I think I should have
been born in the past
not just so my life
would have a new cast

Because often I feel
somewhat out of place
A reminder of earlier days
for this race

Days when our work
was all done at home
On horse or in buggies
is how we would roam

We'd grow our own food
raise our own stock
and keep time by the chime
of a grandfather clock

We'd sit on the porch
and we'd read or we'd write
and have deep conversations
on into the night

We'd fish in the pond
and swim in the creek
and shingle the roof
whenever it leaked

We'd not have no money
but be richer than most
And thank god for our fortune
with grace and a toast

We'd sit by the fire
in winter when cold
and live happy together
right 'til we got old

Then when the time came
for our maker to see
We'd get laid to rest
in the plot 'neath the tree

Let us find again the beauty in simple things
not just in designer labels and diamond rings
for the worth of what we crave
should not be drawn from sweatshop slave
Let us find again the beauty in simple things

Let us see things once again just like a child
In the days when we'd go out and explore the wild
Building tree forts in the woods
cops and robbers, robin hoods
Let us see things once again just like a child

Let our innocence and trusting be our strength
not something that gets drummed out of us at length
lets not live our lives in fear
of dangers far away from here
Let our innocence and trusting be our strength

Let us open up our hearts without reserve
and let someone in without trying to conserve
let us love just once again
like we'd never know pain
Let us open up our hearts without reserve

Let us die without one outstanding wish
live our lives with nets always full of fish
lives with bounty all around
all friends and loved ones have we found
Let us die without one outstanding wish

That look is my undoing
yeah you know the one I mean
its not angel, its not devil
but something in between.

It a look that say's "I'm trouble"
and most definitely you are
dangerous when up close
exhilarating from afar

I know there's more to you than that
perhaps Trouble is your shield
an alter ego of protection
you wear til safe to be revealed

But I'm addicted now to Trouble
thinking perhaps she is the one
Will she share herself with me one day
Unmasked, undressed, undone.

I feel the lights are dimming
as the show comes to an end
Unsure of just what happens next
whats around the coming bend

Could it be that all there is
is all thats gone before
where is the happy ever after
of which the preacher was so sure

And with the doubt come winter chills
the warmth of life too ebbs away
As I close my eyes on christmas eve
to pass alone on christmas day

A life of pure simplicity
is all I've ever asked
A simple home, a loving family
but it seems too tall a task

But one and one don't equal two
instead is equals three
so it seems the best solution
is to reduce it down to me

No more simple arithmetic
no anything plus one
just a simple home for me
its over now, I'm done.

If I have no one to think of
and no one to think of me
then at least I'll have a half of it
I'll have simplicity

On the couch beneath a blanket
is how I'll spend this day
Wrapped up in distant memories
keeping grief and guilt at bay

The blanket's from the picnic,
the one we never had.
And the memories we never made,
'fore time ran out and this went bad.

But its how I spend my weekends,
draped in dreams of yesteryears.
Finding comfort in what-might-have-beens,
helps hold back all the tears.

One day I will get over this
come to terms with what I've lost
balance grief with life ahead
find acceptance of the cost

And when I'm ready I'll start over
with the lesson widows get taught
to seize each day in every way
because life really is too short.

A love thats unconditional
does such a thing exist
or is it like a phantom
hiding in the mist?

I lay my heart to rest one day,
so tattered and so bruised.
For although he had served me well,
he was not enough you.

He lay there for so long a time,
neglected and unused.
Without a love to nurture him,
a wall around him grew.

Alone he sits now in the dark,
exiled without crowns.
Yearning for a worthy queen,
‘fore he in sorrow drowns.

He clings to hope through day and night,
not knowing what to do.
Wondering if his fair queen,
could possibly be you?

Today I went to my control panel and I uninstalled Love.

Thats right, I clicked add/remove programs, I clicked Love, I clicked uninstall.

But you know how it works, it didn't all get removed. Some "user files" got left behind and I'm supposed to remove them myself but I can't find where they're kept. I can find "the day you met me at the airport" with nooooo problem whatsoever. But I can't get rid of it because I don't know where its kept. So it haunts me. Same goes for "the closet" and "the mirror". Instant recollection. That used to be huge, that used to remind me that it was real and not just some dream I'd had.

