Cold Winter Air
Warm Loving Hearts
Never Completely Together
Never Far Apart

There's a small town,
South of North Dakota.
Nobody's ever heard of it,
not a single iota.

In the town there lived a man,
who went by the simple name of Dan.

He never really sought after all of life's pleasures,
because it was in serving others that he saw hidden treasures.

The joy of living,
Dan knew quite well.

But his biggest accomplishment,
to nobody did he tell.

See, Dan never had any kids of his own.
For most of his life, he was completely alone.

No family he had.
No nieces not nephews

No dogs or cats,
nor sisters nor brothers.

Nobody to feud with,
for Dan kept no lovers.

But there's a secret Dan kept,
and I'll tell you today.
That Dan saved the world, in his own special way.

See Dan was a laborer;
he worked and he toiled.
To support himself,
and keep his house on good soil.

Dan saved his money,
he lived cheap and frugal.
For Dan had a plan, which he thought was crucial.

"Build an orphanage in the town, for all the lost children."
Because when Dan was young,
he had no house to live in.

At night his back would ache,
and his feet would hurt.
But this was okay to Dan;
he wanted keep the orphans from sleeping on the dirt.  

So when he passed,
Dan left a book and a note.
"To the bank take this paper, do not say by whom this book was wrote."

The pages had instructions,
and detailed schemes.
For an orphanage for the town,
the home of Dan's dreams.

The bank took the paper,
and showed an account.
That for even the richest person,
would have been a great amount.

And so the home was built,
the walls were made.
An orphanage for the children,
a home for those in need.
And it all started because of Dan,
who decided to serve instead of lead.

Oh what I would give to throw the alarm clock away
Just you and me, sleep, for an entire day
Because you're my best friend
You know it's true
When I'm in your presence, I never feel blue
Oh, sleep, I share all my dreams with you

A new sight we could see
If only for a minute
But the clock keeps ticking
And soon this slumber will have to finish

Another minute today?
No, maybe an hour, let me hit the snooze, please!
Just a little more slumber to put my mind at ease!

Buzz. Buzz.
Oh life comes calling,
This time I won't pick up the phone
Just you and me, sleep
We'd never be alone

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Please not again!
Oh, sleep, why can't you just stay?
I'll ignore my responsibilities,
if only for a day!

Buzzzzzzzz. Buzzzzzzzz.
Our relationship, this alarm always seems to complicate
It's just that, when I'm with you, you always make me late!

Buzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Okay, fine, this time I'll get up
But only because my snooze button,
Has finally had enough

To you, the ground beneath my feet
Every step I take,
you support me.

You stand with me,
in my times of trouble

I am warmed by your embrace,
as I become entranced in your outfit of lace.

Nothing could be more finely crafted,
than my connection with you.

The ages may wear on you,
yet you remain the only one
my sole longs for.

For you truly are...
My favorite pair of shoes.

Is it words?
Is it rhythm?
Is it emotion?

Thoughts just jumbled onto a page,
in hopes that they match some literary device?

Structure.
Or imagery.
Parallel
                          ....lines?
Outside of
                                  ....the box?

But what's a box besides,
                                        What we make it?

Why can't we take
                our perspective,
                shift it    
                          ,
                                around
                                            And change it?
Write poems for,
                          a
                              new (or even all of them)
                                  generation(s)?

They don't have to rhyme.
Or make sense.
Or even be legible.
As long as it helps you, isn't that enough?

"But others read them too"

But they don't always.
Some poems I write on my worst days.
They're
            bad.
They don't,
                  rhyme.
My handwriting is.........
                                      crap.

The words aren't
                          even eloquent.
Putting
            them (my thoughts that is)
                          down to paper helps
                                    me  though.  (or is that too selfish)

But what
                is a
                          poem (a real one)
anyhow?

I guess I'll never, really, know.

