The dark sky erases another
Sunset. Reflections of joy
Barely seen beneath the
Moonlight.

He confused a nightmare with
An opportunity;
Never recognizing the signs,
Too busy
Chasing the dream.

Touched by falling feathers
From the Angels abandoning
His presence. Oblivious
Towards the path stopping
At the cliff’s edge.

Stepping away;
His emotions left to fall.
Touched by the woman
He once scorned. She opens
Her arms, accepting his infinite despair.

All the pain he hid behind
The walls she took, into her *****;
Helping him cleanse his weeping
Soul.

The plot thickens; he played the game
so timid, so close to victory,
tasting a hint of defeat.
The game of his life,
trashed and trodden
beneath unexpected cowardice.
Jack Daniels slowly evaporating
within the cool glass; nerves
growing numb to personal sentiments
listening to insensitivity plea for attention.
Clinging to that moment,
promising something different;
feeling the heat of amber ***** eating away
the remains of expectations.

Nothing is as it seems;

illusions glimmer

within the afternoon light.  

Daydreams,

rolling cascades of fiction

beneath a tired brow.  

Waiting…

wondering…

heartbeats of folly

to fill the emptiness.

Smiling now the mask

hiding this naked pain; the

brightness of feigned joy

illuminates this distinction

of a fool.

Broken pieces
of my shattered soul
gathered in my
shaking hands.

Another long
winter…
breathing in
toxins;
cold air
filling my lungs.

Retreating behind
enclosed walls…
frightened;
suffocating vulnerability.

Touching the unknown,
feeling
its misinterpretation;
listening
to the silence…
waiting.

The lights keep flickering;
darkness reaching out between
the flashes of daydreams.
Memories damaged by perceptions,
left alone in this empty room.

Waiting for the morning
to cease this endless night.
The seconds prolong
this enticing desire.

I long to touch
your beautiful face;
to see the sunrise
in your tender eyes.

Tomorrow is far away;
sleepless excitement magnifies
this excruciating wait.

I long to kiss
your beautiful lips;
to see your smile
light up the sky.

Twisted dimensions
settling upon
the straight and narrow;
deities and mortals
devising agendas
neither understood
nor abandoned.

Truths and lies hanging
from a moon sliver
feigning cosmic hope
wrestling with the ideals
of sleepless fanatics;
lullabies of the insomniacs
seeking answers.

Reflecting as I watch
the changing tides along
the shores of black sand.

I wish we didn’t exist
within the emptiness;
sleeping next to
painful memories
exasperating the void
we so desperately
want to fill.

Seeing the sunrise
in your eyes; the morning
glory in your heart.

I whispered your name
in my dreams hoping
the benevolence of time
grants me a moment
to share with you
the desires my soul
laid bare.

Celestial bliss is where
you have taken me.

No more tears,
no more storms;
my contentment
my elation, I
wait for you
to be next to me.

I love you.

My nights were endless;
the beating of rain
reminding me of all
that I lost.

My hope exchanged
for contentment;
I surrendered beneath the
weight of unhappiness,
my soul suffered behind
a smile.

I met you from a distance;
I found you interesting, the fool
within me willing to ignore this gem.
You were tender poetry; my spirit
was mesmerized.

Frightened by the notion of falling in love
again; I needed to hear your voice, to know
you from beyond the veil of
an intriguing premise.

That moment of clarity;
removing the ambiguity that choked
my heart.  This feeling of absence defined
by your missing touch.

I need you.

The rapid procession of seasons;
the dripping beads of morning dew
upon the fall leaves.

The breath of Winter on my back;
the late evening shadows waiting
to taunt me.

Staring at the sunset; amber puffs sailing
across the indigo sky. The memories
hanging like stars, waiting to fall
within the night.

Beats echoed at night;
Spirit lifted from slumber.
She awakened me.

We are so afraid to live without;
conditioned to live within.

Position unrecognized on the
plain of existence.

