.

I love September

because I got to spend
each beautiful day with you

and now tonight,
as I dream once again

of kissing you tomorrow

I am reminded,

I love October too

.

That barren branch
high above this desolate space
Crooked shade designs on a dying earth,
bent and twisted of past sunlight’s reach
Naked to the green-less world
Rough hewed collections
of ant trail pathways
and rot of all that was good

Once filled with life, happy on the breeze
Summer fashions of leaf pattern wishes
Vistas of blissful post card greetings
Bearing fruit of friendlier times

Now rests in solitude’s wicked grip
Knotted and splintered bark winding
to a fool's ending in winter’s calling
Cold fingers on gray-cast skylines
dying of desperate missing,
fading into a bleak sunset
Disappearing somewhere beyond the dark,
that barren branch – me

Death
the final vacation,
destination unknown.
I just hope its all inclusive,
I left my wallet
in my other suit.

.

On those dire days

when your smile

has abandoned you and worry walks
in your shadow

I will also be walking, but by your side

with one

only for you

.

When sleepless evenings

endlessly gather in lonely hours
keeping you from your dreams

I feel bad because I love you,

but wonder if this is the reason
that every night

you are in mine

the world is your oyster
take the pearl
and I’ll just lie here in the sand
an empty shell
once again

.

I saw autumn

reflecting in your
springtime eyes

and knew
as long as I was with you

summer would never end

.

What can I say
that she's not heard before
so many voices are calling

Where can I find
every poetic word
so in my arms she'll be falling

How can I stand out
a face in the crowd
from all the others now showing

Coerce her eyes
till she sees no one else
gazes my way now are flowing

When will it be
till I'm all that she wants
another her heart, won't be stealing

What can I say
that she's not heard before,
so she will know how I'm feeling

Sending chills this tortured spine,
as aches precede the worded fiction
Sorted truth does rest sublime
beneath the light of benediction
Broken dreams of compass flair,
directions cast a blinded waning
Trusted roots abridge the square
of all that’s lost and is remaining

Washed along this fertile beach
of sanded hope and history
Tasting o’ thy patterned speech
as common phrases come to me
Desolate my cornered mind
of images I pray be true
Dangling the lost to find
retaliation in my view

Pray, oh be, as life does rattle
chains of only mist to turn
Laughter like some long fought battle,
in amongst we tend to learn
When the calling comes so random,
names are lost on open seas
One by one in columned tandem,
drenched of hell’s insanities

Take me to thy deepest haven,
so that I may find the end
Black as night o’ windswept raven,
come to me now once again
Razored claw and broken arrows,
filled with such, the violence
Playing through the endless narrows,
falling to my own expense

This, a life that's not worth living,
not this day, not anymore
Breaths so tethered in their giving,
pull the drapes and close the door
Take a seat your exits' waiting,
frozen hinges squeak in time
Find the map for navigating,
somehow through this wicked rhyme

Follow me, I know the heading,
down this staircase, up the hall
End those futile tears you're shedding,
she's not waiting for your call
Through this doorway stenciled broken,
toss your heart there on the floor
It is but a useless token,
you'll not need it anymore

You’re now privy to the meaning,
whether you do understand
Motioned light, this night is leaning,
let it take you by the hand
Now of time and missing portal,
through the lens of sights unknown
Nothing whispers you are mortal,
for this day you have been shown

Off on a journey of landslide proportions
My plate is as full as I think it should be
Leftover meatloaf does sit in the kitchen
My eyes they are open much too wide to see

I live for these mornings when darkness is shifting
The sun in the east seems to rise with the wind
No telephones ringing unless I am singing
Now won’t you sit down once you choose to come in

Lost on a highway while trying to find you
My days spill as milk that has missed the first glass
Something is funny, a joke you just sent me
One I will place in my mind that will last

Different directions do flood visitations
We make the most of the time that we spend
Each day does pass even though I won’t let it
Oh how I wish that these days would not end

Living in love as an angel walks with me
Lighting the path of the places we go
Bringing our lunch in a tan wicker basket
Sending forth visions that ebb with the flow

Can you believe the direction we’re heading
Found in the middle where dreams they do lie
Symphonies play us their finest collection
Gardens of color to meet every eye