The woodcarver
Chips away at his creation
The old, steady hands
Crafting something of perfection
Each wood shaving falling away,
piece by piece,
gives way to a more and more beautiful masterpiece.
But halfway through,
he sits, and he rests.
The creation still stands on the workbench, incomplete.
Time goes on,
and on, and on…. yet the unhatched egg of a figurine still remains.
And one day, the carver again takes it into his hands.
“Finally, your time has come”
He sits back, and he widdles, and widdles….and widdles.
The wooden sculpture at last takes its final form.
And although it was finished last,
and he had made hundreds of items in the past,
the piece that took the longest,
was much more precious than any other piece he had ever made before.

Imagine everyone had wings
They could fly to every single thing
Never walking about and around
Instead flying up and down
Around the skies the people would be
For miles and miles our eyes could see

But, imagine, you, were one of a kind
And you had no wings but instead the only imaginative mind
Your mind could soar you to the heights of your thoughts
A place that others could explore not
At the same time that those people flew, you were stuck to the ground
Is it rather up in the sky or in yourself that you'd be found?

Because a world of your own, where others will never be
Is a world that only you could see
And what's better to experience?
A sight that everyone else knows,
Or a place that only you could go

Don't talk.
Just let it be.
Let the emotions, the feelings, the hurt, show themselves to me.
Each piece will speak for itself.
I feel what you feel, and I promise to help.
So just be still, and enjoy the silence.

Life's pleasures don't need any description.
Enjoy the moment now, soak it all in.
This day may pass us by, but the memory will live for quite some time.
For a second, let your heart be still.
Absorb the scenery, you'll cherish it, I know you will.

So take this opportunity in time.
Set it in stone.
Stand it as a statue in your memory.
A reminder that you're never alone.
And at this moment,
with just you and me,
be still, be silent,
and enjoy the peace.

It's not your smile
It's not your looks
It's not the way you say hello
It's the way you're you
And nobody else
That's what I love
And that's what I see
Because when you are you
No matter what
It makes me want to be
A better me

Captivated...
My thoughts,
you take hold of them.
I replay every moment we spend in my head.
In my mind you become that film from childhood,
filled with nostalgia and comfort.

Captivated...
My words,
if only I could find them,
I would save the sweetest for you.

Liberated...
My soul,
flowing like a brook in the summer,
you dip your toes in the stream.
I feel your presence,
and it fills me with vigor.

Liberated...
My feelings
They are now free,
free to run,
free to fly away,
to find new pastures,
Yet instead they lie next to you,
slumbering, entranced in your peace.

Forgotten...
My past,
a torn apart ship drowned in the ocean,
suddenly becomes forgotten.
Ancient hurts and ancient pains,
the wounds become fresh again,
and they become healed.

My doubts,
tearing, fighting, screaming at me.
They demand my attention.
Now their voice is lost.
Yours I hear instead,
and it calls me,
reminding me of a future,
cemented in trust.

Loved
It's a feeling,
a thought,
an emotion,
untanglible,
untarnished and true.
And now, at last,
I've found it in you.

The drawers are filled, the table is *****.
It’s way past dinner time,
and I’ve got to be up at six-thirty.

Chaos and clutter,
deception and illusion.
My heart no longer flutters,
after the past’s contusion.

I take a step back and think to myself.
“I’ll just start here, and dust off this shelf.”

And so, I clean it up.
But then the realization comes.
Maybe for today,
after that little victory,
I might be a little closer to finally feeling I am worth more than enough.

A little less mess,
I must confess,
has now gone a long way.

Now my walls are all clean.
The table is no longer dusty.
This heart of mine,
I once thought could be never again be salvaged again is no longer rusty.

Once I look around,
I realize in the journey to tidying up,
it was not just some cleanliness,
but actually, myself I had found.

Gray Clouds
A Cold Sprinkle
Life Is New Again

It can sting,
but at the right time,
nothing encourages growth more than a proper rebuke,
from a true friend, with proper intentions.

I'm a bit different,
that's what they always say.
I go about everything I do,
in my own sort of way.

I'm a bit unique.
Where others are straight I'm oblique.
When some choose red I choose blue.
That doesn't make me less of a person than you!

