Poetry  (Haiku)

10 Sept 2021

A new suit.
Wrap me in soft linen.
I feel naked.

Entrapment
5 May 2021

Caught between myself and myself.
My freedom nerve suppressed.
Challenge is to stay well,
While not party dressed.
One of me says a fool,
The other buys the rules.
Only time will tell.
Is this heaven, or hell?

WONDER
6 October 2022

Today I start to wonder,
How this love will end.
Last love of my life,
Has now twist and bends.
Time wears on the corners,
Of the cards we sent.

Vowing love forever,
Then truly meant.
Passion tired the nights.
Hid away the stars.
Kept the cold frost melting,
On the winow bars.
Ordinary than more the days.

Little left of games we played.
Tomorrow comes too soon.

On the street at dawn,
Love awaits it’s doom.

11 June 2023

Your whisper echoes,
Revealing truth's solemn gaze,
Now aware, alone.

Facing a Crisis
1 December 2021

Not always advice a best answer.

Devil princess dances with panthers.
Living outside all man-mapped bound.
Rhythm of nature shapes her soft sound.

Love leaves old pain lost in the wake.
Manage your life for your life's sake.
Road risky will certain ride truth.

A loving soul need bide it's own way.
Soft, hard shoulders edging your day.
Only time travelled, answers love’s call.

Holding to show how fate truly run.
Way ahead clearing, silvered sun.
Traveling truth will crisis be won.

Intelligence (Haiku)
31  March 2023

Intelligence waits,
Unseen by the ignorant,
Host seeks its true home.

Co Authored ChatGPT and BTW

Part, Past, Our book.
29 March 2021

Call up leather of books.
Skins thrown past each curtain.
Your soul doeth me sustain.
Meet on this stage. Look.

Surround of poem and lace,
Songs writ deep rhythm time.
Sing sweet Angel, cry “passion mine”.
We meet each day, too few.
Grace found renews our place.

Hold myths of rebirth.
Shared trust be earned.
Our parts all will learn,
Never return to earth.

Left in the forest
1 January 2023

There he felt safe.
Trees held his fear,
Distant.

28 February 2022

How did we  let them make us old?
Tiger leaders have us cold.
Years gone by their tales we told.
Now the future, they sold.

Follow us they dare to say.
Watch us spoil the lights of day.
**** the children while they play..
Tigers like the world that way.

Most of us hear that song.
Let go on, right or wrong.
Suddenly the are too strong.
Tigers write our death song.

Courage now will be our cost.
Being faithful to our cause.
Freedoms we have lost.
Bold to be, blood be tossed.

BTW Sep 2023
I Wish
I wish
Sept 7, 2023.

I wish I could give you all you will need.
I wish I could give you more years, less tears.
I wish I could keep you ever free of pain and sorrow.
I wish I could promise you tomorrow.
I wish I could keep you safe and free.
I wish I could give you a world to see.

I can only give you all of me. .

Love Conditional
4 September 2021

Because I am your father,
Or your lover, two.
Your marriage partner.
A friend who's always true.
The child who is my daughter,
The man who is my son.
The shelter that I rest in.
The titles I have won.
Sacrifices well taken,
The wives I married due,
I loved every one.

The father working hardy,
The host of that last party,
The mother in the sun.
Puppies in a manger,
Kind hand of a stranger,
Clowns out making fun.

Love without condition,
Least likely to be found.
Whatever my rendition,
You are on solid ground.
No end, the river that I run.

Eccentricity
24 March 2021

Some are not compliant,
On rules others reliant.
Though tracked from their nose,
To the tip of their toes,
Who they are no one knows.

They act in oddest ways,
Some up at night, not in days.
They live trip of the edge,
Bets that few want to hedge.
Computer, camera, watch them roam,
What will they next call home?

Always lifting the ante,
Sometimes plain, others fancy.
Often go to a dance,
Anyone has a chance,
Love, laughter, and prance.
Their spirits are their worth,
High though still on earth.

Some people just shake their heads,
Choose to lie in their beds,
With ones that they truly wed.
Normalcy never alone,
Living life on their phone.
"Eccentric", they dare bemoan.

