Listen close, dear, lean in close.
Learn the song of the crackling fire.
Your eyelids are heavy;
Let them fall.
Breathe.
Slip away into the sweetest dreams
One could ever dream.
You can let go of my hand if you want to;
I'll still be here in the morning.
Lean your head on me, darling,
And allow your mind to travel
To all those places we wish to visit
Someday.
I'll lie here and do the same.
I'll close my eyes and
If we're lucky,
We'll see eachother soon.

The embers blushed before the caressing eyes
of my new lover reaching out to snuggle against
the flickering light of welcoming warmth
naked and close
the room smelt of subtle wood chips and ash
roasted coffee beans and aftershave lotion
sexuality.

She was radiant in her skin tone
so exposed to accentuated curves
carving the fireside flame
into a furnace of wantonness. Uninhibited.

The snow outside cocooned the cabin
into a nest of togetherness.

I found here basking on a bar stool
eyes cast deep in thought on a gin and tonic
contemplation of dejection.

" He found another woman"
" Oh yeah, I just found my own woman!"
We giggled into the glass.
"Take me home to the mountains
of your mind and share with me your
meteoric rise to a metaphoric magical kingdom
where poets live and dream!'
" I have a furnace waiting for you"
" Lets go !"
Very short introduction to ecstasy.

Two days later
I dropped her off mid-city
near a replica of the Statue of Liberty
in a shopping window full of
picture postcards.

I had enough stored in the memory bank
to write a whole new dash of fireplace poems.

The sun may not always shine in the sky,
but it will always rise,
and its bound to set again.
It is not the end,
you will wake again tomorrow,

Sometimes people say things they don't mean,
but they don't love you any less because of this,
they're only temporary feelings,
in the morning it will be all right.

Sleep is only the enemy if it's permanent,
put down the pills,
throw away the blades,
and if you have to,
even throw up the *****,
these are things that will harm you in life,
and when you lay down at night,
don't wish for that to be the last time,
you lay with open eyes.

The mere memory of that feeling will haunt you.
You mustn't let it, you're meant to live,
you're alive; stay that way.
No matter hard things get,
there is no such thing as a sad ending,
only a bumpy road, to a new beginning,
and that should be all the reason in the world,
not to end your life tonight.

It's propped against the wall,
anxiously awaiting to be played
sometimes it takes week
but often just a day

When she takes it in her hands
and begins to tune it up
it wakes up from its sleep
feeling the comfort of her touch

As she starts to strum along
the flowing melody is found
her voice begins to rise
my heart smiles at the sound

Eavesdropping just to hear her
because she doesn't understand
how I'm overwhelmed with joy
and that I'm her biggest fan

It's not the way she plays
or how beautiful she sings
it's the humbleness she shows
and the serenity it brings

To have that kind of passion
without needing to be praised
my daughter's gift sent from above
gratefully received in many ways

Sometimes
I look at couples

with their perfect families

               holding tight to a
kaleidoscope
          of joy

and I wonder
why everything I see

is so black and white

        and I wish
someone could show me
a glimpse
                  of color that doesn't fade

I'll sing of all the ways I miss you
and how this sorrow came to be
the verses, lies I should have whispered
the chorus, truths in harmony.

The melody will break the silence
and call your broken heart to me
to be repaired by love unyielding
to broken hymns in minor key.

saw a diamond
In the sky.
There to sparkle
Way up high.
I pulled it down
Into my heart,
Perhaps some wisdom
To impart.

© 2009 WW. Salley