To observe the soothing grace
of trees slowly swaying in the wind
Is to release myself
From the stressful pace of the day
and breathe the freedom
of the present moment

Cherish those rare moments
when we have the ability
to settle and relax
into thoughts of our youth
and remember the simplicity of ourselves

The fright at the brink of his
waking
The sweat of his body’s
quaking
Only moments before
his face pressed to the cold steel
of the rail
Eyes fixed on the roaring machine
that force the wide in his eyes
each morning
Be a friend Sandman
Keep it all away until the light
Sworn by any natural law
not to betray him
they toss him to that steely
night freighter
only to return to their warm beds
It would be easier
if they were monsters instead

Walking through a field
lush with wildflowers
Making my way
towards a warm setting sun
A vision of death
or a flight of fantasy
Only time
will tell which one

The burden of rapture
all swollen in sadness
is love that’s a fever
that descends into madness
Yet, this perfect poison
is gladly taken
like a classic martini
Stirred but not shaken

Tightly bound to folly are we
In as many ways
as there are human fears and desires
And sooner or later
all we want in this world
is to be free

Poor Dog
lying in the road
there must have been
no place to go
My friend
you must have known
this was no place for you

In a car
rushing by
I'm the one
who's sick inside
no matter how you died
there was nothing I could do

Old dog
I'll say a prayer
as you lie sleeping there
Find a place in my despair
and haunt my whole day through

Very hard not to notice
this man in the street
He wears these nice threads
and fancy shoes on his feet

"And for today only
new lamps for old"
To hear him tell it
a deal worth more than gold

"I'm trading light for darkness
Sight for your blindness
Love for indifference
and I'll throw in a some kindness"

He is as convincing
as any soul one can meet
But today no one is buying
from this miserable cheat

When he heard himself say
“It is what it is”
he dropped by the office
of Dr. sloe gin fizz
The doc stumbled in
stinking of gin
and placed a bottle
at the end of the table
Doc said “Down the hatch”
Rocky said “What’s the catch?
Doc slurred “Apparently, this
can make you unstable”

My heart for those
who so love a rose
For they wither along side
it’s mortal repose
But, may they not fret
it’s sad wilted face
There will be another
to take it’s place

My heart to those
who so love a rose
They wither along side
it's mortal repose
But, there should be no mourning
it's angelic face
For a divine likeness
will bloom in it's place

I don’t find myself
In the woods anymore
Running through orchards
Or watching boats from the shore
When I was a kid
That is all that I did
After putting on shoes
And running out the front door

There’s an old salty ******
at the back of a ship
that’s sinking into the sea
I can hear the words
from his stiff upper lip
as he sadly recites to me
You can’t save me
You can’t save me
So, turn your eyes away
I will sleep
In the cold, dark deep
and you will see another day

A violin
for a single flower
Cellos for all
the gray barren trees
An orchestra
and it’s infinite power
for an ‘Ode to Joy’
to set the world at ease

The irony is
that the fear of death
gives rise to the fear of living
Meeting uncertainty
with an unshakable faith
is the gift that keeps on giving

A silent scream of terror
from a frozen face of fear
Although a bit scared
he couldn’t help but stare
at the painting on the mirror

Lay your head
upon the grass
'neath the wispy willows

Close your eyes
sleep with the peace
that dwells in Nature's pillows

Ease your mind
into the silence
Ride a horse
up to the Highlands

Amidst the clouds
of sweet serenity

White represents
The innocence of birth
Never will the slate be so clean
Black represents
The contemplation of death
And red all the passion between

Is it the Shakespeare
or is it love
Is it a rapier
on the wings of a dove
****** into his open heart
testing the poison
of Cupid's dart
Is it an elixir
poured from a sonnet
or he is bewitched
from the look of her bonnet
Is it Shakespeare
or is it love
or maybe the kiss
of her sweet scented glove

Whenever it’s dark and gray
On a winter’s rainy day
Content for a single ray
Deep into the month of May
Shine baby shine
Shine baby shine
Tell me the line
That will make you mine

From behind a window pane
I watch the relentless rain
I’m suffering from the pain
Of a broken water main
Shine baby shine
Shine baby shine
Will you be so kind
To put this gloom behind?

Sometimes I think
that my search for meaning
in humanity
errs on the side
of humanity

As the sun peeks over the edge of night
he slowly opens his eyes
and wakes not with an eagerness of spirit
He grows weary of battle
For this love and hate of himself
is always at war
and if there is any lacking in his resolve
victory for love will be hard-won
if won at all
Fatigue will plague his every moment
until the darkness grants his leave
It is then he can close his eyes to sleep once more

It feels I've been awake since forever
Lying here bartering for my share of some sleep
I don't know when
I'll be dreaming again
or how many the Sandman
will take of my sheep

Back to dreamland
Again I fell
Now I feel
Like *******
Why did I
Not stay awake
And face the day
For my own sake
Now I can’t
Lift my head
Or peel myself
Off this bed
I must stop
This sleep and slumber
Or my room
Will fill with lumber!