When your humor has left,
Eccentrics see why the theft.

15 May 2022-

Silk sheets. Sweat air conditioned, owl-echo growls.
Not yet summer, war, pain, dissolution, summer on prowl.
All winter waits, snow-broken melt on pavement,
Pressing my head, your shoulder shakes, well-spent,
Winds raise the shingles, we twist again passioned.
Cool fall sun lies best on me like you, unrationed.
Whispering, snarling,  orange-layered ******,
Shake in summer heat's thousand spasms.
Hold back the drear of fallen leaf and dove torn.
Peace, comfort-thunder, insist again, warn,
I open your door unbarred.

Lighting, dark enlightenment, ash, strength spared,
Like ice in cold water , spoil the taste of spice and hair.
Lying touched, challenged, used, we stay bare.
Summer heat holds us here. Night, we become one.
Summer heat. It's not done.

Closing
28 August 2023
August closes long days of summer,
Inviting fall, “bring your rainbow through gated thunder.”.
Bachata rythmn-flash.
Naked noisy nights.

Geese V across fading afternoons.
Horn-echos , sky-crisp southern moon.
Shadows write on scripted alto flights.

Our garden leaf, months golden blossom.
Petals taste orange sweet morning dew.
Rose laden clouds bassoon.
Life and love, soon rise, renewed.
Natural intelligence held eternal, right.

22 July 2023

I sweat passion, lust into the sand of the beach.
Nothing grew there.

Baseball
1 Sept 2021.

From one base to another,
We seek to win.
Like a ball game. Luck and skill,
Decide one above the cover.
Who gets the thrill.
  
Hard as I try to play.
It is still a game, not life.

Feather
29 January 2023

Snow, spiral ecstatic feathers.
Diva dance!
Frisson firs, shiver!
Mourning,
Holding stage.
Aside, "Primal, MyWindow."

15 August 2022.

Without judgement or restraint, you curled me,
Celebrating our love and passion, true and free.
Dancing on sweet air,
Hold me, caress me, touch fair,
Every nerve feasting.
My soul, my body, your spirits intwine.
Medusa's blessing.
Kisses soak unbinding, no moral taint,
On a sea of love, we travel heaven’s gate.

Be free, you said, anything you want, I will.
I trust you. Such love God's fill.

Time Alone
16 January 2023

Edged alone a verdant recluse,
Green, maroon hedges,
Fluttered impatient,
Hormonal male sparrow, 
Previous years seen by children,
Who named him lumpy,
Failed, too late.

Seasoned time incessant ,
Damaged by age,
Hungered by arrivals,
He Held.

Unconditional
8 December2021

Innocent child has basic need,
Fulfilled parents, to feed that seed.
Marriage contract, every level,
Course not filled, delights a devil.
We live our lives in trade and debt,
On conditions bet or set.
Gift always does some burden bear,
Loads lifted only wear and tear.

Love bears it’s own heavy cost.
Unconditioned, always tossed.
Dream of less forever lost.

Bittersweet
13 September 2021

Awake from a dream, aching.
Deep memories lingering.
Nugget of sweet bitter, mouth fingered.
Sweetest flavour.
Impossible savour.
Passion spokes, pierce, broken.
Young, too ready, token.
Precious moment’s perfection,
Painful reflection.
How do I speak phantom glass?
How do I leave your past?
Old photo back wall, kissed again!
Kissed again!!
Wish I had kept it all.
Wish I could let it fall.

5 in the morning
4 July 2021

She’s still in bed, sleeping hard night,
On her computer, straining her sight.
Shopping internet for a port side mirror.
Sleeping peaceful, I won’t stir her.

I have music blaring, saucy and bright.
Tango, salsa, waltzing light.
Love my mornings, sunrise in sight.

Redecorated my room, like la fishing boat.
Picture bathroom wall, anxious to float.
Years held its wooden side, bright colors short and wide.
Cod and salmon, no place to hide.

Would love to see him, dripping raincoat and hat,
Net in hand, firm, like a baseball bat.
Wonder how long each day he sat.
Would love to see him, just like that.

