To me
Every moon beam
Every blooming flower
Every blue sky
Every soft beach
Every calm breeze
Every longed for kiss
Every happy ending
Every red balloon
Every happy moment
Every silent thought
Every spring day
Every butterfly
Every surprise
Every rainbow
Every shaded path
Every sunset
Every shooting star
Every meandering stream
Every new snowfall
Every Sunday drive
Every enchanting vista
Every ripe delicious apple
Every picnic in the park
Every work of art
Every poem
Every tender hug
Every desired gaze
Every ocean wave
Every smile
Every excited cheer
Every refreshing glass of water
Every hearty laugh
Every pristine lake
Every splash in a puddle
Every golden meadow
Every coin in a fountain
Every porch swing on a summer evening
Every sunrise
Every word
Every sentence
Every paragraph
Every dew drop
Every slow dance
Every waterfall
Every candlelit dinner
Every song
Every heartbeat
Every sweet fragrance
Every quiet whisper
Every firefly glow
Every beautiful dream
Every eyes closed wish
Every special secret
Every sunny weekend
Every quaint café
Every glazed donut
Every opened door
Every carousel ride
Every new leaf
Every breath
Every ice cream sundae
Every joyful celebration
Every minute of every hour of every day…
Is you

~

What is it that always brings
my thoughts back to you,
which seems a strange thing to ask
because they never seem to leave
regardless of what I might see
during the many hours
of my day

Open or closed eyes,
heat of the moment
or laid back and relaxed,
it is you that I am always
thinking about

Traffic jams stacked
with blowing horns,
exhaust fumes
and frustrated fist shakes
or slow drives on country roads,
windows down
on a cool spring day
with the radio playing

Long check out lines
at the super market
corralling crying children
(close to the candy)
fighting over the best seat
in the shopping cart
or a quick in and out
at a convenience store
for a cold six pack
and a bag of chips

Work, (need I say more)
which requires a certain
amount of concentration,
attending meetings and
going over spread sheets
or a day off piddling
around the workshop
building or fixing something
that doesn't really need to be
built or fixed

No matter what occupies my day
it is always you who occupies my mind
So, what is it that always brings
my thoughts back to you…
well, I guess my thoughts of you
would have to leave once in a while
for me to figure that one out

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

-

I saw her out there in the park
A kite she held up high
Running at a faster speed
It wouldn’t seem to fly

She looked a bit frustrated
And tried it one more time
Now tangled up within the string
Just like a ball of twine

Oh my god, how embarrassing
I think he's heading my way
Looking at me puzzled
Not sure just what to say

I must look rather amusing
Tangled up like a little kitty
Plopping down defeated
No breeze in this windy city

Look at her, she is so cute
Sitting there upon the ground
A light blue kite rests in her lap
And on her face a pouty frown

“Why so sad,” my heart it breaks
She looks like she will start to cry
“Come on, stand up and let me help”
“Together we can make it fly”

I took his hand and stood back up
Untangled from the twine
Now ready to give it another whirl
He positioned himself in behind

He placed his arms around me
Took my hands into his own
The wind is picking up again
From our hands the kite now blown

It soared high up into the sky
We held on to the string
So far it traveled in the air
Her smile it did bring

“You see, that wasn’t very hard,
it just takes some finesse”
But holding her is much more fun
Yes that I do confess

I can still see the lines
in the dirt
of the long
laces dragging
behind those loose fitting
high tops you wore
when you walked
all over me

~

Whipped cream clouds
on strawberry sherbet skies
reflect upon balmy turquoise waters
rolling in the rhythmic cadence
of our ever beating hearts

In solitude we stroll down
an endless beach framed by
opaque weathered dunes and
seashell dreams at the edge
of white foam borders quivering

Leaving footprints
harmonic impressions,
rippled patterns of love
along a soft whispered shoreline
longing passion’s embrace

I kiss you,
deep and lingering, quenching
the thirst of my desires
with moist ambrosial flavors
of your warmest affections

Slow meandering waves
gently caress sand coated, tanned skin
as we now share love neath
a pastel painted sunset sky,
*creating a perfect summer evening

-

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.”

.