Bluebirds will sing if you listen so closely
Sonnets of love with each flap of their wings
Melodies float like a dandelion seedling
Filling our hearts with the vestige of spring

Colorful leaves gather out in the driveway
Nature born tapestries falling for free
Catching a glimpse of the seasons a’ changing
I am so thankful that you are with me

I feel that I must have picked the right numbers
Winning this jackpot of love you present
Six lucky numbers in some random order
This most precious prize for the dollar I spent

Now if you promise that you’ll never leave me
Standing alone on the corner of shame
Hands in my pockets the coins I am jingling
Asking the sidewalks to tell me my name

Then I will live like a king in a fountain
Splashing your love all over my face
Wet from the shoulders on down to the fashion
Happily laughing so free in this place

Love is the answer to all of my systems
Blood that does flow from my brain now to start
Keeps me alive as it carries affection
Straight from your smile to the depths of my heart

You are my flower that’s constantly blooming
Sending a scent that just drives my mind wild
Perfect your petals that brush past my fingers
Soft as is satin or the skin of a child

Look at me here as I stand now before you
A man who’s been placed in a magical cage
Not an illusion but truth in the making
The secrets revealed on the opposite page

Waving a wand is like dancing on sugar
It may be sweet but you stick to the floor
Nothing will change by that rod you are swinging
As long as you’re stuck to the one you adore

I caught the rose that the singer neglected
Funny how some things in life never change
Happily taking the gifts we’ve been showered
Closing our eyes when the moment is strange

Out of the fog or a misty concoction
That filled up the space that our lives occupied
Connecting our hearts like a staple on paper
Formed by the tears that the two of us cried

This is our fate so that we may enjoy it
Holding our hands in the face of the storm
Calling out windows to motorists passing
Pushing the button to sound the alarm

We are in love, the headlines are reading
Two hearts as one found atop of page four
If you are adding, the decimals point us
Straight down the path that we’ve been looking for

You on my arm is my medal of honor
Proud of our love is what I do foresee
Always, forever and days in between us
And longer still as your love covers me

Soften my heart with the heat of your passion
Brighten my life with the light of your smile
Color my dreams with your wonderful beauty
Live with me here in a magical style

I lay here in peace for I know that you love me
My heart beats for only the thought of your touch
Heaven must miss you, the skies must be lonely
For you are my angel, I love you so much

.

Beneath dark storm clouds,
graphic novels cried wholeheartedly
in pencil drawings competing
for front cover status
Asphalt collected mud
hoping shoe prints
formed in patterns like Dali
Wainscoting climbed walls,
chasing ivy vines
to crown molding heights
Kittens chased ***** of yarn
between grandma’s legs in
sagging stockings
on the front porch
And I counted rain drops,
wishing I had paid better
attention in algebra
Then you kissed me
and all became
everything under the sun

.

Here lies a poem,
once a thing of beauty  
flowing with love and desire,
inspired by affectionate dreams,
adored by many for the feelings
it contained for another within,
now nothing more than
irrelevant thoughts and words,
lifeless phrases and stanzas,
weakened and aging verses of
mid-sentence fractures
overtaken by youthfulness
as it seeps deeply
into the void . . . forgotten

Here lies a poem
that is far too old
for its own good

.

Words from perforated ceiling tiles squawk
as megaphone filters blare
in crackled sequence
around missing stations
and call letters that aren’t acronyms

I hear these words, but shake my head
I know they are for me,
sent by well wishing advisors
wearing t-shirts imprinted
“I’m with stupid”

(and the arrows point at me)

Still I don’t heed the warnings,
I can’t, for dreams require reaching,
top shelf visions waving with
hope filled coupons
offering no discount for the heart

“Don’t want what you can not have,” they shout
As I continue to climb the frozen escalator,
cleaning my shoes on the bristles,
then checking my appearance in the sunglass
reflection of a mannequin missing one arm

(and I feel happy for this plastic person)

For it has no idea how it feels
to be out of style, yesterday’s sleeves
Worn of worried first impressions,
heart beat delusions and needs
at the end of the line…to check out

and yet, until the time comes for me to “check out”
I will not give up on that dream, regardless of
invisible sales clerks on their eternal breaks,
because I will reach that register and I will ask that question
to which she just might say yes,

(and then who will be wearing the t-shirt)

.

