Can you not hear its cry?

 I once was a child in the middle of the night, 

I once was a lover, sincere under moonlight, 

Can there not be hope for the hopeless?

 Do they damn themselves with grief, 

Or are they human like me?

SIREN

The Sirens Daughter is a quiet creature.

 A peaceful child of nature. 

She sings with the bellows of the wind. 

Like the rising and falling of her chest, the sighing of her breath.

 She will continue to sing on those rocks no matter how cold the night 

No matter how hot the day,

 She has something to say. 

A lion heart, with hollow eyes. 

She’s lovesick all the time.

 Like the singer on the streets of Italy, she belts her heart out to the crowd.

 Almost as if she were calling them under water,

 Dragging them into the deep end with her undercurrents of syllable and rhythm, 

Perhaps she is calling to you, because she wants someone to recognize her voice, as if they loved her in a past life. 

Some other story, someone else’s life. 

Maybe she calls to you to see if you would remember,

 And she’s been calling all this time, 

When will the clock strike midnight?

STAND ALONE

If I were to explain through detailed melody, 

All of the recollection of my memory,

 If I were to ride the wind and fly away, 

I would lose my formality and be loosed from the bonds of normality 

That I had loved so dearly, once before I would be reborn, 

But not as something I could touch, but something crystalized in superb vision I could not memorize,

 With all of its complexity, how could I? 

For if I were to contain myself with a depiction of its essence I would lose sight of its glory, I would refrain myself from falling and dancing and leaping much higher, 

Why would I ever wish to stand upon the ground?