I thought I wanted to write a poem
mistakingly I guess I'm not .
Thought I could create something
masterful
I guess that idea is shot
Like false labor pains
I  thought it was going to come
But the pains just faded away
Now I know it's naught
My muse used to dance and sing
After midnight by the clock
Lately it's been going to bed
around eight thirty or nine o'clock
So I'm left out by myself
trying to do my best
But my best is pathetic
it simply can't pass the test
So now I say goodnight my friends
As I leave you with this mess

I had desire to ride
the streetcars of my youth
I ran from the wild mustangs
in the box canyons of my mind
The muddy waters of the river
made me sick in mind and body
As the infestation of black crickets
covered the streets of night and time

When I rode west I was chasing the past
that I have yet to catchup to
I fell from the peaks of my mountains
only to be evicted from the valleys below
Dwelt in punishment in the balcony
of my ways
As the lashes left nothing more than
mental anguish buried in the ashes of sin

I found no blood in the peach orchards
nor any breath in the fields of water melons
I was made thirst in the shallow oasises
of my eyes
left to desicate fulfilling such promises
as , "Ashes to Ashes , Dust to Dust ."
With nothing inbetween

The poem was titled
"Why did you leave me?"
Another boo hoo love gone wrong poem
I said to myself ,
"Let me see I'm sure it goes like this":
Woke up fell out of bed (Beatles)
"All by myself" "Céline Dion"
"I can't live if living is without you" (Bee Gees)
Yeah , I can smell the classic heartbreak song like a skunk hit by a Mac truck
And what's worse is the people who will ogle over it and praise it saying :
"I so relate to this poem"
"Thank you for sharing "
adding to another collection !
Humph !

I'm lucky .
All my broken hearts came cheap .
No bomb exploding inside inside the house blowing away half the family .
No children drowned crossing the sea .
No wife sacrificing herself for her family .
No I was lucky
Just girls and women dumping me
because I had to work on weekends
Or I smacked my lips while eating
Or the ever used , no reason at all
Yeah , they left with everything intact
No blown up house
No babies lying on a beach
Everything intact but my sanity
For two cents you can have that

Maybe I will read that poem anyway
Every breakup is unique
And real
Just maybe it will touch my soul

I lay upon the tranquility
beneath the stars
Wondering at the wonder
that made us who we are
The water's are black
but warm around me
I float like the ripples
of the surrounding sea .
There is a silence
that I long to know well
Somehow it's alluded me
All I can say is oh well
Eventually I wash up
onto the shore
I crawl up
like my ancestors before
I sit on the dunes
the sands of my time
That once were great moutains
made out of granite and lime
But before all of this was
Before even the wetness of sea
Even before there were
the great mountains that be
Farther back than
than any memories
I wonder where is the point
from where did I depart
to make my journey's home
to find a new start

I used to swim across the channel to rattlesnake island when I lived
in Florida . We all knew the sharks loved
the funneling action of the channel to the bay . And we were always aware that there were sharks near by . We saw them every day . Yet the allure of the island just a scant one hundred yards away was to much for a 10 year old to pass up . So I would swim across holding a rod and reel high so it would not soak in sea water . I admit there was apprehension evident in my strokes and kicks but I made it across . On the other side there were no rattlesnakes anywhere .
Just gorgeous unclaimed white beaches and aqua clear water . Needle fish scooted across the surface and schools of mullet jumping were all I could see . I did little or no fishing , just running and jumping into the surf . What an afternoon it was . But the sun slid down and we knew we had to leave soon as the big sharks move in at dusk to feed into the night . So we stepped into the swirling waters of the channel and then plunged in and swam . Sharks have all black eyes . Cold  black eyes and an expressionless grin that is all business sporting a mouth full of jagged dagger teeth . They are cautious up to a point but no one knows where that point is . Once that point is reached . . . well you don't want to see that point while your in the water . So about half way across the channel we see a dark shadow swim by in front of us between us and the beach . We know it's a shark , a big one . Perhaps more than fifteen feet long . We can't stay where we are at , but we fear to move on . So taking a deep breath we swim on slow and steady . Finely the beach is at hand , our feet touch sand and we run up on the beach and collapse . Then with heaving chests of fear we look back only to see the shark swim by . Needless to say that was my last visit to rattlesnake island .

