~

The moon
  cast shadows
on my
       heart
  
Your smile
   hides them
     from my
    view

And though
  this night
we are
  apart

   My evening
glows
    because of
       *you

Sometimes I can be so very stupid
Sometimes I speak before I think
Sometimes I listen to the wrong part of me
Sometimes I act like an ***
Sometimes I don’t use common sense
Sometimes I see more in things than there really is
Sometimes I hurt the one person I love
Sometimes I bring pain to her without trying
Sometimes I am such a fool
Always I am sincerely sorry

.

Pleasing thoughts of endless rhyme
from deep within do grow
I put to pen and paper dreams
these verses set to flow

To pour along your tender heart
trickle through a while
In hopes that they will bring you joy
and form your face a smile

You’ve asked before, where can it be
that I can find these ways
To write these verses every night
my love put on display

The only answer I can find
so deep within my heart
Is I will write my love for you
these moments we're apart

With only but the shortest time
to tell you how I feel
I use the words I send to you
my feelings to reveal

And pray that you do feel the same
to need me by your side
Open arms now wanting me
with love so ever wide

My mind is like a painted field
in colors vibrant true
When of these words I send your way
that whisper I love you

And if the day should come to pass
when thoughts are running dry
I’ll think about this love I've found
to see before my eyes

Your beauty in a gilded frame
where ever I may be
And write these words I love to say
*that you belong with me

I wish I could kiss you
Now that would be sweet
The moment your lips
And my lips came to me

My heart would beat faster
My pulse it would race
Just feeling your kiss
Oh so soft on my face

I'd kiss you each morning
And kiss you each night
We'd kiss in the dark
And we'd kiss in the light

Like butter cream frosting
Or high dollar wine
I'll know it's delicious
when your kiss is mine

I'll kiss you forever
That you can believe
I won't look away
No I won't even breathe

A kiss at the station
or maybe the store
It won't matter where
It's your kiss I'll adore

If the world is ending
Please promise me this
Before it is over
Just give me a kiss

Then I will be happy
I know that will be
As long as your lips
Are the ones kissing me

You see, there is a heart,
hiding in that vast wasteland
where cactus stands guard
and sand gathers in your shoes

Temporarily deserted
neath a steadfast glaring sun
bringing a spot light
to this darkness you perceive

The way out has been known all along,
waiting in between shadows
and adobe walls constructed
by this self-imposed blindness

Mirrored questions on streaked glass
reflecting what you want to see,
not what those with eyes open
and hands reaching find

Follow me, let me show you the path,
returning you to your smile
and the beauty of what we know…
there is a heart and it is yours

-

War paint
in small grey circles
corrects faults
in the image
our brains find
when we look
for something else
still only
finding ourselves
staring back
asking the
same question…

who am I

~

Their faces bounded, fear and strife
For none did want to feign the truth
His precious queen of stolen life
Now taken, lost among the proof

The king he watched through shuttered eye
Seen worries drown of tears long traced
His heart now falling, stoic sigh
Thoughts of all else now erased

With flickered glow, the candle drips
For in does walk the cherished knight
Draining strength to come to grips
As well his tears he longs to fight

He bows his head in slanted flow
Then lifts his eyes to meet the king  
“I’ve saddened news you need to know,
I fear that forth is dark to bring”

“Tell me Knight, what sends this pain,
draped upon expressions worn?”
The blood still trickles, crimson stain
Above the royal crest so worn

“It is the queen, your majesty
the news, your death, an empty throne
in poison fueled insanity
she feared the worse in what she’d known”

The king, now tears did flow his cheek
Trembling lips and shaking hands
A clench of sleeve, still very weak
“Find the shaman,” he commands

“His magic, shall be ending’s cure
with haste now go, as time now past
through forest lone enchanted shore
*and pray a spell he fills to cast.”

I landed on the fairway
Down the center it did go
Oh wait that's someone else's ball
You'd think by now I'd know

Out here on the green
Cloudy skies above
Don't care if I sink this ball
Because I am in love

Riding in a golf cart
Putting down a beer
I'd be having much more fun
If only you were here

Please know that I miss you
I hope I will survive
Talk to you again real soon
It's now my turn to drive.

I thought I found love
It seemed like the kind
Seen while you’re dreaming
Hoping to find

My heart skipped a beat
A smile appeared
I danced like an idiot
I hope that’s not weird

Almost a year
I cherished each day
She came to my life
And took me away

She gave me her heart
Her love was divine
I couldn’t believe
This woman was mine

When along came another
To good to be true
Handsome and strong
She said we were through

He showed her attention
Much better than me
She’d fallen in love
So happy they’d be

She said that they met
At a sidewalk café
He wrote her a poem
What more could she say

She hated to hurt me
She liked me a lot
But we were just friends
In case I forgot

I started to cry
Not much like a man
I just couldn’t help it
So please understand

She said that she loved me
And she always would
Along with the bad
And everything good

She mentioned forever
But now I can see
I should have been writing
Some love poetry

