Reluctantly I sat abusing
Some old and sad familiar musing
That for some reason kept refusing
To lie quietly

A thought that in a moment read
Was understood and put to bed
Now prancing once more round my head
O daring memory

Why must thee wallow on the tongue
Barren tree with fruit unsprung
Tormenting, tempting songs unsung
In endless reverie

So oft times I've thought before
Unquiet spirit I implore
Why dost thou rattle through these doors
Of vain assurety

Must I bear this burden hence
Without knowing why or whence
These troubled thoughts but for a pence
In silent suffering

Early mornin dew dripp'd flower
Rosy Red awaits the hour
Lifts her bloom and greets the day
To sup the misty mornin rays
She fawns upon the golden hue
Swaddled in the mantled blue
Till sunny orb quits daytime skies
To veil its face from longing eyes
So Rosy Red doth nod her bloom
And bide her time in shadowed gloom
To dream the dreams that only may
Wish anew the break of day

In the realm of the heart which served as our guide
For vanities sake we cheated and lied
And all of the signs that lighted our way
Now darkened and silent had lead us astray
In our haste to proclaim that all must belong
We abandoned our will to see right from wrong
So we searched to the west, we searched to the east
Yet ever within did we search there the least
Now between every beat in a darkening hush
Each step of retreat in a frightening rush
And doubts every treason reflected in tears
Did overlay reason with maddening fear
Here Death came a stalking, unheeded, unsought
And sold us the wares we had already bought
So we pelted headlong into welcoming arms
Whose offered embrace was enticingly warm
We took all the things Death offered in spades
And with them adorned our newly dug graves
Of the angels that scry and mark every sin
No stroke may belie nor ever forfend
The promise averred yet never attained
In souls so conferred with indelible stain

I search through leafs of carefree past
In scribbled lines left half undone
For wisdoms sage to point the path
Back to where it first begun
My one last chance to grip the quill
And spin the trials of venture bold
A gift to those that follow still
By spinning folly into gold

Ere break of day and dawns caress
Till sunset lays our cares to rest
We march and toil to gain what's true
With burdens many, respites few
And labor on with hope that may
In some small measure light the way
Of those dear ones in times accord
Who carry close the treasured word
Our presence left in some small part
Indelibly writ upon the heart

I've glimpsed the muse but ever on
Whomever reads the words I've drawn
Can only see the dimmer hues
Of inspirations fete subdued
Reflected in the oft tried guise
And only in what dreams surmise
To catch the softly fleeting knell
Of muses boldly colored spell

Oh dear! Oh dear! What is this?
Something seems to be amiss
Before so sure was I
But now am left to wonder why
For what compelled my short sojourn
Has left me now in but a turn
For in the span from there to here
All thought for naught has disappeared