I remember that old electric guitar,
no name brand, a Fender knockoff,
stripped and painted
to look like an American flag
because Peter Fonda made it cool

That Silvertone amp, volume cranked
reverb, two inputs, tubes, bass, treble,
when Sears was the place where
music dreams came alive
because Dad had a credit card

Out in my parent’s garage,
Skippy on drums and John on bass
Wearing shades in the dark like John Kay
A tape recorder mike hanging from the ceiling
Playing “The Pusher” at all hours

Until the neighbors called my mom
and we had to shut the door
or turn it down, we shut the door
Black light posters, an old couch,
power saws and Christmas decorations

We were gonna be stars, rock stars
Chicks would dig us and guys would envy us
Our hair down to our shoulders
Incense to hide certain smells
Bad *** wasn’t even a term yet, but we were

Patch covered jeans, zig zag
and faded denim jackets,
peace signs and headbands,
Santana and Arlo, “Alice’s Restaurant”
Nothing could stop us

I remember that old electric guitar,
the guys are gone now, not dead, just gone
I can still hear Alvin Lee rocking “I’m coming home”
But somewhere along the line I got old (grew up)
when I wasn’t paying attention I guess

I still wear my hair a little long, a little
and I have nice collection of guitars
But that “Rock Star” dream faded long ago
Now I carry a different instrument,
I carry a pen...

and it’s a name brand pen

.

Parallel visions and sifted thoughts
on an amber thread, thin as the beliefs
once found as hope, now falling
beneath sorrowed wings gently gliding

Through hazy eyes and broken tears,
tarnished memories flow within this dawn
as you fade off in the distance, soaring ever higher,
disappearing beyond the horizon

Silence fills the maze that is your mind,
leaving you staring at dead ends and fractured turns,
as the realization that you didn’t matter
forms on clouds of whispering breaths and no one cares

And in the end, you are not sure yourself
from where you once came, a blotted image
on empty shorelines of tangled debris
which may be easily forgotten but endlessly haunts

Still you fly on, seeking those patterns,
abstract meanings that flourish within
the heart of this wanderer, eyes focused
on all of the beauty that awaits

For you know she sits, above the border,
just past the last exit of sadness, dreaming,
always dreaming the same, you do matter,
you do, to her

.

The rain has stopped,

the sun is shining bright
in blue September skies

and she is happy,
making the world

a more beautiful place

wherever she smiles

.

Empty,
this heart is desolate
a barren wasteland
of what ifs and waiting
for words no longer needed,
no longer wanted,
no longer heard
poetic failures
from a poetic failure,
crawling, pleading,
fading fast

Sun bleached and brittle,
in an instant
all is gone,
lost to the shifting sands,
deserted, abandoned,
cast aside as bones
begging for flesh,
for blood, for breaths,
chewed and spit
by the scavengers,
taking what is not theirs,
feasting on the loser,
laughing at his tears

Such a sight,
he bought it, all of it,
the promises, the lies
disguised as dreams,
shiny lures, bait…taken
at this dry lake bed,
blistering shores,
blinded by her vision,
walking away,
sorry

Still hearing the echoes. . .
he’s got a gold mine,
a poetic gold mine,
you’ve got dust,
beige, drab dust,
minute particles,
filling your pockets,
weighing down steps,
lower into the sand,
waving goodbye

To a love
that turned out to be a mirage,
as the oasis crumbles
(the oasis crumbles)
beneath black wings,
beaded eyes
still circling overhead,
calling his name
orbiting his life,
hungry for his death,
licking parched lips
caked and crackling
stealing everything
held in his heart,
picked clean,
empty

.

I touched the field of amber pleadings
with eyes only sure enough to find that hidden light
Long lost in the sea of forgotten grasses,
brown from the sun, parched by a drought,
exhaling diversions as I stand facing time,
expecting faces to appear but hands caught the sorrow,
passing it down to an earth that is baked and sore,
thirsting for more, a longer plain in this universe

Weeping cocoons snug in the brambles
oblivious to what the outside wears,
blend in with the endings slowly creeping
awaiting metamorphosis
as a tree falls, no noise, no energy for that
Rooted in dismay, clogged by last season’s air,
pausing only to capture one final view
of the smoke stacks, brick faced commandos,
circular spewing pillars
where beneath wealth is created
but eternity is shortened at wholesale prices

