Where do you hide
after the rain subsides
Why do your brilliant
colors disappear
The elusive *** of gold
albeit a myth
we still seek your end
On rare occasion we sight
a double or triple version
of your faded spectrum
We stop in wonder
like children viewing fireworks
Once again
you depart from us
Houdini-like...
right before our eyes.

I still believe in you
when many turn
their backs
and lose faith
in you
To jump in
with both feet
is an expression
of confidence
in love
Shouting from
the mountain tops
moving heaven
and earth
surpassing every obstacle
to embrace love
is powerful
I will always be an
ADVOCATE OF LOVE
never swaying
my resolve
I breathe love
like air and will
continue my quest
to achieve one love.

I don't wish to be a the
   one who follows without
       ever leading
The one who never
     ventures out of my
         simplistic comfort zone
I don't want to be a
     S T R A I G H T   L I N E
        without ever taking risks
Taking roads less traveled
   flowing with the curves
      and elevation changes
I don't want to be plain
  vanilla, I want to have flavor
    and flair without reservation
I want to have a voice
   not being a bystander in
      this complex society
I don't want to be a common
  S T R A I G H T   L I N E.

I long to see you
touch you
and love you
No phone calls
emails or texts
To be with you
FACE 2 FACE
provides
no substitute
for live interaction
I need the emotion
I crave your
intimate kiss
I require the passion
that fills my heart
To witness your beauty
is an honor
An embrace
of carnal pleasure
gives rise to
my lasting love
for exclusively you.

I'd love to write the world a poem
and change the way we think
To lay down arms and embrace differences
dialogue like we love and care for one another
I would love the world to look through the eyes
of children and
NOT see color
NOT see racism
NOT notice imperfection
NOT view impairments
We all deserve good health, food and clean water
world citizens are all one people
I envision a common love
hands joined and lifting each other up
singing one song
NOT fighting
NOT being political
NOT promoting greed
NOT destroying and tearing down
WORLD PEACE is practical
it is necessary
and it is just.
why not in our time
why not now?
We are a viral society
We have the power to make change
We have the ability to influence policy
to all poets
write your words of WORLD PEACE
send them throughout the land
be viral
be free
be at peace.

Who is... they and why do
they get to make the rules?

THEY SAID this and
THEY SAID that

Well I would like to say
something profound
and longstanding...

Not right now,
I'm just saying.

MAYBE
I need you
MAYBE
I don't
MAYBE
time will tell
or
it will stand still
MAYBE
the sun will shine
or
the stars will fall
MAYBE
I love you
or
am I in love
MAYBE
my heart will flutter
or
stop from your beauty
MAYBE
clarity will open my soul
or
close the hole of the past
MAYBE

As I walk my pod
securing all door
protecting the public
and myself
I contemplate
what the inmates
dream about
Lock in
and yet to have
their day in court
As the
NIGHT OFFICER
I wonder if they
regret
Are they
wrongly accused
I shine my light
in every cell
on my tour
I record my
actions to assure
maximum safety
I'm charged to oversee
the worst of the worst
in this place
I would never wish
to be on the other side
of that steel door
a 4X8 concrete box
steel bunk with an
ultra thin mattress and
no pillow
no freedom
no life.

AKA soda in some
corners of the world
you will remain
POP to me

Your carbonated
sweet goodness
of eclectic flavors
tickles my tongue

That blast of caffeine
to lift my sluggish day
or mellow fruity blend
to cool my palate

I mix you into my
vanilla ice cream and
change your complexion
and your reborn

Bottled or canned
I love you ice cold
sweat dripping from you
on a warm summer day.

Somehow this term
serves you no justice
and yet you are
SUBLIME to be true

Ever more to be
stellar in your ways
You strive to be your
best in all aspects

SUBLIME you are
as a woman, mother
and mate for the
betterment of us all.

