Let the wind and rain on this dreary day refresh your mind, and seep into this, the very corners of your soul. That way we can drink in the storm together. Instead of our midweek coffee, hot, we'll brew this Friday morning cold, and sip until the weekend appears. Polite and unfolding, as the packet of paper and its peers, for the cream is sweet enough for the cold brew itself. And so I ask of you. Would you drink in a metaphor or two with me, just for a break? In order to take away, from the truth of day which has yet to grow but an hour old. Let the wind and rain suppress all thought, as we sit beside, in the room of old. Breaking, waiting for the will-less voice which always seems to sleer and say...get back to work you sleepy, seeping, sipping souls. Take your supposed spice coffee calling called cold brew and go.

That kind of kiss is an intersection
Like a small stream
Where two oceans meet

How they’ve tossed and turned
Precariously
And endlessly

End over end
Until afterwards
Experienced vicariously

Like the saltwater winds
Which whip and whirl
And swirl the sand

So I am turned at the intersection
At the memory which ends
Where the ocean began

Which way do you tip?
When you dream of the kiss?
Right, like me?
Hopefully.

Since I discovered this place
Since I took up that old mask again
To hide my boyish face

At least for an hour or two each week
I feel at home
Almost not alone
In a place where I may not belong

Firm collar
White as snow

Crisp and with an edge like steel
Cutting, not cold

Unblemished is he?
No

Considered rough,
Perhaps

Although in a certain way, he walks
Straight past his friends and his foes

Not aimlessly though

For where poise meets focus
There is also dignity

And a calming aura to be found
Amidst the calamity

With a hint of conflict
Though he speaks

His words are bound
To fairness and justice
To the law and to love

And though he spoke once
Not arrogantly

This is the sound of a constant man
Who is capable of change, and yet, is found

In a pattern which drowns out the breeze
Like the whippoorwill that’s lost its tree

By this you'll know, that you've seen
And crossed the path of a pensive man

Intent on this, to understand

Her
Him

And all around

You think I'm used to being me?
You think I'm comfortable in these shoes?
Walking time and time again,
Down that old hallway, without you?

Well I'm not.
But ironically enough
No longer do I expect you
Or anyone for that matter
To tell me how to be myself

To tell me which shoes to buy or to wear
Because I simply walk
As I once was taught
And always will

To stride alongside with a loving air
Until I find the most tolerable pair, of shoes
The most close to comfortable I can bear

By which I mean of course
A very inspiring and impressive pair
Because a man needs good walking shoes
If he is to live his life some-wear

I'm not afraid of birds and beasts
Of men, of death, of passing time
Not often at least
How I catch myself
Although such fears can certainly be
Very valid in the viewer’s mind

No, I am afraid of something else, of something like this:
"What will I find when I get to that place, to the end of that line?"

And therein within, at the end of all things
When there is no tape left for me to rewind

I find my fear which is in fact, that I'll be left
Trying to understand and satisfy both of our minds

How actively and willing I’ll always be to compromise
But, that one day, I'd become this way
Like the only one who prays each day
To walk the narrow, bitter line

For years and years
That way to be
Simply stuck to you, and stuck with me

Trying to bend and break most faithfully
Until I meet my own demise and internalize the eternity

That, is the fear, which frightens me

Because a wise man says not change their ways
But change your own, first in your time

Which I can do because I’m me
But just being a wise man doesn't means
That I'm not a human
And that I won't desire change equally

For such a fear is real to me
Because I've witnessed, time and time again
The bitterness of inequality

Someday I pray
I'll be given the chance
To explain it ALL

And I will not hesitate or second glance
Or question myself
In that moment when it presents itself

I will not falter
I will not fall

I will simply speak and share with you
ALL of the memories and ALL of the understandings
Which I've built up here
Inside of it ALL

Will you be the one to hear my voice?
Will yours be the name I get to call?

God only knows, although I dream
And can guarantee, that it will be, ALL

When I am here
I feel more near
Than two stars in the night sky

Right beside each other
Partners almost
And yet light-years away

Though not by choice
But perhaps design
As we could be, as we are in voice

Ever trapped in this endless cycle
Like the slow glowing impending
Endless time

Like the space between most every breath
I'll be nearer to you after this goodnight
And yet no more than a distant star

For we are but two
Of the many bright orbs
Glowing in the grandest of sky's

You keep on spitting it out
From your couch "my friend"
Because you know where I'll be

Working furiously as ever before
Until all of the flaws are ironed out
And there's nothing left of you but your mouth

Just sit back and relax as you always have
And then comment on what THIS is really about

How I did what I said, and I said what I am
When I jumped up and stomped on the top of these clouds

Hopefully then you'll discover quite quietly how  
To have a sensible song tucked away in your mouth

It’s between the veins of blue and gray
Where the secrets hide
You’ll have to look awfully close to see
The pieces therein  
Within my eyes

She’s always walking away
And at a pace that’s too fast for me
And even though I walk alone
And rather quickly
She is always walking steadily
Away from me

Signing up for this certain road
Foreseeable or not
Be it windingly long, or deafeningly smooth
Makes no difference to me
Because to get to the end of it
To the end of it all
And to drive on like this
Is to get to be with, and be beside you

Today I dug and shoveled away, at an old box, at an old sin.