If who you are,
doesn't line up with even a single star,
then shine brighter then others do,
knowing that there's nobody else like you.

Walking about,
there's no need to pout.
Just smile and wave,
don't force yourself to be how they expect you to behave.

You are you,
and that's more than enough.
There's no need for changes,
that makes for too much fluff.

So if you're different,
just like me,
then think of it as a gift,
of which nobody else could receive,
and make your own special mark in history.

From the past I bring doubt to the future
For what reality is anymore I feel so unsure
My dreams put into practice
And my nightmares cast inside
Why can't I just enjoy my new life?

Say what you want
Say how you feel
Every word to me is real
Every emotion, I feel it
Because what matters to you,
Matters to me, too

Forget me.
Forget yesterday.
Turn around and teach yourself to say,
"I love you no longer."
Because you've just caused me harm.
And now I've moved on.
But you're still in the past.
If you loved me,
you'd learn to stop this hurt that lasts.
So say goodbye.
For the first time, you can cry.
And know this pain you feel,
is a pain I felt a million times over
and it was actually real.

The crisp cool air settles on the lake
My voice travels along the water, a soft fog
Vibrant crimson
Lush orange
And the deep brown of the earth
Paint a canvas of life

Some of life's best moments are free

Write me up into a song
Sing me on your lips
Feel me on your fingertips
Hold me and save me
Tell me I am yours
Wash away my insecurities
Open up, for me, new doors
Because I would do it all for you
And so much more

Hello
Has a lot of meanings
But sometimes it is just a simple way
Of asking
"May I be your friend?"

Jovial
Joyful
Exuberant
Energetic
A single adjective
Could not describe you
A single dream
Could never hold you
Fly your wings
Feel the air against your face
Be free, and live the life you want
Your adventure makes me fall in love
So explore the world
Explore yourself
Don't change your name
Keep your identity
Because I adore your true personality
Perfect,
Well I know you aren't
But when you're around
I find home in your heart

Home is...
Late nights out with friends.
Cold nights in,
tucked by the fire,
with hot cocoa in one hand,
and a book in the other.

Home is...
Safety and security.
Love and warmth.
Sanctuary from heartbreak,
protection from the outside.

Home is...
Crying on your shoulder,
when you are so hurt,
that you think you might just go to sleep,
and never wake up.

Home is...
Lying in bed all day,
staring at the ceiling,
and wondering why you just can't get up.

Home is...
Friends and family.
The past and the future.
The here and the now.

Home is you.
Home is us.
Home is the feeling I get,
when we lie together.
No matter the weather.
No matter the storm.

Home is looking in your eyes,
and hearing "I love you."

Home is reaching inside myself
and finding more than I ever thought possible.

Home is......
Home is wherever I find myself next to you.

I'm depressed.
But, I mean, I'm still me right?
Like, I am still me
So what if I lie awake at night?
So what if I can't stay awake during the day?
So what if I get nothing done?
I am still me
I don't talk to my friends
I don't see my parents
I don't write anymore poetry
But it's just a temporary thing
It will be fine
Or at least that's what the doctor tells me
So this pill will do for now
Maybe it will show me how
To be me again
Because maybe I am not me
Maybe this depression is what "me" actually is
And maybe I am just a hopeless project
Waiting to be finally set on the shelf
So all my friends and family
Can start on a different project
One that will actually be worth the effort
Instead of wasting their time on me

One in a million.
Does that mean there's 700 just like you?
Why not one in a hundred billion?
That way I wouldn't have to choose.
Which one I'd love the most.

So many labels
So many versions of this same conformity
Why can't we just be who we want to be
And leave the details up to me

I never was one to swim
And now I am an Olympic diver
Ready to splash into your skin
And collide with you

I never was one to sing
But I find myself belting out tunes
Because they remind me of you
And your voice is the sexiest thing I've ever heard

I never was one to swallow my pride
Yet the embellishment of your words
Entangle me in humility

I never was one to stop to smell the roses
But the fragrance of you stops me in my tracks
Like a lion on the prowl

I never was one to feel good about myself
Yet you show me everything I am
And everything I could be

I never was one to love
Yet you make it so easy
You make it so effortless
That now I can say
I can't help but love you

Swirling,
in the cosmos of your love.
Swimming,
through the endless depths of your emotions.
I find eternity, here,
wrapped up in your arms.

