Modern and Contemporary Poetry
takes up most of the passenger seat.
Pages' edges ruffled like the balled-up polo I'm wearing. Tommy Hilfiger'd
be rolling in his millions. Twenty minutes till work's screen door crashes on the frame twice before settling. Three salad plates, a skillet, and two jars of unsweetened tea condensate
on the metal counter. They soak dinner bills and paper towel coasters.
The front door vacuum seals behind sandal families reeking of Chlorine
and hairspray. Beachy look. Three more families crowd in behind them, taking turns sifting through the hostess desk peppermints for discarded toothpicks. Reservations for 7:00 come in at 6:50 and demand a table. They're  just like the mints packed tightly
in the lobby, but there are a few patient ones at the bottom.  They're the ones that inspire stanzas in **Modern and Contemporary Poetry, the college textbook waiting on my passenger seat. *Three more hours.

Fern leaves mirrored light is bent
Dewdrops glistening heaven sent
Dry lands drinking sky borne rain
Again the echoes sound so strange
To be tomorrows yesterday
Sitting quiet living in today
No past no shadows now of grey
Wondering now what made us stray
From things so common to the plan
Altered fabrics change of brand
Voices echo through the night
Stalled by sunrises warm soft light
Ash damped down by dying fire
The hopeful press and never tire
Spurred on always by lifes hope
Seeing always the ways to cope
Mirrored images waterfalls pass
Crystal pinned diamonds on the grass
The seasons casually spinning wheel
Meeting lifes terms meeting lifes deal
Seeing things for truth what’s real
Heartbeat constants knowing feel
Believing now it’s worth the cost
Warm sunrise banishes night’s cold frost

(GE2014) (C) Reserved

O Buddha, the gold vein of thy sermon of mercy ran through gloom-gorged, rocky hearts, and illumined their darkness.

Thou loftiest soarer of renunciation's skies, beneath thy God-lifted eyes, the kingdom of sense-comfort, the rivers of gross greed, the vast and lust-scorched deserts of desire, the tall trees of temporal ambition, the cactus plants of prickly world-worries—all melt into invisible smallness.

Buddha, the arc-light of thy sympathy sought to melt the hardness of cruel hearts. Once thou didst save a lamb by offering thyself in its stead.

Thy solemn thoughts still silently roam through the ether of minds, searching for ecstasy-tuned hearts. Seated beneath the banyan bodhi tree, thou didst make a solemn tryst with the Spirit:

    "Beneath the banyan bough,
    On the sacred seat I take this vow:
    Let derma, bones, and fleeting flesh dissolve;
    Until the mysteries of life I solve,
    And receive the all-coveted Priceless Lore,
    From this place I shall stir, never, nevermore."

Thou symbol of sympathy, incarnation of mercy, give us thy determination, that we may seek truth as doggedly as thou didst. Bless us, that we may be awakened, like thee, to seek remedy for the sorrow-throbs of others as we seek it for ourselves.

From: Whispers from Eternity
A Book of Answered Prayers
1949 Edition

Tangled, sweaty
Breathing heavy
I can feel your love drip onto my skin
My heart bursts with emotions I didn't know exist
Immense love like this is always tricky
But what's life without being risky?
After the love has been made,
we tangle up in embrace,
I trace your back, spine, up to your beautiful face
Those blue icy eyes keep me alive
I want nothing but to do this for the rest of my life

Closer she got pulled,
her body now leaning on his,
dancing with grace,
to the symphony of melancholic haze.

Chest to chest,
her heartbeats so apace,
dancing with him placidly,
trying to keep her breathing awake.

Staring into each others eyes,
icy-blue and stormy grey,
his seemed dead, hers so radiant,
both so different, yet so interlaced.

He was a mystery she just met,
totally oblivious of his true intent,
for he was the devil in disguise,
and she was the prey he wished to torment.

A kiss was shared,
her soul he stole,
his lips like morphine,
knocked her out cold.