We are beaten by the words of men;
overwhelmed by the confrontation.

Vernacular misled innocence
into the pit of fallen souls.

We are afraid of death;
we are afraid of life.

Stricken by the truth
deceived by the lies.

Specs of afternoon sunlight
touched the thoughts of a last wish.
A dancing beauty hoping to kiss
the morning star before it fades
to dusk.

Her words were sweeter
than any kiss.

She described happiness as
the point of illusion, a subconscious
desire for reasons to live.

The sunset against
the foggy sky.

Darkness from an unexpected storm
left her grieving the loss of
the sun.

Hearing his distant voice;
the fading melody serenading
her tired spirit.

She longed for a mature relationship
falling for him because he met her
needs; his departure leaving
imaginations to fulfill
her vacated desires.

A light breeze rustles
the stars; falling upon
the night.

Death gave the caterpillar her wings
to greet happiness in the clouds.

A cup of hot tea
An evening with a good book
Call me tomorrow

Moonlight,
touching the lingering night;
cool exhales on the glass,
catching the thoughts of
an insomniac.

Memories,
deeply rooted within the season;
a spirit grieves in turmoil,
the darkness weeps within
the chaos.

Silence disturbed me;
calamity throughout the night.
Overwhelmed by absence,
I kept waiting, hoping it
would return.

Time tormented me; my eyes
played peek-a-boo with
the clock. My perceptions
played tiddlywinks with
my sanity.

One day, I will forget
the touch of dreams;
I miss it greatly. The way
my body feels when we
are connected.

We are strangers connected by the comfort of familiarity.  It’s peculiar how the inadvertent takes us to a complete circle.  That feeling of connection; that longing for a love we are not supposed to have.

Her face is nothing more than the image of a desired reflection; those eyes speaking the truth behind her smile.  Light and shadows confound the lines of time; I want to see her but reality denies my wish.  All we will ever have are conversations and the chisel of poetry to sculpt our imaginations.

Tonight, he arrives hoping to find
Her waiting; the rooms are empty,
The windows covered.

For so long, he left the lights on
Believing she would return to take up
Residence in this place now abandoned.

Every night he recalled those moments;
The eve of a new season bringing silence.
Feelings of solace lost in the fading twilight.

For so long, he avoided the darkness
Hoping her absence was a momentary lapse
In time; realizing that his faith is misplaced.

Tonight, he concedes; removing the images
From the walls, placing a kiss upon
The lips of a dream.

Thinking back towards my childhood, remembering those tiny moments that broke my spirit. Conformity, the pressures of this square peg to fit into those round holes; barriers that put my agility in stasis forcing my mind to endure constant pummeling from both friends and foes. I was too afraid to stand up and embrace confrontation; those “reindeer games” that I didn't know how to play.

I believe, everything happens for a reason, even when the reason is ignorant. The days become years, rolling with the changing seasons yet the moments mimic one another. Surely there are lessons to learn within the complexity of triviality, the child becoming the adult still tethered to burden of *******.

There’s this feeling of déjà vu again; the journey is filled with course corrections, navigation through expectations and recommendations to appease values not my own. The plaguing sense of accommodation to avoid confrontation becomes the eulogy at my funeral procession.  Maybe it’s time to stop moving and let that thing I am most fearful of pull me into the center of chaos; to sit in the belly of the whale and let it all go.

From the beginning, and
To the end.

I feel your indignation towards
My existence; your displeasure towards
My presence.

The mockery of your embrace
Holding me tightly within
Your arms of despair.

Moral conceptions offended by
Your deliberate misbehavior.

Your kiss saturates my spirit with vexation,
Attempting to convert my heart with
Poison and bitterness.

We both want change for
Reasons we cannot agree; a scandal
That transgress Love’s institution.

I will neither yield to your disgrace
Nor entertain your dishonor.

Remove me from this circumstance, take away
The memories of your offensive actions.

