Versifyin'
Isn't dyin',
But man,
It's hard to do.
Words and lines
Sound like cliches,
What once
Was old
Is new..
Familiar phrases
Crowd the pages,
Causing such to do.
Can anyone write
Anything new.
Did I write that;
Overhear a wit?
Read it in the loo?
I'll note it down,
Sit,
Sweat and swap,
Get off the ***
And write it.

I don't purloin
Pretty Woman
Because Roy
Is older than me.
To write Yesterday
Is almost to say,
I've hijacked
Sir McCartney.
Write Daffodils,
And see what thrills
That word brings to you.

We may overuse them,
Unwittingly
Abuse them,
And with some we amuse,
But they're ours,
Put to good use
With me.

The number of chords
Limits the hordes;
Repetition ensues,
The decry is sung:
I've heard that song before.

The great ones of writing
Are cause for citing,
By we and me and you.

Can't contrast love to roses,
Shakespeare's told us;
Can't compare eyes to stars,
Lips to petals:
To say,
Your soft, white skin
Is an ink-black sin.
And Beautiful should not
Be used as such.
If one must use it,
One needs
A thesaurus.
Thee, Thine, and Shall
Have taken their toll;
Like Death,
Be not proud.

Be the chosen one,
You know how.

Words and phrases
Are replete;
Too well known
Not to repeat.
They're in
Our vernacular
To be used by
Any author.

But verbatim
Copying's outlawed.
The copy cops
Finger-print
The frauds.

~

Running in the shadows,
pausing neath the dawn
Climbing in through window sills,
curtains tightly drawn

Checking every corner,
ducking from the light
Hoping for a moment still,
shuttered in the night

Of this love forbidden,
cast of breathless view
Empty pockets, endless need
searching but for you

Can’t you hear me calling,
pebbles hit the glass
Pull me deep into your arms
‘fore the moonbeams pass

Take me as I’m pleading,
knees upon the ground
Staring to your silhouette,
formed of beauty found

Many questions linger,
falling from above
Landing square with weighted pain
saved of all my love

Take a chance, I offer,
let me light the scene
Follow where your heart does lead
here inside this dream

Matters of the distance
collected in the frame
Take my hand it longs for you,
love me once again

On the day you called me yours
my world turned upside down
as I am blown away,
with your world
that holds me close ...

On the nights I can feel your desire
I get to kiss those lips of yours,
a comfort pours over me
as my soul opens up to let you in,
with lustful emotions taking hold
something lives inside me
as you take me so passionately.

The nights you hold me close
and wake me to love again
my burning flame takes hold
as the days bring forth
I struggle to take control:
on the days I touch your face,
I just want to stare as you look back
and take my breath away ...

On the days I can't see your eyes
I don't want to open mine
my heart hurt my love
until you walk into my life
just one more time,
I'll sit and wait awhile
on the days I get to bask
in your light,
my smile brings forth happiness
only you bring to me.

As each day passes,
you hold my hand
so gently,
I hold every moment
we share together,
so perfect, without a frown
the day you hold me
forever, that's the day
I will be the proudest
and happiness will always be ...

The Nights I can feel your desire as time stands still, I just want you to know you mean so very much to me...

Debbie Brooks 2014

Your "I love you's" are like a blanket
They keep me safe and warm
No matter how many words I stitch
I know it will someday be old and worn

Preparing for hibernation
When it's only just now spring
I cherish the birds each day
Every time they open up and sing

Because I can foresee the leaves falling
I know our love is finite
Because even while looking forward
I'm stuck in the hindsight

So as the first snow falls
I'll enjoy our remaining time
And prepare myself for the day your "I love you's"
Will no longer be mine

That boy is warm freshly printed papers
Stuffed in his overflowing binder
That boy is the leaves being painted
In early November

That boy is Pokémon cards skewed all over the floor
Who never signed up for this 'growing up' thing
That boy is a huge stuffed frog on Valentine's
Lessening the winter's violent sting

That boy is obscure facts of the arcane
A curiosity never satisfied  
That boy has an ever expanding brain
And long hands that reek of formaldehyde

That boy is beautiful freckles
"Splotches of melanin" as he puts it
That boy is compliments I don't deserve
And a love I just can't quit

That boy is a long way down
A relationship that's nowhere close to flawless
That boy is worth the fall because that boy
Is my dear Nicholas

Excuses, excuses-
They run through my mind
The circumstances aren't right
I'll do it next time

The time was running low
The sand slipping away
So I told you I loved you
In the last days of May

You told me you felt the same
Though it didn't show
The entire summer you left me
Feeling weary and hallow

I waited for you
To sit down and stay
Tomorrow, tomorrow
But never today

Secrets spill from your lips
In hiccuped slurry speech
That night you learned the most important lessons
Teachers never teach

You're on the fence
But you always tumble in an empty bottle
Trapped on all four sides
Looking up at the light, legs weak and wobbly

And those lines you stood by
Those boundaries began to blur
All that you believed in
Every bridge you charred and burned

Did you find the answers
Laced within those pills?
This self medication will make you numb
To what you must rebuild