I used to go to the Bryce Hospital cemetery
at night and sit on a tombstone overlooking the Black Warrior River .
I used to talk to the dead but I gave it up after none of them answered back .
Still I was at ease there in the dark amongst their remains . I had no fears , no worries , no thought of tomorrow . Just a gentle touch of acceptance . I guess you could call it peace .

I gaze into the cloudy exclamation point
That once radiated pure love
Only to find the mask of Ironman
Rusting from the tears wept
In ignorance of time displayed

I curse your hollow shell felled
Before the half moon rose
To consecrate your memories denied
Oh , The indignation watching
Love ******* crumbs into heartflake

I close your eyes forbearable the pain
Stained by pain's piercing sight
I conclude in contusion's might
Now night can never be as black
As the vacancy of my heart

I look at the dismay
of my so called day
When everything seems
to be falling apart
I find myself collecting the sum
of my parts
Putting myself back together again .

With a grin !

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

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 rose from the waters

Of couse she was wet

Her hair mingled in moss

rigor mortis ? not yet !

I stood for cautious

My heart cried out in fear

FOOL ! don't go any closer

This is certainly most weird

She left watery footsteps

As she ascended the hill

To the abandon cemetery

Where all rested so still

There on a knoll

She spread out a cover

Sat down and awaited her lover

A screech by a cat

A hoot of the owl

And in the air

A stench so evil and foul

She rose to her feet

As he appeared in the gloom

They embraced

By the light of the moon

His eyes were live coals

His breath sulphur hot

His clothes were impeccable

His skin dried and taut

Together they sat

But there was nary a word

When he bent over and kissed her

There was a sizzling heard

He stripped her bare

of her watery rags

And they made unholy love

It sure made me gag

The clouds in the sky

How quickly they flew

The moon was so embarrassed  

That he turned blackest of blue

Cause love is long , love is strong
Cause love is strong , love is long

Come with me , we'll catch the ship of fools
and fly to the moon .
Give your heart to somebody then fly away
with their love in a special box for safekeeping .
Call it a heart deposit box .
If your heart's box has been broken we'll
change the locks .
Don't get left behind .
We're going moonberry picking  in the
eclipse of dreams past , present , and the
unequivocal future .

Hurry !
Last one there is a pixie from France

She had deep deportation eyes
Raven's feather hair
Skin as sweet as molasses
And of the same color there

Her name was never Lita
At least no two times the same
She wore the same old pair of sandals
Learning fast how to play the game

She would let you so close
But never there within
Her body was her refuge
A faultless heart so full of sin

She never took what was not belonging
The world owed her a lot
If she broke the piggy bank
It was all that she had got

In the blackness of the white room
Full of pressed rats and warthogs
She said it was their damnation
A Titanic corting through the fog

The winter came early that season
She felt the heat of I.C.E.
Her skates were best blade thin
Not thick enough for her own device

She had deep deportation eyes
The last time I saw her around
I don't see her at all now
Thinking that makes me frown

"A rose by another name , would still be just a rose " T. R .

Sleep my rose , your load so heavy .
Let the stars wash the pain from your memories .
Your battles fought bravely .
Let the soft black velvet of darkness hold you in her arms , sing ancient lullabies to you ,
soothe you with her charms .

Let the moon gaze upon you , softness in his glow.
He'll guard over you .
Said he just wanted you to know .

Let the Banshee's wail warn anyone that dwell upon evil deeds .
It's not lightly taken , best you turn around and flee .

Now then rose , your thorns  now protect thee .
And as stardust begins to fall , hush now little one for I hear the Sandman's . . . last call .

My lips whisper
upon your bare skin
Across the valleys
they howl with delight
Come embrace me and hold
onto eternity for seconds sake
Moonlight shades your mountains
as I am awed by the sight
Feel the spirit of our breath entwine
with clashing tongues of enrapturement
Oh , heavenly your ******* touch
my tingling skin
I sing with fevered ecstacy

Good night ! I can't take anymore
Poem after poem has blessed my core

I found memories numbering by the scores
Awesome words I soaked up until I can take no more

