Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
339 · May 2018
The Piano Told Me.
David L Butler May 2018
I found the note,
That she wrote,
In the early morning,
Of this very day.

I didn’t read it,
I just felt it,
Coursing within me,
Like fire within the views.

I closed the curtains,
For a sense of containment,
Taking a moment,
And crossed to the stool.

I sat down,
As I glanced around,
Lifting the lid,
To expose the keys.

And by placing a hand,
Via feeling instead of plan,
The piano told me,
How I should feel.
257 · Dec 2019
Tick Tock Stop.
David L Butler Dec 2019
It is hard,
Coming in last,
Spending time,
Living in the past,
Where memories,
Are fading fast.

I sit and listen
To the tick-tock,
Of the wall-mounted,
Kitchen clock,
That doesn’t seem,
To ever stop.
(Just keeps marching on)

Like everyone else,
I was a part of the race,
But I struggle, lost footing,
I couldn’t keep the pace,
And here I am,
Coming in last,
Here I am,
Lost in the past.

I remember once,
The dreams of youth,
That feeling of having,
Something to prove,
But all that was proved,
Is that dreams,
Don’t always come true.

I sit and watch,
From the window,
I sit and wait,
In the shadows,
I sit and listen,
For the wall-mounted,
Kitchen clock,
To finally,
Tick tock stop.
221 · Jun 2016
Prepared.
David L Butler Jun 2016
She lays there,
Unable to see,
Unable to move,
Naked,
Within the silence,
Of a secured room.

She lays there,
Her anticipation,
Charging the air,
Her hesitation,
Baiting the breath,
Of the one,
She knows,
Is there.

She waits there,
Her imagination,
On fire,
Inventing possibilities,
Creating scenarios,
Exciting her desire.

She waits there,
Feeling vulnerable,
Feeling exposed,
Subservient,
To the pleasure,
That with time,
With patience,
Will unfold.

She hears a sound,
A crack in the air,
She is…. prepared.
218 · May 2018
Will Be.
David L Butler May 2018
I don’t know what it was,
I guess at a guess I would say it was her smile,
But there was also that twinkle within the eyes,
A sparkle I haven’t seen in a long while.

For a moment she was with a friend,
But then they separated and she danced on her own,
And then I realized that friend was my own friend,
I turned and apologized as we carried on watching the show.

The music was good,
Got us drunk, got us high, got us reaching up and touching the sky,
Got us dancing with arms upon each other's shoulders,
And with her arm around my waist, I had to secretly smile.

We sang along with all the songs,
And if we didn’t know the words we just made them up,
And every so often I would purposely glance in her direction,
Trying to catch the eye of what was becoming a pleasant distraction.

Satisfaction ended the set,
And wet with the sweat, the crowd slowly unfolded and dispersed,
I looked at her hoping to find her looking back at me,
And she was, she is, and everything stopped, for a minute.

I swallowed my fears,
Threw caution to the wind and jumped right in,
Rolled the dice and didn’t think twice,
Took chance by the hand and accepted the dance,
And speaking with a confidence I have never felt before,
I asked her name, started the game, and set the wheels in motion,
Of what will be…will be.
217 · Jun 2016
Beauty Rich.
David L Butler Jun 2016
To touch, to see,
To be within reach,
Of a beauty so rich,
In colour and texture,
Shape and features,
That captivates,
My attention in a second,
Stealing away,
The breath of my very existence.

I would,
If given the chance,
Fall before thee,
On bended knees.
193 · Jun 2016
Angel Tears.
David L Butler Jun 2016
Innocence pours from her when she cries,
Tears so pure they sting her eyes,
As they leave and fall to the floor.

It’s like watching an angel cry,
Who’s lost her wings and is unable to fly,
And all she can do is crawl the walls.

I take her in my arms and pull her deep,
I offer her comfort as she weeps,
And a shoulder for the tears to dry upon.

I feel her distress begin to cease,
As she relaxes and feels at ease,
The silence chasing away the dragon.

I lift her up and carry her in my arms,
Up the stairs to a room full of charm,
Where I gently lay her upon her bed.
And I know that within her dreams,
She has once again found her wings,
And she is flying,
In a place,
Where the daylight never end.
192 · Jul 2016
My Secret.
David L Butler Jul 2016
I’ve got a secret,
I am willing to give away,
Gonna put it in a locket,
And throw the key away,
Then I will watch it,
Sink to a watery grave,
For if the truth be told,
This is my secret,
And that is the way It will stay.
168 · Jun 2016
Waking Up.
David L Butler Jun 2016
Today I lie on this bed we have made,
Looking at the ceiling feeling brave,
There is tension in the air with all this change,
And so many have had so much to say.
But the time to complain is over now,
It is more of a question of when and how,
It is time to look up instead of down,
And see if we can turn this whole situation around.