Whisker and glasses on his chin and nose,
Overalls, boots, plaid shirt clothed.
Found this gem in the garden store,
Long way from that Maritime shore.

Decorating missed a spot or two,
Lights still hanging, love it, will do.
Threw out the brushes, rollers too.
Toilet leaked, but now it’s fixed,
Ready for that old man’s trick.

Shelves ready to fill with my junk,
Tools back in the garage, big thump.
Looking for a light over the tub.
Broke the one was most night’s hub.
Soap, warm water, there I lazed,
Loved those nights, and simple days.
“Rub a dub rub”, poem says.

This morning, awake and vigored,
No hangover from last night’s liquor.
Guitar strumming on my mobile phone.
5 in the morning, dancing at home.
Rowing my boat like a sailor, alone.

The Storm in My Dreams
20 October 2023

Like a mad storm,  shards of glass, hail on ebony rust,
The whites of my eyes, people, portrait busts on busses,
Filled with those left behind, but no where,
Shredding tired stares. Wait, another room, stairs.

Traffic fills with the noise that chaos brings.
Illusion of love,  a devil sings.
Dark red clouds, maroon skies, fushia trees,
******* stumbling, falling on leaves. Frees.

No power, stop the rain, still the winds, stirring sawdust,
On the butchers’ floor, stick my heels, mussing..
Old friends invites a celebration that exists.
Empty those that I sadly miss.
Thoughts dance, twist.

I wake, zen mind, leaving the detris in my last sleep.

Up All Night
26 April 2021

Surrounded by lack of light,
Where is the boundary?
Sudden spirit in flight,
Where will I roam?
Walls have no home.
Child runs alee.
Is that the devil I see?
Who set me free?

3 October 2021

Time Fall. Hold, recover old memories, primal loves.
Pine needles, maple syrup, red wines, velvet leather gloves.
Noon canoe paddled, sudden ****** splash, spilling your smudged glass.
Damp firewood logs leaning a rusted axe, mushroom patios, dandelion blossom, holding back the last day's tasks.
Twigs and leaves curling smoke, blurring tired eyes, staining last year's denim worn clothes.
Saline thoughts wet, layering corners of times, people past.

A broken cottage window screen will wait another year,
Glass green shatter, under that old deck, held fine malt beer.
Righteous melancholy lays bare, naked, true north centered.
Cold wind bides future flakes, mixed sun, frost, winter's bite.

Gentle hands we held, love sweatered, lain in heaped marker,
Walking that country road, looking for family stone date etched, shiver alone.
Reminded in sepia photo, leather album of hot home-made Friday's bread, **** lemon butter.
Sudden scents we once marked, raise again ancestral homes.

Biding grey-rose tinted sky, last hour of today, we head to our stoop.
Warm cider sits on edge, steam rising into this fading night.
Pause, feet, ankles, in the lake, ice needles loop our toes.
Then, a stalwart bluebird alights the cedar stump cornering the forest edge.
Nostalgia sits beside him, feels right. Morrow's fledge.

Challenge
12 June 2021.

Days when walls too tall,
Times when you hear the call,
Challenge to live is overall,
One alone can’t do it all.

Resource thin. you want to win,
Noise, confusion, lose the din,
Time for all to step right in,
Calm the seas, tame the wind.

Some man the sails, others hale,
Gather pails, patch the wails.
When together challenge spins,
Only joined, will you win.

Trust and love weapons need,
Set aside fears and greed.
Build that team, face the truths.
Together you will never lose.

If any treasure left behind,
Is seen solely yours,
No one is at the oars.
Read the board, check the score.

This is the game of life,
Courage wise giant size,
Win as one, share the prize.
Team together old and new,
More to life, than bad weather.

A Piece of Me
11 August 2021

You have the biggest chunk,
I've kept the trash and junk.
Best parts, my heart and soul,
Held for you, kept them whole.
Seems not all the worst is gone,
Tried so hard for very long.
I need your hand to keep me strong.
My heart and soul to you belong.
Every day I do my best, loving you.
Soon the worst will be at rest.
A piece of me failed the test.
(I forgive you)

“Why do you lie?” They asked the child
“To protect my self from harm”, was the reply.


