I wonder if he knew I was there.
My father, that is.
We were not very close at that time.
Typical things
Hair too long
Wasting energy on foolish things
And on foolish friends.
He worked too hard for nothing I wanted
And I worked too hard at nothing.
Words grew sparse with increasing distance.
When the time came that I was not quite a man
And he dwindling away.
I would go to the hospital on my lunch break,
Creep into his room.
At first he put on the brave face
"Gonna fight this bear"
But the bear was tireless and metastasized.
Often when I arrived, ***** and sweat stained
He would be asleep
And so I would sit nearby
And if he woke we would talk.
I would encourage him to eat
And he'd say "I'll try".
But often my time would pass
His eyes still closed.
And I would creep back out.
Decades later, I wonder
Did he know how many hours I spent
Wordless and waiting.
Unaware of what I needed to say
And believing there was nothing worth hearing.

These days each night I
See lights dancing with the wind -
Nice firefly displays.

she pushes
my buttons
like a puppet
on a string
she plays me
in shadows and in gray
her hands
so easy
I don't see it coming
but I dance
all the same
a trick lucky clown
when she kisses me
that I stutter
and fall
the game
playing me
but i play on
she plays on
until I tell her
I love her
she plays me
in shadows and in gray
Lays on

Sometimes I wish to
To be like my good friend, wind
Unpredictable.

every day presents
a new gift

the arid breeze,
fields of wheat when I see
her glow, her gaze.

Just one wish I have-
To have her gentle heart as
My home forever.

Inside I am hurting
though I am supposed to stay strong
Need to move past
all this romance gone wrong
I felt my heart breaking
I held on to my pain,
loyal to the end,
despite my disdain.
Still with reckless fashion
and burning desire,
I abandoned those dreams,
extinguished that fire.
I would love forever if given the chance.
But I'm weary now, too tired to dance.

My eyes are there.
Please see me as you wish.
It will not hurt.

Rhyme or not, life is
A beautiful verse written
In vivid colors.

Like a hummingbird
Heartbeat races at the thought
of nectar kisses

suddenly,
forever
ain't that long

there are no heroes,
no demons, no gods,
--no you, no me, no us

seeing his children
now all grown up, he wonders:
where did the time go?

a glimmer of hope
boys in bars with sculptured hair
girls trip on their heels

where, where are the men?
smear faced desperates lament.
not in the club scene.

and these boys care not
a woman could scar ego
so they pursue girls

I want peace and clarity.

Is that not a desire?

What is acceptable?

the nun
loves Jesus
but heard the devil was a real looker

her playful scowl ruined
her every effort to chide

They're a funny thing
You choose things, a word - maybe even a person -
Who you tell yourself really matter
Then you just forget
And maybe what you think matters really just doesn't

Life's not a problem
to be solved, but a gift to
be experienced.

Memories of Love,
forgotten not, linger still.
Melancholy Smile

Can you just stahp?
Can you tell the truth

  . . . to me?
  . . . at least today?
  . . . maybe tomorrow?

Truth hurts, truth soothes.
Truth is change.

verily I say
there is no truer moment
than the one right now

Pride runs deep
in the response to critique
believing truth is yours to speak
instead of accepting the thought is complete

Pride creates vanity
when we portray personal perception of sanity
as a means of clarity
to support our desire to shape humanity
ignoring our own profanity
that exists in one's own mind

You reek of pride
hiding behind your glass wall
thinking yourself to know enough
when you know nothing at all

Oh Babylon you sit
on your thrown of ancient stone
will you forever sit there
until Christ has you overthrown?

Leave me alone.

I miss my voice.
I miss speaking clearly with precision.
With words attempting to paint a vision.
Consistent monotonous syllables pouring
from a mouth connected to a brain that
functioned at a quick pace and found
each word a place.
A learned habit.
Diligently sought.
Quickly forgot.
But I celebrate.
Words will flow freely,
my brain will think purely,
words will be sublime.
With ease I will speak,
with the display of tender
and meek,
reflecting the God I seek,
proof that Christ makes
the strong from the weak.
No worries.
No fears.
Knowing love.
Crying joyful tears.

you can carry them with you
wherever you go
drag them across the earth
but they will only take
where the soil is right.
it can be years of looking
and prodding
before you find the patch
that's right.
but when you do
the roots will take immediately,
and you'll grow again

when I fall asleep
I dream of being with her
morning light wakes me

~awake~

go through the motion
of another empty day
I can't think of her

~alive~

if she were still here
we'd spend each moment for love
our time so well used

Running, almost I
Can see the school from here-
Sweetheart is waiting.

shy hand
played slow blues tuned
to you
skip a beat

up for

hopscotch
butterscotch

deep decades

aching tooth

broke off in saying
i love you

Working in the field
The hot sun beats down on me
I hear the whip crack

peaceful snowflakes
calm the raging campfire

Your insight is a book the asleep can read,
And your wording is a message the angry can receive.
Your innocence brings the influence of a child tugging at your sleeve,
So know, wherever you find yourself, you were brought to lead; born to be all the good that's rare to see.

if i could i would
skillfully navigate through
though it causes pain

i'll get there somehow
by hook or by crook they say
paddle up-river

they say it's about now that i'd hear:
"learn to be a man"

he must still be learning

The biggest *******
Confesses he's an *******
Over and over

I should do something
It's not going to go away
Time lasts forever

I think she is great.
When I see her face I see
the face of kindness

Something we all know-
A simple smile is pure gold
When you are lonely.

surface tension-
a drop of rainwater
caresses a leaf

claims that is the ladies room
but it stinks in there

Sun is moving west;
dark clouds are going east. Then,
the sun disappears.

the weight of friendship,
like a cement feathered bird,
will you show me yours?

Like a work of fiction, this is something that just isn't true.

walking through forest-
i close my eyes and enjoy
birds and wind singing

shallow roots
the slightest breeze
a torrential event

feeling too much makes you weak
men are dogs, I see

confirmation needed
who this is, is hard to know
preciseness please god

My gods are living
my gods breath, guide me softly
then abandon me

her trite words,
forming trite sentences,
trite ideas.
a trite person.