If I dreamed
I'd deam of you
I'd dream of all the misery
That you put me through

I'm so glad
You're not around
You're such a clown
Cept for the fact you turned smiles upside down

So now you're gone
I couldn't care less
Can't you see it was all for the best

So don't you call
I cut the line
Other than you
Everything is absolutely fine

Can't you see it was never meant to be
We're as different as the birds are
From the fish in the sea

So don't you cry
We'll get by
There's got to be some clouds
Before you can have blue skies

Can't you see it was never meant to be
We're as different as the birds are from
The fish in the sea

So let's just say our goodbyes
I see a tiny twinkle of moisture in your eyes

So let's just say our last goodbye
I'm not ashamed of the twinkle in my eye
No , I'm not ashamed of the tears in my eyes

Freedom is a state of mind .

Used to build great towers of nothing .

Blossoms are the
Hopes and dreams
Attached to the thorny
Stems of life
We all have to climb
To smell the roses

You wouldn't know it if it was
clinging as your skin

You keep it buried under piles
of situational sin

Your tongue clamps down
refusing to let the words come free

Your dubious looks somehow fits
that is all telling now to me

Listen to the words you let stumble
from the corners of your mouth

They codify your existence like the hot
dry winds coming from the south

You're afraid to give what little faith
you hide away in fears

Then you are caught looking back
on the mystery of the years

Suckling on an unlit pipe
(Talk about your pipe dreams)
Drag a name all over the place
While you jolly at the screams
You ! Yes You !
You don't care anymore

With creme in the corners of your mouth
You talk of trophies collected
About how you might be moving South
As if Carpet baggers were superior
To white trash

In the labored book of pages
All the print has been pressed and
Preserved in numerical stages
"Pressed and Preserved"
Like the life of the rose
Bitter in decay

Well I used to pick you up after work and we would go drink beer and eat pita bread sandwiches while we played pool all night long until closing time .

You had a Martin Guitar and a voice to sing that made the angelics cry . You were friends of Maggie's fame , the Angel from Montgomery . Together the two of you would sing and stun the audience . The people couldn't believe it .

You were my Girl Friday next to Sunday's release . You were good enough on weekends but the rest of the week not .

So sing The Song Of The Turtles as Blind Joe Death dances away . I found out the hard way it takes seven days to make a week .

Each day is kindling
Night time consumed in desire

She is a matchstick
to my wild raging fire

Her thoughts are made of gasoline
Her touch is so hot

When she holds me
My whole world will rock

She is an angel with a robe made of fire
She licks at my flesh
and the flames shot higher

She is an angel
burning brightly in my might

She will devour me
trying to make ash out of the night

I will be the devil
To her earthly delight

But I refuse to burn
I wIll not ignite

She is an angel , a flame of delight
She is my angel
As we burn down the night

She says she is too short
Will have to stand on stool
To kiss my lips

She says her afflictions
Different only in that
They are all too great

She says I can find
A better edition
Of any year I choose

That all the combinations
In searing truth
Are just to much to take

It's this , then that
And all of the rest
She say's I should detest

But when
I hold her in my arms
I know I found my place

AH ! Choo ! My haiku !
I just blew the words away
Keep them , they're yours now .

I want to make love to a poetess
To caress her perfect metaphors

I want to taste her salty vowels
To embrace her nouns with care

I wish to kiss the lips of rhyme
Spread the legs of time

I long to lay on her haiku
Watch her image shine

I long to watch the ****** unfold
As each poem penatrates

Then we will complete an ode to love
As we watch the endings mate

She's a leaping high five
with her feet planted firmly
on the ground

She is a crescendo of sound
and emotion . Puts her finger to her lips and shushes me .

She bathes in moonbeams while
tantalizing stars knowing
their touch is too far

She hides behind the clouds when
the sun burns . Capturing the rays and
hiding  them in kelidoscopic jewels she wears around her ankles so she can see
where she walks on moonless nights

She teaches fairies to dance in rings
and in return becomes the dance instead

She's the Cheshire's smile that
disappears on the wings of a firefly

You wouldn't know it if it was
clinging as your skin

You keep it buried under piles
of situational sin

Your tongue clamps down
refusing to let the words come free

Your dubious look somehow fits
that is all telling now to me

Listen to the words you let stumble
from the corners of your mouth

They codify your existence like the
hot dry winds coming from the south

You're afraid to give up what little
faith you hide away in fears

Then you are caught looking back
on the mystery of the years

Marriage is the leading cause of divorce !