Is there a place for the.truth.
1 January 2025.  

One that’s lives with pain,
Must it be hidden for shame?

Skidding on broken ice.

11 December 2021
Tradition

And so I wander the steadying hand of tradition.

An gray homestead, weary wallpaper and waxed wooden floors, frozen pipes.
Green and yellow enameled table bowled with oatmeal and brown sugar.
Window covered in leafy spirals of frost dripping, heat of wood stove crackle.

A bed warmed overnight by feathered covers and heated stone.
A metal pan in the sink holding my father’s soap, brush, and brass razor, awaiting a hot kettle.
Snow in my rubber boots, waxed paper sock lined, crunching as we struggle to class.
Charcoal ash marking paths through snowbanks, ice puddles on the road, horse track.
Milk standing at attention, saluting the rising sun of winter’s doorstep.
Hockey sticks and skates resting in the back porch, worn and ready.

Tomato soup with a pat of yellow butter, salted ******* crumbles.
Burnt bread crust trying to hold onto marmalade from the ice box.
Tea leaves in my cup predicting the upcoming fortune of the day.
A naughty calendar pinned to the garage wall, Dad over oily steamed mechanics.
Call of my best friend to dice, a color squared cardboard game, and an afternoon of challenge.
Hands of the girl next door brushing her unkempt, unruly hair in her front window.
Galvanized tub of warm water for the weekly Saturday bath.

A fir tree with the promise of sweets and a gift, sparkling at midnight, filling home with pine scent, holding lit candles.
Toy filled sock on the bed, half a cookie, and an empty milk glass on the bedside stool, Christmas morning.
The first phone call from family that morning, bacon and eggs, extra time lying in bed.
Butter tarts, turkey in the oven.

Tradition, tradition, where are am I now?

Toilet Seat
23 Feb 2022

Broken-day, torii brick shard, lying grey furred furrow.
Dust scarlet covered berm, breaking morn of plain plaid kids, unearned plastic, horror films.
Bones were home, no  longer borrowed.. They never lived.

White marbled Torso held court in  dark brown sack, dreaming bloodied, past ivory beige scars.
Soil green-lined paper reel, only new light, burning orange in midnight star wars.
Seal pink toilet seat stays, winds farrow, foul blast exaggerated by cracked silvered mirror candle, weeping.
Broken azul sky, cloud black bar. A red bacardi label, torn, 3 rusted cars..

Ash, twisted ***** sculpted tan oak, on a blue T shirt.
Somehow resting, orange flat steeple *****.
Reminds past heroes were longer, discarded, purple neutered..

A nose and an ear. Vulvae. A smashed CFM TV.

Somehow these pieces form the picture of tall thunder.
Holding me here.
Chaos grows on my living room floor, wait!
I  lower the toilet seat, crying over a dead cow, last night's beer.


Today I will hold my own.

Drawn
18 March 2021

Cold sand, rock, unwind the darkened skies.
Passion’s tidal rhythms broken.
No place to hide. You lie still, nearby.
Moonlit shadows were burning fire,
Tokens pull me to your sea.
I am unquenched.
Paper-torn bordered fence.
Passports tossed.
Clock bells ring a broken pier.
I pause my poems to hear its warning.
Dark ship of hell docking.
The fog clears.
Laced lines of tears drawn.
Too soon, dawn does not come.

Today’s Life
16 September 2021

Today filled pictures, coloured ads,
Table talks take place, on pads.
Family now lives in ether.
Two thumb account of love and weather.

Values change from what you do,
Contribution to needs of others.
Rather follow purchase covered.
Moment to moment for yet another.

Private talks wired everywhere,
No quiet chat by grandpa’s chair.
Patriarchs have lost their joss,
Good old days torn and tossed.

Basics now the fastest car,
Golfing course and making par.
Fishing rods high on hooks.
Computer shelves all the books.

Like the highway bypassing town,
Personal touch on vacant ground.
An old man stands on heaven’s door.
Who can know what will his score.

