I closed the tension that watered my eyes
Until surrounding needs fled the field of nameless noise
And calmed autumn’s ancient leaves racing the wind
Giving such soft reminders of all the good that has passed
Oh how I long again, again to feel the touch that draws me
Into the mountains that Christen the golden moon
Blessing me to find my way.
A woman’s look, turned my eye,
Plain, and soft as summer
With a sweetness barely touching a tone of loneliness
That blended it’s way into my heart
So cruel of me with a smile, without a word
To wander past and barely scrape away her need
Matching only my smile to hers in passing.
Leaving the loneliness to smother her heart
And turn her smile into yearning,
Dulling the brightness in her eyes
Giving only the remnants of a chafed smile
Then vanished into the gloom of a lonely trail.
Gone forever, still I feel her loneliness slicing through my heart.
Your home becomes a prison when you lose your friends.
When the creaky door closes and the fence of loneliness begins.
No longer sunshine blooming high, across
the clouds
No calling of the whistling trees, when swirling leaves abound
In prison house no smiles, no laughter, no human sounds at all
No one to tell the rising of the sun or when the night time falls
Your friends, all of them lost, and silently gone
No one to share your prison at the coming of the dawn.
And soon you too will be gone in the darkness of the dawn.
I wish that I were old again
Now that ancient times have set.
And the bonfire of life smolders
My world is a tumble of unknown days
Old friends gone or cloistered, far-away
Too many lying cold among the stones
Supper rolls sooner, as the clock chimes five
With a single plate and yesterday’s napkin
Breakfast flounders with tasteless eggs
Coffee shop women still loan their smiles,
But don’t know my name.
Days wander on like lost ducks
Which month is this I wonder?
Yesterday was….hell I don’t remember.
Shall I rake the yard?
And maybe see neighbors strolling by?
Faces I should know
With names I don’t remember.
There is something I should do today
Since yesterday tumbled by forever.
Should I rake the yard?
Deep bright passion lingers
in the blood
Trickles through the vains
Pushes through the colorful mind
Always rebounding in need,
Always at a scrambling pace
Like a squirrel chasing a nut
This way and that with a tumbling need
More colors to brush the palate,
Next pages for the book
Another line for the poem
One more flower for the garden
Even as the night falls
Creative spirt haunts the dreams
Morning scans the sun, plays with clouds
New colors for the brush
Twists and lines for the poem
Bouquets from the flower garden
Creativity’s wicker basket bulges forever
Oh what a blessing for the ever churning mind.
Feel soft fingers of wind
Brushing, teasing across your face,
Twisting gaily through restless leaves
Urging tassels of color into the air
Traipsing across the ground, rising
Falling past branches, dancing past trees
Singing sweet notes, listen, listen!
A whistling serenade
Charming, phantom voices
Sweeping by, dancing, twirling
Through your hair, through the forest
Voices of wind, whispering a promise
We are alive and one with the world
Do you really read a book?
I wonder if you do
Or just turn pages for a look.
Reading leads to new places
Down rambling roads
Often to new times and faces
Books can make you laugh out loud
Others leave you breathless
On new grounds or into clouds
With new books you never know
Where it goes
Warmth of sun or freezing snow
I’m always reading a book or two
Never knowing what I’ll find
Some are joyous, some are blue
They always take me somewhere new.
Oh, watch the waves, their rolling sounds
Whiteness at the break, turning, twisting
Flowing, tumbling, such roaring they make
Carving their white way with crushing force
See our twisting lives spread before us
Bound and tossed like heavy waves
Ground and crunched on rolling sand
By sun and rain, swells and calms
Dwelt and scanned with petty moments
Raked by salt, brushed and polished by wind,
Our eager lives, lived and shaped by ripping sand.
I loved her once, or maybe twice
Remembrances strain through the
Dust of tattered yesterdays.
Even her breasts, her hips that twisted
Me through soft whispers, now gone.
Wings that fluttered turned limp and cold.
Perhaps I remember her face, but
Now the smiles allude me.
The eyes so blue tossed love away
In sodden blinks of guile.
Covers of soiled snow, bypass the sun
With long-gone trickles of love.
Her breasts an icy glaze, lost in clumsy steps
Of melting snow.
Gentle waves sweep against my feet
And continue a gentle sweep across the shore,
In a rhythm of grace that won a smile
Careless children, born of mother ocean’s womb,
Teasing my toes with ceaseless, rushing voices,
Chasing gulls that fly and meander here and there,
Their feathers, once soft and gray now
Touched in tarnished silver by rays of sun
That splendid ball of fire, reaching down, to warm the Earth
And calm my beating heart, and carve away the darkness
That bares the promise of new beginnings
An orb so bright it shares a splashing chorus with the waves.
Traveling on, I stroll in the warmth of the sand,
Humming my song of blessed contentment.
