to turn a phrase sweetly, oh, to be clever
to wrought a delicate phrase
all the while, in hopes of catching
your eye
to have you longingly gaze
in wonder
Anything, to make your love mine

it was a magical moment
cottonwood falling like snow
sunlight catching the edges
adding halo's glow
gentle floating angel feathers
drifting about from above
we sat enraptured, quiet
basking in simple pure love

moments come to us like that
blink an eye, then they're gone
yet lasting forever, eternity
forever that moment lives on
all of time, of human existence
condenses into that single space
treasure the gift we've been given
experience a moment of grace

magnetic forces pull two hearts
time, distance matters not
lustful phantoms torn apart
****** desires fill every thought

in the deepest darkest part of night
my ache for you overwhelms
no use to struggle, nor to fight
give in to fantasy's ebony realms

you, of my soul ~ you, of my heart
inside my being forevermore
sweet sultry need, I will not part
seared into me, loves lyrical score

left with haunting memories
disparate emotions left incomplete
no reasons why you pulled away
alone I stand, alone I stay
you've shut me out, shot me down
silence has a lonely sound
tis pain I feel, day in, day out
too numb to cry, to rage, to shout
time becomes my enemy
left all alone with memories

she asked me, 'what do you get from him?'
I said I didn't know
I think what keeps me going back
the truth that I don't show
is feeling that for the first time
I'm really not alone

living for ephemeral touches
most of the time apart
wrenching little pieces off
the fabric of our hearts
in lieu of the whole garment

so back I go, again and again
wondering why it had to be him
knowing we'll never have what we want
a life out of reach, seeming to taunt
powerless against his allure

your absence is distinct
tasting of sorrow, opportunities lost
tinged with the slightest shade of sadness
a note left hanging in the air

focusing on the here and now
accentuates the lines drawn
between your existence and mine
stark, but made of charcol to be smudged

I love you, that pure crystalline tone
offered up from beyond perception
all the senses brought together
in harmony of hope

He said, 'I love you and want to marry you'
I heard, 'He loves me and wants to marry me'
He meant, 'You're fun to be around and daydream with'
I meant, 'I love you and want to marry you'

Somewhere in emotional disconnect
causing my heart to palpitate
my soul's deep desires they do affect
forever knowing, I'm second rate

Parenthesis, one, Parenthesis
Oh how my heart does soar
The simple notice telling me
I'm in your thoughts once more
Words, black and white, on screen
Transfer into my soul
Interpreting your meaning
Not wanting to let go

Parenthesis, two, Parenthesis
What riches! more from you
I'm greedy in my desire
to learn your wishes true
To keep this brief connection
no matter how tenuous
We bleed onto these crystal screens
Sharing all inside of us

Alas, no more Parenthesis
Blinking cursor is all I see
Hoping, praying tomorrow will bring
Continuation of You and Me

coccoon of silence, absence of sound
comfortable as softest cotton
alone with myself, I am found
content with all my thoughts
cacophony of the outside world
is stilled behind my private walls

I want, I need to let you in
caution always prevails

we follow the curves of our bodies
with distracted fascination
secretly satisfied by our gifts
outwardly disdaining as if
being confident were a sin

I caught that look in your eye
when I casually undressed
your surreptitiously satisfied smile
at the overall swell of my breast
and I was pleased with myself

a dance as old as the ages begins
again and again, seemingly anew
discovering the lines of each other privately
delighted another shares in our view
reaffirming the laws of nature

into my life you boldly came - all full of confidence
full of swagger, full of life, full of all those things
with you, life's anew, with you I can dance - (and I do)
so my words bubble up from a hidden well-spring
not realizing
that all I needed was you

it's time to find my old friend
(my *******)
it doesn't care about making amends
(my *******)
no false hopes or promises
it does what it says (and advertises)
(my *******)
so back to the tried and true
(my *******)
in hopes I'll forget about you ...
... there's no guarantees