And upon finding it, I opened it, and stared at its contents. The realization stored within.

For inside I found the truth in this:

"That you can stare at the monster all you want, but in your future, don't ever let yourself desire his life, or become like him."

Not ever, not once, or ever again. But instead be reminded of who he is and how he is. And why also, such things exists, within this life.

Don't embrace the monster locked away. But be a better man. Be more than this. For that is the truth which I found in this.

If I'm too busy for you
I'm too busy for me
And that is unhealthy

Because perhaps in vain and vainity
We are the same?

Skilled at creating for someone else
At adapting for the US entirely

But could it be that within the entirety
That we lose the ability to see?

Like the blinders of love
Be they ever imposed
By this realization of who is me?

Perhaps we are the same indeed?
Perhaps one day you'd let me try
For you, as also you could for me?

The heavy patter of the rain
Reflects the pattern of my heart
In weariness
In longings last
How I've waited for this storm to pass
Most patiently
Slowly pouring out
With a cooling voice
Till I calm myself
And yet so much more than the afterstorm
Which I must create
Everytime I've felt
The need to be
More than this old me
This rainsoaked version of the self

Some days my heart feels heavy with it
The distant want
The growing fear

The way it is but will not stay
For the remainder of these
More youthful days

My heart is this
Alone
But not at last

Instead how it wanders
Through fields of idealism
And lets you pass

With every conscious moment
In this
How I dream of you and let you pass

Iron
Wood

Oak
And stone

Ash
Glass
And wax unwound

How all will melt
And all will burn
Long before his heavenly throne
Reveals itself forever more

Because we are the human
And he is the God

He reveals himself in ways
Most unknown

His structures are that of pure existence
Carved out of matter we cannot imagine

He is unlike us
He is everything
Beyond our frail and fragile bones

Would you find me a girl with the bravery and boldness of a Coraline Jones's heart?
Not someone who demands my attentive love or the backing of a musical score.
But someone real.
Someone who knows every deep and dark and shallow fear.
Someone particular and peculiar.
Who perhaps I can make a cheese omelette for.

When it comes to fire
Within my arms
I will crash and burn and rebuild myself

Because I am
Because I was
And because I have yet to become someone else

All that I can be
All that I wasn't
All that I do is because I must

Its not owned by this
The want or wont
But because I will regret it if I don't

I have been focused and growing
I have been strong
But now I see it's not the time
Nor the place
To build you a house
Or a home in which I belong

Maybe this summer?
Maybe these stars?
Will be the distant midnight fires
Which will look down upon this tired old heart
And rejoice as it falls
Endlessly
Stumbling upon the greatest love of all

You’ll have to let me know,
How long that fragile peace will last.

How long you’ll be content with not knowing why something bothers you,
And why such thoughts will not settle and pass.

Would you let me know then, and how that was?
So that I can say, I've been there as well.

For the truth is that, most people are meant, but not for us.
Such people are nice, but not enough.

That is, in time.
They are dulcet and sweet, but cannot satisfy the vastness, or thirst of an ocean mind.

My shoulders a mountaintop
My mind a sky
Would you climb?
Will you fly?

In this world of socialness and social media there can only be one God. And he does not share, comment, like or retweet.

I need to know
Or else I'm afraid, that I must go
Quietly into this good night

Because not knowing
Of this so and so
Destroys my heart and plagues my mind

Every... Single... Time....

Don't Lose Yourself
Remember who you are
You have things and you want things
You've become things and you're becoming things
Beautiful, good and decent things
Which bring great joy to the one true ruler
And honor to your rightful king
So don't lower your gaze or piercing sight
For ANYTHING!  
For anyone who has no claim
Or cannot understand the way
That your eyes tend to see such things
Designed as they were for such a struggle
Born and bread for such a fight
For such a sight
Don't lower your line of sight for anything

In my weakness
He is strong
Far mightier than oak and stone

And though I do not understand myself
He does
And for some reason knows

About about all of the things I do to distract
Just to keep myself
From the sinfulness in these decaying bones

And so I wait for this feeling to pass
Though I know the truth
I am not, though I feel, alone

Because in that moment
When no human hand can steady you
Where then my friend, are you going to go?

