It's a steady drip on a window sill
Hitting the backside of my brain
That never quits, will never quit..until
I bring all thought to you....a-gāin.

I sit with glasses perched
And a steamy cup
With all my consolations
Gathered about
Less of me now
And more of them
All my little pleasures
Acquired over the years
That bring me peace
Beauty and smiles
Pope and puzzles
Almond brush plants
Glass wind chimes
Dickinson and Morrison
Duritz and moonlight
Caffeine and nicotine
Impossible dreams
In my pajamas
Almost comfortable enough
To not miss a single thing

Shattered pieces fall like rain
Drop, and bounce, to fall again
Leaves will shake
Boughs will break
A hero will live; die in vain

The wind will still, and then will blow
A season comes as seasons go
Earth will turn
Love will yearn
'Tis God himself that makes it so.

Furrow no more
Thy weathered brow
O'er times before
Or even now

Play well the part
For which thee were cast
With all your heart
ACT ONE  'til the last

Offer naught a (sigh)
At the curtain's last fall
But smile and cry
At the end of it all

'Tis not a sep-er-ā-ted place
In the seam of joy and strife
Rather, the most perfected space
That connects a death to life.

As tired is to weary,
Love to in-love be.
As sorrow is to anguish,
Lone....to lonely me.

A fraction,; mill-i-meter,
Minūte; yet.. severe!
There's just but a breath between
Desolate; nadir.

Content with the portion which I gave;
Any more I would have been a slave.
Enough reserved with which to save
myself from the untimely despair;
Just the perfect ration left to spare
To bring myself back round to fair.

How to define the love of soul?
To see beauty in a tear
Decipher the truth from a lie
Spoken solely out of fear
Embrace another's hidden pain
Until all the pain subsides
Recognize a man's courage
While that same man just hides.
To notice what the vision craves
With the chaos all around
Hear the purest melody
Even when there is no sound.  
Forgive the human condition
Ignore parts to see the whole
Silent trembling lips know how
To define the love of soul.

Sleep now, my love.

As the sun rises on my face,
Rest your mind, rest your head.
In that subdued and shuttered place
With that memory -filled bed.
Go be where the angels dwell
And the little children play.
And think not of me, for a spell.
Think naught of me today.

It's just like sluggish raindrops
The way they slowly trickle in
All those memories we had to tuck away
To begin
To begin...again.

The only thing to do now
Is try to avoid the pain
Fill up the hours right until
My last breaths start to wane
Then use that sacred moment
Just as life begins to drain
To return to all I knew of beauty
And to see your face again.

A 12x12
With 8 ghosts of her.

The painted coffee table
She made while she was able

The seashell-plastered jewelry box
The turtle formed from broken rocks

The tile crab picture with the wooden frame
The blessing plaque that holds the family name

That second fence she had put in  
For extra safety's sake
And the one thats always watching
Watching every move I make.

So sick of being collateral damage.
For once I would like to be important enough to be the true target.

When the last of leaves fall from the tree,
And hope now holds but eternity,
And the sullen past lays down it's head,
And nothingness follows in it's stead,
Will any visions still come to thee,
Be it through a haze? or clarity?
Regret of words ( once said or not said?)
Make haste! For pride won't pardon the dead.

I'm not quite dead yet,
But the vultures couldn't wait.
They came very early on;
The water came too late.

But the tearing of my flesh
It keeps me lucid for now
I've no strength to struggle
And thats a liberty somehow.

The world...you see
Was too much for me
I had to lay
In half decay
For it to let me be.

So many fleeting ideas
Came and went
But I waited.
For that one moment
That one redefining moment
That would change everything
And it did.
And still I just waited
And the moment passed.

My advice to anyone reading this:
When your moment comes,
When your heart is screaming "take a shot!"
Take the shot.
Do not wait.
That moment will not come again.

They say nothing is impossible
But that sounds so silly to me
Ashes just can't be re-formed
Back to a mighty tree.