never imagined
   the stirring of fluttered heartbeats inside my soul
   set alight when your voice I hear
each and every time

never imagined
   unbearable pain of just the thought
   of you absent from this world
yet it burns white hot and true

never imagined
   provocative teasing thoughts
   of what could be, but won't be
and we both know it's real

never imagined
   that destiny would arrive
   disguised in your smile and your laughter
seared into my being forever

this upside-down life, so disconcerting
a world of shadows, passions, yearning
time tempo slows as sun takes flight
into yawning shades of the night

when darkness falls, and shadows grow
a world only few would know
away from warmth and heat of day
now others sleep, in stillness lay

my time to wake and start anew
indigo shades, lavendar hues
adorn the palette I work from
memories of you to keep me strong

in time, this too shall come to pass
existence as this isn't meant to last
love draws me back from dark abyss
to feel your love, to taste your kiss

whispers ricochet like shouts in stillness of night
carrying deep and soulful laments
only in darkness do we let our pain see light
in the confusion of trying to make sense
ever searching, speaking without making a sound
stillness of the night stands silent witness
private sentinel to emotions that abound
cover of shadows, to our weaknesses we confess

through the thin veneer emotionally shellacked
lies appear, distrust with doubt, faith begins to crack
illusions formed in moments desperate for your truth
fall along the wayside like the years of misspent youth
hope no more for a time in minds eye I am seeing
put away the dreams I hide inside my very being
the last vestiges of trust I had have crumbled into dust
oh cold hard life, you win again, face you, yes, I must

eyes draw me in, green with grey
then to the mouth, lips where I stay
hungry, soft, then firm, then yield
safe inside those arms, a shield
for the heart, his heart, beats with mine
his soul, his passion, his strength does shine

so much more to this man, flesh and bone
within his embrace, truly I'm home

Normal conventions
bring to mind
a group of vanilla people milling about
in a plain boring room
Normal conventions
are so outside
the life between me and you
and feeling alive

Normal conventions
were something we chose
to walk away from
When we met each other
determined to taste and listen and dance
in a party of our own design
shattering conventional thought
emotions, raw, colorful, Alive

we isolate by choice yet feel
the world has abandoned us
breaking down our self-imposed wall
with fingertips of flesh
overwhelms
until
a single voice, full of love
shatters the illusion

I'm obsessed~ I admit it, I don't think it's healthy
you're not pretty, you're not famous, hell you're not even wealthy
yet day after day my mind wanders to you
above all else, it's all I can do
Why?? oh why? can't I focus elsewhere?
bills, or taxes, or the color of my hair?
still there it is,  every day, my thoughts just of you
Heaven help me, it's love.  Nothing else I can do.

there is no way to emphasize
no way to look into your eyes
to stress, to curse, to pound the table
to show you that if I were able
YOU would be the ONLY one
I came home to when day was done
choices made so long ago
reflect me not, no they don't show
I gave up hope and settled down
I've always taken the long way 'round
You're in my life, You're in my heart
No way to make a brand-new start
others may judge, they may say it's odd
but I love YOU true, so help me God

a single tear rolls down my cheek
I see your life in focus
a world I thought that I'd fit in
now knowing that it's hopeless

surrounded by a quiet grace
there's love, and peace, and laughter
I have no business in this place
no happy ever after

I stand outside your happy hearth
ashamed for my mortal sin
forever doomed to be the one
on the outside, looking in

It's nice paper, as far as paper goes
flat on the wall, showing signs of
Age, reflected wisdom, life passing
Silent witness to hopes, struggles, dreams, despair
Paper on the wall isn't real
Life, merely a shadow of potential
difference being how you've really lived
contradicting expectations
and the paper on the wall, framed

passions that bind us weaving unspoken thoughts
borne from differences of lives and loves and desires
I with my messy emotions haphazardly caught
you with your simmering slow-burning fire
together we 'fit' in mysterious ways
Merlin himself knows nothing of this chemistry
not obvious to even ourselves on some days
what we are, what we have is beyond fantasy

crafted painstakingly from tears and laughter
placing adjectives like pieces of a mosaic
staying detached from the message until after
finality of images make an impact
with a flash of recognition

of all the words I string together
fragile feelings next to hard thoughts
as a strand of pearls, linked by knots
wanting the beauty and the lustre
to rub off on you