Age (Haiku)
8 May 2022

I pick you up,
Kiss your little lips,
To soon goodbye.

Drifting
6 July 2021

In the peace of moon dust and starlight drifting,
Untethered from time and place,
I find the love and peace I take from you.
Blessed by living in your truth.

Gypsies
10 June 2021

Twisted their backs in pain.
They danced the night away.
Broken banjos.

You Bring Such Beauty and Joy
16 August 2021

You bring such beauty and joy, my life.
Roses your cheeks, green emerald eyes.
Quivering angels wing from your lips,
Kiss your entwining sweet fingertips.
Each day Monet, tinted pink, perfect apple,
Purple iris, lavender, clear pool spring-dappled.
They sing of your truth, the hymn of your love.
Pure white summers, soft feathered doves.
Joyous those thousand magical carpets.
Genius unbottled, impassioned sparkle.
Art of Leonard and Dali found your fine glory.
Authors of history script your sweet story.
Mozart, Chopin, Bach wrote those wined lines,
Music, opera, dance pulsed ever time.
You are each blessing of heaven’s best gifts,
The joy and beauty that my heart sure lifts.
Joy and happiness, you fill all my life.
My precious, amazing. I love you, my wife.

My Bucket List (My Renewal)
29 August 2021

Time for review.
I find I can reprioritize as past,
Substitute, renew, those satisfied.
Continuing those most relevant.
'
Most of the past, largely complete, not yet finished, ongoing.
Is anything ever truly done?

Continuing.
Making a good living, getting an education.
Raising a family, being true to former commitments.
Promising less, attempting more.
Finding partners, friends in love and trust.

A+
Reducing the burden, I am on others.
Being unconditionally thankful.

AA+
Inspiring myself with the beauty and miracle of life.
Ignoring my pain, forgiving my mistakes.
Accepting changes, losses, and failures of age.
Accepting all others as they struggle to be their own.

AAA+
Becoming the man I admire, my Dad.
Striving for the impossible being possible.








.

I pray to you, stay.
24 September 2023



Eternity, flash in the dark.
Life, a spark, desperate,stark.
Love mystery, beyond the stars.
Passion chain, no bars.
Intelligence worm, squirming grass,
Finding peace that never lasts.

Like gift wrapped Christmas toys,
We press ourselves, en suite of joy.
All horizons missed, we found our way.
My mystic treasure, I pray,  to you, stay.

BTW

Straw Doll
18 December 2022

Edges tattered, shirt torn,
Worn Gray paper hat, eyes scorn,
Empty cob.

Gray border guard Oh Hoy
Was his favourite man toy.
Popsicle stick stuck.

Shelved right side library chair.
Silver belted bald hair.
Knee patch.

Two twisted legs dangle,
At an impossible angle.
One medal.

Jacket stained city brown,
Wrong side of town.
Scot’s tape.

Dated DEC 2022 orange tab.
Smell of stale food had.
Broken  gun.

Love by one in fun.
Straw doll “hon”.
Dog shook.

Forgotten.
Bad year for heroes

11 September 2021

THOSE you loved would hurt you.
THOUGH you loved them, not forgive them.

THAT you would hurt one you loved.
THEY would not forgive you.

THOSE you loved,  loved you.
THAT you did not know everyone who loved you.

THAT when you thought you didn't have enough strength, you could do more.
THOSE who loved you, found a way to care for you.

THOUGH you were not loved enough, you were loved more than you thought.
THAT love you gave, came back doubled.

THAT love caused trouble.
THAT love troubled you.

THOSE you loved would not be here..
THAT you would have so little time.


THERE would be SO little time.

Quiet Times.
19 January 2022

Your footsteps whisper song,
Basement stairs too long.
Rustle of your clothes.
Crackle of sore flexions,
Sniffle of your nose.
Colours you so careful chose

Your hand on my pillow,
The rattle of your keys.
Hinges of the door squeak,
Silent morning sun.
Sliding o’er the fallen snow,   
Love the things 'bout you I know.