Do we desert the sinking ship?
Or do we come together,
And try and save it?
151 · Jun 2016
Watching.
David L Butler Jun 2016
She watches the leaves,
She watches them flutter and leave,
She watches it grow bare,
She watches it…unaware,
That she is watching it die,
What she once felt inside.
148 · Jun 2016
The Flower.
David L Butler Jun 2016
So soft,
So tender,
As pretty,
As a flower,
Clean,
And pure,
Untainted,
And demure.
However,
All this,
Obscures,
Deceives,
As it delivers,
The eye,
The beholder,
The shallowness,
Of the onlooker.
Because,
Within,
And unseen,
Are qualities,
That intrigue,
Talents,
That shine,
Refinement,
So fine.
She is,
Much more,
Than a diamond,
A candy store,
She is,
Within,
As she is,
Without,
And she deserves,
That recognition,
From the inside,
Out.
129 · Jun 2016
Drink With Me.
David L Butler Jun 2016
We have to do this,
I’m sorry,
It is, as they say,
The only way.

And I have to do it myself,
Cause,
For it to be done,
By someone else,
Would be wrong,
So wrong,
I need to see it slip away,
Kiss it goodbye as it goes.

And it will hurt,
I won’t lie to you,
It will hurt,
In so many ways,
But it will,
I promise you,
Be worth it,
You will be free,
And shortly followed by me.

Drink, my darling,
Drink with me.
118 · Apr 2018
DIY.
David L Butler Apr 2018
***?
***!
LOL.

TBH,
FWIW
IMO
NTIM
KIS
ITSFWI
TNSTAAFL
YATB
&
YOLO.
111 · Jun 2018
Having Only.
David L Butler Jun 2018
There is something wrong…possibly,
But I don’t know what it is,
Yet within this ignorance,
I can find a sense of bliss,
Cause when this game is over,
I won’t really mind,
Cause It seems I was always,
On the losing side,
So please respect,
When I say,
I have nothing to lose,
I only have,
Peace to gain.
96 · Apr 2018
Shallow Gestures.
David L Butler Apr 2018
Is it wrong that I don’t feel the shame?
Yet I do understand the pain,
The disgust, the mistrust,
Of a promise made by us,
That was not followed through.

How can we look them in the eye?
When we have this overhanging lie,
For which no one is brave enough to admit to,
For the fear of having to play the public’s fool,
In the court of social injustice.

And how, how could we have let this happen?
Leave ourselves open to this embarrassment,
Treating them as stateless citizens,
Stealing away all their freedoms,
How?
How could we let it happen?

Cause they gave us their everything,
Reset and started from zero again,
Sacrificed their place on the food chain,
To help us when we were lame.
They did the menial tasks,
That of ourselves would be too much to ask,
So we could live it up in the sun,
Basking while the work was done,
By the hands different to ours,
Of those who we considered a lower class,
And what did we give them in return?
A thankless return flight home,
Waving them off with a two-finger salute.

So did we really mean it?
When we offered the hand of friendship,
When we set a fresh place at the table,
When we greeted them with a smile,
Or were they just,
Shallow gestures.
86 · Apr 2018
Pink Blossom.
David L Butler Apr 2018
When you come,
Will you bring flowers?
Will you bring smiles?
Will you bring colour?
Will you bring joy?
Will you bring laughter?
Will you blow away the cobwebs,
Of a winter we would rather forget?

Cause I miss,
The early morning dew,
Children playing in the park,
Sunny afternoons,
Lovers walking after dark,
Picnics on the heath,
Pink blossom decorating the trees,
The annoyance of the bees,
And that feeling of,
Being alive and free.

So when you come,
Will you put a skip in our stride?
Will you light up our eyes?
Will you beckon us outside,
To bathe within you glory?
Will you?
When you come.
84 · Apr 2018
The Soak.
David L Butler Apr 2018
Opening the door,
I catch the breeze upon my face,
Caressing it,
Blowing away the fatigue of this place,
I close my eyes,
And I breathe …with the breeze,
Taking a moment to pause,
I soak in…everything.

Looking back I ponder,
I wonder,
If I was to leave,
Would anyone notice?

I step away from the door.
81 · May 2019
To Lie With The Fallen.
David L Butler May 2019
Like an old box, by a lamppost,
Soaked in the morning rain,
Like a tin can, discarded and misplaced,
Singing out its pain,
Like a newspaper, caught in a breeze,
That flutters from place to place,
Till it's caught in a tree,
Trapped within the branches,
With no means of escape.

