We reach a time in our lives
Shuffling along our own dusty highways
In the warmth of a whisky stained dusk
Watching the honeyed heat of our future seep along the horizon
Into bruised sky of overburdened past
We each meet the same crossroad of decision
The two sides of our soul extending welcoming arms
As we stand, a prize in the feud between mind and heart
Practicality and passion
Security and sensuality

Who am I to choose which gravelled path to follow
Whether to take the wrinkled hand of prudence
And crunch the stones of wisdom and logic with each familiar step
Does my future lay ahead
At that point where the sun kneels to kiss the ground
And throws its glowing arms across the earth in a blanket of safety
Not in passion, but affection
In the comfort of routine
The reliability and purity of what is, and what has always been

Or does it sit within the flicker of a fiery heart
In the sigh of breath that creeps along with the breeze
That trickles down my spine
And dares me to turn my head, to look down roads of impenetrable darkness
To embrace the possibility of the unknown
And the leaping tongues of flame that might lie where those paths end
To be engulfed, and to know myself within that destruction.
Is it the voice that whispers inside my veins
"should there be more than this?"

I stay static
Leaderless
A spectator to the conflict of the soul
Stuck fast in a deadlock of inertia and indecision
Awaiting that moment
When the last glimmer of sun has bled through the cracked earth
And I open my blurred eyes to icy silence, shapeless and pure in its clarity
To see, without obstruction
That the decision is clear.
My future transparent.
That there was only ever one road I could take.

I see the sunlight dappled on the hill,
A balmy afternoon in the late Spring,
I hear the sweet beautiful birdsong still;
It's a time when all the birds sweetly sing!
And the meadows of flowers sweetly blow,
They perfume the air with fragrance so sweet,
Sometimes at evening when I walk slow;
I stop to see those flowers at my feet.
I stop and stoop to smell their dear sweetness,
For they are filled with everlasting grace,
For sometimes they will my fair cheeks caress;
And brush their petals up against my face.
I admire they're so very sweet beauty,
They are a very fond treasure to see!

*~Marian~

If I sit on my roof
and block out the light from my house,
I can forget that I exist.
I can swim among the constellations
and lose myself in the bittersweet triviality
of our existence.
I can break free from the intoxication
of my life wasted on autopilot.
I can pretend that I am merely thoughts,
free of the weight of a life
and of society
and of reality.
I can question things
and depersonalize
and forget this anchor of a body
and all its bitter consequences.
But,
for now,
all I can do
is lay beneath the stars
and forget.

Gentle falls the rain
A drizzle on senses
Cool drops on a warm eve
A symphony of water and trees
Mystic sounds - of the earth and the sky
Soothing the mind
Quietening the heat of a day of unrest
Brightening the hibiscus to a deeper crimson
Glowing with beads of water that cling
Unwilling to let go
As if they know
Some secrets of the green

And I - intoxicated
With the heady scent of a soaked earth
And the fragrance of motiya
Mellow basil that glistens wet
Like the parched, brown earth
That eagerly awaits the gift of clouds -
Like a lover
In the moist union of the elements
- Soak each drop with joy

The stars were in her eyes
But behind them
Was something far deeper
An infinite black
Sparsely populated
By ageless phenomenon

I witnessed love and hate
Fear and loss
Happiness, joy
And a plethora of emotions
That I could not describe

I saw in her what it truely means
To be a flawed human being
And I could not help
But love her

I believe in love at first sight
and not giving up on that fight
I believe in fairy tales
and true love that prevails
I believe in romance
and taking her hand for the slow dance
I believe in fate
and good things come to those that wait
I believe in simple pleasures
and also making grand gestures
I believe in the ultimate sacrifice
and not needing to think about it twice
I believe in dreams
and clouds bursting at the seams
I believe what you do gets done in return
and that some people will never learn
I believe real beauty comes from within
and never judging because we all have sin
I believe in God above
and the fact that God is love
I believe in miracles
and sticking to your principles
I believe in honesty
trust, virtue and integrity
I believe in innocence
and old fashioned sentiments
but most of all I believe in you
and everything that you do
so to you my heart I am sending
as I believe in happy endings.

I am not sure if it is
Fools who attract other fools
Or dresses that are a bit too tight
Soft dainty fabric presses against sunkissed summer skin
almost to reveal the soul
Hoping anyone will see
Like old men who stop to stare at bright garden daisies that are
Dying in the mists of milk cloudy grey