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In an Irish pub last night I met
a man, Ryan Patrick Sheehan.
His eyes were brown, his lips were soft,
his heart was heavy with reason.

To me, he quoted an early Yeats
as if he were Yeats himself.
"The Cold Heaven" danced from his tongue
to rest on my heart's bookshelf.

He spoke of Goethe and Marcel Proust;
two hundred pages that described Combrayan
eye for detail that bordered insane.
he proceeded then to quote Swann's Way.

Of mystery and shadows his silence spoke.
His words, like kisses quite unplanned.
God speed and hope be in your heart
My brief, Ryan Patrick Sheehan.
Before the rain comes falling
There is a breeze that always blows
And I sense a calm delivery
Buried deep within my soul.

Before the rain comes falling
There is a sound that’s heard within~
A silence of deep stirring.
It crawls under my skin.

And when the rain comes falling
To wash away my pain,
Each drop does quench my endless thirst
So I can begin again.
Somewhere between going
and gone,
I left a piece of me.
Somewhere between going
and gone
I sang between two keys.
Never quite this way
or that.
Never reaching high enough,
or sinking low enough.
I would vacillate
and it left me prostrate -
lying face down
somewhere between going
and gone.
Somewhere between going
and gone
he seduced me.
Somewhere between going
and gone
I sang between two keys
never quite his key
or yours.
Never giving quite enough
but taking far too much.
So I would castrate
and underestimate
that your love for me was
somewhere between going
and gone.
em nwohs evah uoy tahw ees I~I see what you have shown me
delaever sah noitiutni ym tahw ees I~I see what my intuition has revealed
gnilriws ssendas dna epoh ees I~I see hope and sadness swirling
tnetni dna esoprup a ees I~I see a purpose and intent
noissap degac a ees I~I see a caged passion
traeh a ees I~I see a heart
gnipeeW~Weeping
sdnah ruoy ees I~I see your hands
gnihcaeR~Reaching
seye ruoy ees I~I see your eyes
gnihcaeT~Teaching
ylfnogard ees I~I see dragonfly
?elihwa syats ohW~Who stays awhile?
ffo stilf dnA~And flits off
nruter ot ylnO~Only to return
efas s’ti swonk eh nehW~When he knows it’s safe
yats oT~To stay.
traeh ruoy ees I~I see your heart.
gnos ruoy raeh I~I hear your song.
thgilf ruoy leef I~I feel your flight.
ecaps ruoy hcuot I~I touch your space
ecaf ruoy ees I~I see your face.
uoy ees I~I see you.
uoY~You.
I am silent
Where white waters swirled,
Bubbles chortle between heartbeats,
Descending down.
Rising prayers
With silky breaths of love
Ascending into light,
Reverberating again
Into Cathedral Azure.
I Glimpsed Eden’s
Soft blue waters.
Farewell Chasm.
2007
I will not watch your heart break. I will close my eyes and hold your heart
together with my hands...
In every soul there is a
New moment to
Deliver itself to
Enlightenment,
Peace and
Elegance of heart.
Now is that moment to let your spirit sing and
Dance.
Every breath taken is a
New
Chance to be
Everything.
for you, my love, my child, my reason for everything
There are words
that are left unspoken
to the ears that will never hear.
There are hearts
that now are broken
and lives that died in fear.
~~
And we ask
the empty questions
to the vast and bitter cold.
And we grasp
at our aggressions
and leave our secrets still untold.
~~
Is a soul
void of compassion
and so blackened by its rage?
Is it blind
to resolution,
to the illusion on the stage?
~~
There were words
of desperation;
for mercy they did call
to the ears
of Lost Salvation,
who'd died long before his fall.
written in response to the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007
what love letters have not been written
and float above the earth
waiting to be born?

what love letters have not been written
and within the silent pen
rages a violent storm?
sometimes
i wake at dawn
and loneliness kisses me on my neck.
he is a consistent lover
yet not constant.
at times he caresses me
to tears
until i sleep again
i sleep in the middle of the bed now
and wonder if there is no room for you
the space that once was empty in your absence
seems smaller and i wonder
if i need a bigger bed.
My words come
with labor
for there are few sounds
that utter my sorrow.
The words sink
within me,
fading down into all
the memories of your face
your smile
your hands
your touch.
The words now
escape me; they are swallowed
by visions of you
on the horizon.
I dare not turn away
for fear
they will sink
fade
and be swallowed
with time.
once, i loved you
so far from me
yet i loved you closely
with all i could be
once, i loved you
from across the sea
you touched my heart
and you set it free
once, i loved you
so far from me
i love you still
not meant to be
I have to get out now.
I have to find the door.
I have to know there is a different place.
I have to know there is more.
~
I have to keep going.
I have to keep my head.
I have to climb higher than this valley.
I have to believe that I'm not dead.
~
I have to sleep alone.
I have to live awake.
I have got to wake the ugly monster.
I have to give what I can't take.
~
I have to rise up now.
I have to walk away.
I have to trust-all defenses down
I have to see another day.
2007
When all the ships
Have gone to sea
And no one’s left
On shore but me,
Will you forget
My golden hair;
Forsake me for
The salty air?
When winds, they blow
And storms, they rage,
In thoughts of me
Will you engage?
And when the mist,
It coats your face,
Is it my breath
That you will taste?
1997
I know the song within a captured bird,
A melancholy, rhythmic, beating heart
A breathless sound; foreboding in its start
It carries on the wind yet to be heard
An octave high and down; the cage is stirred,
For all who’ve come to rest and soon depart.
The wing is clipped, to some, a work of art.
Within, her captive song is not deterred.

If flight returns and ever lifts the soul;
If morning breaks forever or one day
Her song, relentless in its reaching beat
Arise, it will, to take her on its way.
As feathers fade, the Spring must be consoled
With heaven’s grace, both bird and song will meet.
I let go of a
string
that tangled my mind
and left me hanging
from the edge of the past...
swinging, swaying, sad.
I let go
and floated
down
down
down.
Gently, I caught myself.
I was there all along
waiting, wondering...when
I would trust myself enough
to let go of the
string.
Not quite enough light

as I rounded the corner;

distinguishing, at first,

a glint of kindness, then it's absence.

If I had danced a bit longer on the edge of your sardonic stage

I would've stumbled on a steady beat of naiveté,

always one note behind your calculating symphony.

The shallow beams from the timeworn ghostlight

cast elucidation on your conductorial robes;

it is not often that one sees

so well in the dimness of love's sweet fog.

Alas, the savage cadenza reverberates

as if a prophetic whisper, illuminated my secret fortitude.

I turned back, fierce with indignation.
If you think I don't notice...
your absence...
the silence that echo's
on my page
and in my ear...
you are not listening
to the breeze of my wings
as I soar past your window
everyday
and every night
on the return to my nest.
I am here.
Just look out your window.
I hear your silence
and I see your absence...
and I miss you.
There you are
On the other side of something
We call time and space.
But it is so much more
Than air
Between us.
There you are
And I can feel you reaching
I can feel your breath
Upon my neck.
I can smell your sweetness
Desiring me.
There you are
On the other side of life
The mirror tells me
You are there
On the other side of something
And I reach for you
I reach for the curve of your face,
The arch of your back,
The firmness of your yearning,
The silk on the top of your foot.
There you are
On the other side of something
I can’t quite find
The path to you
But there you are.
Always.
There.

— The End —