So now here I sit
Alone in my chair
Writing a poem
With you I can share

I hope that you like it
And maybe she reads
Knowing my heart
For her it still pleads

I guess if she doesn’t
Then that’s okay too
At least I have tried
What more can I do

~

The news did spread, a kingdom’s will
For sorrow placed its shadowed hand
‘Pon castle steps the crowd did fill
As heart break took a firm command

The skies, a darkened clouded stain
As children wept in mother’s fold
Now lost amidst a dismal rain
This hour, sadness frigid cold

How could it be, their precious queen
Had fallen to a woeful stead
A tethered seed, nightmarish deem
Her majesty this day is dead

The knight, of shining armor might
Her lifeless body cradled deep
Staring straight to heaven’s light
Then bowed his head, began to weep

He raised her body ever strong  
Carried her through chambered door
An empty hallway wide as long
Depleted by this mournful chore

The villagers of forlorn feel
Gathered in the dampened street
The plight of loss in full reveal
Disconsolate of death’s defeat

When then upon horizon’s glare
A silhouette of staggered steed
Towards the kingdom's stricken stare
In slow methodic steps proceed

This figure slumped of saddle ride
And weary strains of wistful yearns
Through gates of iron, wandered stride
*A shout rings out, “Our king returns”

~

She takes my day
  and turns it to night
So that I may dream
  of loving her
       *again tomorrow

'

So much I find,
crosses my mind
as my daydreams all unwind

A sunny sky,
an apple pie,
a green balloon just floating by

A purple haze,
a chocolate maze,
a poem with a perfect phrase

A dancing bear,
black underwear,
a pillow in an easy chair

A parking space,
a smiling face,
a lightening bug that I can chase

A waffle cone,
a wishing stone,
the music of a slide trombone

A silver spoon,
a glowing moon,
a special day the end of June

A birthday card,
a big backyard,
a film with Gable and Lombard

A weathered post,
a friendly ghost,
but what I really like the most

Is thinking of
the girl I love,
and not that other stuff above

-


Always my love it shall rest on your shoulders
Even when clouds fill the sky
Holding you tightly for now and forever
Drying each tear you may cry

Keeping you safe as a light in the darkness
Holding your hand as you go
Wearing a smile to make you feel happy
When any sadness may show

Sharing your dreams as we watch them together
Soothing your every pain
Offered affection to last you eternal
Sheltering you from the rain

Taking the lead to divert any danger
Always your shield I shall be
Standing your cause for that’s all that will matter
Keeping you so close to me

Tying a knot so the thread never weakens
Clenching my grip ever tight
Writing a poem so you will remember
My love is with you every night

Following every word you have spoken
Listening close to your needs
Thinking ahead of the problems you’re facing
Protecting what you do believe

Here is my love that I offer you freely
No matter what we may do
Forever I shall be yours so completely
My promise, to be there for you

A lonely morning
Rain fed and darkness
Slick highways
And laughing traffic lights
Colorful and happy they seem
Splashing in puddles
Wipers hypnotize me
Back and forth
Smearing my vision
As I drive, drive, drive

Our song on repeat
Over and over again
Sometimes it makes me smile
Most times it sings me pain
Accelerating through the intersection
Wishing, I’m not sure what I’m wishing
It is just so hard to believe
We were us, you and me
And now empty lanes go on forever
Just as we were supposed to

I should forget, I can’t forget
My heart will not let me
Turning corners is for others
Those who have a direction,
A passenger to share the ride
Seal belts buckled, holding tight
Hands across consoles
Love on every city street
Finding the perfect parking spot
As I drive circles around
What we used to be

A lonely morning
Rain fed and darkness
And a drive in
That used to bring me to you
Now leads nowhere
Anymore

-

Another
   lonely day
  without you
     finds me
  shaking my
     fists at
        a clock
     with tired
              *arms

♡

To some
  it may just
    be words,
  poetic thoughts
     written on a
          page,
   found within
             the imagination...

but to me
  it is a heart
    reaching out,
  in honest phrases
        penned
   by one who
         wishes he were
           in your arms
     at the beginning
   and the end
         of every
                *verse

It was a chance meeting,
we took a chance
knowing chances were
there was a chance
we’d fall in love,
if given half a chance
and if by some slim chance
I may take this chance to ask

Please allow me another

chance

-

He sat across the table behind a crystal ball
wearing a weird hat that looked like the roof
of the Taj Mahal, dark rhinestone encrusted glasses
and a colorful suit straight off of the
Sgt. Pepper album cover
The incense was a nice touch but
not necessary, at least to me

“What do you see in my future?” I asked
He thought for a moment
then hummed some strange melody
before saying, “I can not see your future,
I can only see what will happen ahead.
Your future is behind you now,
it is out of my hands.”

“I don’t understand?” I questioned
thinking to myself I have definitely
been ripped off this time, twenty bucks
down the drain
“How could you let her go?” he queried
staring intently into the glass orb
“She was your future, your everything.
She made you what you were,
brought out the best in you
and you let her go, you gave up your future.”