With my last breath I plead,
Accept me for who I am please, just leave
Me alone.

Birth pangs of a new era erupts violently no longer acknowledged by the one who lays naked upon the darkness. Soul fasting with anguish allowing his thoughts to carry on towards iniquitous perceptions cultivated from the depths of hearsay. Burying his beliefs deep within the dissipated center of his unconscious desires. His mind craving acceptance as his body endures brutal rejection; his spirit forsaken amidst the shadows of death all because he dared to be different.

Shadows of the past greet a fading patriarch sitting upon the fragile seat of the present.

A season void of exuberance leaving his “inner child” huddled beneath an undressed tree staring at the emptiness left by “disappointment”. Childhood abandoned upon paternity’s deathbed.

A season revealing that child seeking the comfort only “nostalgia” seems to offer. Moments of youth denied by the demands of adulthood.

Shadows of the future rebuking the bitterness the old heart embraces. Consuming sorrow from the cup of Grief.

A season revealing Tomorrow leaving her tears upon his withered cheek. Reflecting on the face of Love lost within a fog. Her poignant touch an old man is no longer able to feel.

A season realizing his unwillingness to change as Death performs last rites upon an old fleeting soul. Guided to the “other-side” by Eternity.

A child set free becoming acquainted with joyful simplicity.

Twenty Ticks and eleven tocks into a man’s day, the seventh of seven days for him ponder the last seven decades of his life. He studies the recollections kept logged within his cerebral diary, appraising the significance. Always learning, continuously evaluating and never mastering.

A journey seeking purpose, finding love, gaining rejection, surviving war, cherishing losses, and receiving forgiveness. Laying down upon his experiences, watching day fade slowly towards night. He receives a gentle kiss from the lips of Serenity as his soul is nestled in the ***** of Peace.

The seventh day provides a man rest and his days are now complete.

Twenty ticks and eleven tocks into a man’s day, the sixth of seven days for him to stare into the abyss of abandoned memories. Seeing her eyes staring back at him stirring the pain in his soul. Spirits of the past ascend from the void singing songs of antagonism. Recalling the moments that provoke his anger and summon his anguish.

He decides to satisfy the spirits of torment. A sacrifice. Reaching within the thorns of his body he removes his pride and lays it upon an altar of forgiveness. Letting go of all that he was and silencing his demons.

The sixth of seven days is now complete.

Twenty ticks and eleven tocks into a man’s day, the fifth of seven days for him to see the flames of those he loved extinguished becoming vapors in the wind. The unexpected storm carries away the souls of so many he loved, knew and connected. Standing at the sites of engraved eulogies, he grieves; not just for the loss but also for the opportunities missed.

Loneliness conceived from the womb of absence.

Life itself now a dying breed.

He grieves until the end of the falling rain.

The fifth of seven days is now complete.

Morning light strays
Across her weary eyes
Feelings quietly disappeared
Along with the night

Her hand touches
Abandoned sheets
Emptiness scars her soul

Unable to face the sun
She lays her head upon
Satin memories as
His scent upon her pillow
Reminds her of the reason
To smile

He draws open the shades
Of night letting in the light
Of day reveals a vacant space
In the corner of his soul

Loneliness flees at the
Touch of her hand upon
His shoulder

Overwhelmed by
Her beauty as it radiates
From within her spirit

Her mesmerizing intellect creates
Irrational behavior against
His intelligence slipping within
The breadth of euphoria

He contemplates a
Vast vocabulary to express
His overflowing emotions
None of which he deems
Sufficient

His throat parched unable
To utter his deepest sentiments
He reaches for her hand and
Places it upon his heart
Etching the word “forever”

He buries his heart
Beneath a bed of broken
Thorns feeling the autumn
Breeze becoming
Winter winds along a
Darkened sky carrying tiny
Shards of reality along his
Emotions slicing the pages
From his mind’s diary made
Cynical by the freezing
December night as the year
Enters another twilight pressing
Against his recollections of her
Promise signed “Always & Forever”