But now its torture.

I though if I uninstalled Love then it would take all that with it and it would stop hurting.

But it didn't

and it hasn't

I should have uninstalled Love years ago when it wasn't being used and it just sat there doing nothing. It wasn't taking up any resources, it wasn't interfering with anything or slowing things down.

But then you came along.

And it sprung into action. Suddenly it consumed everything, it was running all the time and sure it slowed things down a little and sure some stuff didn't get done but it felt good. It felt so good. Every day felt like the first day of Spring and every night was spent dreaming of lying in your arms and it felt great.

But then the network crashed

the connection got broken

and while Love kept running it started to cause problems, its ground everything to a halt. It became like one of those viruses that just slowly chips away at your resources over time until you got nothing left.

After a few months and numerous attempts to get the connection back I finally admitted defeat and accepted things were over. And it hurt so much, too much.

So now I have no use for Love. Sure its nice when it runs ok but it crashes, every time it crashes. And I dont need that kind of hurt again.

So its gone.

Removed.

Uninstalled.

All I gotta do now is remove the fragments left behind.

And I'm pretty sure if I install enough Johnnie Walker I can flush those right out.

I want to run away with you,
and leave all this behind.
Can you imagine us together,
all the adventures we would find?

We could travel the world over
or find our spot and settle down
Somewhere by a lake
thats not too close to town.

We would live and love together
eat off the land and from the lake
Being careful to be careful
and never too much take

We would sit at night and write
under blankets on the swing
Talk forever to each other
til we knew everything

In the summer we'd go swimming
skinny dipping in the lake
And lie naked on the rocks to dry
the summer sun our bones to bake

In fall we would cut firewood
then split and stack the logs
go for long walks in the forest
you and me and all the dogs

Come winter time we'd hibernate
heating soup over the fire
make love upon the hearth rug
flames and passion rising higher

Then finally in spring time
as the ice begins to thaw
we would celebrate our life
and then do it all once more

And our poetry would tell of this
of our perfect little life
A life outside the rat race
free of pressure and of strife

I want to run away with you,
think of all the things we'll see
Can you imagine us together,
will you run away with me?

Once upon a time
I gave a piece of me to you
which you treasured for a while
then traded in for something new

But the pieces I had left
could not rebuild the loss
I was somehow incomplete
left alone to face the cost

And as time marched slowly on
the wounds became all healed
until I met somebody new
loves painful truth once more revealed

So now I face a choice in life
what to do with what is left
do I lock the door and lose the key
'fore I am totally bereft?

But even if "the one" shows up
is there any way to know
if she can put the pieces back
and will the missing ones regrow

Too many questions I now face
but answers I have none
So I guard the pieces carefully
hiding from the sun

Is it ok if I wait?
Because I know you’d never ask.
You don’t feel you have the right
to subject me to that task

But the choices that I face
are to simply give up hope
and forget the love of days gone by
right before you cut the rope

Or life can go on as it is
simply waiting for day
when again we are together
and nothings in the way

I’ve never known serenity
like I did when by your side
The peace and pure tranquility
of a heart that’s open wide

I know you felt the same way too
before life got in the way
That’s why I’ll ask, if I can wait
forever and a day

How do you make me feel so good,
whenever things are bad?
How do you always make me smile,
even when I am sad?

How do you say so much to me,
without making a sound?
How do you feel so close to me,
even when not around?

How does your voice lift me so high,
even when I feel blue?
How did I ever get this far,
without these gifts from you?

I used to hear your name
whispered on a summer breeze
now its written on each snowflake
with the coming winter freeze

Where once was warmth and comfort
a chill is now descending
the song we sang together
has gone off key and now is ending

But seasons they march on
and one day it will be spring
Given time I'll find my voice
and again I'll start to sing.

Born again poet
Romantic fool and dreamer
Groovy wordbender
Exploring life through poems
Ability uncertain

You chirp away all night and day
with chat from those who've naught to say
You annoy me to the bone

You drop, you break, on shore or lake
you cost me a fortune I can't make,
You are my new cellphone

I turn you off I turn you on
my ability for peace is gone
of that there is no doubt

I leave you and lose you wherever I go
I even lost one in the snow
whatever happened to just being out?

