Alone on the plains of immortal grace,
Stands a lemon tree,
Planted from a single seed,
Watered by tears,
Pruned by a biting breeze.

Guarded by the lion
Who sings of wintry days,
Where skies turned pale
And nights sing.

Of an old soul,
Roaming starfields and comet roads,
Even as cold suns and river runs
Fell into black holes—
Still, the old soul roamed.

Tears of grief,
Like silver leaves,
Drifted on the cosmic breeze.

And where the lion sat beneath the lemon tree,
He listened to its haunting song—
Of love
Lost and gone.

Grief is a sacred song,
A raging roar
For his dearest one and family,
Buried below
This lemon tree,
Ancient and old,
Sowing bitter roots.

Where the lion roams,
He roars,
And the lemons grow.

There he’ll die,
Returning to the fruits of home,
Wrapped in leaves.
Until his song has ceased,
Lives the Lemon and the Lion.

Strung up for all to see
Hanging lifelessly
I see no reason to think you mighty.
It's one thing to ****
Another to hang it like a morbid trophy
No respect for the life it was,
Return it to the field and let it be
A beauty it once was even if you couldn't see.
Hanging corpses by the roadside
What have we become?
Or have we returned to the Romans of old?
Maybe some dumb kids with nothing better to do but chase a Coyote.
It hangs,
A sign we still have far to come
Before we can claim we are humanity.

Some were built for this,
Not me.
I’ve lived a life of peace,
Family to raise,
Work twenty days,
Cook and eat.
Bend knees to whatever creates ease,
Not me.
My soul lives in the hurricane,
I gaze with unease,
My boots are always on my feet,
And I feel too old for this beat.
I don’t crave the fight,
Not me.
But in peace I’m not meant to be,
Born for change,
Burn bright and blaze with intensity,
A moment where my fire isn’t caged,
Followed by release.
A soldier, samurai or knight,
I’ve lived and died,
A thousand times, a thousand red tears
That is me.
Biding my time,
Till my soul can once again breathe.

A bitter truth I sit down to write
But the words stop and nothing flows
So I sit and think
Stare at the wall and wonder about the paint
Is it grey or primer paint?
Then I remember what I came to say
If only the words would stay
So I decide to come back another day
Only to find the words at 2 am
There goes another night of sleep
Written in four words I weep
"Why can't I sleep?"

Once I wrote
It was free
And I drowned
In what I thought and what I feel
I found no limit to myself
And on this journey
I discovered
It started where I ended
With some words I wrote
On a paper hidden
In a place I had forgotten

Fear is love that's turned sour
It tries to poison your mind
That's okay
We all lose to it some days
Which fear creeps within?
The virus,
The economy,
Insanity?
Or perhaps all three.
It'll be alright
Fear just blows smoke in our eyes
Makes us forget we're the scary things at night
No one owns your life
Even if they behave otherwise.
If you break,
You'll get up just fine
You aren't alone even if it feels that way sometimes.
It'll be alright
Nothing lasts
Not the good or the bad
Only you
Making the best of both either way.
So write your words, speak your peace
Someone ought to hear it
They probably needed it today
So they know it'll be okay.

I stoke the fire
It's cold outside, snow is falling
This old stove keeps us warm
I watch the flames ripple and churn
Devouring the wood with appetite
It's beautiful to watch it burn
The smoky scent wafts through the air
Wrapping around me like a lovers embrace
The flames dance in my eyes I can feel their heat
It warms my skin and fills my soul
I thank winter for this gift,
Of hearth and home
Its cold and snowy days
Make the warmth so much more
Than a hot and sunny day.

A whirlwind that demands attention
Overwhelming all in its path
A gentle breeze is swept away
To a tornado of fierce solipsism.

Living a life overrun by storms
Emotions of a dangerous form
Never finding shelter
Always torn from the healthy norm.

Can't you see what you've done to me?
Grown but still bracing myself
From winds I can't outrun
I can't yield to them anymore.

These feelings are yours
I don't give a **** anymore
I've knelt too long to your storm
I love you still but this raging sea does not command me like the child before.

I hear you calling my name
Looking back from some other time
I put the phone down and I'm not opening the door
I'm not answering anymore

You think you're a wolf
Stalking the prey
Let me show you something real today
When I release the lioness from her cage

I see them coming across the plains
Dressed in white
Pretending they are messengers of the divine
They are coming for me
Little do they know
I'm not clothed in sin or dressed in white

Hate never stood at the door
But justice came by and spoke to me
Claimed she saw me on the front page
Of a book long escaped
Since she's companioned with me
And now she's asking your name

I hear you calling my name
Looking back from some other time
I put the phone down and I'm not opening the door
I'm not answering anymore

Because if I do you'll be at death's door.