Sitting on a park bench
Could not help but notice
A paper bag pressed against
A garbage can like a beaten
Victim whose brown exterior judged
And sentenced harshly for its
Desire to survive in a world that
Deemed it unworthy for society
Instead its abused
Wrinkled
Crumpled
Torn existence demeaned
For the purpose of pleasure
And then quickly discarded
Refusing to care about all
The good it carried inside

Twenty ticks and eleven tocks into a man’s day, the fourth of seven days for him to grieve the injustice shackled upon humanity. He grips war by the handle and strikes with irresistible force upon the once immovable object of hate. He finds himself guilty of hostilities for the sake of peace. He is offered no trial for his crimes of war.

He seeks admonishment for his guilt and is left with a confession upon his heart. His apologies fall silently into the void neither heard nor acknowledged. A single dove’s feather falls upon him carrying a single drop of spilled blood.

He tattoos on his skin a mark of shame.

The fourth of seven days is now complete.

Twenty ticks and eleven tocks into a man’s day, the third of seven days for him to propose an opportunity towards commitment that he recognizes and she fails to understand. Her past she could not deny. He offered sacred vows upon a bed of enchantment. Her present she could not agree. He offered his life in exchange for her honor.

She left with words unspoken.

Misty skies dim the sunlight and darken his eyes. His heart now absent from his body. His grief pours like torrential rain. He trails his fingers along the silhouette her absence provided.

Today becomes ordinary containing a choice to reconsider.

The third of seven days is now complete.

Twenty ticks and eleven tocks into a man’s day, the second of seven days for him to pursue the affection of woman he has never known yet forever seen. Finding delight in the notion of interest with an undistorted persona that is his own. Relief that appearance is unimportant compared to that which resides within a blemished shell. To behold love within the unseen.

He shares his time revealing the secrets of his soul. Expressing emotional depth no one else could comprehend. His heart bleeding poetic verses transfusing the emptiness of existence with companionship. The bitter sweet taste of love confuses his senses getting his emotions twisted.

Souls entwined on the fragile plain of romance.

The second of seven days is now complete.

Twenty ticks and eleven tocks into a man’s day, the first of seven days for him to ponder the effect of past events on the present moment.  Dressed in dark colors inconspicuous as his wardrobe mimics the morning sky.  He places a finger to his mind, directing his thoughts to the decision that fate happens for a reason. A reason requiring keen insight from the divine to decipher its riddle disguised as purpose.

He stares towards the perennial peak of a hill and recalls the feeling of disappointment at his failed ambitions dictated by the imposing expectations implanted within his childhood.  His perception, now a broken compass, misguide his spirit through the fog of unsolicited opinions.  Decisions wavering in the gusts of a thousand voices.   Today becomes the younger twin of Yesterday both determined to clone their DNA upon Tomorrow.

Alone with his thoughts as his misery is unable to find the company it seeks.

The first of seven days is now complete.

Moments written
Upon tattered pages
Absorbing the last
Drops of ink
Her melancholy spirit
Seeing
The threads of tomorrow
Unravel
Along the edges
Hearing the words
From those
She loved whispering
“Close your eyes”
Refusing to wait
For twilight
Deciding to watch
The sun
Disappear within
The fading skies

He draws open the shades
Of night letting in the light
Of day reveals a vacant space
In the corner of his soul

Loneliness flees at the
Touch of her hand upon
His shoulder

Overwhelmed by
Her beauty as it radiates
From within her spirit

Her mesmerizing intellect creates
Irrational behavior against
His intelligence slipping within
The breadth of euphoria

He contemplates a
Vast vocabulary to express
His overflowing emotions
None of which he deems
Sufficient

His throat parched unable
To utter his deepest sentiments
He reaches for her hand and
Places it upon his heart
Etching the word “forever”