Do not be afraid my love
or see the future as uncertain
Step out of the shadows
Turn on the lights, pull back the curtain

And you will see that what we share
is solid, real and strong
There is no need for doubts at all
there is nothing here thats wrong

For you and I were meant to be
of that I have no doubt
reach out your hand and join me
let us no longer be without

To live this life and never know
would be a tragic beyond sad
I beg you not to just become
the greatest love I never had

Each day I rise when needed
and do the things that I must do
But the hours pass in dusky grey
until I hear from you

Your words create a sunrise
that I alone can see
and briefly I feel special
and that there is hope for me

So many times I taste the bitter pill
of disappointment and regret
Your kindness, love and friendship
reminds me life’s not over yet

And yet with all the words I have
I know not where to start
to show you just how deeply
you dwell within my heart

If we were to stand together
in my eyes you’d plainly see
all the things I cannot tell you
about just what you are to me

As even in the darkest night
starless, black as coal
thoughts of you are fireworks
casting rainbows on my soul

What is this thing called love of which you speak,
A fleeting dream of hope so many seek,
A look, a touch, a passion tasted,
Bereft of which heart is wasted.

Our love blossoms without water
Our love blossoms without rain
Our love blossoms when we say goodbye
Until we meet again

Our love blossoms from the words we say
The feelings we let show
May our life become a garden
Where such blossoms always grow.

Try as I might I can’t deny
the way you make me feel
As much as I try and fight it
this feeling is all too real

And though our lips have never touched
and most likely never will
You have stirred in me a yearning
for which there’s no cure or pill

There must be lesson here somewhere
or is it all some cruel joke
Two kindred spirits kept apart
in the dark of fading hope

But perhaps the lesson is patience
then again perhaps its not
But if the lesson is disappointment
that’s a badge I’ve already got

Today I wrote a list
a list about a friend
a list of all their good points
that seems to have no end

A list of all the ways
they bring happiness to me
A list that I can't show you
because then you too would see

You'd see that maybe just perhaps
they were more than just a friend
because the way in which they touch my life
it really has no end

I could tell you how they make me smile
by just the simplest word
and how they never make me
feel my voice has gone unheard

I could tell you how I think of them
with every miracle I see
and how I would give anything
to have them here with me

Each time my mouth is opened
their name is on my lips
and each time my eyes are closed
my hands are on their hips

Whenever skies are cloudy
they take away the rain
and I wish when they are hurting
that I could take their pain

Could it be they are my greatest friend
and that I in turn am theirs
Or could she be the one true love
the answer to my prayers

And the music fell like rain from an unseen apartment somewhere in the quarter.
Warm summer rain.
Light and refreshing.

The kind of rain you didn't mind getting wet in and soaked to the skin with.

A single Saxophone.

A single Saxophone played not just with the lips and the fingers and the lungs, but with the soul.

Its delicate melody trickled down the rooftops and overflowed onto the streets below.
Somewhere in this labyrinth of alley ways and courtyards and balconies was a poet.

A poet in love.

A musical poet.

A musical poet creating rhyme and rhythm and feeling with just a handful of notes and a heart full of passion.

For though there were no words to accompany this music you knew, you just knew what was being said.
Every drop of rain, every note had a purpose, a message. A message that carried you off and made you forget. Forget where you were, where you were going and all the things that made life not so good. You forgot all that and let it be washed away by the rain.

And you closed your eyes

And you smiled

And you felt like dancing, right there in the street, a slow dance, a gentle sway.

And as quickly as you noticed it, it stopped.

Then you felt the chill

The first drop, the second.

Then it really did rain, the heavens truly opened.

And you closed your eyes

And you smiled

I am the rain
that does wash away your tears
I am the rain
that has been with you all these years
I am the rain
that washes away the blues
I am the rain
that brings blue skies to you
I am the wind
that light caress upon your cheek
I am the wind
that blows you toward that which you seek
I am the wind
that moves away the cloud
I am the wind
that lifts the dreary shroud
I am the sun
that lays kisses on your skin
I am the sun
that warms you from within
I am the sun
that shines on you from above
I am the sun
that wraps you in its love
All these things I am to you
though at times you may not see
every sunbeam, cloud and raindrop
are a gift to you from me.