Now it's time to let the day end
So I can come back and do it again

So good night HP to all of your words
Some of the best that I've ever heard

I have found an inner peace
free from the toils that never cease

far away the pains have past
free for once to everlast

listen to the wind blow free
I listen with my heart you see

I could no longer bear
the shedding of my soul to tear

the ceaseless pulmelling
the overbearance I could not fling

but now my returns are due
through a dark valley I made it through

for on the other side there resides
a lasting peace by the riverside

cross over the waters of life
come with me , put down your strife

let the river sweep away our past
let this river crossing be our last

I know you haven't heard from me in years .
I thought I'd write just to let you know that Tommy Faulkner died , you know passed away . I didn't even know it until it was all over . Don't even know what he died from . Heidi told me . Oh , you don't know Heidi , my fist and third wife . She and Tommy were good friends . Last I heard about you , you were moving to North Carolina , your home by birth . But your home was always with us  here on the Southside of Birmingham . Sigh !
I hoped you made a big splash back home when you arrived . Such a polar extreme . I kept your poems for years until Heidi threw out my box of poetry ,with yours included .
Also Steven Sedbury's . You remember him ? Last I heard about you , you had a brain tumor and you passed away . Now I stand alone with my ghosts and I have no address to send my posts .
      Love Thomas

You take all the light
leaving desparate shadows
that congregate down below
Your breath as hot and dust
a desert on the go
Your intentions as devious
Every motion shuns

Picture a rose out in
New Mexico
Withered in thirst
Strangled in weeds
that have no roots
with no sins to bear
No redemption cleansed clear

Catch the thorns
on cati high
As the midnight blooms
Let the blood flow
from the punctured wounds
From the soul undone
to the desert below .

When one is loved
A vine's entwined
It burns at both ends
Heat is the sign

From branch to vine
From branch to fruit
Hearts caught in the middle
Are soon turned to soot

The weeds belch forth from
every opportunity .
The marbled marmalade has lost
all it's glazed perpetutuity
Ductile iron lace , once dreams ,
covered in mist and rust
Petticoated ghosts of little girls
Swing from chain linked imaginations
A wearied moon plexiates
The trees tier the moon away
And I am missing you

You promised kisses
beneath the old oak

You said you would give
youself to me then

Under the summer's
eager stary eyes

But they came
and cut the oak down

But not before
you left town

Now all I have
is the promise

Of firewood for those
cold lonely nights

There at three a.m.
on a dark and empty street
I was out walking
The demons kept my sleep

The music I recognized
Coming down from the open window above
The Eagles "Hotel California"
A song I dearly loved

It was the winter of 1977
Perhaps the coldest on record I know
All I remember was the cold and accumulations of snow

Mike had just bought the album
Invited me over to share
After we were blown away
The music cleared the air

We played it over and over
Every song on it was so great
The chill that hung in the air
Made it easy to relate

I walked back home after midnight
In the cold and frozen snow
Not realizing it was a  -10° below

The cold soon penetrated
I became concerned for sure
I was having my doubts and my skin was turning bluer


To make the story short
I ran to the door the last few feet
I fumbled with the keys
And fell inside into the heat

So now all of those memories come flooding back to me
There's someone up above and they can never leave

So I ease on down the way
out of range of the sound
And I am thinking to myself
To the words I am forever bound

"You can always check out
but you can never leave"

A Major's contribution
A personal Private's affair
The Colonel that blossomed
Into a General's sense of scandal
Catching all Lieutenants unaware
Then came a Corporal punishment
And Mastered the Sargent
With such care
Limiting the whole base
To all and much despair

If I were a wise old fool
Or a duck out of luck
Would I count my money
by thimble or by a dumping truck

I'm glad I have no such problems
I broke the rules and bank
I own a four cornered mansion
On every street with steeply sloping banks

I have no problems eating
I mark every foodline on a map
I own stock in Salvation Army
I bought off this persuasive chap

I worry not for tomorrow
Today is good enough for me
I've been told I have no future
So say the fortune tellers that is all they see

Oh well , oh whale , oh wail
It doesn't matter me
Time now for a free lunch
Then in your alley I will surely go to ***

Someone far off , I can't see ,
lives in a graveyard
in hopes of reviving
dead dreams .

Hello Margaret , it's been thirty years now to the day .
Gee I would like to ask how you are but that seems silly now anyway.
Hard to believe it's been thirty years to the exact day .
Thirty years since you took your life away .

Angel is all grown up now with two children of her own and another on the way .
When I asked her if she wanted to come she looked down and said , "Tell her I love her ."
It still bothers her unfortunately .

