I often wonder looking at a friend
If on the inside they are just like me
If when they laugh the same emotions pass
If when they lie the shame seems not to last

I wonder at the men below my seat
And ponder if they see me as a man
Or if - as we sedately stroll the lanes
They see some part of "bus" and no human

I wonder if, when looking at a tree,
Another's green is really pink to me
And if that's really so, we could in fact
All like the same hue, but name it different.

I often wonder looking at a man,
If his worries and his cares will come to me
For I am but a child of little years
Full of my own disparate hopes and fears

What pain this is, I think I know,
It stoops to pass the threshold low,
And stops to give it's rain-slicked head a shake,
As if to light his eyes and mind awake.

And settling in beside the fire,
He turns a spell to stoke my ire,
While I, my strong foundations rooted
Am powerless - my fire muted.

And like old friends - sifts through all my things,
Only to take those which most pleasure brings,
Then stops perchance to hold my love aloft,
Then gone and trampled underfoot - a cough.

The angels of my better nature cower,
Below bed-springs and last summer's lost flowers,
Patience and good nature are most still,
Until grief and heartache both have had their fill.

Woman walking by,
What name do they call thee?
Long brown hair that flashes down,
Full red lips not made to frown,
A lip ring, meant to tease.

You smile at me, and then say "Hi."
I smile back a bit.
And you walk on,
With long, lean strides,
Not knowing what I've writ.

Lambent planet burning bright
In star-pocked shadows of the night
Gigantic storms doth wheel around
Tumescent whorls forever bound

Oh mighty planet Jupiter
(For 'tis how I look on thee)
Thy reddish eye is looking out
On all eternity