unbeknownst to passers-by
above on concrete, stone and steel
two lovers linger just below
hearts on fire, bodies still
while river's waters deep and fast
lay witness to the passion there
this place becomes forever cast
immortalized with souls laid bare
no traffic sounds, no waterfowl
no whispering wind through tender trees
disturb these two, in love's embrace
finding forever in their gaze

existence is perception
colored by opinion
  tainted by influence
modified by judgment

  you are my soul
living outside of me
  feeling my sensations
mirroring my love

paint my world with vibrant hues
emerald greens, sapphire blues
lyricist with color, canvas
emotions swirl 'round your brush
multitudes of whites and greys
illuminate the darkest days
when masterfully controlled by you
paint my world with vibrant hues

vibrant and alive
there is a rhythm to night
a pulse all its own

waking with joyful exuberance
choosing what attitude to wear with the day
grey skies call for a sunny disposition
determined to keep negatives away
light streams gently from fingertips
delicately touching others with warmth
surprising them with smiles
unfurling calm in your wake

sensation of sepulchral chasm inside my chest
threatening to devour me from inside out
knowledge is power, they say
but this I don't want to know
too late! the genie is out of the bottle
never to return
knowing can't be unknown
I turn to dust inside
I'm done

thoughts of you make me breathless,
like walking into a steam sauna too hot
seeing you causes my knees to go weak,
blood rushing to that secret spot
that only you know how to touch and finger
driving me wild as you stop and linger
crescendos of pleasurable torment
until you see I'm finally spent
Oh God! I'll never have enough of you
baby take my breath, it's all for you

they say, 'You're beautiful' and I look around
to see who they are talking to
always shocked to hear the sound
of compliments

beautiful is the perfect wave crashing
while sunlight shimmers through aquamarine water
or wrinkles at the edges of smiling
eyes full of life

beautiful is the feeling overcome
pure emotion that fills you up, bursts out
when you're with the right one
authentic love

beautiful is not simply seen
nor is it defined as a commodity
on the pages of an airbrushed magazine
to be bought

the kind that land ever so softly
on your lips, your cheeks, your eyelids
wisps of breath, not quite touching
then, darting off to alight in another spot
teasing, enchanting, fluttery feeling
butterfly kisses turn into so much more.....

pushing and pulling, eddies swirl 'round
so difficult to trust in this love we've found
fairy tale endings too good to be true
darker shades of life confusing my view
never having known love's ache
clouds in judgment, feelings forsake
go on defensive 'cause that's all I've known
overwhelmed by the gentleness you've shown
to want you so badly, I lose control
feeling the madness deep in my soul
Still, knowing the gift that lies within grasp
if only I can trust, in your heart, at last.

lives intertwined with the push of a button
decisions made - don't comprehend
all for moments fast and fleeting
breaking hearts, never to mend
don't come at me with words and flowers
show me where you really stand
deep in our hearts laid bare and bleeding
the challenge is to love again

Rain coming down sideways
sheeting on the window pane
fogged up glass humidity high
casual conversations earnestly spoken
all the while studiously ignoring
the couple in the middle of the room
Stealing kisses completely
in their own world
oblivious to children's homework and
business people's envy
steaming cups of coffee
can't compete with
heat from their coffeehouse kisses

Bottomless yearning, deep as the fathoms of the sea
to feel your heat once more, gaze into those eyes of green
days as empty as a well in desert sand
until the time when I feel the trace of your hand
along my face, so gentle and loving your touch
craving all of you, a passion that needs you so much
curse the hours, minutes, seconds we're apart
together, all I know, is YOU complete my heart

In love with two hearts
such a cliche
should I go?  should I stay?
it wasn't supposed to be this way

love that's steadfast, know it's mine
love that's stood the test of time
love that's passionate, burning true
love that's fresh and wild and new

no easy answers, no right or wrong
melancholy timeless song
life thrown into disarray
it wasn't supposed to be this way

we're desperate for connections
yet we build roadblocks of icy indifference
a challenge to see who cares enough
to knock down our walls of fear

substitute ***** of fluff for love
purring, licking, dependent lives
warm on our feet and toes as if
that could thaw our numb hearts

I found you, I see you, I challenge you
and at first you responded with joy
free from encumbrance of memories and pain
relieved to be breathing, to have life again

retreated now back into your world
where you think it's safe to hide
peeking out at me, beckoning 'come closer'
yet behind the glass you stay inside

I need you.  I want you.  I've said it plain
I throw myself into your walls, over and over
successfully you've built them even higher
closed off again from all desire

why is it now when you feel guilt?
as though I've had none all along
ignoring the knives that cut my soul
bleeding emotions through words and song