Hey there, are you new here?
So how come we never met?
Me, I'm always late for work
No matter which alarm I set

So tell me whats your name?
I'm Heloise, sorry, you go first.
After Heloise the writer,
hey you were close, could have been worse.

I'm soaked I wasn't thinking,
we were gonna get some rain.
And in the rush to get the bus,
I dropped my fare right down the drain.

You look like you walked miles.
You must be soaked through to the skin.
I am a waitress at Dukes Diner.
You should try us, come on in.

So how come I haven't seen you,
Are we talking the same place?
Cos I'm sure I would remember,
such a handsome face.

Say what time is it you come in?
Because I get a break at two.
I could come and join you in the park,
if thats ok with you?

How about tomorrow?
Are sure that its ok?
I dont want to be too pushy,
If its not ok just say.

Ok so now I'm blushing.
Are you sure that you dont mind?
You are? I know, I'm rushing,
But it works the best I find.

In ignorance and apathy
we blindly stumble on
hopelessly distracted
from everything thats wrong

We're taught by corporations
who market us from birth
and what used to mean "expensive"
now really does "cost us the earth"

Our lives are pure consumption
fueled by TV's bad advice
that tells us we need this and that
when using neither would suffice

As citizens of planet earth
its time to end their greed
stop buying what they want us to
and stick with what we need

What is this light that lives inside
and makes us who we are.
What is the sense that guides us home
when we have wandered far.

What is that thing unique to us
which others seldom see
The thing that make you alone you
and makes me alone me

Be it our soul, our guiding light
our place is not to know
But rest assured t'will always be
with us where 'ere we go.

I wake up early, watch you sleep,
an angel wrapped in dreams so deep.
No worries rest upon your face,
your body draped in silk and lace.

And as I wonder the vision you are,
you start to stretch and twists and stir.
With gentle smile and eyes now wide,
you slide your body to my side.

You pull me close and kiss my lips,
the passion felt betrayed by hips.
As lovers we do start to sway,
and so begins a perfect day.

Fighting against sleep
Eyelids heavy from fatigue
Closed in submission

Show me the smile thats only for me,
not the one you give away.
The one that comes right from your heart,
not the one that you show every day.

Not one when your lips turn up,
at the edges that looks just so.
But the one that touches my very soul,
in a way only you could know.

And not the one that almost a blush,
when wickedness crosses your mind,
or the grin from within, when you feel for real,
some guilt for the humour you find.

No the one I want is more than a smile,
for it says more than words ever can
Like the feeling I get, when I reach out for you
and take your hand in my hand.

Give me a paintbrush and I'm lost

I produce things kindergarten kids would be too embarressed to take home to their parents, lest they stick them to the refrigerator door with little magnets and "other people" saw them.

Give me a pencil and I fare much better.

Things a high school kid would be kinda proud of but not necessarily want his peers to see are what I can produce with a pencil.

But give me words

Oh sweet, succulent words. Words with juice and passion and pain locked inside and I can free it all.

Words are my paint

Typewriter keys are my brushes

And this is my canvas

And on this canvas I can paint so many things.

Tales of love that remind what love used to be like when it was new and fresh and vibrant and all consuming, when love and the person you loved were the very air that you breathed, and when you could be with them you thought you would suffocate.

Tales of not love. Tales of a love that flows like a river in one direction only, always away from you and never towards. Washing away the banks of your soul as it does, eroding hope on its way before emptying into a sea of despair.

Tales of loss so vivid they bring tears to the eyes of some who read them for they truly are tragic tales.

And tales of hope. triumphs of good over evil, love over loss, joy over pain and sunshine over rain.

I paint pictures that make you laugh out loud and then quickly look round to see if anyone noticed.

But I am not naive

Pictures are subjective things, some we like some we don't.

And thats ok.

I'm not a big fan of Picasso, and as sensitive a guy as he was, he probably wouldn't be offended by that either.

Thank you for looking at the pictures I paint and the words I paint them with.