Me ? Well I grieved for years and finally crawled out of my hole . I met Ann and she has made me whole .
You know I love her as much as I loved you . It's just another kind of love , different than the love I had for you .
She's waiting over there inside the car . She understands how I feel and will always be that way . We have children now , two of our own . I think you would love them if it were left to God alone .

But it's not about me that brings me here today . I just had to see you and just wanted to say that I still love you and will never change my way . And for some strange reason I thought I would hear you say you feel the same way too ,

My vegetating speal
Stalks the furrows
And the stems of
Leafy green matter
Inside my head
Deep rooted bi-verbation
Makes carrot tops dance
In ****** release
Spuddering on calauiflower ears

The emptiness of disbelief
The hollow of a bell
The lack of any reason
Raising buckets from a dried up well

Looking for life inside
The largest of museums
Firebomb a defenseless city
You can call it Dresden

Step aside , don't block the way
Cause the air tastes of cyanide
Explode a nuetron bomb
And no one will survive

Hollow rings the empty bell
Surface to air missles come together
It tolls for the souls be sent to Hell
Flutters down the Angel's feathers

Old age turns the page . . .
the leaf thrives from underneath
Days are made out
of hollow light . . .
night now remnants
of silence in grief

The air I breathe
once was your life
Yet our blood never mingled
Upon every page turns
the green leaf in air
The binding spine . . .
the trunk's despair

Always enjoyed crossing bridges
Looking down to see what
divided the land so

I hoped to see rivers
their flow
I like the waters to be on the go

Sometimes there were
railroad tracks
Sometimes trains with horns blowing back

Then there were trees
sometimes
swishing in the breeze

I loved the bridges
connecting
the Florida Keys

And Ponchatrain
going on endlessly
or so it seemed to me

Never been to Brooklyn
no I didn't buy a bridge
I have a picture of it taped upon my fridge

I crossed the Mississippi on bridges that were high and sometime low
One bridge fell into the river and it's not there anymore

Too bad HP has no picture avatars
I have pictures of the pillars
Still reminding me and Willard

Forty dollars of *****
151 ***
You will find me in the alley
a drunken ***
Lights flashing in my brain
Spinning gripping my soul
Ecstacy in alcoholic rage
Writing off the page
I raise the flag
To Ira Hayes
A fallen hero
And his last days

Leave your imperfections
that I might know that you are human
That your stumblings
might resound a warmth unto my heart

Thy errs find grace
and forgiveness
in the steps I tread
before you

For I was no better
nay worse
than the efforts of your globe
of conjecture

My golden orb
fails in warmth
As I dreams of avenues
and cobblestone alleys

Of love of those
I know not any more
**** , this curse of time's
finagling abomination !

Yet I find hope
in the rebirth and youth
Let two souls come together
and remake the world anew

As for my glory
It comes down to reason
and the hope
that our imperfections remain intact

That was then and now is there
As sister Sara pointed out
We were young and stupid
But our ship harbored no care

The oak was new , fresh the smell
We climbed the rigging
of the mast of life
so fast , so well

"Get down you fools"
The old crusted would say
Seasoned in salt from life's
crashing waves and spray

We just laughed and brayed
Almost depraved
"Get lost old fool"
We were so cruel

We weighed our anchor
and dropped our sails
Little we knew
of the seas of Hell

The distant thunder
lightning's warning
It didn't scare us
Life was ours to plunder

But the oak did gray
It bent and buckled
The rigging's rope broke
some of us tumbled

Beaten and battered
We limped into our ports
There was no laughter
from our fellow cohorts

The crossing is done
Sun seasoned in wear
We are the old fools . . .
That was then and now is there

.

Some of them were strangers


Some of them were without any rule


None of them would see another tomorrow


And if the innocent are guilty


Of the crimes they are harboring within


Then what are the chances in the hands of the convicted


There in the tiredness of what resignation brings

In the rejection of your everything

When the dawn draws close with no exceptions

Some of them were crying

Some of them stood brave

In the end it just didn't matter . . .


