If you want this night to be good,
Just say it:
- Good night.

i met her in a bar down in memphis teneese
she was standing there looking straight at me
with her sparkling eyes and a smile upon her face
sent the soul in me to diffferent place

then we danced together on the bar room floor
dancing cheek to cheek my heart began to soar
with each dance we had i just loved her more
such a lovely feeling i never felt before

everything i dreamed of was dancing there with me
the girl that i wished for it was meant to be
we settled down together raised a family
with the girl i met in memphis teneesee

i wont forget that night in memphis teneesee
when  i met the girl that was meant for me
her and i together it was meant to be
that i settled down with and raised a family

I open my mouth to speak and I *****

Sifting Through The Dross

Fire, flood,
War and blood -
It is no wonder I can’t stand
The papers and TV,
Those apps aimed right at me,
The dearth of quality,
The deprivation, loss of lives,
The angst it gives.

Preferring comedy,
Cartoons by Disney…
Am I cowardly?  
Maybe.

Fixated on the negative but well aware
Of heroes all around each day, each year,
Deeds of goodness and devotion,
Yet, there is this bleak emotion, yucky fear.

Another factor is the greed:
The pressured need for growth and profit.
Prophets sow salvation’s seeds.
Many listening, few that heed.
With much to win and much to lose,
One mostly feels the costly loss.
But sifting through the dross with trust,
Stably doing what one must,
One gets a glimpse of tunnel’s light,
Decides it’s worth a willing fight
And pushes on through restive night.

Sifting Through The Dross 11.15.2019
Our Times, Our Culture II; Arlene Nover Corwin

So crisp are your lies
For they are easily broken
You try to avoid the demise
For what you have stolen

Sea and people
An island came up from under the sea
And soon it became green and pleasant
Fit for dairy production, and cats that
Took care of the rat plague.

Man, and animals in idyllic harmony but
For the rats and attacking seas-birds.

Roaring sea appropriated the island
Occupied and flooded the land,
Simply retracted and made the island into a reef.
Endlessness of peace but dangerous for shipping.

What is truly mine?
Thoughts and emotions,
Feelings and physical self
In this physical world
All comprising and surrounding my life
A sense I seldom overlook
But deep down the tunnel when I look carefully
A sense of my life overwhelms me.

time
to disappear

become

red jade orange
gray
dots or points on a paper or fabric

and the ocean

blue splashes
capped
with white

as the summer sun burns
at its brightest
before it drips and melts down to its wick


© Whit Howland 2019

Before I die
I want to see you happy..
Before I die
I want to touch the moon..
before I die..

Before I live
I want to love you...
Before I live
I want to touch the sky..
before I live ..

My life..
My dead
and you ..
is that enough to live for?
...that is my question..
Silence..
Kiss..
End..

Then... I only see you. I’m in love with the sparkle in your eyes. Every line of your body. Every broken bit. Every enlightened bit. And every bit you share with me

And even if equation exists, there’s no amount of quantifying a love like this
For now, Whether in pain or bliss
I’ll roll gods dice, our souls will kiss

your heart
breaks different
when it beats
alone

the wrong one
will find you in peace
and end up leaving you in pieces

only the right one
can find you in pieces
and guide you to peace

Depression is numbness
Anxiety is pain
When they are mixed
It is like fire and rain
Except the fire never goes out
And the rain only becomes heavier

Dont be angry
Dont be sad.
I've learned to live with no words so when you ask,
i cannot speak a verse.
I may seem about others like they are all i have,
but i have learned to live with no words,
they're nothing but a verse.
With you its different,
it reaches my very core and when i speak,
i speak with emotions that i have never felt before.
Im confused, so very confused... of this and that and more,
the way my heart beats and even when i breathe deep im so very confused and want to demand to rebuild my broken walls.
So dont be angry or sad,
dont be anything but mine,
because when i speak to you every word is felt unlike never before

Life happens

poetry helps

Remember,
the best things in life are free

...plus tax
...license
...and recycling fee

I don’t know
If I believe in soulmates
Or fate

But if you told me
That something
Or someone
Had planned for us to meet
And made each of us
For the other

My darling I don’t know
If I would be able
To argue

You are
Everything I always dreamed of
And
Everything
I could’ve never imagined

Because the earth’s round
Doesn’t mean it’s  having a ball.

Because waves crash
Doesn’t mean that they aren’t in control.

Because the sea is deep
Doesn’t mean that it’s thoughtful

Because land meets the sea
Doesn’t mean that they agree

Because you float my boat
Doesn’t make me the captain.

Sometimes, I feel
that the modern world
has traded love, for clarity...

has traded flowery gardens,
for deserts.
has traded stars,
for a picture of stars.
has traded dance and songs,
for analysis.
has traded ecstasy,
for mere control.
has traded heart,
for mind.

has traded life,
for death...

© Manan sheel.

"love-sick"
I mean
I suppose love is a disease.

there are the symptoms,
the racing heart
constant thoughts,
and if your a writer
countless poems dedicated to them
or your love.

I suppose love is a disease
but if its you,
its not one I would mine
having.

If you could read my mind,
You’d see a thousand papers
Filled with broken poetries
And deadbeat proses
Full of woeful verses
With mournful pieces
Of unfinished stories
That are yet to be written
And failed to be spoken;
If you could read my mind,
You’d hear horrible screams
And earsplitting weeps
From shattered dreams,
Kept in a nasty notepad,
Scribbled on a bed
Of bloodstained words,
Ringing in my head.
If you could read my mind,
You’d see the shadows
That lurk within me;
You’d hear the bellows,
Screeching the words
“I’m tired,”
“I’m a failure,”
“I’m stupid –”
I know it sounds stupid,
It’s pathetically foolish
And seems too *******.
If you could read my mind,
You’d feel the tears
I had ever failed to cry;
You’d see the people
That make the weak weaker;
You’d see the monsters
That consume my head;
You’d hear the hollers
That failed to be freed;
You’d see the heart
That still bleeds and bleeds.
If you could read my mind,
You’d see the face
I’ve failed to show back then,
The face I’ve faked back then.
If you could read my mind,
You’d see a character
I had ever failed to become
If you could read my mind,
You’d be able to read
A book you never wished
To touch and read,
But sometimes I still wish
Someone could read my mind.

Maybe there’s something between us.
A fire that we kindle but try to put out as if we are ashamed,
Blinded by the light.
But as that fire grows larger,
It becomes harder to control.
At some point,
We must accept the warmth that the flames bring us.

and i miss that feeling,
i miss that time,
i miss my love,
and i miss those eyes.

"I guess we're all in varying degrees of 'not okay'."

if I die tomorrow
Have I lived my life well
Will I got to Heaven
Or sink straight down to Hell

Did I live
It up
Did I give
From my cup

Did I love him right
Did I hurt him instead
Did I waste those sleepless nights
By staying alone in bed

Why do I get to live
And others die
Why do the evil live
And the good die