Like every day it comes and goes
A number on a page
Of September moon
The sixth day just like my great-grandmother
Except she she was in 1920
I came on Labor Day
My mother says she took the meaning seriously
But that was many years ago today
Three, six, nine
I've got them in spades
My poker face hides the smile that never fades
Born in dying heat of Autumn blues
Refreshing cool and end of summer
Have always been my restful cue
Twenty-seven may it be a good year for you.

Dead light
Passing by
More alive than you or I
Released into ether
Held by past memory
A balloon in a child's hand
Looking for ancestral might
Connection in our changing lives
Something to grab hold of
When the storm blows by.
When the light fades,
And I close my eyes
Let me go
I'll always be here,
In a cool breeze when the sun is high,
In the storm bringing water when the ground is dry,
And in the smile when you cry
A ghost I will not be
I'll exist in everything.

Drinking this earthy swill
Wearing shoes too small
Told a career would make me grow
Make sense of this all
Work hard and it'll all settle into place
Took a few years to see the lie
It's all shoes that are too small
College paying with paper straws
I'm too young for the looks I give
I'm too old to be singing this song
Let's go
Pretend we all know how the records spinning
Sipping cheap *****
Talking about the way the world's burning down
We're not living the way our grandparents did
Lost the house and kids along the way
We'll get there eventually
Or so we say
Was the job part of the game?
I forgot the password to play
Let me check my cat's middle name
Swipe my ID
For some digital pay
Slipping on my ill-fitting shoes
Remembering when it didn't feel this way
But the clocks struck 00
And now decade 20
The world's in a craze
But hey let's go
We're barely old enough to know any other way.

Voices dripping off the walls
Music playing through the halls
The world's eye
Spinning around the drain
Insanity whispering sweet calls
Empty knocks at the door
Tick-tock of the handless clock
The curtain dropped
Haha sing the song
The world is gone, the future went so wrong.
Stop and stare
The show has begun!
Players basking in the rising sun
Let the circus run
In the streets and in your homes
They're watching to see what you've done
As they sharpen their butcher knives just for fun.
Hahaha
Dance down the halls
The joker has come to lead us all
Down the spiral staircase
The masters wait
For their puppets to behave
Scratch the walls
Tear them down
The illusions were meant to fall
It's empty towns
The minds couldn't cope to stay
Left the place
We stayed when the asylum has come to play.

Good or Evil?
Simple terms
Circumstance and happenstance
Treated equally by the tactician
Grave ambition
Touched by sedition
Allied?
Never truly known
Honor code
To a people unknown
A servant never meant to bow
A warrior or a monster
Depends whose writing now
Know when he comes around
You've lost before you began
It's only a matter of time now

An artist's cup
Full and empty all at once
Schrödinger's cat in another life
Second sight coupled with the afterlife
Feeling a little too much
Artists need a place to bleed
Somewhere to be free
Riddled artistry
A cup of gravity
Unique to each who drinks
Crafted by creativity
Drained by objectivity
An everlasting cup
Filled with hopes and dreams
Pains and philosophies

I dreamt of an old friend
And I dreamt of an old enemy
One came to me and said,
"How has life been?"
The other asked,
"Gotten anywhere since we were kids?"
We talked for a bit
I made peace with one
And remembered the other
One apologized and said she understood now
I nodded and said I know I'm different
My hair isn't blonde and eyes aren't blue
I don't call this place home,
I don't worship same as you.
I walked away feeling sort of strange
After all these years I know they were one of the same.

There is the poet who writes
Of broken hearts,
Love gone right and awry,
Then there is a poet who tells
Of lonely days,
Life's litte mysteries,
Another poet still will sing
Of beauty in nature's glory,
Of the seasons and roses,
The last poet will hardly be one at all
Not the most lyrical
Writing a soliloquy
From pondering love to moonlit nights
This poet will drown in thoughts
If you be a poet ask yourself one thing,
What do I leak?
Blood or poetry

Parallel lines
Never meant to touch and dare not cross
Stretching lonely into infinity
Perpendicular lines
Crossing at ninety degrees
A point on a graph, measured by x and y
Which are you?
Do you cross the line or stay to the side?
A mathematical certainty
A probability to me
Statistically not meant to be
Yet here we are
Playing the game of chance
Fifty-fifty is all we can say
It's logical
I've done the math
You and I were meant to cross paths

Been looking in my well as of late
Saw my reflection on the watery face
I don't have much to say
There was plenty to hear
But I didn't want to listen
I was tired of its watery song
It's been quiet as of late
Leaving me with my wintry soul
It weaves and blows
Its direction unknown
Always returning with a story
Been looking in my well
Saw my watery face
Never dry as silence unfolds

Someone dreamed me up,
Crafted me with a face of stars,
A body to belong,
Though I never quite belonged here.

