Love is ever bittersweet
no matter the sort
or situation.

Like rich dark chocolate
the taste is sweet with a subtle bite

Love’s first intimacies are ecstasy
gently laced with fear of loss
the perfect Confluence of
Emotion
Desire,
and Need

The flavor may linger
to become a pleasant memory
or it may end abruptly
to be followed by a bitter aftertaste

My first precious puppy died suddenly
and my joy was swallowed whole in that grief

But I was so addicted to his sweetness that
I got two more dogs
to double indemnify my happiness

I can’t hold onto the objects of my affection forever
anymore than I can prevent  chocolate
from melting in my mouth

Bittersweet is love
as Pleasure is
complemented by Pain

Ordinary is so uninspiring
Does anyone strive to be ordinary
setting sights on the status quo?

Extra-ordinary seems better
More exciting and interesting
More the stuff of success

But the ancients prayed with zeal
and sacrifice every evening
that the sun would rise again the next day.

They strove to appease and please their gods
So that the rains would fall in times of drought
So that babies would be born
and seeds would sprout.

And on death’s threshold
we bargain for one more day
to spend among the Living
Laughing and Loving
savoring the ordinary things
previously overlooked.

Lord
Let me see the sunrise one last time
Or hear  a gentle rain
Or hold a newborn baby in my arms
before these ordinary, everyday things
Vanish with my last sunset.

Distractions no longer compete
No light but a candle
No sound but breath and heartbeat

Life stripped down to naught
bare-bone essentials
economy of motion and thought

Stillness weighs like lead
the silence roars
and the calm is full of dread

Fears without form
unspoken in this dark tomb
within the eye of the storm

What is still relevant
in the face of doom?

I stand on the shores of my sorrow
and watch….
feeling out of body
as waves of emotion recede beyond sight.

All senses are hushed by preternatural stillness
and the refuse of my memories
litter the sandy bottom of an eroded heart.

I teeter between reality and the nightmare
that will soon crush my life’s core
Yet  
only moments before  
I heard the news…..

You are forever gone from this shattered world

I knew this day would come
But
was unprepared
for the devastation of my grief.

Plastic Jesus on dashboards and in celluloids
Expressionless face
Mouthing great wisdom in monotone
Hanging from a cross of suffering
As if in peaceful slumber
Heart and soul of passion
Displayed emotionless
Written words
a Weak reflection of His true meaning

This is not my Lord and my God
Who is great
Beyond depiction
This is not His message
Which overflows human language

When will creation accept
it was born of God’s Vision
and Not the other way around?

I stare at the television news....

Assaulted by violence
Stunned by the inhumanity of a
Godless society

I listen to the radio....

Embarrassed by ads that tout
Promiscuous pleasures
Outraged by the thinly disguised
Decadent discourses of the shock jocks

I read the newspapers and magazines....

Cuckolded by corporate America a
Loser in the games politicians play
Violated
Shamed
Cheated and
Betrayed

I try to turn it all off….

but like a bitter pill the distasteful images linger
nor can I go along with eyes shut and ears muffled
living
or not
in a padded room of my own making

I cannot function without information….

tho my senses are
Wounded by the
Brutality of the media

I yearn for thoughts to ease my distress....

like a mother’s soft whispers to her crying baby
like the beauty that shines from faces that know love

I don’t want the perception of reality that the media rapes me with....

I want the truth revealed by God in His creation

Between
Black and White
Right and Wrong
War and Peace
lies the
Gray zone the
Blurred line
Middle ground
Limbo

No boundaries between
Good and Evil
Moral and Amoral
Thin ice and
Solid ground

No safety net to prevent slipping into extremes
No caution signs or flashing lights to guide our steps

We live and die in a
Fairy tale with alternate endings penned by
Politicians
Media moguls and
Religious fanatics who
Convince us to
Choose from a stacked deck to
Win a fixed game
Compliment us on our finery
tho we are threadbare or naked

We live in the land of the free where the
Rule of law applies only to commoners
Opportunity comes with a price few can afford  and
Everyone has the
Right to work and the
Right to be exploited

You might be dwelling in the kingdom of surreality if….

Conflicting images are presented as harmonious
Opposites are blended to form bland
Ugliness is sugar-coated and swallowed whole
Love and passion interfere with success.