All of their dreams came tumbling down

All of their love would soon expire

And the void in the midst of the distance left not a sound

As the earth swallowed all that mattered

It covered all of their future faults

Leaving the fresh dirt of new direction


Some of them were young

Some of them were old

Some of them were men and the others were women

Some of them were just in the wrong location

Maybe they had the wrong face of denial

Just maybe in memory they will not be forgotten

For being guilty of being innocent

One who sees through the fog clearly

Back in the back door
just in case I have to run

Long tall lady
your so much fun

Everything is kisses
leaving me with desires and wishes

Smearing kisses , lipstick dip
pour my drink , just a nip

Music is blasting
your intentions exacting

Hand on my chest
you tease , you're the best

So tall lady
legs forever
You're my baby
don't talk weather

yeah . . . yeah . . . yeah

old poets
never die
nor do they
fade away
they live
on and on
every time
you turn
the page

One day I would like to wake up to warm sunshine , birds singing , blue sky and puffy white clouds . No where to go and anything to do . And sit in the shade , read a few poems , and drink lemonade .

Losing your mind
a molecule at a time ?
Or are we just part of the God brain
and maybe part maker
of his omnipotent thought .
Maybe we are partial sums
in a gigantic cosmic particle bank .
Maybe we are residuals
of a burned out atomic sun
on perpetual percentages
ever since we have begun .
We dare to dream dreams
that can never come true .
So we pick up the pieces of our dreams
and say ,"Oh well , reality will have to do ."

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

Blue :
     surrounded by black
     for the emptiness
     a night sky

Red :
     for nothing I have
     that I could have had
     today

Green :
     was followed by a rain
     the pain - while subtle
     was the cause for insane

Purple :
     a royalty proven
     the queen called
     a falsity - the King folded

Clear :
     the sky after a rain
     the heart after the last tear
     the crystal everywhere

I'll have regrets
the day I die
I'll have unanswered questions
that around me fly
I never went up to the moon
I never saw Napoleon's tomb
I never crossed the oceans deep
Nor stood on top of Himalaya's peak
I never thought we'd say goodbye
but time just slipped on by
And now I sit here feeling sad
wondering if life has me had

It doesn't matter anymore
The memories's weight
I can pull no more
I'll just lay down and die
and to this world I'll say goodbye
Then as I walk into the light
I will be full of fear and fright
But it will all be okay
Happens to us all on any given day

When the time comes
I will leave you
locked in the closets
of your heart

There will be no words
of consolations
No letters left upon the desk
inked with my explanations

I am sure it will be the dark of night
when whippoorwills do call
For they cry into the dark
but nothing replies at all

By the time the sun stumbles in
And you reach for the sky and yawn
The dew will cover the grass but there will be no footsteps left upon the lawn

What happens after that I really
don't want to know
I will be hitchhiking down the road
keeping it on the low

Don't blame yourself for my failures
It was just that I ran out of time
And my feet were really telling me
they were sick of all my lying

So goodbye , farewell , Godspeed ,
live long and I hope that you prosper
It's time to end the intimations
and all the pain I cause her

Who bends the wind
folds it up
puts it in the envelope
then will send

Who gathers the sun
like a flock
bottles it then
says it's done

Who ropes my emotional
ties it and then binds it
in black and red ribbons
it's not fictional

Who teases the vessel
filling the void
where even the left
has a right to wrestle

Come vapor ***** . . . dream
permanate . . . decorate
you titillate in love's
sweet scheme

When ? Then I am left alone
the walls still stand
The night wails as comes the dawn
The heart longs for home

I was the one
that came undone
At the very first signs of strife

I twisted
upon my cross
Praying for another chance at life

I tried and failed
then I wailed
please make me into another exemption

But the shadows cast
by the time
now have turned into perdition

So cast the sins
and the stems
Watch as they go up in smoke

I fan the flames
of burning ice
life is such a joke

You were my cross eyed Mary
I was over on the end
We used to meet clandestinely
Anywhere we can

You fingers froze antifreeze
Always a cold shock to me
My hot hand poured
Out in ecstacy
You Said ,"Set my liberty free"

Your smoke swirled around your aura
You blew into the breeze
I blew a shotgun into you
You coughed and then you sneezed

You were my cross eyed Mary
"But Mary's not my name"
As you slid in frozen fingers
I heard you drop your ring

references :
"Cross Eyed Mary" is a song by Jethro Tull from their legendary Aqualung record/cd