That hurt…it hit me hard as I felt
tears well up in my eyes at the thought of her,
of us, what we had, where she is now
and then my sadness became anger
as I shouted at him, “What gives you the right
to say these things to me?”
With that he removed his hat and glasses
and I felt a wave of anxiety grip me.
“Because I am you,” he said staring at me now
and not that ****** ball

A lump the size of Everest grew in my throat,
it was me, he was me...
as I nervously asked, “Is there any hope
for happiness in what will happen ahead then?”
Staring at myself I waited for the answer
which I already knew…then we spoke in unison,
“No, there is not.”

-

A springtime Sunday evening
Twilight filters in
The setting sun has made its run
Then disappears again

Crickets sing their melody
Scattered by the breeze
Their song does flow, soft and slow
Through branches in the trees

A scent so pure and fragrant
Sweetly comes your way
Staring high, the moon lit sky
Your mind begins to stray

The grass is so inviting
Soft against your feet
You wear no shoes, this you choose
In this night time retreat

Stars like gemstones twinkle
Patterns up above
True designs so you may find
This one that you do love

Your dreams are freely flowing
When on this evening new
A smiling face, you long to trace
Whispers I love you

You wonder how this happens
For he is not so near
How from above, he sends his love
To calm your every fear

The answer finds your smile
And of this you are sure
The words he writes, you every night
*Proves you he does adore

~

If ever a notion
has tickled the air
swept over clouds
destined to share

Captured a breeze
traveling far
soared past the moon
neath every star

Above the hills
valleys below
whispering words
caught in the flow

Touching the trees
firefly dreams
twilight endearment
magical themes

It is the thought
in this poem I write
sending my love
*to you on this night

-

Some call me romantic
But I don’t think that’s true
I just write down these feelings
I have inside for you

I have no formal training
No poetry degree
Just a pen and paper
I keep in front of me

So when I think about you
Which happens all the time
I scribble out some phrases
That often seem to rhyme

Perhaps they look like verses
They’re kept in groups of four
And filled with my affection
For someone I adore

And yes some are poetic
Though that is not my plan
I just want you forever
I want to be your man

Okay…they sound romantic
And maybe I am too
But it’s not really all that hard
To write down I love you

.

To what do we owe
this canvas knapsack of fears
draped heavily upon our back,
bringing shoulders to a tipping point
Weighted of decisions to be made and
thoughts which haunt when we are alone

Straps cut into tender flesh,
scars build where smooth skin once slept
now bedded down by burdens
in an uncomforting fabric,
warm but dark and painful
as nighttime brings a solitude of tears

Wishes find four wall deterrents,
though from a southern facing window
a light penetrates the anguished fog,
illuminating this room of desperation,
inviting glances to find
that of which smiles are born

Now as we find our hearts migrating
past curtained weeping patterns,
reaching for the glowing affection
whispering on blissful breezes,
soothing longings of safe arms
to hold us in this time of need

Run with every speed to this view,
calling of moonbeams and star dust
careful not to trip over the worries
cast aside to the floor beneath your bed
where they shall remain hidden
behind a door now locked by love

To what do we owe
this canvas knapsack of fears?
Only ourselves if we continue
to look behind at what was instead of
casting our eyes forward on what is now offered
just outside that southern facing window of opportunity

-

As I count crows
sitting on the drooping clothesline,
I see a shape in the distance
that I do not recognize
I move a little closer
but the maples sling a sad shade
and the lawn flashes its blades,
cutting directly to the heart
in syncopated beatings
like chopping wood in the heat of August
when the last saw
is locked away in the shed

Still I look,
peering beyond a fractured arbor
of beer bottle skeletons situated at the far corner
of nowhere’s homestead,
over off-white pickets and a rusted gate
now overgrown and oversown
in rows of corn field miseries,
shucked and burned in a steel barrel
down where the Mud Creek Minstrels
play cracked violas with stretched strings
in bent tuba concertos

When I realize it is you...coming home to me,
walking through brilliant sunflowers,
an effervescent blue sky background glows,
roses bloom in dazzling pinks and yellows,
robins tend to their young beneath a rainbow of blessings
in assorted hues and feathers,
butterflies now dance upon sweet fragrance simmerings
and what was once a dream that had slowly disintegrated
into a wasteland littered of heartache and despair
vanishies before my tearing eyes
as I run towards you in the bright sunshine
that has returned…once again

~

When our
   hearts sing,
  echoes return
      to where
   they began,
        so they
          too may
         harmonize
           perfectly with
              *our love

I am walking on a wire,
taut and thin, slippery in places,
high above a deep ravine
searching, constantly searching

On one side I see trees,
a lush green canopy of rustling leaves,
twisted branches in full summer attire,
creating shadows of worry

On the opposite side I see rock,
a cavern of jagged cliffs and boulders,
strewn about like fallen dominoes,
broken pieces of past dreams

But on neither side do I see you

So I will continue to walk this wire,
one foot in front of the other,
maintaining my balance
until the time comes that I do

And once I see you,
no matter what side,
regardless of the peril
or how far the drop

I will fall for you
all over again