Let me take you down in the morning
Let me take you down at night
Let my hands flow over you
Let your lips be my delight

Let me lose my inhibition
Let me see your exhibition
Let us entwine our fingers
Let us not wait now or linger

Let me lay now with your silence
Let the stars decide who we are
Let the moment never wither
Let not time now come to Mar

Let me love you in the morning
Let me take you down tonight
Let my hands now be one with you
Let our dreams now take to flight

What are the lies
lying behind the shades
of your ever deceiving eyes

The now famous boil weevil
caused all manor
of Southern White upheaval

The Seven Bark road
weaves over Double Oak Mountain
collecting heat and evening toads

Smoke from the forest fire
gives the lisping sunset
colors that surely inspire

Your August embrace
and February kiss present
a hot and cold emotional case

And the motions made
over the days that come
leave life lower than grave

The summer's green pumpkins
lay squash in fields of dream
dangling in winter's winds .

Butterflies do not cocoon
Only moths are of that sway
They instead do the Chrysalis
They were born to be that way

So next time you write that line
Put up a disclaimer I say
Only moths cocoon in time
Butterflies don't cross dress that way

So it came to pass and the battle begun
By the bite of an adder ,
a sword shinning in sun
You pierced Mordred's heart
with the spear you found
He split your head
knocking you to the ground

Return my sword to the Lady of the Lake
I've not long ,
for tomorrow I won't make
Place my body on my shield
Use it as my tier
Let my people see and shed any tears
Bear me away
to the far sacred shore
My eyes are dimming
I can see no more
Seal my dreams in my breast to be
This be my final request
I'll ask of thee

You shape in a drape with bright disease
Claws sharp , Dixie fried , everything plus
Focus your audio gin mill cowboy
Hanging paper while interviewing your
brains , no place to jungle up
Know your groceries lead sled
Until you noodle it out keep it
Mason-Dixon line
It's all off the cob .


Bass drum knuckles - one who loudly over shadows anyone else , a bully .

A shape in a drape - well dressed

Bright disease - to know too much

Claws sharp - well informed on a variety of subjects

Dixie Fried - drunk

Everything plus -  better than good looking

Focus your audio - listen carefully

Gin mill cowboy - a bar regular

Hanging paper - playing with forged checks or documents . Liar .

Interviewing your brains - thinking

Jungle up - having a specific place to live or to be

Know your groceries - being aware , do things well

Lead sled - a classic (older) car

Mason-Dixon line - anywhere out of bounds regarding personal space

Noodle it out - think it through

Off the cob - corny

All the above except title provided by Adrienne Crezo .

Thus it begins
a flickering candle by the pane
Moist drops on the same
Clouds ******* dressed in white
scurry on by

Your pale face on the pillow
as asleep you are
As candlelight races up and down
the peaceful lips you impart

Low rumbles tell me not far
The flash tells me to prepare
And a sudden gust moves the trees
like Swan Lake in green

You stir not nor respond
You continue to slumber on

The clouds have enmeshed
in wind , rain and light
Thunder barks  and growls
Trees bow to their might

Still you drift on in another world
I am trapped by storm
WhIle you fly by free
in peace that's unadorn

It used to be
exciting just before the dawn
It used to be
amazing to see a shooting star's swarm
It used to be
frightening to stand out in a storm
It used to be
all of these and so so so much more

I used to marvel
at the ways that were of woman
I used to marvel
at the way a baby lay sleeping
I used to do a lot of things
that now I would not undertake
I used to do a lot things
that I now know were mistakes

I used to , used to ,
but now I'm all used up
I am awake before the dawn
but it wasn't by choice or fate
And as I search a cloudless sky
looking for the star that passed me by
I'm thinking to myself
"used to" comes softly with a sigh

In the dark made agitation
The memories are bound
The hounds out of Hell
Come running you down
You say now your lucky
To even be alive
But deep down in your heart
You wished you had never survived

You count the wrinkles
One day at a time
All of your dreams and wishes
Are hung out on the line
Saying you've got nothing
To look forward to
While your looking . . . looking
Way far behind


Welcome to the burning
of the Hotel in California
Of the years and fears
To the lost yesteryears
Pack it up and get lost
Your leaving California
You can never go back
There's nothing there and that's a fact

You've been replaced
By fresh faces of today
They leave you behind
In their haste to make hay
No one remembers you
It was before they were born
What you once were
Now it's not the norm

So get ready to burn the
Hotel in California
It's outlived it's day
Don't stand in the way
Watching the flames roaring higher
Burning down the house
Such a lovely house
Such a lovely . . . home