The mask was fit bit by bit.
When the voices were too loud,
In slipped the stone.
When I laughed instead of cried,
The stoic mouth formed.

When the mask was complete,
Not a ***** could be seen.
It was smooth,
Made of stone and glass.
Forged in fire and set in ice.

Now this mask holds,
Though there are fault lines.
There the dark and stars reside.
It’s cold in this place,
Though I don’t mind.

I imagine the time,
When the mask breaks
And those who wait,
Embrace what’s been hidden beneath.
It’ll be a day when the dreamer wakes me.

Freedom unleashed
Took a shot or two to do
Pressed against the wall
Hot water soaking aching muscles as it falls
Breathing deep without a sound
Funny how you don't see the stress
Until it floats around
Let it down the drain
With the ***** water
Let yourself relax
Till the worries rinse off,
Into the ground
Where it's cleansed for another round.

Voice ringing out silently
Where only shadows go
Memories coming round
Faces of the untold
They came easily enough
Seeking some sound
Silence knows no bounds
Breaking these walls down
Underneath was abandoned and cold
Dark shadows come
Their quiet gazes strike home
Breaking the heart's hesitations
Shadows where do you roam?
Have you found home?
Creatures of light and void
You understand the struggle within
Won't you stay?
Help me find solace within this shadow of home
Shadow calling was my gift
Born from grace in the unknown
Where darkness flows
And light bends to grab hold
Hear my calls
As I empty my soul

Oceanscapes
Followed by swirled green
And jagged cliff face
Pinched between index and thumb
A child's hand
Small but fully in command
Sits the glass sphere
A world of fantasies
Ruled by the little king
He keeps his sphere in line
With all his other worldly glass
He counts and names them off
Declaring law on his domain
His galaxy until he grows up some day
He'll think of other things then
Until he grows old
And sees his old marbles
Will he wonder what happened,
To his peoples he created?
Or think himself an old man full of flight and fancy?
I hope he remembers
For the marbles sake

There is a man who lives on a corner
Where students live, right next to the practice fields.
He's older and a smoker
He stands on the corner everyday
At a four-way stop
Smoking one after another.
I've seen him in snow, bitter cold and sweltering hot days.
Always smoking
He's out all day it seems,
Watching the cars pass by
Pausing in confusion because they don't know how to obey a stop sign.
I think he must laugh sometimes
Watching the world pass by.
I've seen him for years but I've never known his name
He almost seems like an old friend sometimes
I pass by and see him there nearly every time
I always wonder why
What led him to a life of smoking all the time?
I know the answer I heard it one time,
A veteran who didn't come back alright,
people whisper in shame as they pass by.
But his eyes are a genuine kind.
He smokes, killing time.
I wonder if he's just waiting to die
But still I see him and he brings a smile to mind.
To the man on the corner, smoking all the time.

Tips of wheat brush gently across my fingers
I weep
But there are no tears that stream
Or muffled sobs
Only me in a field of wheat
A place among the stars
Why here?
In this field of golden stalks and grey sky
I'm answered by the breeze
Caressing my face with gentle embrace
Sight fades for feeling's sake
The illusion of life slips away
I am left with these golden stalks and breeze
Here I am free
Among the wheat with my lonely tree
I rest peacefully

I wrote a dozen poems in one night
A dip into memoryscape
Take my hand and hold it tight
I've remembered the way
A place of serenity in my sights
My footsteps mark the place
I need a companion to remind me it's alright
Someone to grant me a little time
To reassure the pillar of its might
Wise man's knowing why
Needs the understanding Seer's eyes
The soldier needs to hold his weapon tight
The traveler needs a memory of home
And the seeker needs to know there is light
Empty eyes need sight
Relief comes one step away
Do not grieve me as I go
Empty eyes have glimpsed a sight

I empty myself
Let the cup run dry
As the goddess speaks
She promised me
It's what keeps my dreams
My dusty feet are worn
And I search for relief
She answers me
With wreaths and answers I can hardly surmise
The great divide makes it hard sometimes
Remember us! They plead
I emptied myself last night
Waiting for the goddess to arrive
She came right on time
What draws me is her connection to me
The shapes and colors I see
The ones that resound with me,
Are where I need to be
For this long hike into eternity.