Last night another soldier
lay down in his cot
and closed his eyes upon the world
a world that he forgot

A world amongst his family
his friends and neighbors too
A world where he's just dad
not some LT's number two

Last night another soldier
stayed awake all night
watching over brothers
hurt and injured from the fight

A night like many other
for this corpsman now deployed
he's face to face with horrors
that no war can e'er avoid

Last night another soldier
went on patrol, did not come back
he fell amidst a firefight
from enemy attack

An enemy he never knew
nor even understood
An enemy he only fought
cos someone thought he should

Last night another soldier
celebrated passing out
tomorrow night this cycle
will repeat, there is no doubt

For each night there are soldiers
who do all of the above
hoping we may know true liberty
freedom, peace, and love

Ten items or less
Deliberately ignored
Causes checkout rage

I wish we wore no poppies
to remind us of our loss
No annual parade
at which we count the cost

I wish we'd gotten smart enough
to see nobody wins a war
Instead we let our minds be washed
over what they're fighting for

And fifty, sixty years from now
they'll ask what it was about
And we'll struggle to remember
of that I have no doubt

But it seems for now the past
holds a lesson we won't learn
Because frankly there's more profit
in watching the world burn

I find myself standing in a darkened corridor unsure of which way to go.

In one direction is my past, the other my future.

Yet from this point both look identical.

Both dimly lit and devoid of anything resembling purpose or accomplishment

There is silence but for the ticking of a clock.

The rhythm is steady and the sound deep. Mechanical in nature, like the tick of a real clock with springs and jewels and weights.

There is comfort in that, but also the realisation that proper clocks run down, and eventually stop, unless tended to.

But I know not in which direction the clock lies.

But shouldn’t there be more than this. Shouldn’t there be music, conversation, even voices from my past to remind me from whence I came? No? Then at least voices from my future to guide me forward to my destiny, surely I should know which way to go? What happened to the laughter? There was laughter in my past, and music and dancing and good times. Were they really so far back that all they are now are memories, silent memories?

But there is nothing. The torches on the wall are almost burned out and barely cast enough light for me to see where I am in this life right now, certainly not where I have been nor where I am going.

And so I sit here alone in the darkness.

I didn’t even make it to a crossroads in my life. I got turned around so often that I no longer know which way is up, or at least forward.

My biggest fear is that I will go in the wrong direction, repeat the mistakes of my past, encounter those demons I thought I had left behind and once again suffer all that pain. I barely made it through first time, I don’t think I could do it again.

I need help. maybe I have done for a while, maybe I should have seen this a long time ago, but nobody likes to admit they got it wrong, they failed.

I need a something to show me which way the clock lies, before it runs down, and stops.

Look over here!
there's a reason to be scared.
Pay no attention to the truth
there's misdirection we've prepared

Forget the facts
national security's at risk
we'll just sidestep what you've read
after all, does it exist?

It's just a game
a little give, a little take
we didn't mean it quite like that
c'mon give us all a break

After all
you have given us your trust
and if think that we're so bad
you should hear what they say of us

Can you blame them?

Who mourns the dead
from days gone by
When none are left
is it only I?

They shaped our land
and gave their lives
Fathers, daughters
sons & wives

And now they here
undisturbed
neath weathered stones
with faded words

"In memory of"
the headstones say
but names and dates
most worn away

Remember those
beneath the soil
for whom life was
an endless toil

for had their lives
not come this way
you and I may not
be here today.

Hello my name is Roffle La Mau, and I live on MSN.
Me and Lol were born with the internet, so we've only been round since then

Lol and I alwsay get looked at, whenever we're out in a crowd,
as I roll on the floor laughing my *** off, and he's busy laughing out loud

I may not be a handsome man
charming, tall or strong
but if you think I'm not enough for you
then honey you're so wrong

Because it really doesn't matter
that you're a 10 and I'm a 3
The only thing that really counts
is that I'm good enough for me

What's left within the heart of man
that's not been stripped away
or trampled into blood soaked soil
or fallen to decay

Has compassion found its limit
or is it just fatigued
by constant solicitation
coming from those in need

Has love become a ***** word
in an age of such mistrust
those one time shiny wedding bands
are now just rings of rust

What happened to integrity
and the worth of someones word
The keeping of a promise
is now almost unheard

I sometimes sit and wonder why
and where it all went wrong
how we let ourselves as mankind down
in order to belong

Have we given up our self esteem
our honour and our pride
just to impress others
at the cost of whats inside

In this less than perfect world
I say less than perfect things
Instead of soaring like an eagle
I'm forced to walk with clipp-ed wings

It's not that I'm not truthful
just careful in what I say
In this less than perfect world
it has to be that way

In this less than perfect world
I'm a less than perfect guy
with a less than perfect record
when it comes to loves gone by

But if the world was perfect
I would still be me
so would this less than perfect guy
be someone you'd want to see?