Tears falling from one that said it could never happen to them

Miss C was alluring me
The way she was slumped over
as if she didn't care
And S was always bubbling over
Whipping back and forth
as if she was a live electric wire
But M caught my attention most
Oh ! She'd boast and boast
raise her ******* and voice
And in time she twirled
around my roulette wheel
Homing in upon the center
She started to touch all of my numbers
Even tweeked me with her finger
Then it all became clear
when the ball fell on the number
"Oh damm ! I'm tired ! I think I'll
take you home and slumber"

The Eagle's wing gives us feathers supreme
Stroked against the face
Such a loving grace

The Owl's wing gives us knowledge best
Touching breast
Makes the ******* stand up to test

A Falcon's feather slim and fast
Teases the senses of all the lass
Stroked between the legs
And the young girl begs

And the sauge goes on

A Mockingbird's feathers
Between the toes
And soon soothing giggles
Just explode

Then twisting behind the knees
Oh mercy !
Only if you please

But the Dove's feather
upon the eyelids
Such pleasure !
Dreams are made of these

Now the pinpoint of any quill
Repetitiously pointed at will
Makes then shudder
before they squeal

And that is how you make
A Bird of Paradise
Shake , quiver , and utterly
Entices her will

I'm tired of twisting in my days
Looking for a thin straight line
The Minotaur looked at me
I could see the Theseus
there upon his mind

The labyrinth is not the same
It's turned into a maze
I have no more reasons now
I must be on my way

So the Minotaur made reservations
The Mediterranean
Is nice this time of year
He flew tourist class
With a herd of after Christmas deer

Minos called and made his request
Come back this instance
Was his plea
But the Minotaur was bullheaded about it
There's more to this than you , it's me

So the Minotaur stayed upon his beach
Never regretting making the call
Trapped inside our living labyrinth
Is one maze too tall

The distance may have had no visible edge
As the dust was stirred into a plague
And the reasons seemed dim
And tattered by the storm

And we trudged on through every mile
Using only our wits to beguile
While the sun looked down
baking our desires with resolve

We looked up to face the sun
Cracked lips and blistered skin hung
From the bones and sinewy thoughts
Of the dammed destined to be lost

One by one we fell and died
While the lake mirages flat out lied
And the scorpions taunted us so
"You fools you've got no where to go"

And the coolness of the evening
Came to late except for the grieving
And all it could do
Was hover over the dead

There was no guilt nor any innocence
There was only the reality of circumstance
That death is a certainty
While life is not

So the sun rose on another day
Everything will in time have it's say
But this morning the desert
remained silent in it's refuge

We thread the wide gapped steel
With chemically dipped points
The fluoro carbons the distance
With near zero stretch
We braid our thoughts to tungsten
Then peg our weight immobile
Flip Flip Flip all day
Between the weeds and pads
Ever present presence fine tuned
To any tick upon the line
Snap ! Big one

Well I'm runnin'down the road
Try'n to loosen my load
I've got seven women on my mind
Four that want to own me
Two that want to stone me
One says she's a friend of mine
Take it easy , take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own wheels
Drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can
Don't even try to understand
Just find a place to make your stand
And take it easy
Well I'm standing on a corner
In Winslow Arizona
Such a fine sight to see
It's a girl my lord
In a flat-bed Ford
Slowing down to take a look at me
Come on baby , don't say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love
Is gonna save me
We may lose and we may win
Though we will never be here again
So open up I'm climbing in
So take it easy
Well I'm runnin' down the road
Tryin' to loosen my load
Got a world of trouble on my mind
Lookin' for a lover who
won't blow my cover
She's so hard to find
Take it easy , take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own wheels
Make you crazy
Come on baby , don't say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love's
Gonna save me

Unleash the arrow from your bow
I'm hanging by a string you know

The anger's bent you nearly in two
Your rationality has lost it's due

Cast me not across the sky
It will only leave you asking why

Put me back into your quiver
Where we can again be birds of a feather

Waiting !
For your next message
Wondering what
Wondering who
Your long overdue

Promising !
While I cruise
CNN news
While I read between
Your lines

Breathing !
All of me
Is so hard to do
When I'm caught
Waiting on you

Interstate
Internet love sick song
Leaves  me
Tap Tap Tap
Blue

All those empty cans of love
Piling up on the outside
Rusting away by
All the tears I've cried

Bent and dent
From all those lies
Crushed !
From all those tries

And like the fool I am
I reach for another can
Pry open the lid
I still have a little to give

Cold cans of love
Piled up high outide
A monument to all the times
I tried

Cold cans in the rain
Disintegrating
Turning to blood red rust
. . . my au fait

We take everything for granted
But there are only two things certain
Death . . . and life's not

Hell yeah !