I'm desperate for your connection
the only one who's seen me truly
I've opened my heart, left my walls
waiting for you to return

there is only a sense
of right, or wrong
no shades of gray

unless I am feeling
deep inside
really feeling, really 'living'
I don't feel alive
it's a drug, need that 'fix'
need ............. YOU

until you, until 'us' -
now my heartbeat is strong
you're my fuel,
you're my fire
how is this wrong?

you're so calm, so collected
your feelings don't show
here I am, such a mess
so **** emotional

Alone with her thoughts, those dangerous things
jagged and jumbled with uncertain edges
finding out how deeply words can cut
unintentionally

bruised emotions, tender feelings ******* in heartstrings
for a man with no need of packages
only wanting to trust with him all those thoughts

he doesn't want more thoughts, he only needs to be held,
cradled, safely rocked away from messy
entanglements

cutting her with shards of dismissal

you tiptoe around the edges of my conscience
fleet of foot, how nimble is your smile!
lightly landing closer and closer to that place
drawing me in, careful all the while
playing music that only you and I hear
melodies of melancholy sweet and low
entranced, I ache to hold you near
in union, while you dance upon my soul

shadows are cast even in sunlight
apex of light, brilliance notwithstanding
there exists a room closed off

no light penetrates
this room, coccoon-like in velvet inky
darkness safely tucked in

remembering shame so powerful
when he pulled me onto his lap
saying, 'you did this'

darkness in the middle of the day
will never see sunlight or
let any light in to stay

I'm the governor of my daydream state
judiciously allowing thoughts of life with you to flow freely
no interference from laws of attraction
It's a blissful place to live

when I dream
it is of you - not of him
not of past loves, or those I thought
were love

your dreams
are of her - faded distant long-ago times
even though she
broke your heart

which breaks mine anew

i know that you've been hurt, you carry it inside
it runs as deep as canyons go, its scar a mile wide
in many ways it overwhelms, completely takes your soul
you've been consumed, just edges left
i wish you'd just let go
now i've become a part of you that knows not how to feel
wishing i'd listened to that inner voice saying you weren't real
you said you'd never hurt someone as much as she hurt you
i'm here to say your words were false, you've cut me deep
we're through

weaving connections so carefully
spider threads, tenuous but strong
choosing each link deliberately, secretly
praying not to be wrong
trusting in hope, hoping in faith
commit to eternal devotion
oh delicate threads of heart's desire
betray not my deepest emotions

say hello, say you're there
tell me something
show me you care
bring back the feelings of
long-ago lost love
meet me half-way
help me to stay

We want to understand our world and humans that are in it
situations and events that shake it up and spin it
make our choices, choose our path, convinced that it is 'right'
until we see another path that's just beyond our sight
a different path but yet, the same, with others plain to see
all moving on or standing still, all people, you and me
as paths converge what happens next is basic and is right
no pushing shoving or standing ground, no need to stay and fight
a simple course correction, moving round each other with ease
to continue on our paths, no two the same you see
For all the paths eventually arrive at the same conclusion
that help us clear our hearts and minds removing our confusion
it's not the destination that was paramount, but those along the way
people, lessons, obstacles, that come with each new day
the journey that we travelled bringing thought and clarity
Be glad you chose the path you did ~ Be glad that you now see

The 'us' we see and
the 'us' others see create
unique duality
high wire balancing
praying not to fall

hard outer shell but
soft side within, not
unlike crustaceans
we scurry to and fro
intent with purpose

only when we're truly alone
be it crowded street or
safely home,
can both halves
combine as one

Finally at peace

your words are raw, exposed, honest
in each other do we finally trust
all the metaphors, all the similes
fail to capture the essence of you and me
forms of expression known to man
music, art, poetry all also-rans
together we are light, air, complete beings
reveling in emotional perfection

Swallowed up by feelings, needs, wants, wishes
stifled thoughts beating against ivory cage
muffled heart beats, ka-thump, ka-thump
pure emotions puddle, then drip through your fingers

we know that heat once generated
does not die or is dissipated
but only exchanged, one form to another
as in the touches between lovers
warmth arises - seizing hold
forever transferred from the cold
ardent flames lick at our skin
consume the need that lies within
melting two souls, passions shared
love feeds longing with energy squared

birth and death ... dichotomy of existence
alone to experience, never to share
yearning to fill that void in between
moments, hours, days, years
wanting a connection that no one has seen
eternally hopeful for one more dance