Like a road, that leads nowhere,
And has nowhere to go,
Like a dried up stream, of yesteryear,
That will never again flow,
Like the weeds, that choke the soil,
Stealing away natures beauty,
Like the rusty broken leaves,
That fall from the dead tree,
When the cycle has no need to begin again,

Cause when the day is over,
The day is done,
And it is time to turn out the light.
To close the curtains,
Shut out the world,
And free yourself from the fight.
To leave the room,
Close the door,
And lie with the fallen.
Cause when the story ends,
The story is finished,
And the writer puts down the pen.
78 · May 2019
A Lady’s Choice.
David L Butler May 2019
The waiting silence of the room is broken, when a door at the far end is swiftly opened; They enter one by one and take up their positions, they are given a moment to make final preparations.

The Lady, she enters with confidence, and like well-trained dogs, they stand in obedience; She got a unique style that cannot be matched by another, a fashion that gives the eye nothing but pleasure.

The Lady’s beauty is considered undeniable, she has a smile that renders each one of them incapable, of acting in any other way than as a gentleman, standing tall and proud with the best of them.

The Lady dresses in lace, she dresses in leather, she floats as glides as light as a feather; The Lady glances at them as they straighten, stood like statues they await their inspection.

The Lady doesn’t speak as she has no need to, through gestures and nods they know what to do; Her maid walks beside her making whispered notes - never catching an eye - in her Mistress pleasure she is engrossed.

Once the Lady has walked the line and circled the room, she pauses for a moment in silent contemplation; The Lady considers their attributes and the pleasure they may offer, she has a need to satisfy, a desire that has become a hunger.

The Lady raises her head as she crosses to leave, but before she does she catches her maids sleeve, bringing her close she whispers briefly into her ear, and swiftly exits with only her fragrance left in the air.

The maid crosses to the one chosen as her Lady’s choice, the winner declared but the others do not consider it a loss; they nod to one another as they break their statuesque poses, relaxing their postures, and pulling free the bows.

The Lady’s choice is the first to leave the room, and then one by one their presence is removed; The door at the far end is then gently closed, and a waiting silence returns to the room.
74 · Dec 2019
Tumbleweeds.
David L Butler Dec 2019
Am I disappointed?
Well, there was an expectation,
But it never happened,
What could have been wasn't,
And decisions have been left open,
Everything continues on as it did before.
The ‘might have beens’ ,
The 'could have beens',
The 'possibles',
And the 'maybes',
Are now just rolling,
Like tumbleweed on a dusty street.

I bid them farewell,
As I pass them by.
64 · Dec 2019
The Game.
David L Butler Dec 2019
It seems to be so effortless for them,
They move with such ease,
Some perform with a natural finesse,
Others hit it hard like a caveman,
But all, succeed.

Yes, they all feel hurt as we all do,
And most need a little time in-between,
But picking themselves up,
And dusting themselves down,
They are soon back up upon their feet.

They dance in ever-decreasing circles,
Spinning out better-crafted lines,
Rolling the dice over and again,
Sometimes hitting a double,
They know how to read the signs.

And yeah, of course, they make mistakes,
They are only human just like I,
But they learn from them,
The get better at playing the game,
And their techniques more refined.

And some of them work it all out,
The journey has a destination,
They come out of the other side,
Better, fuller, more complete,
Doubled up with a trusted companion.

Then there is I,
And those like I.

I wander in a buttoned-up silence,
Occasionally crack a joke or two,
A million questions in my head,
But not a single one said,
Even when I have nothing to lose.

They say there is a seat at the table for all,
And that there are no rules,
But I don’t understand the game,
And I bleed my pain in private,
Cause in every crowd there is one to play the fool.

I used to watch them from the sidelines,
Now I don’t watch them at all,
I confine myself to the shadows,
Hiding away in the darkness,
Surrounding myself by four walls.

I am no longer a player in the game,
Not sure if I ever was at all,
But don’t get me wrong,
There were times I thought I’d got it right,
There were moments of standing tall.

I can’t do what they do with ease,
Don’t ask why cause I just don’t know,
If I did, then I would change it,
No one wants to be this way,
Life for me is to silently come and go,
With nothing will be left behind.
59 · Apr 2020
Three Steps Behind.
David L Butler Apr 2020
Socially distant,
It’s nothing new to me,
Kinda consistent,
With the way I tend to be,
No resistance,
From the likes of those like me,
Drifting in the distance,
Is where I feel free.

However…I will admit,
It is not really a choice,
More often than not,
I am just a lone voice,
I don’t like to shout,
I am more in than out,
Hidden somewhere in the shadows,
Wherever they like to turn the lights down low.

I am…like the silent breeze…that you only feel…when you stand still,
And pause for a moment.

It is not an advantage,
But it is not always the opposite,
It is the role I play,
My character in the script,
Never the star,
A face in the chorus line,
But given the choice,
I’d be three steps behind.
Hm…
Three steps behind,
That’s where I’ll be,
Socially distancing,
Three steps behind,
Drifting in the distance,
Where the lights are lows,
In the chorus line,
Three steps behind.

— The End —