I’m almost numb sometimes.
So banal and standard
I could almost breathe or revive
but then I remain unmoved.
The world is just the lack of you.

The sun shines anew
or a gift presents
but then again I find
no way to give you all the treasures
of my days or nights.
And your absence eclipses
all my petty pains
or hard work stains.

Laughter and tears
have lost all import.
They come and go as freely
as a ship to port.
I slip between them
through these empty days;
put on a living face.

This makes the people sigh in relief
but I could just as easily
scream to the clouds, cut down a tree
or be still and vacant as a windless sea.
empty motions
pointless acts

My world was for your pleasure
and to love you was the joy
of my heart.
I can’t help but think
it won’t be much longer
till I join you in the dark.

A cat is mischief incarnate
from claws to whiskered nose.
He spreads his form indiscriminately
whenever and wherever he goes.

19% in his tail;
the sweeping fluff of doom.
23% in the wailing cries
that wake you in nighttime gloom.

8% in the claws and teeth
which teach the unwise to take care.
31% in the legs; carrying him
from disasters- he caused- everywhere.

19% in the eyes that direct
these ongoing rebuffs of fate:
surveying all that smacks of horror
in the humans who are always too late.

Just hours since I learned of the great fall
my childhood enemy has taken.
My heart is shaken in internal squall.
Yet still, there is joy which I partake in

Why feel guilt at such a time, so long sought?
When others still roam the alleys of night;
our nightmare meetings still frequent and fraught.
The terror still real in the broad daylight.

I have been, largely, where she has now stood.
I have ground teeth on the obloquy.
I can’t rejoice now, though I wish I could
**** this infernal anisotropy!

And yet anger smolders at the pylons;
burning bridges and lashing at icons.

I heard a bird sing today
And stopped still along my way;
My churning thoughts forgotten
In the haunts of yesterday.

Merely for a moment then
I was that younger soul;
Worries gone and wonder found
Atop a snow-capped knoll.

But in another instant
Just the breeze was at my ears.
As I sank into the present
And lost again those stolen years.

Yet, my heart was lighter.
Those problems not so dire.
I just heard a little bird today
While slogging through the mire.

Recall the warmth of love untold.
Once found in manure and rags at night
Outcast of men-yet gifted gold-
Now celebrated in smiles and lights

Recall the sweetness with each sip
The sweetness of his face,
As immortality faded away
To become the greatest gift of grace

Let peppermint sticks bring to mind
The innocence and blood
From birth to death he carried
Now, forevermore, his legacy of love

And on this night remember
the childhood wonder once known
When chocolate, presents and stories
with Christmas came into your home

But the marshmallows are for family
Who cushion life’s many blows
May your Christmas be sweet and merry
As your love for Christ and family grows

We’ll light the wedding candle
Each year upon this night.
Remembering why as years speed by
We first stood to make this light.

Not for a love that’s ever true
Or a smile that ever cheers.
Not for the sick or crummy days
Or to share and conquer fears.

It’s for the days we forget to love
and when aggravations start to weigh.
It’s for the times we’ve both ******* up
But have chosen to love again a new way.

The candle will burn and the wax melt.
Someday, the wick will sputter and gutter out.
But it’s just a reminder and can be replaced
As long as we remember what it’s all about.

Hope often dies in
lonely vanity when not
paired with wise action.