Ecstacy is a drug

Shotgun is to reverse a joint and inhale and then exhale blowing the smoke into someone's else's lungs

sneeze is anything snorted up one's nose

ring is a form of birth control where a plastic ring is inserted over the cervex

While I was rushing by
the old box caught my eye
Inside there's an illustrious past
All the medals
behind the glass
My father , a simple man
made his living with his hands
Who was this boy of seventeen
who left to serve for our country's gleam ?
The lad who rushed right in
Saved a pilot that crashed in wind
before the plane exploded in flame
Thinking of his own safety was so lame
His pilots , his planes , and his men
This was a war of will to win

I always feared thunderstorms
Lightning has killed many trees I loved

I understand that lightning
is a necessity as it replenishes
the nitrogen in the soil

But it destroys to create life

Tonight the thunderstorms roll
The thunder remains high
just growling low
as the lightning skips from cloud
to cloud

Then all at once
a bolt hits close by
and the thunder
kabooms . . .
rattling windows
Making your heart
skip several beats

The wind picks up
the sirens go off
and you chek out the radar

You breathe a sigh of relief
as the approaching storm splits
and goes around you .

It rains hard . . .

Then it stops . . .
so has the wind

Aloft the clouds
are race horses
galloping away as fast as they can

They have business elsewhere

Now all is quiet
a feeling of relief
soaks in unlike
the water running
rushing down the sides of the street

An after the storm moment
of peace when the air feels as clean
as the thoughts you . . . you don't have

I paint my windows black
so I can't see the sun
I have no feelings now
since you said that we are done
I run through the hours
searching for our abandoned days
These feelings inside
are simply driving me crazy

I paint my front door black
so everyone can see
You meant more than life
to the sane man inside me
Now I hide inside
the darkness of my room
I cannot stand this awfulness
of the encroaching doom

I paint my windows black
so you can surely see
There is no reason now
for plans of eternity
You crushed a heart
that was infinitely so kind
I don't know
I simple lost my mind

I paint my soul in black
as it is no use now to me
I sweep out the past
so useless can't you see
Everyday is Hell in here
I can't take a second more
Paint it black now
as you walk out the door .

I paint my love in black
it's no use now to me
There is no use
in pretending tomorrow will ever be
I cut the rope
You can hear the fall
The story's over now
it was time for my last call .

She entered through the back bedroom window .
She said she had my key
When I foolishly asked her
"Why you crossexamining me ?"

I dropped out of the University
I got myself a steady job
Working part time on the weekends
It had benefits without the friends

Then I spent the coldest winter
Without any heat or bread
I microwaved Idaho potatoes
They called me "Tater Head"

Now didn't anybody see
Now was there anyone who cared
Sunday was just another Monday
When is a rabbit not a hare ?

Well I found myself another girlfriend
I was sure now of her honesty
I came home from work one evening
To find my microwave wasn't there

Now I could have sat down and cried
But I never had a chair
Just some cushions on the floor
Hot and cold roaches everywhere

Now the future was looking bleak
Winter turned to spring you see
A thunderstorm turned tornadic
Took my apartment away from me

Didn't anybody see
I'm sure that nobody cared
Sunday turned into a Monday
All I said was,"So there" . . . oh , my .

Hangman
Hey Hangman
Wrapping thirteen times
The coils for my last binds
Put a little lime around that rope
So it burns before it snaps my spine

Hey Hangman
Hangman
Take my wife to ride
So was never my relief
And I'm sure she'll be happy I died

Hey Hangman
You , Hangman
I hope they pay you fine
Do you and God deliberate
Over whose plan and time

Hangman
Hey you Hangman
I hope you rot in Hell
It just takes one mistake
And you're as guilty as well

So Hangman
Oh Hangman
It may be my very last say
But I leave you no remorse
I'll see you on judgement day

To learn :

one must hear

as they speak .

The freedom of a sparrow
is the air under it's wings
The freedom of the wild horse
is the plains that recede
The freedom of a choice
is the choice not made
The freedom of love
is knowing you had no more to give

Winter is ending
and I am looking ahead
Even when winter has
one foot in the grave
It's not to be a stave

A sparrow without love
is a bird without feathers . . .
and cannot fly

A wild horse without love
is a horse without a plain . . .
and cannot run

A choice made without love is recklass
and bound to be wrong

Love knowing you held back
leaves you little to hang on

Wee ***** Tadpolly
Never knew who his
mom and dad were
He had always heard
that they had croaked
in the middle of the night
. . . ribbit . . .