Lately I have lost time…
minutes and hours,
moments of the day pass by
without notice

I arrive at places not knowing
how I got there
I have held conversations
but can’t recall speaking

Watched the sun rise in the morning
and then set again that afternoon,  
unable to remember
anything in between

Found myself wondering
where has the day gone,
what have I been doing,
it seems like nothing

Except constantly thinking about us,
these wonderful daydreams
of you and me…
what we could be doing

Days at the beach, candle lit dinners
walks in the park, quiet nights at home,
holding hands in the moonlight,
skipping stones at the lake

Dancing until dawn, morning coffee,
kissing on the veranda, sleeping in,
making love in the rain, counting stars,
falling for each other over and over again…

There, you see, it has happened again,
I just wrote this poem, I think  
and my only recollection is
another moment lost in thoughts of you

~

*I looked down at my piano,
eighty-eight black and white keys
inviting me to sit down and play,
but I just closed the lid
and could almost hear
their melodic crying
over my own tears,
as I walked away

-

She tells me I’m lucky
And **** she is right
I count those stars
Almost every night

Thanking each one
As they glow up above
For sending this woman
And showing me love

They twinkle and glisten
So many I see
All of these lucky stars
Shining for me

She tells me I’m lucky
But she needn’t say
For that’s how I feel
In her arms everyday

>

Another rainy morning spent staring through
a wiper smeared windshield
hoping to beat the next light, no such luck
When that song, our song or what used to be our song
sneaks in through these worn out speakers…again
and I listen…like a fool…again
  
The emptiness returns full force and I feel sick
It happens every time and every time I sound like a broken record
“Turn the **** thing off”, my mind shouts at me,
but still I am unable to hear over the singing sadness
and the sound of my heart breaking all over again,
God I’m pathetic

So here I am heading to the station earlier than usual
at least the traffic isn’t so bad, I guess because roosters can’t drive
Who schedules meetings this early in the morning?
Obviously someone unaware of the benefits of a good night’s sleep
Well look there, maybe my luck is changing, a parking spot right up front
But still, I have a feeling this is going to be a bad day

Ducking from the rain I pause at an advertisement for the rail line,
“Where the hell is the sunshine and blue skies that poster is showing?”
I think as I enter the car and find a seat, which wasn’t hard,
there are only three people on here at this hour,
two old ladies dressed for church or the doctor
and a kid with headphones, sleeping, now why didn’t I think of that?

I pull out my notebook when I see her hurrying for the already closing doors.
I jump up and hold them open so she can enter.
She is soaking wet, but ****, she is drop dead gorgeous,
dark hair and beautiful light brown eyes, she looks up and says “thank you”
with a smile that melts me right where I stand
“My pleasure” I answer as she takes the seat across from mine

She opens her ipad, I pretend to look at mine, but can’t take my eyes off of her
Now engrossed in whatever she's reading, swiping a finger across the screen  
and then that smile appears again, I can barely breathe as my
heart tries to beat its way out of my chest. Dressed in a black skirt and top,
she looks like she’s just stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine…
“Oh crap, she just caught me staring”

I quickly glance down to her ipad then back up to her gorgeous eyes.  
I feel like an idiot, or worse. When she giggles and says, “Poetry.”  
“Poetry?” I ask in a voice stuttering from embarrassment
Waving her device she replies, "I’m reading poetry, do you like poetry?”
“Umm, yes, I, uh, do like poetry.”  She pats the seat next to her and says,
“Come, sit here. Let me read you one.”

Maybe this day won’t be so bad after all…

-

I heard her
melodic voice
   this morning
as the sun rose
   and my heart
    felt the
dawning of
    *perfect harmony

...

Why, when the world sleeps
do the young starlings fly,
black wings on a moonless night
challenging winds of southern flow,
fighting urges forced by
internal compass points
to land where it is low
and voices creep from behind
misted shuttered windows,
murmuring moans
and tethered breaths,
fingered flesh in candle flame,
longing scraps to fill their bellies
for hunger persists
even in the throes of love,
and they wait on silent branches,
crooked beams of support
wanting merely a taste…just one taste

-

Held beyond oblivion,
shackles cut the flow,
chains of rusted memories
wrapped tightly
around my windmill brain
Squeezing life, in or out,
pooling on a jagged earth
Grimacing contorted gestures
and pointed fingers heckle
as I am dragged through the streets
of my misshapen thoughts
Over cobblestone alleys,
dark lonely walls splattered in
pig blood graffiti
spelling my name wrong
Dripping slowly, staining brick
and off color facades
changing by the day,
exposing expressions
of those shunned
in the face of popularity