You know that I like you hot
water cascading all about me
from head to toe

Massaging my muscles
after a vigorous work out
and relieving my stress

I adjust the head to pulse
and pound those spots
that are in need

You wash away the grime
of the day and pick me up
when my energy is fleeting

I must share you on occasion
when intimacy calls
a sensual rendezvous of pleasure

I conclude you with
supple Egyptian cotton
caressing my body.

We all have one
and admitting it
is half the battle

You can be honest
about it or we can
front like a criminal

Good or bad
the motives we have
often define us

Being slick to
the game of life
is a choice to play

Have a positive
M.O. and be real
and true for yourself.

When I grew up you were a pound sign
now you've changed
just as so many things today

# I cannot say the word
you offend me at times
why did you convert?

# you connect related items
we are made to offer our opinions
cyber voyeurism at it's heart

# so many love you
I'm not the one
find you place amongst the masses.

What a splendid
creation that has
been shaped over time

Years in the making
you require controlled care
and special love

Tiny Asian tree
I respect your foundation
and ancient beauty

Your figure is like
no other, tree or plant
every leaf a wonder

BONSI
you are majestic
you are mine.

Oh I often have plans
yet very rarely
seem to see them through
I'm not an ADD candidate
however I do get distracted
by other projects
Yep... here is go again
inflicting  my own
self-derived kibosh
My INDECISION
has cost me dearly
over the years
Often going left
when should have
gone right
I need to be all in
both feet
planted solid
I choose to be great
I welcome success.

Now I lay me down to rest
I pray my Lord
I've done my best
and as I sleep
may my dreams be true
to find the peace
and love in you.

Leaving me with a
duck-faced-pucker
that only a mother
could truly love
Bitter to your core
and odd in shape
yet you often shine
as a center piece
Contrary to be sure
you are capable of
meaningful change
I've slipped your
wedge into my beer
I've added you to
my cakes and pies
and touched with
sweetener, water
and plenty of ice
you concoct a
simple beverage
that stands the test
of time and tradition.

A song of words that express
A fluid compilation of ones being
Styles abound yet rules apply
but they are made to be broken
Sonnets and Haiku's
they evoke unbridled emotion
Love, hate and sadness
we pen a subject that moves us
we relate, we admire and contrast
Expression of epic force
we cry, we laugh and wonder
Rhymes and rhythms we create
with substance and candor
Occasionally making no sense
but only to the poet
We applaud, we marvel and appreciate
the creative mind.

I can't exit you from my mind
all that you encompass in me
controls my emotions
Your ESSENCE envelopes my soul
it completes me to my core
My adoration of you is primal
every fiber within me loves you
a healthy respect in tune
with an acknowledgment of
your sensual persuasion
drives me to you
I can't get enough with
no desire to stop.

As we journey through this life
PEACE      BE     WITH      YOU
As we love and reach for stars
PEACE      BE     WITH      YOU

Rolling hill & mountain ranges
reaching into heavenly clouds
surpass my every vision of the
Lords most awesome goodness

As we search for spiritual bliss
PEACE      BE     WITH      YOU
and be resigned to what may be
PEACE      BE     WITH      YOU.

The journey is epic
what we make of it is poignant
I submit that we all have a destiny
and discovering it is key
We search and stumble through life
seeking to find meaning
seeking to be enlightened by something
or someone
Others resist the challenge and go it alone
The playing field isn't level
and everything isn't for everybody
Obstacles abound
yet we find a way to overcome
YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE
so make it real
make it lasting
make it loving
and make it your own.

Growing up in a time when music ruled my soul
it raised me and coddled me like a mother
Music could make you laugh and cry
it could lift you up and give you faith
ONE SONG can change your life
a song can travel you to another time and place
ONE SONG can provide a memory which can
recall memories of the past
ONE SONG can inspire you to create, love and change the world
one note at a time
ONE SONG can make babies and move the crowd
all night long
Music is a gift that should be appreciated for its benefits
and nourishing rhythms
I close my eyes and open my ears to hear ONE SONG
losing myself and finding myself in the music.