I make a being out of hope
To act for me; to apprehend.
Return to me the love I lost
And destroy the tragic end.

For without his breath again by mine;
And that hand that fit so well;
The soul that matched my very own;
That caused Life itself to swell;

There would be no need to carry on
Day after day to just get older
So I make a being out of hope
And dress him as a soldier.

A gaping chasm
Vacuuming in the air
It hurts.
My heart.

I was made for the summer moon
Barefoot walks with sea salt winds
Coffee at midnight; naps at noon
Acoustics with wayward friends
The smell of fresh cut grass in fall
The orange of a sun closed eye
The sound of a cardinals mating call
And the awe of a star filled sky

I made the mistake
Of assumption
Believed he was like me
Wanting truth
An appreciator of genuine
So I gave him what I myself
Wanted in return
I gave him all my past
Every regret
Every fear
Every pain
Every mistake
I didn't water them down
I didn't conceal them
I surrendered all the ugliness
I became vulnerable
Nakedly human
Just with the hope to be known; loved
In spite of that humanity
I gave him the authentic me
I am proud of that
It took a courage I had to dig deep for
It took character that I had always admired when I had seen it in others
In the end
He used all of that
To form an opinion of me
Not one of who I had become
But of who I used to be
He failed to recognize the value in transparency
What little truth I was shown of him
I accepted
His failings were as many as mine
And I was just glad to know them
I consider it my gain
To have been judged unrightly
To have been shamed unjustly
To have been betrayed
To have been fooled
It taught me a little more about myself
It taught me that
I do not want facades anymore
That life is not a costume party
And that those who wear masks
Are not my people
My people are harder to find
But well worth the seeking

There is liberty in giving up
Wrapping up in the sheets
Dissipating
Dying the souls death
Don't let anyone tell you different

You smile
Your pride pumps
You feed on my dying self
You killed me
Genius

All the ways of loss
Of people, things, and sway
How desperate must the godless feel
When they kneel down to pray.

When the knife just won't ****
And the bough won't even break
When the wind stays still
And there's nothing left to take
When passion has no power
And hope's wings are cut
When life is in it's final hour
And the mind's eyes are shut
No matter
No matter
No matter then
Where heart or soul or feet have been.

Hate.
The one thing we are told never to have.
And yet, sometimes it becomes our only protection.

As the shade of night slowly drops
And the birds whistle a "goodnight"
The atmosphere starts to settle
The city sounds go with the light
The crickets buzz to hush the world
In a melodic wave-like way
Nature conducts its orchestra
And puts to sleep another day.

The crickets chirp for me tonight
Trees darker than the sky
The only other sound is that
Of the traffic passing by
At will my mind can block that out
Until just those crickets be
But the thoughts! T'would be mercy
If heaven did the same of thee.

The bindings.
The encasements.
Tendons twisting
The tight slipknots
As we squirm
And entrap us all
In miniscule minds
Minuscule thoughts
Until the sickle
sets us free.

The little innuendos life drops like sand
When you venture out in space.

Just small simple reminders, slaps on the hand
To stay in your ordained place.

Keep peace on an empty porch, feet upon the floor
Without tears upon your face.

Spend time with well worn pages, just like before,
Call it sad, but know it's grace.

The apple rising always higher
Proportionate to the desire
Not a mountain cliff
Or an eagles drift
Ever will or can conspire.....
The height to which a man will go
In pouring rain or lashing snow
No distance of sky
No bar set too high
To fuel a hearts true fire.

When the coffee turned into tea
And she was faced with that real-i-ty
Her world suddenly stopped spinning.
The walls rushed in... not one by one
The ceiling fell in to shut out the sun
And she called this the beginning.
Of life without truth and reason
Over and over...no change of season
Would ever breech the tomb within.
And over time she did go blind
Left with only the echoes of her mind
And she was never seen again.

In the midst of grey
It feels safe
Within the gloom
There is calm
Time passes differently here
Silently like a phantom
Slow enough to touch
And hold the moment