Grey skies, a constant color
pressing doom and gloom
into the landscape, fitted like wedges
force fed in spoonfuls of ignorance
Gathering place settings at my feet,
stirring up dust, blurring the wishers
wondering where the water went,
dry beds, serpentine emptiness,
spilling into garbage piles where lakes once
reflected the ripples as they slowly left,
as not even mud stands a fighting chance

When on a hill I see them, the youth,
our future, backpacks and bubblegum,
ear buds and sunglasses, well meaning,
looking for the next iphone, not being taught
that an apple is actually a fruit
Reading comic books about heroes,
caped crusaders who will save the planet
(that must be what the S stands for)
one colored page at a time

And I sit in the dirt, leaving my impression
for that is all I have left, no answers that
have not been asked, no solutions
that remain passed over, just a wild hair
out of place in this take all world
as highways trickle across farm lands
and corn fields are as barren as my stare

But there is hope…there is always hope...

I hope

.

Your ink,
sadly spilling
on fresh tablecloths
with torn lace trim
beyond paper napkins
absorbing the smiles
you should be smiling

Darkened tear drops
drenching emotions,
free flowing sorrows
collected in fractured phrases,
penned stanzas now
erasing happiness
in dull pink smudges

When just outside
the sun sits behind heavy drapes
drawn tightly closed
on panoramic picture windows
waiting to frame the beauty
of spring for your eyes
in nature’s poetry

So open them,
(your eyes and the drapes)
behold the wonder
where small children play
and laughter scents the air
allowing light to enter that ink,
your ink

.............

I guess you just never know
when it is going to happen
one day here, bright blue skies
cool breezes and then ****, gone

What were the thoughts, those thoughts
things you were planning on saying
when the time was right
It was never right, or was it

In a flash, self promises become regrets
wishes end and dreams disappear
if those things still exist
when you don’t

And what is the next step
crying for all of those things
or nothing becomes your world
and the darkness is darker

Free-falling, wondering
if what is left behind cares
probably not, you aren’t and never were
and never will be again

It comes, when you least expect it
You go, when you least expect it
So, expect it……………..

.

On an island
in the midst of the crowded city street
Traffic lights blink
as colored tear drops hit the pavement

One way signs
all seem to point in your direction
casting aspersions,
via black and white arrows

Sidewalks filled
with throngs of gawking onlookers,
mouths wide open,
peering from the side of their faces

The deepening sadness
leaves you vulnerable to prying eyes
leering at your flesh,
exposed to high rise windows

You hang your head,
chin against your unclothed chest
and you see not one,
but two shadows on the asphalt

Suddenly you are
draped in the finest cloth money can buy,
shielded from the audience
who now divert their attention elsewhere

Turning, you see a friend,
naked, as his clothing now adorns your body
and you feel safe
with him at least for the moment

and sometimes a moment is all that is needed

.

What the hell is wrong with me,
where does this circus come from
Three rings that seem to open new tents in my mind
Dark tents filled with wild and dangerous thoughts,
pacing in a cage, waiting to be released
Yeah, you just try and make me
jump through one of those fiery hoops,
see where your head ends up and where
that whip is shoved

Sawdust everywhere as I parade around
Fluffing my feathers, thinking I know,
Proud ain’t even close to how I feel
as I swing from the trapeze,
sequins glistening,
looking for the meaning, the why
I keep asking why…why as I once again
light the fuse with cotton candy fingers,
shot from a cannon, screaming,
there is no net, not for me, not for these thoughts

Open this door and let me out,
I’m stuffed in this little car
with a bunch of clowns, painted on smiles
big floppy shoes and ****, they are all me
(Send in the clowns, I hate that song)
and I hate these thoughts
Juggled about, like so many *****
flying through the air, never touching the ground
and there they are, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,
children of all ages, staring, laughing, pointing,
shoveling popcorn in their faces
then running in fear as these thoughts
escape confinement once again

Don’t you get it, can’t you see,
this is real, this is me
I love, I love deeply, I can’t guess your weight
but I can feel you rummaging for tickets
in my heart and all I have is for you
Free admission, stop by the petting zoo,
Share a branch with a giraffe, share
Share, wow, maybe that’s it,
maybe that’s why I smile
when the tents come down
heading for another place

another town

another time

send out the clowns