I search for more,
and you're right here.
Every melted fear,
every forgotten sin,
every spilled tear,
comes rolling out.
No longer am I stuck in the past.
No longer am I filled with doubt.

I lose myself in you,
and you begin to lose yourself, too.
Dissapearing into the eons of our thoughts,
so tangled together,
so wrapped up in the idea,
of a true forever.

I feel like I'm falling,
and the darkness surrounds me,
and I find myself calling.
Calling out your name,
and searching for your touch.
All at once you appear.
Telling me "I am here."
You pick me up from my descent,
you feel as if you're heaven sent,
a cheribum just for me.

I gasp,
and I choke,
will I suffocate again?
"Never," you tell me,
and your presence fills my lungs.

The stars like in the distance,
other galaxies eons away,
but the sun drenched love of the heavens,
I find right here,
with you.

I try to wake up,
to realize it's all a dream.
Looking down,
I realize I'm still holding you,
and you're the one sleeping.

And for a moment,
I know how forever feels,
I feel what love becomes,
and I remember lifetimes with you,
that we never really spent.

Finally I begin to ponder, and
I start to wonder if all of this is fate.
Some long-lost ancient prophecy fulfilled,
that you are my true soulmate.

Your fingers fit
So casually in mine
As if, when we lie together
Our souls perfectly intertwine
Suddenly I lose myself in you
Now is one, what was once two
An outline traced by my finger
The shape of you
So perfect
So flawless
I feel your skin
It calls me
Melting together now
Our hearts slow
Time stops
For once everything is easy
For once everything is peace
With my lover in my arms,
I am finally free to peacefully sleep

Wrap me in paper.
Adorn me with ribbons.
A tag addressed "only for you."
I shall offer the most fragile of gifts, myself.

Joy
Pours from your lips
With the words you give me
I accept my gift
The kindness offered to me
If only I could offer you the same
Make you feel as I do
When you are around
But for now,
Just these words will do
And I hope when I say them
You will tell me
"I love you too"

Close
Warm
Comfortable
Knit together with care
Received unconditionally
Wrap me as a blanket cradled in your arms
Thoughts drift away into oblivion
Worries become quiet nothings  as souls unite
No chasms to separate
No chains to bind
No chores of tomorrow
Only today
Only you
Only me
Knit together
Formed as one

Future ripples across the seas of life,
scattered as my thoughts,
grow into waves of what is to come.

Fluid lives give rise to flowing minds
that change with the tides of life.

If the rocks and peaks of the stormy shore,
found the ripples of my past upon them,
will you be the lighthouse guiding this captain to safety?

Chirp cheep cheep.
Mother blue jay sets down and sings to me.
Singing a tune she's sung since birth.
I realize it's beautiful,
it's a song of the earth.
For the blue jay does not worry,
she comes and she goes.
The next phase of life,
she'll figure it out as she goes.
Maybe the blue jay has something to teach.
Something only mother nature can preach.
Time and tribulations can take care of themselves.
So take your worries,
and set them on the back shelf.
Sing a song,
as the blue jay does.
And sing a tune to yourself,
not for anyone else,
but just because.

Perched overhead
Oh so sweet
The mother robin gives her children a worm to eat
No worries of tomorrow
Only caring for today
The mother robin has no worries of what others will say
She takes care of her offspring
A small tune she will sing
For she is content in today
Not a care of tomorrow
She feels no stress
She feels no sorrow
Only today
If I could be like the mother robin
Oh! If I could learn from her!
My life could be tranquil
Instead of all these dips and turns
The road would be straight and narrow
Flying as straight as an arrow
If I could learn from the mother robin
Maybe then, my life could begin.