Reminiscent of a
childhood illness
I relate you to well
I've fallen again and
don't want to get up
My friends and family
impart to me of my
pending SYMPTOMS
I've found the love of
a good woman and
it shows all over me
I talk a little bit softer
I show a bit more compassion
I love a heap more strongly
Yes, I've fallen in love
and there is no cure
no medication to stop it
My SYPMTOMS
are everlasting
and welcome.

Since the day I was born you moved me
with your smooth melodies
of rhythm and blues
assembled
arranged
& deconstructed
A living and breathing
time capsule of history
You evoke our emotions
bending and twisting us
to your will
We love you
for your compositions
that make us
laugh
cry
smile
and surely sing along
We sing out loud
when no one is around
We dance abound
like happy children
My love for you is eternal
thank you R & B
for moving my soul

All my life I've been safe
never stepping out to spread my wings
playing it safe even when I gamble
All my life I've been safe
taking the steady job and common car
travelling close to home
All my life I've been safe
married the woman I was expected to
and it safely failed
All my life I've been safe
buying the house that was average
conforming to general styles
All my life I've been safe
now its TIME TO FLY
step out on faith and soar
All my life I've been safe
I want to change the world
with a poem that touches the world.

Many of us tend to
play the game of
martyr and feel
sorry for ourselves

Nothing ever
goes our way
along with the
conspiracy theories

The world is
constantly
battling against
them for no reason

If there was a
COMPLAINT FORM
to fill out, all trees
would be in fear

There will always
be someone with much
worse circumstances
than our issues

... remember that.

My
SANCTUARY
is a place of peace
a church
without walls
a quiet
place of serenity
an open field
of rolling hills
with a single
post card-like
tree for shade
a slow moving
shallow brook
with scattered
stones and the
reflections of the
sun sparkling off
the waters surface
a mountain top
far away from the
city with millions
of celestial stars
peering down
upon me in the
late evening sky.

Your presence is all around me
beginning as a fine mist to a
modest building crescendo
of fine molecules descending
upon my face as I tilt my head
slightly towards the heavens
The cool wet essence you embody
slowly saturates my t-shirt from
top to bottom, but I have no cares
For once I relish in mother natures
shower and drink it all in as I lift
my arms to catch every drop and
when no one is looking, I extend
my tongue and refresh myself.

I'm no conspiracy theorist
I love my country
so why does U.S.A.
stand for
UNDER
SUSPICIOUS
ACTIONS
At times I shake my head
being of sound mind and body
I often wonder
why political figures
do what they do
Americans are NOT that stupid
or are we
I'm so tired like so many
of the systematic B.S.

STOP
trying to
get over
and get
REAL
with
yourself

STOP
seeking
a way
OUT
and pick
yourself
UP

Remain
POSITIVE
when all
else fails
looking  ABOVE
for
STRENGTH.

As you sit back
and survey all
that you have created
I wonder if you
are pleased
Would you make changes
would you do anything
different...
knowing how it's played out
to this point
From the heavens
to the Earth
You are the
MASTER OF ALL
Your hand commands
awesome power
and Your words
the same
I wonder if
through Your eyes
we have failed YOU
Can we do better...
yes.

We PUSH one another
to be better
to give more
to compete harder

We PUSH one another
to reach potential
to higher callings
to achieve greatness

We PUSH one another
to live spiritual like
to not be mediocre
to be more...

I write to clear my mind
from visions and dreams
the come to me in my slumber

I write because I can't stop
the words come to me
like water flowing down hill

I write to express love
to fill my ladies heart
defining my passion to her

I write to feel free
opening myself to all
I am Po Etryman.

MORE of you in every way
I require MORE without knowing what I need
MORE trust?
MORE love?
Ever MORE time to share
Does MORE show my greed?
MORE needs?
MORE understanding?
MORE of you everyday

In a world of all
that is right
I choose to go
LEFT.