I see you in my sleep.
I hear you in my sleep.
And you're nowhere near.

I wake up with you on my mind.
I dream of you all the time.
And this suits me fine.

I speak of you.
I talk about you.
And you're nowhere near.

But if you were here?
I will be silent in professing my love for you.

Meeting of the board members

on our first date,
you asked,
what that mouth does,

now,
let me ask the same to you,
but besides lying.

Tell me,

what are the things that fascinate you most?

Things that make your eyes sparkle aglow,

that soothe your awry, unrest, stirred soul.

Some are fascinated with their fiery, burning passion of life,

and some others are fascinated with their own death.

I am one of the latter.

you're my signature tune
favorite phase of the moon
sweet tea in June
always gone too soon

It's a wonder how others
Can sometimes look at us
better than we see ourselves.
The darkness we fight
Obscures a brighter view.
Thoughts hidden from sight,
And feelings concealed,
Portrayed as right,
Are not beliefs that others
Gather to be true

i want to stand in torrential storms and scream
until my lungs become ash and the rain has eroded the world around me
~who wants to join?

A shared cigarette
like a pirouette
spinning through my mind
a kiss, a touching of hands,
Rosy cheeks and a quick
stammering of words.
Brought with spark
and gone too soon
Like a shared cigarette

Come, oh Muse of the Night,
And let us embark on a pitiful Dream,
Where moonlight Shadows and shaded Light
Make starry Skies and breathless Vapours deadly seem.

Come, my Melinoë, and take my sweet Dreams away!
I'll change my Sense for the purest Madness
For not in Agony I impede the venomous Day,
Nor return to Helios, Bringer of bitter Sadness.

Oh Daedalus! beg me to harness my Ambition,
(lest I fall prey to the Sun's melting Faculty).
Rise, my Icarus to drive me away from the Exposition
That could render me Aspiration's final Casualty.

Rise, my Dark, my beautiful Soul!
Catch me from rushing my Time.
Grace me with the Gift of Control;
Please, take my blemish'd Anxieties
Away, bring Golden Rest, and make it mine!

The trees are bare
Having lost her
Garment of
Colored leaves
White glistening snow
Will soon
Be here to cover
Her up

tremors so troubling,
once more, and debilitating
with a promise that stays.

cold thoughts shadowing my day,
an obsession with such urgency
and a voice too tired to remain.

perhaps my dreams never came.

Rome's majesty hangs in the night air
in a haze of amber and gold
illuminating the domes and cypress trees
and clinging to our newly infatuated cheeks
like a million droplets of citrine mist
conjured from the knowing mischief
that imbues the age-old streets

Our formerly suppressed smiles break their bonds
and creep up our faces to sparkle from our eyes
as our fingers entwine
and the columns and porticos look on
winking at us, nudging us,
urging us to cavort with olives and wine
and revel in decadence with the ancients

We cross a bridge over the River Tiber
a dark shimmering ribbon
that subtly beckons us to gaze at its glory
and reminds us like a sly grandfather
that while the city is eternal
we are just mortals
and every second of magic is there to be grasped

Accepting its sage, I squeeze her hand
making her gasp and bite her lip.
I climb up and sit on the edge of the bridge
she joins me and brushes the hair from her face
revealing cheeks that flush pinker by the second.
We stare at each other in silence
against a backdrop of timeless radiance

Her chest rises and falls
but filled with the steel of Caesar's legions
I lean forward and cradle her soft, glowing face
and inhale her sweet, warm breath
before our lips brush and fizzle with delight
caressing softly as the static crackles
until we pant for air

We adjust, reconnect
and sink back into each other
in a swirl of saffron hued enchantment
merging with the city and time
as three millennia of history
alights in rapturous applause, to relive its ecstacies
through our perishable young flesh

A PLEA

with so many seemingly
dark filled times ahead, behind
while some days still remain
we will go forward, resilient
knowing  that we must be strong
a little bit longer, until we get there
take a moment, be a child once more
as you did then , look up , search
the night sky, find the brightest star to make
a grown up wish upon, make it a plea that
we will have peace and dignity once and for all

By Michael Perry

Packing up the memories to the corner of my mind
where they will collect dust until I decide
I am ready to unpack the thought of
you no longer by my side.

this world is temporary
the money
it won't be in our graves
our possessions will be left behind
so live your life
fully
while you can

The thing about us—
Not a lot has to be said
For a lot to be felt

let me lay a kiss upon your temple

count your freckles, soft skin so simple

You’re asleep
I should be too
I’m not okay
Nor are you
But days with you feel better
Dreams with you feel sweeter
You give feeling to a gray world
Thank you

i stutter and fidget,
searching for words and for phrases that make sense
i'm twisting my jacket, pulling my hair
my teeth clash together and my tongue gets in the way
and nothing really comes of it,
i give them no reason to stay.

mere separation cannot keep us apart
for your voice is in the song of every bird
your warmth in every  beat of my heart

You know
The feels
I feel
The most
Are the feels
That feel
Like you

Silence my words,
Cut my ties away from it all,
Walk away from you,
Close my eyes,
Close my mouth,
Close my ears,
Lock up my heart.

I can't hear you,
I can't see you,
I can't trust you,
Loving you died long ago,
Letting you go.

I feels no ways,
I'm not mad,
I'm content with my choice,
At some point you're just over it,
I'm silent.

Step right up and hit the girl!
She belongs to you anyways.
Girl for sale! Girl for sale!
Too bad she's worth dirt.
Extra, extra, read all about it!
Auction today, all the girls you could ever want!
It doesn't matter how they feel.
You're in control.
A new toy comes along, replacing me.
Don't worry. I'll wait in the trash for you to get bored.

I have found peaceful sleep on concrete floors
Where my desires have been needs
And had restless nights on feather soft beds
Where dreams of wants have piled with greed
They ask how people become mad
And I tell them
Look, like this
By doing business with dreams

Each moment has its own wonder and beauty,
Sense it in your every bones,
Let it flow through your every veins,
Absorb in every fibre of your body,
Enjoy it.
2/12/2020

venomous lizard
native to southwest U. S.
the Gila monster

Grey of days
Nights of told
Spin of wheels
Clouds of cold

Black of days
Rise to know
Awake of cover
Hands bellow

Red of days
Warmth of freeze
Doves to call
Begin the breeze

Green of days
Depth of roots
Flow what tears
Arrow that shoots

i love you,
and to prove it,
i need to end myself?
it's not  that I'm scared,
but i would die,
not knowing,
if you smiled,
when you knew,
i loved you more than myself

A star in the sky, the moon is full
A tear in my eye; I feel her pull
When she rises my heart is in tune
Itinerant moon her energy grows
The swell of the tide, the thrill of the ride
Beckons me on to be by her side
Sometimes the thrill is too much to bear
She is high in the sky I want to be there
At one with the moon, I can’t let her go
As days go by the moon she must die
Sinking into emotionless sea
Waiting for rebirth, tied to the Earth
I die a little each time she is low
Next time she will take me ....
Next time I will go

The stars don’t feel
They just exist
without regard for you
or your perception of them
They are raw energy
explosive chaos
bound only to the cold grip of
Time
Free of their shackles
they unleash hell
ancient flames
devouring worlds
that you will never know
or care
existed

Beyond your sight
the apocalypse means
nothing
From a distance
the universe is pretty
And our little star
shines on
a beacon of safety
warm and comfortable
until one day
it isn’t

Tease me, tempt me, tickle me too,
Kiss me, cuddle me, cradle on cue,
Love me, lavish me, leave me in lieu,
Forget me, fickle me, a frivolous few.