As for me, I know that I will go back
To the one true God
Who existed long before this earth was home

My ears are open
My eyes are to the sky
God I will try
But help me let this go
If I must

The truth is written there
Clear as day and yet shrouded as the night
Across the sky
That I am the only one who knows
Who I've written about
And why

"Beneath the sky, above the grass un mowed and growing high.

There lives a quiet seamless wind, which whispers words in the back of my mind.

It questions me and my own being, and inquires as to if I am wasting my time.

Searching throughout humanity, for someone so practical and pure of heart, who I never was actually intended to find."

Goodnight father
Goodnight sun
Goodnight detestability of day and enjoyment of all things costly and fun
Goodnight to you
And goodnight to me
Goodnight dear bed frame and thank you for this, your stability
Goodnight my pillow
Goodnight my bed
Goodnight and would you carry me, over the moon and back again?
Goodnight to you, to these honest things, which I may or may not mind first thing in the morning
Goodnight my distant memories
And goodnight to my favorite mystery, to your quiet and kind consistencies
For it’s a good night I offer, honestly
A good night from another
A goodnight from me
Goodnight my father
Goodnight to your son
Goodnight moonlit stars and spinning earth
Though the turning therein has just begun
Goodnight my Lord, goodnight and please, watch over those in need of sleep
Goodnight my God, a good night to you
Good night you have been, good to me

Don't think that I'm being brave just for me

Well perhaps initially, it was so

But to see the kind of person I will

And most definitely would like to be

Be it down the road

That will take time in order to see

When all you can do
And I mean really do, is pray
You have to let go of certain things

You have to step aside be it left or right
And follow the one path, down the one way

Not to mention that you have to be very selective
When determining whatever mood you choose to linger in

And I do mean you choose
Or else you'll falter

At least such a thing rings true to me
Because all I can do is pray for you
And chose my mood and mindset most carefully

Because quite literally as a man thinks
It says, *so shall he be

Blessings upon you child of the rain
Who walks so freely beneath the clouds

How your life is filled with a freedom of heart
And a clarity of mind, which is unrivaled by
Even the most ill motivated and questioning eyes

Blessed are you

Because you understand the collective side
And the joy which can be found inside
When all around you is pouring down
And falling out

When so many others are hurrying up and scurrying about
Just to curse the sound
Of the falling rain

It is you alone who are not afraid
Of stepping out, and soaking yourself
Be it skin and bone, one and the same

How you welcome the storm without concern
And dance and sing without reserve
Amidst the downpour of the rain

Like a child who was never taught
Or even told to try and abstain
From such innocent things

For you are alive and always well
Within this, the present moment
Most endlessly and without restraint

How you throw your arms around the sky
Most lovingly each time it cries
To comfort it

To hug the storm without remorse
And to appreciate the summer’s day
For what it is, devoid of heat

Oh childlike, child of the rain

It’s because of you and your carefree ways
That I wish the storm could ever stay

And perhaps one day
That we two could play
Right here alongside, within the rain

Would you meet me beneath the smiling moon?
Would you put on your favorite tennis shoes
And walk with me?
Not into it, but through the night

Would you drift here with me side by side
Most innocently?
Just to break with me from the daily grind
Of walking along this followers line?

Could we walk in stride for once in time?
And talk about all the things in life
Which supersede the most basic need
The desire to simply run and hide?

Let the goodness of your lovely thoughts
Wash over me and float with ease
Above the trees until the moon is really smiling
And so am I with an effortless ease

If we could meet beneath the smiling moon
Just for tonight
Would you walk with me?

After writing like this for many years
As a poet-try
You cannot help but grow a good bit
Like a poet-tree

Why would I spend any amount of time?
Trying to sound more like an old man?
When I’ll become one of them soon enough I think
And sound like them
It'll even be easier then because I just "am"

Expect not yourself
To see the world
For the way it truly is
At least at first

Because the world is full of so many things
And people who are ever changing

And the truth behind it all is this

*That one day all of these and we
Will be returned to the earth
Returned to the dirt
Or ashes depending upon the preference

The best verses are not torn from the heart
Or ripped from the head
But are pulled from your mouth, endlessly, like a piece of string
Flowing from between your lips
Until all that needs to be said and done
Is out there, in the world
And it exists

When the newness wears off
And the distraction is no longer distracting enough
Where will you go?
In order to be reminded
That you are not alone?

As I plod along at a placid place
I ask myself most often if
My mind will ever approach that place?