If poetry is art, then what form should it take?
Is ignoring things like layout the cause of my mistake.

You see to me a poem should be heard before its seen
Its an audio based art form, using sound to express its theme

So when I write my poems, and lay them on the page
I do so as if they're spoken by an actor on a stage.

Now I see some other poets, who lay it out so pretty
But when I try and read it, its disjointed and bitty

So again I ask my question, if your poems meant to rhyme
should you really break your verses in the middle of a line?

See I don't only write poetry, I like to read it too
so when a layout trips me up, I want to say to you

Why do that your reader, why get them on that train
only to pull the cord and get them off and on again

A poem is a journey, I should sit back and take a ride
not trip and stumble frequently over messages you hide.

So next time you write a poem, with more focus on the look
Go down to library and get a calli-graphy book.

I tried so hard to hate you
to lay the blame right at your door
Because then I could move forward
not think about you anymore

Not remember how things used to be
making love neath starry skies
holding hands along the promenade
getting lost within your eyes

But none of those would go away
the fault it all was mine
and so I’m trapped with memories
that I hope will fade with time

And so I come up to a crossroads
in one direction lies the past
in one lies new beginnings
the other dreams that cannot last

Yet now I have to make a choice
so which path should I choose
There’s none on which I really win
and all on which I lose

There is space tween you and I
that we may just never bridge
A truth I slowly realise
yet struggle to admit

You tell me that you love me
and you know I feel it too
from here it seems so simple
but not alas to you

In many way we are so close
yet always out of reach
Defences we both put in place
that neither one can breach

Though put in place to keep us safe
from pain and fear and doubt
They have the added side effect
of keeping others out

When finally I crossed your path
and wished to set you free
The gates were locked so long ago
you could not find the key

And so this space tween you and I
remains unto this day
I sit and wait while you decide
if there’s another way

So many years in darkness,
now blinded by the light.
Sickened by the taste of victory.
Losing all to win the fight.

The constant contradiction
of living with the lies
trading truth for misdirection
while hiding from the spies

Colliding with reality
fiction gone astray
I really can't remember
what this rhyme was meant to say.

Once upon a time
my days were filled with you
but now its only rain that falls
and sky's are never blue

With misery for company
despair my closest friend
I'll never understand
why he chose your life to end

I struggle to find sense in it
each and every day
But I see no higher purpose served
in taking you away

You were my one and only child
the one good thing in my life
that somehow survived the car crash
that claimed my pregnant wife

You were so much like your mother
the way you looked the things you did
Even Frank and Betty said
she was like you as a kid

So now you are together
you finally get to meet
Tell her I miss her dancing
even with her two left feet

She'll read to you at bedtime
just like daddy used to do
especially your favourite
about the woman in the shoe

Daddy's got to go now
got a meeting to attend
If you do see mommy
tell her my love I send
.
.
.
.
.

Hello everyone my name is Bill,
and I'm an alcoholic
I never saw I had a problem
til it became so chronic

Three years ago my wife was killed
she was pregnant when she died.
But my little baby girl was born
right there at the roadside.

The paramedics saved her
but they couldn't save my wife
I was drunk at home oblivious
busy ******* away my life

Then a month ago my daughter died
in that crash on I-71

It was my fault,

I was driving drunk,

God forgive me for what I've done.

Only you will do
Only you can be enough
Only you is what I long for
Only you are who I love

No pretense is necessary
No roles need to be played
No facsimile of something else
next to whom I would be laid

For you to me are perfect
just the way you've always been
anyone who wishes different
does not appreciate what they've seen

Only you are what has me smitten
Only you are all  I see
Only you is what I wish for
Only you are meant for me