You know I would never give up on you
I would never turn and walk away
You make my midday

Hell yeah !

So I am caught unprepared
Watching the sun set
Upon all my latest dreams

Oh yeah !

Lost is the mornings's gleam
Noon time glory
And the lazy afternoon's warmth

So yeah !

And I find myself melting
Into the golden sunset
And I will flow away

Hell yeah !
         Oh yeah !

Hell yeah !
         Oh yeah !

Hell yeah !

Twenty-four notes
Eight lines of three
With my silver trumpet
I bade farewell to thee

The sky was blue
The air was (so) cold
The flag was presented
After the fold

Soldiers from every branch
Stood at attention
Raised their rifles and fired
As it was standard convention

That's when I played taps
The ancient rendition
Not a sound could be heard
Storied conviction

I played taps
With a silver trumpet
On a cold day in January
And I can't forget it

Silence is best when left unspoken

God made the world with passion
If he didn't I don't want to live here
Being passionate about
Someone or something
Gives the heart reason to beat
Let your passions thrive
Let them flourish
Let them drive you
To your grave .

In da dark , way for dawn
I sing song
Alone
Way bein ye at
Sing with me a song
Sing . . . sing
Sing ya heart out
Sing cause there is no sun coming
And there's to be no morrow
Dress today to shine
In splendid glory
Come sings . . . sings
With me and mize dreams
While we wait
We can sing
As it's too late
Much late
Much too late
Sings with me

Once I open the floodgates
All the memories come pouring in

Flooding all my structures
Washing away all that is concrete

The destruction becomes prominent
The pain , bleeding , so succulent

Out on the streets slinks a moon
Going from alley to alley , bush to bush

Peeping into windows
Beyond the window's shades

Inside my moonlight faded when I traded love for the dark side of the moon

Now all my memories become wishing
Stars that I can no longer touch

Whoa , was she the one
Only God knows

I could not find a heaven
Nor an excuse for even Hell
All I was able to find
Were the cutters lying
Saying I don't even when they do

The stars are vicious beasts
As seen from miles away
They would incinerate you
If they could
They would , and do

So when man looks
Into the nightime sky
Asking all kinds of questions why
Searching for the truth is elusive
When  inside him it's denied

So I will cross the proverbial bridge
Over the trickle of a creek
Standing on both
Sides now
I'll think I'll take a leak .

The beach still looks the same
As I trek through the sand
I can hear Clarence playing
Along with the E Street Band

There's where Jay's used to be
And the stone pony too
The pony's still there
But it's doesn't look like it used to

I started running in 1973
I guess I was always born to run
I've been running ever since
But now it's not any fun

I survived living in this
Forsaken jungleland full of freaks
And still the music's playing
Down to the backstreets

On that night she was there
You know she's the one
And Clarence wails away
He can't be undone

And I hope we will all be
Meeting across the river
Roaring up thunder road
For I am still a believer

Down on thunder road !

A poem's a poem and nothing else
As they stand they will never be a tree

Even by God's decree

A poem's nothing more than the mangled thoughts
Spilling out of our heads
It's not the future that I see

Nor was it meant to be

Though I do admit
at times they tend to make me cry
And sometimes on the inside
they want to make me die

And again they give me hope
Even make me want to dance
And I come close to love and God
And they give me sense of balance

The world could do
without the poems
that funnel through our pens
But what a sorry lot we would be
without the freedom that it brings

So let the words flow like water
over Niagara Falls
Give our hearts the magic words
that make our spirits sing
Let us gain the unattained
Poems , and poetry is the name

You can collect all the loves
in your past life
and store them in your heart
and have one giant heartache

Old people need love too
That's why they die
and go to heaven

After the abandonment
Long nights with no sleep
One is the loneliest number
Never is a very long time
Entrapped

Spelled backwards :

Entrapped
Never is a long time
One is the loneliest number
Long nights with no sleep
After the abandonment

Spelled sideways from the left :

A
L
O
N
E

spelled sideways from the right :

E
N
O
L
A

Any way you spell it , it ***** .

Love is the give and take of the sea against the shore of every drop and every grain .