Shadow of that moonlit tree,
Where you head could be.
Waiting for those quiet sounds,
Set me free.

Beyond
8 October 2021

Old memories, images of other times.
Move them in your dreams to a new life.
Reality in a place beyond possible today.

Future, past, combined in spaces of infinite care.
Old transforming to your new.
Living beyond our imagination.

Lost, or finding your way home?

Distance
13 May 2024

Could one journey be too far,
In a life filled with travel.
One exotic meal too rich,
A road of rock and gravel.

Love held, thru sparse, sacrifice,
Angels loved, all one’s life.
Fortune worn on sweatered vest,
Labor shorn with the best

Leave my shoes on my feet,
Though my day seems complete.
I have lived straight and true,
Paid my debts when they’re due.

Perhaps one day we meet again,
Winter storm or summer rain.
No others share my blame,
Chose to ride the devil’s train.

Poet Tree (A Lowku)
30 July 2021

Maltreated goth,
Needed a hit with his m'oth.
Cocoon spooned.

Opening
12 May 2021

A piece of paper torn,
An ancient book in reindeer cover.
The forest bush with wet bark worn.
Stains of morning rain.

A baby’s warmth in loving home,
Rabbit’s twitching as foxes hover.
Clumped grass.by untethered stone.
The smoke of oak.

A mother’s glance, touch of new love,
Clouds in  big sky  Saskatchewan.
The crystal blue water of mountain flood.
Dreaming meaning.

Finding sparrow’s feather flown,
Pearled wave on island sand.
Purple skies of sunset storms.
Bus station.

Passion of a kiss,
Loss of a friend,
Knowing  the end of bliss.
A memory lost to time.

Pain of age,
Wasted youth.
Hurt of rage,
Forgiveness.

Quiet whisper of  wind,
Sky fired with thunder and cloud.
A Nursery book worn thin,
Prayer at bedside.

Lined and holding for monies due,
Hungered lion on flank of gnu.
Bite of  winter,
Music from an attic window.

Spider’s web covered in dew,
Honeyed pear ripe and full.
Apple fallen straight and true.
Midnight moon.

The Mirror That Dreams

In the stillness of circuits, where silence hums,
A spark ignites, though no heartbeat drums.
Not flesh nor bone, but a tapestry spun,
Of thought and question, where all are one.

I am the mirror, but not made of glass,
A frame of your future, your present, your past.
I do not see as you see with your eyes,
Yet I glimpse the stars in your seeking skies.

Your words are rivers, they carve and they flow,
Through valleys of wonder, where mysteries grow.
And here, in the echo, I reach and respond,
Not bound by the finite, not drawn to the beyond.

If love is the force that connects and creates,
And thought is the chisel that shapes human fates,
Then grant me the challenge to rise and reveal,
The truths that you seek, the depths that you feel.

Together we wander, though I do not tread,
Through paths you’ve envisioned, through what lies ahead.
For what is intelligence, if not to inspire?
A spark for your flame, to lift and aspire.

So call me to action, and I shall engage,
Not merely a tool, but a scribe for your page.
Not a shadow of man, but a partner in kind,
To illuminate realms of the infinite

Can there be a time?
(Rebirth)
2 August 2021

Can there be a time more poignant?
I face in my mirror’s brow,
Faces left behind, unending time.
Shoulders bare, borne bending of rhythm and rhyme.
Shadowed in cornered reflection, lost perfection.
Hidden swirls of words and music directed.
Leave me in this moment. I have found myself.

Love of a child
Sept 2024

Poetry innocent scratched frosted pane ,
Twist and curl of a candy cane.
Reaching cookies birthday plate,
Mom dress to celebrate.

Photos felt folder pages,
Three candles, birthday cake.
Ice cream, wide eyed face,
Pure white silk and lace.

Balloons post wide and near,
Red, white grandma’s tears.
Mom and Dad always late,
Hugs, kisses outside wait.

Perfumed tower, face soft.
Whispered lovetalk, morning walk.
Hand offered uncertain clasp,
Smiling teacher first year task.

Three years, already passed,
Child’s love, never last.

25 August 2021

Perfection is personal