I will say "I love you" until my last breath
be it a whimper or a shout
but to really know what's in my soul
to know what I'm about
just read, read my poems

sunlight dapples the leaves, the grass
gentle breezes swaying branches, leaving drowsy content
when all is said and all is done
secret passions will linger and love will live on
in silent witness, natures course is set
what transpired between two treasured hearts
destined forever to strain against hope
no mortal witness shall ever dissent
unknown to others their strength and their bond
this love is sent skyward in silent prayer
yet no deeper union will ever be known
eternally bound with the world unaware

take away this pain!
hold me in your arms again
you're my everything

inky blackness swallows me whole
guttural screaming devours my soul
pain consuming, wave after wave
wanting nothing but the love you gave
empty vastness yawns in wait
you closed the door, locked the gate
laid my heart bare, you glanced, you saw
you left me bleeding, alone, raw

looking for you in shadows and shade
in between the distance
hoping the love we made
with its breathless insistence
wasn't a fad for you
looming large overhead, worry
no response becomes a response
now you're always in a hurry
pulling back, hiding, wants
silence out of the blue

where did you go?

When is a secret not a secret?
gnawing away, silent like termites that
disintegrate the structure that holds it within
taking on a life of its own until
foundations turn to sawdust
crumbling, all is exposed
secret no more

I dare not look too closely inside
where lurking, darkest feelings hide
behind the shards of glass pretending to be mirrors
they threaten to sever all my emotions
Instead I drift with aimless thoughts
kept neat and tidy, as in a box
******* with strings crafted by the years
of endless sorrow
never to see the light of day
where my deepest yearnings lie
too fragile for to give away
and risk losing myself forever

space between words and expectations full
crowded with mental pebbles worn smooth
inscribed by love, worry, pain, lust, undeniable
endless unspoken messages to choose
even when eyes meet, slight nods of understanding
do we wonder if that space has been filled
or does it lie in wait, still

standing in a room of mirrors
but all the reflections are of you
as I whirl and twirl, frantically
wondering what happened to me
there, you're laughing (and pointing)
now, your image haunts visibly
the only way out of this room
illusions shatter, at my feet

What a wondrous feeling, heat seeking missiles
colliding with no air between
our own emotional catalysis
legs entwined, breathing shallow, no return
Higher and higher we rise
Passion our fuel, desire in each others' eyes
Melded, we become as one
only known in that moment
as rays of dying embers burn on

The joy I feel when I'm with you permeates into my very marrow
I resonate with happiness, forgetting all my sorrow
Catch me, for I've fallen once again into your beautiful eyes
not really wanting to be rescued ..........

How can this love exist? yet it does, it lives, and thrives
true wonderment, true mystery, affecting both our lives
forever more we are one being, one soul, one heartbeat true
I finally felt that I am 'home', the day that I met you

In this life love crept inside
unsuspecting souls thought love had died
It hadn't, slumbering, waiting still to
find us match us joyous will
full of spirit, body, mind never to leave
nor stay behind for in this life
we now know love - eternal gift
from Heaven above

I find I need this place,
this in-between world of words
to leave of myself a trace
to feel that I've been heard
a safety net of whispers
of yearnings so dear to my soul
too fragile these delicate feelings
so in this world they fall
dancing on winds of heartbreak
imaginary and real
I find I need this place
A place where I can feel