I was hoping
in this bubble we live
to keep my heart from harm
it is to you I give
all my treasures sacred
All I am or hope to be
so if my love was threatened
you'd keep it safe,
for me

you brought me to this place, breathless
alive
excited
showing me the side of you that
no one gets to see

feeling your enthusiasm, wanting to be
included
knowing
I was swept up in expression
letting you see me

smiling, you backed away, fading
shimmering
opaque
and I saw through you
as you walked away

she shattered his fantasy, perhaps his illusions
not knowing how to leave well enough alone
she's had enough of emotional contusions
he wanted fantasy in flesh and bone

how to love, how to share, how to heal
they needed that from each other
instinctively understanding the real from
love they had shared with another

now they circle, slightly wary, but down inside
they are the same, craving, two souls needing
wanting, desiring, love doesn't die
two lovers, blood pumping, hearts beating

life gets messy, tangled, but still it moves on
another day, a new night, love stands, it is strong

wispy tendrils of your memory

circulate around my soul

capricious emotions dominate


Who have I become?

rapacious need to see your face

insatiable need to hear your voice


attempts at being  

who I was before

fail miserably


I cannot escape you

I strain to hear your heart
across the broken miles
for even when apart my mind
conjures up your smiles
I strain to let you know
Your voice is what I hear
in silence and in shadows
I always have you near

I strain to send my love into
the ether and the mist
So when you turn around and see
a sunbeam that has kissed
the puffy clouds up in the sky
it's really me you see
I strain to give you all my love
For All Eternity

I hate that he can be passionate...
and then show no emotion
I hate that he says he loves me...
but there he goes again
I hate that I love his touch...
but it seems I'm holding on
I hate that I love so much...
but I love the wrong one

I know you won't miss me, when I'm gone
You'll laugh, and smile, and carry on
You'll say the same things to someone new
pretending to have found a love that's true
I don't know what's worse than in the knowing
that when winter comes, and it's snowing
you'll cuddle up close - up to another
you'll have found someone new, a different lover
and I'll still be here, pining for you
because I truly thought you were my love, true
I gave it all away, without a glance
only to find, (if only by chance)
I was the fool, I had been duped
master of your craft, cold, alone, aloof

ocean, sky, horizon blurred, seabirds call into infinity
time stands still on the edge of forever
capturing stardust and spinning into oblivion
existence is but fleeting
cast your heart into the great unknown

light touch upon my skin
electric response from deep within
unbidden fantasy stirs, takes flight
unlimited promise in this dark night
so much need, want, craving, to hold
beckons us closer, whispers, 'be bold'
this moment, this time, exists only here
our perfect bubble, our safety sphere

elusive sleep oh how you mock me
letting me drift, that sense of peace
only to ****** dreams back from gently
soothing and calming me down
I wearily  pray for release

bone-weary, fuzzy headed
If only my bed could
provide the respite so close, yet so far
once more, let me go to sleep

Watching you intently, the elegance of a sigh fleeting past your face
as thoughts are forming and reforming, cumulus clouds of your soul
before you ever utter a word

I wish to be the fertile ground that receives you

his words, so beautiful, she thought just for her
too late to stop her heart from responding
then that glimpse, like seeing a phantom in a plate-glass mirror
of another, alongside him, where she should be standing
heart stops, blood runs cold, she knows she should trust
yes trust can be good, if it's not based on lust
all confusion, signs are there, written on the wall
slowly into the dark abyss she will fall
crying out in that darkness, she prays he will hear
yet he doesn't, for he's whispering in someone elses ear
she has no claim, no right that is real
He is the only true love she will ever feel

Images swirling changing hues
memories fresh, me and you
kisses, looks, touches breathless
deeper meaning, crossing thresholds
mental snapshots changing focus
always brings me back to us
life stands still all around
while we tumble in a kaleidoscope

we fight for expression
thinking
if we fill in the spaces
all will be clear

with you
I am finding
that you understand
so

.......

water is my element, in all ways and forms
kissing the sweat from your chest salty and warm
laughingly running with you through the misty rain
wiping the tears from my eyes, missing you again
longing to swim beside you in the vast ocean blue
silky slippery sensual water, caressing me and you

It's good to be alive
  no matter worries, struggles, surviving
    breathe in, blood pumping
You are loved by someone

It's good to be aware
  inter-connected, a ripple in the pond
    stream of consciousness
You have value in this world

It's good to be alive

moments apart are an eternity
    hours together are a blur
        wrap space and time fabric
            around us forevermore

When love becomes existential
boundaries no longer apply
spirit breaks free from earthly ties
emotions are free to fly

When heart belongs to you alone
yet captured by another
when souls transcend, lover to lover
rejoice, the universe is one

I want to make love with you
wildly, savagely, viciously
insatiable need crowds out all thought
except for how you feel to me
it's more than lustful carnal craving
raw passions threaten to explode
we're one, together in that moment
senses burning, overload
hearts pounding, muscles shaking
salty sweat, bodies aching
driven into breathless frenzy
release, that moment stopped in time
once more, to feel that you are mine