Memories and emotions,
sleeping in silence.
The mind lies dormant.

The thoughts awaken,
they begin to stir,
but just let them be.

Embrace the journey.
Enjoy the seat.

For a secret pleasure it is,
discovering a personal eternity.

Pastel
Would be pretty nice right?
Something that's my favorite color
Mixed with a little extra white
A little faded
My colors are jaded
Just like me
Because I feel all mixed up inside

A vase on a pedestal
Put there only to fall apart when pushed off
I won’t be that anymore

Planted years ago,
By a laborer only I know

A sapling of fear and doubt,
Now stands as the tallest tree

A prickly poke,
a small dose,
of the feeling,
that I abhor the most.

A feeling
of love,
of sorrow,
of when we fell apart.

Yet another needles swoops,
Through the cloth it goes,
and a new ***** to my finger,
I reluctantly accept.

For this needle,
will thread a new life;
a life sewn together with you.

If only I could sail away
Live at another place for another day
Cast my problems into the sea
To just for once, live without worry

I go to write the words on my pen,
but the ink runs dry.

Looking into the sea of my thoughts,
I begin to drown.

I reach and I grasp,
nothing.
I scream and I shout,
only silence.
I fill with doubt,
and doubt screams back at me....

"It's not true.
You can't make it.
If you ruin it,
then at least it was by your own choice.
Your fears,
are just the reality you face every day.
Give yourself back to me,
and become again who you used to be."

For a moment I sink further,
further into the abyss,
wanting to give myself away,
to let myself drown.

Further and further I go.
With each passing moment,
the doubt grows,
and I dwindle.

No longer knowing who I am,
I succumb at last to the water.
The dark chill of my thoughts,
the empty hollowness of who I become, and
the fears of my past begin to sink in.

All at once,
I am reminded of my past faults.
I am reminded of my past fears.
I am reminded of my past anxieties.
I am reminded of the loss of all that I hold dear.

I rise from the water at last, and
I breathe again.

I realize that,
no matter how much I grow up,
no matter how much I try,
no matter how many tears I cry,
I will always be scared.

I will always be scared,
of those who said they cared,
and hurt me the most.

That old couch you grew up on,
broken down from the years.

An old handkerchief,
used to wipe away sweat and tears.

That doll you held as a child,
something so dear to you,
when you were still so sweet and mild.

A season you rely on,
like the spring when it comes every year.

A friend you can cry on,
that sheds away every fear.

A parent you can call,
when you’re just tired of it all.

A song that stays in your heart.
A thread that strings life together.
It is the feeling of something that stays,
the beauty of realizing the reliability of forever.

In my sentimentality,
I’ve felt the full vitality,
of absolute inner joy.

And now I see you,
and you see me too,
and I think I see a life,
where I grow old with you.

When....
There are no words that you can say.
There is nothing your friend feels they could do.
To help them; here is a tip I have for you.
Simple and easy, the best comforts are.
Not even words are needed, for the best heart to heart.
All you gotta do, is make them feel snug.
Give your friend a simple hug.

It's not about the amount
It's not about the colors
It's not about the embellishments

It's about the meaning
It's about the utility
It's about having something, with nothing done in futility

It's springtime in the valley
In the northern half of Cali
My home away from home
I admire nature alone
Quiet contemplation
No degree of temptation -
To waste this moment or fret
For springtime in the valley, isn't over yet

Sturdy
A house on a hill
With firm foundations
A treasure box for memories
A sanctuary when life chases after you

Unwavering
The winds hit hard
Yet the candle in the lighthouse does not flicker
To steer sailors away from the rocks
The flame is true
Guiding home those who are lost

Resolute
Determined to the end
A never faltering promise
To be there, no matter what it takes

Steadfast
I am for you
My love is true
My arms are open
And you will be accepted, no matter what

Just passing through,
simply to absorb the wonderful view.

What a pleasure it can be,
strolling through a forest on a Sunday afternoon.