If I’ll I ever be able to move along
Down that path
Be it into the summer or out of May?

“Your brightest days are yet to pass!”
Or so they say, with each differing dawn
And yet I am still unsure of such path, nowadays

Be it winding or not
How they stretch out before me, and bend at a distance
Turning just around the cornery edge
To entice my mind to stray away

How I’d often jump from rock to rock
Devoid of fear, in my younger days
How I'd fly through the air without forethought
That is until I became aware of this present day

Though still I must, and will I trust in my ginormous feet
For it is time I value, and the steadiness which is found outside
That is, I'm seemingly less capable of turning off my mind

For I am afraid of not being able to see
And witness all the beauty which is stored away
Within such paths

For its there and within that which I expect to find
This path of mine

As a memory to create down each pasture lane
Must be simply folly and waste
To ponder such things with every day
This is what I see

When the decision stretches out before me
Not far away
Like a field of green

Whereas so many others are thus condemned to a barren wasteland
Simply put
Her lushness is just one of the things
That will make me stay

I'm so full right now so very warm
Like a coffee cup overflowing with ideas
I cannot wait to be off this road
I cannot wait to be onward with this journey
To create again and to let my words flow
Outward and into the microphone
How I cannot help but overflow
When the questions stored up inside my mind
May be answered so I might finally know
That is why I actually wish to overflow
So that in time I might just know

God
Please hold her
As only you can

Would you curl her up
In the palm of your hand?
And be with her
When I cannot?

Would you attend to her most every need
With efficiency
And make her well when she is not?

Because you know how she is
How she has these beautiful wandering dreams
And occasionally such restless thoughts

Would you speak to her now
With an voice unseen?
And reassure her that you are indeed the king
The creator of time and everything

Would you curl her up
And keep her more closely
Than ever she would've been to me?

Will you do this for me, my dear Lord?
Have you heard my prayerful repetitious plea?

If so I will stop until tomorrow
And finally try and get some sleep

Would you comfort her with immortal arms?
From a prayerful, tired version of me

Did you ever question why it is
That I like to walk alone outside?
Late at night and underneath
The hailing Stars witch glow so bright
Do you ever wonder why that is?
Perhaps because I won't let a roof
Separate my thoughts from you
And the only way to send them through
Is via the open air
Which always seems to be alive
At that time of night

TRY ME
Like swimming in the sea
I am a wave crashing over you
With a current too strong
And too deep

TRY ME
On the side of a cliff
With arms outstretched and fingers clenched
Reaching for everything
Be it far short of eternity

TRY ME
When I’m standing tall
Like a pendulum
Rocking in the springtime of youth
Until my stride becomes a bitter fall

TRY ME
As the wicked winds are howling
Having carved their way inland
Ever trying to push me off the edge
Midway through my own decent

TRY ME
If you dare

TRY ME
If you will

AND TRY ME
If you'd like to see

All of the *TRY that is left in *ME

My temples ache inside my head
With a need to be without a thought
No one to speak what cannot be said
My quiet calm forget me not

A storm I carry on my back
Midst howling gale and winters plot
A weighted mass atop me sits
An eerie calm forget me not

A flame of hope inside I keep
To thaw that frozen long forgot
Until the first light left is last
A chilling calm forget me not

Though slowly do the seasons pass
These words embed like branded hot
So be it present or in past
Remember still and *forget me not

If smiles were salutations then we've conversed a hundred times
Our paths always crossing briefly never seeking to intertwine
The mountain air calls out to us both to walk, to run and hide
And the words that seem to escape us both perplex me every time
As seasons change and years fly by the truth resonates inside
That despite our newfound friendship we will never cross the divide
The gap that separates two hearts but hinders not bright eyes

As I lay down here beside you
I will pull you in tight
And set your head upon my shoulder
To rest your fears for the night

And soon we'll venture on a journey
To somewhere only we know
We'll visit many distant galaxies
Where no one else goes

And then I'll tell you that I love you
Without saying a word
As if my holding you in silence
Showed my love as a verb

And yet within this perfect moment
There is silence between
With only heartbeats in the dark
To prove our souls aren't asleep

So would you speak to me in silence
Using those lovely eyes
Because I want to share my secrets
Which I've hidden inside

And as I hold you I'll be waiting
Hoping that you have heard
Because true love is beyond feeling
And we do not need words

By the time you get
What you so badly wanted
Within this world
Within this life

You probably won't want it anymore

That is a consequence of life
Of the long hallway
And the time that it takes
For you to commit
To walking through that distant door

Whatever it is

By the time you get to that fame or fortune

*You might not even want it anymore