Ohhh my God, the Highs, the Lows
this love is not what everyone knows
existing only in books, on film
A fantasy, but wait, it's real
A comedy?  A tragedy?  What is this thing
the tug and pull of you and me?
We die a thousand deaths apart
Together, we become one heart
we met, we love, emotions true
we greet each day, blind faith renewed
no turning back, and time, it slows
This thing called love, the Highs, the Lows

I know you
because
like you, I was taught how to hide
how to keep all my hurt inside
how not to show fear when anger is near
I know you
and you know me too

I wait for your words
when I'm not sure what it is I want to hear
then when silence falls like twilight
I fill in the void with my imagination
so desperate to have things make sense
so I wait for your words
instead of saying my own

It's 5 am, frogs are doing froggy things
Listening to you breathe lulling me into dreams
drinking leftover champagne
with raspberries
contemplating the walk of shame

for I have none, but I should
I'd stay here if I could
I'd bring you life and love and laughter
all the things you've needed after
she torched your heart

Dawn is breaking in more ways than one
deep down I knew I shouldn't have come
too close to see the life you live
touch on the love that you can give
now it's my heart that's breaking

never-ending thoughts, that smile, your lips, those eyes
captured in moments whispered with my sighs
it seems too cruel to find this love, crave each as we do
yet barriers stand in the way, this we know is true
what fate to be our destiny?  what future will we share?
you spoke it best when truth you wrote: you're fire, I am air
together we've created flame, this love will take us higher
no mortal bonds will keep us from our consummate desires

we were young, and wild, and free
all the cliches of what we were supposed to be
laughing at the world, clutching our beer
standing too close to the train, screaming, nobody hears

I wonder where you are today
what part of you remembers
our times together, our youth, our lives
so vulnerable, so tender

you bring some comfort, you don't even know
singing on stage at some random show
hearing the crowds' adoration, applause
not knowing then there was never a cause

Never a reason to be so alone
singing into that microphone
lights shining bright, darkness beyond
now it's gone silent, infinity yawns

We fade into obscurity

when I write to you to tell you
of my deepest emotions
you respond with 'calm down'
as if you picture me in histrionics
wailing and pulling out my hair
which mystifies me
for I was calm all along

She realized with a start
The shift in his heart
wondering sadly, why?
Why did the poetry die?
He wooed with flair
emotions he did share
Now the silence gapes
and her heart, it aches
Was it the thrill of the chase?
no longer a trophy to case?
All she knows is, there's silence
and emotions, they seem 'less'
Now she prays to the sky
Why did the poetry die?

ohhh the things I want to do with you
the thoughts that cross my mind
perhaps it would shock, ideas so blue
temptations await for us to find
I flirt with ideas, weighed against
reality of my bodies desire
nerves all exposed, left in suspence
just waiting for you to take me higher

Why do my feelings run so deep?
Where is the strength that others have
if only my desires I could keep
protected with a magical salve
impermeable to futile hope
a barrier from deepest wishes
maybe then perhaps, I could cope
with emotions completely useless

words
brought us together
strung carefully just so
it was the way I wrote that ad
and the way you responded
words seemed to simply flow

words
are what I look for now
but the timbre and the tone has changed
no longer reassuring to me
the silences grow longer
words are jumbled, I silently chant your name

words
feeling empty, hollow, like a box
left after the present has been opened
longing and pain are acute, stabbing
reading the spaces left gaping between
words so graphic, dashing all hope

All we have are words

puff of breath when you gently place your lips
next to my ear
and exhale
that sends electricity straight
into my being

jolt of lightening
when eyes meet, arcing intensity
white hot and blue
without saying a word
just smile

not always ******, more about
connecting, thrilling
recognition of
same spirit, same passion
living in the purest form

inspiring

in the quiet moments after
dust has settled
passions have been felt
looks have been exchanged ...... creeps in the longing

emotions acute take their own pound of flesh
appetites are lost
breathing is shallow
colors are muted ...... muffled are the heartbeats

reunions become life-affirming events
spirits are higher
laughter is joyous
love is intense

Solution is obvious:  you.