Three ranges
Running North and South
Miles expressed homeward bound
Jagged peaks
Plummet down
Earth's chest breathing in rise and fall
Easy now
Two valleys
Empty barren lands
One road stretching down
Through the valleys
Where shadows dip
Painting their shrouds
So the sun may not beat down
Three ranges
Two valleys
One road
Summit peaks and empty creeks
The valleys do speak
To all who travel the open ground

A swath of fabric worn and old
Patches upon patches
The shoulders worn beyond repair
No protection from the bitter cold
Hardly a coat to protect the little man
Who hurries along the cobbled streets
Of his cold and clouded city
A denizen of little want
Serving mother Russia with little pay
Harldy enough to buy a new cloak
He douses his candles to save them
And steps lightly to save his shoes
To buy a new cloak to keep him warm
A necessity giving hope in his dreary life
Brightening his mood
He steps out in his new cloak
That he scrimped and saved for a year
Feeling like a rich man in his warmth
A few days of happiness bought
A great expense for a lowly man
Taken by harsh men of ill repute
So broken was the little man
He died very soon
Haunting the people of his city
For the cloak taken from him.

Thundering plains
Winding down a valley haze
The heart came to play
But its lonely beat was not met
So the horses came
Trotting in time
They knew the spirit of the wind
And the passion of the land
When the beat is left alone
Listen closely for thundering hooves
Coming to meet the heart
Free in the wildness
The horses come to dance with the lonely beat

I saw a wound today,
For the first time it bothered me.
I've seen death,
I know the cuts,
To be made to free muscle from skin,
How could a little blood and flesh bother me today?
Have my eyes lost their hardness?
I know the feel of bone,
And all the names of its marks and holes.
Why did it bother me so?
I've seen the body as many never should.
Today maybe my soul finally understood,
And it made another's pain its own.

A record plays a scratchy song of yesterday
I sit down
Dust the weariness away
With some soulless rain

The sun sets
A reprieve from the snake
While my cares and apathy battle away
Seeking balance before the ending day

The words and thoughts are stale
I've tired of their endless debates
So I watch the sun set
Listening to Cohen play

I remember the day
All I felt and forgot
It may have been too much
That's okay

I know
And found a better way
A raspy tongue
Steinbeck feels the same to me

Some days I forget my way
I don't know what to say
My sighs are defunct
And silver is grey

Perhaps Cohen can light a match
Smoky voices and acoustic beats
Are beautiful today
After memory decayed

I'd love to hear freedom ring
Not with flags and anthems playing
But with afternoon rains and poetry
With pleasant ease
No future or past weighing in
Bodies just a simple vase to hold what's within
No oppression busting bones
Mind clear like crystal stones
Imagination left to soar like it was meant to be
No limits to be achieved
Freedom is hard won
The soul begs to be released
The mind demands to be free
The body craves comforted peace
Listen to the silent pleas
Let freedom ring
Let it ring for all of humanity.

I saw myself today
Standing on the plains
The sky was grey
And the breeze smelled of rain
Tall grass brushed against my legs

I turned and saw myself
Asking why I came
My answer was a smile upon my face
Electricity coursing through my veins
My breath a part of the day
Giving life and letting go of every pain

I saw myself today
Sitting in a storm by a single tree
The winds never disturbing the place
Laughter on my lips
Sadness in my eyes
Questions and answers dancing happily
While I rest

I saw myself today
Having nothing and everything to say
On the grassy plains
I let the scene slide
Knowing it's where I reside
Where heaven and earth collide.

This is a short story. It's not very long but may take a minute or two to read.            

There is a story kept in the libraries of
a distant place.
A very old one indeed,
Of three powerful beings who were so vast they encompassed everything.
The eldest two knew their offspring would struggle,
It was always so but they would balance the peace.
The youngest cared little for what the other two had to do.

One said, "for as long as I live I'll keep my children safe and teach them my ways."
The other said, "I will keep my children out of your way for it is their nature to have free reign."
So the two powerful beings gave rise to their children.

Chaos told his offspring to do as they wish only to stay away from a certain place.
Order smiled at her children and brought them up well.
While the youngest, Life was content to wander around.
This was the way of things until one day.

A fourth being thought dead,
Skulked from the distance
Watching the children play.
It looked upon Order's children and saw how strong they were.
It used its ancient powers to pull at the children's minds.
But Order's children did not listen to the thoughts and walked away.
So the being went to Chaos's children and saw them free and powerful.
It smiled and corrupted their thoughts
And Chaos's children were driven insane.

They ignored their father's advice and lost who they were.
Before this day chaos was never a bad thing, but balance was lost.
Order's children saw this and worried for their distant friends,
As different as they were, they all came from the same place.
By then Order and Chaos had left into the vast powers they were
And commanded their children no more.
So started a war, of two races so opposite and yet of the same blood borne.
The war raged long and far.
It was ******,
Deeds were committed that forever changed the nature of all we are.
Even ancient blood was spilled and that was too much.
When gods weep the universe bleeds.

Chaos's children regained who they were,
But not before a heavy price was paid.
Order's children forgave but bitter blood still finds hate.
These children so old and ancient now sit in wait.
Watching as the rest of the universe grows in pain.
First born and now they wait.
For the rest to learn the lessons of their great mistake.