What is more pleasing than taking a breath,
Even the last one as we slid to our rest
The in and the out and the softness we feel
I think that each breath gives a soothing appeal
We honor the sky and wind through the trees
The beauty of clouds is a breath, yes indeed
I’m sure it’s the earth just taking a sigh
Just think of that when the wind whistles by
And when the whiff of pot roast spells hunger
Where would we be without breath I ponder?
So, take a deep breath you ladies and gents
And consider just all that your breath represents.
Creatures of the depth of time shred my slumber with their claws
Spewing boiling tar as I lay stricken by grind of their fearsome jaws.
Crackling tongues spew their venom, oh the putrid smell!
Oh, the wicked things that curl like all the snakes of hell!
They sing of all the multitudes who felt my cruel bent,
Coming back to torment me with devils they have sent.
Sweat turning into boiling oil and trickles down my back
Flashing scenes that shame me by all the good I lacked.
Riders on their flaming steeds, with hoof of red hot steel
Oh yes, the very worst of me I know will never heal
Far too late to sooth the past, my wickedness abounds
Devoid of hope, the rudder lost, my ship has run aground.
The ocean darkens to sapphire blue
And sun fades into clouds of gold
I linger in the wet, clinging sand,
Listening to the whispering waves
And feel a warmth in my soul
Unleashing the spirit of precious years
To spring before me, sparks of youth
Of love and friends that linger yet,
Like the waves that never end.
I close my eyes
To see lost suns that warm my dreams.
Temptations rest in lovely dreams
Of red and yellow flowers,
Spreading like the softest winds
Across the greenest fields
In nightfall comes such silvered
Moons, bearing goblets of wine
Anointed with all the pleasures,
Begging to be savored
Golden chimes, ringing hearts, and
Whispers of love’s bounties.
Do you hear the whispers tuning in the wind,
Fanning clarion’s calls to love and life?
Paris oh Paris, why so quicky gone.
No longer may I sip the wine in old accustomed bars,
Hemingway, Pablo, Joyce, Fitzgerald
whisper to me from the dusty past
And chart my course through what no more remains.
And swells the mind with poignant frothy words.
Oh, hurry to rejoice such bluesy jazz in smokey rooms
that swings with Baker, Bechet, Hawkins, Porter!
A throbbing tale that still lives within.
Oh, happiness, such a Paris forever gone
and yet forever lives.
Oh there I find my way.
Ah, Paris, where are you now?
And where again am I?
As today speeds past into tomorrow.
Yet in my soul slumbers on while Paris lives.
Ashes in the Dust
The Sun long lost its luster
A cold and faded yellow orb.
Mornings creep too soon
Bearing witness to the dark
Words crumble in the mist
And quickly float away.
Bleak trees dot my forest now
Crumbled bark and shadows.
Dog eared calendars
Witness times long lost.
Meanings dried and cracked
Wander with my ghosts
I skirt the edge of joy
Leaving laughter slain.
A world that I once knew
Mere ashes in the dust.
Kleenex in my pocket
Brushed away the tears.
Scarlet threads of longing
Dress a canopy of fears
Once so bright and sunny
Love now spiced with dread.
As Solomon said long ago
Don’t try to raise the dead
Swim the rolling waves
Trust the sun will rise
A future for the brave
Bring bouquets of flowers
And smiles your future craves.
Bring forth the sweet and gentle rain
To hide the sun and ease my pain
Another gift from heaven’s store
Ah, yes and yes, I value more
These easy days that help forget
The wounds of love that linger yet.
The mystery in her gray blue eyes
The magic in her wistful sighs,
Tender lips that float through dreams
The warmth that never fades it seems
Smiles that sheltered sweetest lies
Then twists a heart with her goodbyes
Trust the rain to heal my heart
And rust the loss now we’re apart
Let rain announce sunshine again
Though love has vanished, until when
Another tender smile appears
To blow away the crush of tears.
I’m tired of love
I’m tired of kisses
Tired of sighs
And wistful wishes
Tired of beauties
Young and old
Long dark hair
And smiles of gold
And when I know
I’ve had enough
I see a smile that
Calls my bluff
Bright Blue eyes or brown
Or gorgeous green
That strike me down
Love is so mean.
 |
| Photo compliments of Linnea Tighe |
Have you seen a quiet moth,
Close to where the oceans froth
Lying still upon the sand
And why here has it chose to land
It could have picked a tall green tree
And flown away so easily.
Colored wings spread so wide
Surely it could rise and fly
I know that I too could fly
Or sit upon the sand to die
Ah, the choices, ah, the time
That flutters past, both yours and mine
And then the moth took to the wing
And soared aloft, a beautiful thing.
Oh, the courage and the thrill
Makes my heart soar. Always will.