Whether seeking pleasure
or running from pain
At the root of addiction
is trauma
Most find it easier
to blame it on genes
than expose
the family drama

He no longer sits in the park
until after dark
looking for blue birds
perched on a lily white shoulder
For the hope of the chance
at such surreal romance
Fell broken
as the wind in the park grew colder

Nothing seems
so heavy
to a fragile heart
so broken
than thoughts
so unhappy
they go
so unspoken

There are times
I don't dance
I but hobble
to the words of old songs
that seem all out of tune
It's when I could ban
the pen from my hand
Stand alone in the darkness
and just howl at the moon

Amidst the curse
Of my mortal sleep
I walked the border
of life and death
Others carried my sins
And defended my honor

Today
I ride into battle
Beneath a shower
of glorious apple blossoms
With this song in my heart
Worthy of both knight and king:

As swords cross
And wounds run deep
I pray to Avalon
My soul to keep
To see my foe
Know well his face
His dying breath
His last embrace

A swath of denim
in a frame of leather
On top of which lies
A cross of feathers
Cries this collage
of my personal
Abstract Expressionism

He walked the hill into the evening
until he reached the top
The moon was serenading him
so he took the time to stop
to look upon a lonesome tree
that had not been there before
Neath the light
of a starry night
like the painting
he so adored
He whispered a tiny heartfelt prayer
for those in town below
that had likely lived their lives
never having seen the show

I'm one of those
who when stubs his toes
upon life's uneven path
Blames his woes
on make-believe foes
or God's unlikely wrath

Imagine lying
in a lush green field
cradled within an ancient glen
Timeless is
the still life portrait
of what the gods
were like back then

His is the face
of a heavy obligation to stay alive
For he carries the weight
of the dead
and they call to him
from their unmarked graves

Find a way
to justify
a day of doing nothing

You don't owe the world a thing
But, maybe,
it owes you something

When that big dark cloud
floats above your head
standing like a vulture
over unclaimed dead
When it casts it's long shadow
And troubles your sky
Insist that it move
to let the sun by

Cry in the rain
And the world cries with you

Sometimes I feel the Reaper
Winking at me
He wants to come over
For a chat and some tea
He’ll tell me that I am nothing
But an echo from the past
My future behind me
That I’m fading fast
He’ll score some very clever points
To weaken my resolve
Then sincerely assure me
There’s no problem he can’t solve
But like my neighbor’s crazy dog
Who barks up an empty tree
He and I
Won’t see eye to eye
And he may not enjoy his tea

May I rest against a tree
To part from this tired world
And like Fall leaves
That once set free
Fly like wings unfurled

May it be an Autumn wind
Warmed by the breath of God
That brings my soul home again
As they bury me ‘neath the sod

Silly hearts
****** toons
and goofballs
make light of all that is heavy
for us
and won't leave
a bucket of tears
without a barrel full of laughs
for balance

As I step through
a small patch of woods
this fine morning
I feel the cold breath
of Winter on my neck
I catch a glimpse
of a rabbit's white tail
bobbing in and out of my sight
It's Thanksgiving
and this moment of near silence
is not lost on me
As I head back
I pretend to be a woodsman
following the last of Autumn's
long shadows
to a warm house
that will soon fill of family and friends
and I am grateful for it

Geez Louise
I’ve been brought to my knees
Gripped by some evil
besieged by fried cheese
Enduring the upset
as best as I can
If only the stuff
had stayed stuck in the pan!

It happens every Thanksgiving day
Because I do not think ahead
I do not think about the pie
Until I 've eaten too much bread
I do not think about the bread
'til I've eaten too much dressing
And I'm usually on my second plate
Before I've heard the blessing

Every afternoon
from the window of an abandoned building
a young boy plays a weathered guitar
his voice is sweet and enchanting
his message is one of love and hope
all that hear him are swept away
in a flood of euphoria and bliss
eventually he stops and disappears
all color drains from the street
there is no sound
the people go back to sleep
dreaming in a silent movie that is their lives

Such simplicity
yet magnanimous in its undertaking
One marvels at the whole of it
in awe of the glorious painstaking detail
Colors calm and easy
leaving no part of it's aura unappeasing
It's nature so sincere and moving
the stricken feel the need to bow

Sometimes, we can be such geniuses
Caught in the lies
Of what we think we know
It's just part of the show
Trading truth
For a clever disguise

Handpicked from of the street
they sat at his dinner table
stuffing themselves with free food and drink
laughing at all his stories
while he made his notes
Later, he would sketch
exaggerations
of his uglier observations
People were unmasked and revealed
for what they were
Fine profiles of the grotesque
in the ever growing catalogue raisonne.

Never one
to hold his tongue
the devil child within me
transforms the light breeze of peace
into a tempest of chaos
blowing storms over
my sea of tranquility
I need to give him
a warm loving embrace
of understanding
but all I want to do
is slap the brat’s face

Tiny blue ballerina
Dancing in a storm
Chaos all about her
As she tries to hold her form
The dreary sets seem out of place
And the music isn't right
The cellos have been fighting
With flutes all blasted night
Remember tiny dancer
You are following your bliss
So, take that ever graceful bow
And blow the audience a kiss

Tiny blue ballerina
Dancing in a storm
Chaos all about her
As she tries to hold her form
The dreary sets seem out of place
And the music isn't right
The cellos have been fighting
With the flutes throughout the night
Remember tiny dancer
You are following your bliss
So, take that ever graceful bow
And blow the audience a kiss