Coffee House Writers

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Article Categories
    • Fiction
      • Action & Adventure
      • Fantasy
      • Historical Fiction
      • Horror
      • Mystery
      • Romance
      • Science Fiction
      • Speculative Fiction
      • Suspense & Thrillers
      • Westerns
      • Women’s Fiction
      • Women Sleuths
    • Nonfiction
      • Astrology & Tarot
      • Biographies
      • Business
      • Creativity
      • Creative Nonfiction
      • Cooking, Food & Drink
      • Culture
      • Current Affairs & Politics
      • Design, Fashion & Style
      • Entertainment
      • Environment
      • Health & Wellness
      • History
      • Home & Garden
      • Lifestyle
      • Media
      • Memoir & Autobiographies
      • Narrative
      • Paranormal
      • Parenting & Family
      • Reviews
      • Science & Technology
      • Self-Help & Relationships
      • Spiritual & Religious
      • Sports
      • Travel
      • True Crime
    • Poetry
      • Acrostic
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Our Founder
  • Meet Our Admin
    • Chief Editors
    • Editors
  • Testimonials
  • Apply
  • Login

logo

Coffee House Writers

  • Home
  • Article Categories
    • Fiction
      • Action & Adventure
      • Fantasy
      • Historical Fiction
      • Horror
      • Mystery
      • Romance
      • Science Fiction
      • Speculative Fiction
      • Suspense & Thrillers
      • Westerns
      • Women’s Fiction
      • Women Sleuths
    • Nonfiction
      • Astrology & Tarot
      • Biographies
      • Business
      • Creativity
      • Creative Nonfiction
      • Cooking, Food & Drink
      • Culture
      • Current Affairs & Politics
      • Design, Fashion & Style
      • Entertainment
      • Environment
      • Health & Wellness
      • History
      • Home & Garden
      • Lifestyle
      • Media
      • Memoir & Autobiographies
      • Narrative
      • Paranormal
      • Parenting & Family
      • Reviews
      • Science & Technology
      • Self-Help & Relationships
      • Spiritual & Religious
      • Sports
      • Travel
      • True Crime
    • Poetry
      • Acrostic
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Our Founder
  • Meet Our Admin
    • Chief Editors
    • Editors
  • Testimonials
  • Apply
  • Login
  • Relentless

  • Cold, Hard Facts

  • The Rice Farmer and Ox

  • Sour Love

  • My Heart Beats for You

  • Out Tonight

  • The Invitation: Part 1

  • In Deep Water: Chapter 21

  • Dusty Photos

  • Redemption

  • Mama Knows Best – Chapter 10

  • Today’s Toil

  • The Island Flamingo: Chapter 44

  • Comparison is a Thief of Joy

  • In Deep Water: Chapter 20

  • Scattered

  • Race Toward the Truth

  • Mama Knows Best – Chapter 9

  • Confession

  • Half

Poetry
Home›Poetry›Within: Without

Within: Without

By rc360
February 27, 2019
1349
1
Share:
Farmville Civil Rights Protester, August 16, 1963
From The Freedom Now Project, Public Domain

His black face blurs,

melting against the dark,

plate-glass window.

 

He told himself

he wouldn’t stagger,

Fuck,

stand up on weak knees.

 

His hot

molten steel,

soft skin.

 

Obscured memories watch him

like an eagle-eyed intruder,

the age of murder

cuts against his reflection.

 

He turns

one way –

a ghost releases him.

 

He shifts

another –

the Lord teases him

with salvation.

 

He studies each line

etched into his life,

a hurtful truth

emerges,

and time

smuggles

years away

like hidden treasure.

 

His fingers

trace against

the outline

of his forgotten youth,

half-believing he’d

find his sweetheart

smothered in rose petals.

 

He touches

what’s left

of himself.

 

His forefinger

trembling against

the face

of a woman

shimmering in

the sun,

behind him.

 

And like life,

she evaporates,

cutting across

his stare,

leaving him flat-footed

in despair.

 

A jet plane

cruises high overhead,

a black bird’s wing

flashes across

his tired soul.

He is captured.

 

Perhaps

it is time

to fly away

for good

and,

at long last,

meet

Jehovah of the Ghetto

TagsCivil Rightspaincreative writing
Previous Article

The Infamously Haunted Boothill Graveyard

Next Article

Orion’s Embrace – Part 2

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0

rc360

Writer of poetry, plays and various fiction. Based in Oakland, California.

Related articles More from author

  • Prom dresses
    FantasyFiction

    The Red Maiden, Part Two

    August 17, 2020
    By Scarlett Faye
  • EnvironmentCurrent Affairs & PoliticsCultureCreativitySelf-Help & RelationshipsFictionMemoir & Autobiographies

    The Fae Who Came To Victory Apartments

    April 8, 2019
    By Scarlet Noble
  • winter night, pond
    EnvironmentCultureCreativitySelf-Help & RelationshipsFictionHome & Garden

    The Winter Witch

    March 4, 2019
    By Donna Trovato
  • silhouette of trees and person sitting looking up at a star filled night sky
    Self-Help & RelationshipsPoetry

    Pocket Gal

    March 18, 2024
    By Scarlett Faye
  • MOTHERHOOD
    Parenting & FamilyPoetryMemoir & Autobiographies

    The Plight of Motherhood

    October 31, 2022
    By Ritu Anand
  • Mental Health
    CreativityParenting & FamilyHealth & Wellness

    To Whom Have I Become (The End)

    July 27, 2020
    By Sean Stevens

You may be interested

  • Field of Orange Flowers
    CultureParenting & FamilySelf-Help & RelationshipsHome & GardenLifestyleNonfiction

    Change and Inspire Your Life

  • TravelCultureDesign, Fashion & StyleCreativityMemoir & Autobiographies

    There’s More To Do Than Gamble In Las Vegas

  • Man and woman embracing each other in front of a sunset.
    Poetry

    Until We Meet Again

Timeline

  • June 9, 2025

    Relentless

  • June 9, 2025

    Cold, Hard Facts

  • June 9, 2025

    The Rice Farmer and Ox

  • June 9, 2025

    Sour Love

  • June 2, 2025

    My Heart Beats for You

Latest Comments

  • Ivor R Steven
    on
    May 17, 2025
    Hi Violet, thank you for visiting my poem here at Coffee House Writers magazine . I ...

    Half

  • violet
    on
    May 13, 2025
    Sometimes it doesn't matter as long as you are all the way there. This was so ...

    Half

  • LC Ahl (Lucy)
    on
    May 13, 2025
    Thank you for sharing his obit. You're right, they did make him out to be a ...

    The Coldest Case

  • Mark
    on
    May 12, 2025
    https://www.schniderfuneralhome.com/obituaries/alan-reavleyIs this right?We hear so often these days about DNA bringing historic justice. Sad it didn’t ...

    The Coldest Case

  • LC Ahl (Lucy)
    on
    May 12, 2025
    Mark, Thanks for this info. I'd love to read his obit. I was working at KGPR when ...

    The Coldest Case

About us

  • coffeehousewriters3@gmail.com

Donate to Coffee House Writers

Coindrop.to me

Follow us

© Copyright 2018-2025 Coffee House Writers. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s administrator and owner is strictly prohibited. Privacy Policy · Disclaimer