"shop closed"
the sign never sat
perfectly on any hook
or nook
or cranny
you are an echo bounced
perfectly in every hook
and nook
and crook

"considered sold once broken"
consider it done
once dealt with the devil
his ornamental fairies
consider them whole before
they were bought

"trespassers will be prosecuted"
bedsheets spun out of cobwebs
sandcastles spun in of air
floorboards swallow you in
you dreamt of
anchoring yourself
to the ground

"wine house"
lustre of turbulent pirouttes
trapped within the walls
of wine glasses and
wine-stained dresses
in cadavers' masquerade

"emergency only"
they pushed you in the operating theatre
and cleaned their hands with soap
opera
amputate these phantom limbs
pain has been the only anaesthesia

"in loving memory of"
he is the protagonist
he is the antagonist
and all stories end*
(with)              
                     the former

I slid along the Avenue until I reached your place
I must admit I'd had a few and longed for your embrace
The steps were barely salted, and I cursed them as I fell
and peppered my possessions on the sidewalk iced from hell.

Face down upon the Avenue I breathed the cold of night
and realized to my surprise my hip had twisted right
And not a soul was present there to raise me from my dread
no not a one to hear my cries or anything I said.

And never I've felt so foolish, though a fool I've been before
and every time I've done me wrong I'm laying on the floor
with roots in Jersey City, bought my boots right here on sale
Bayonne to blame, I'll take the shame if just one cab I hale.

I laid upon the Avenue, each minute like an hour
and I prayed that God was having you come down from your high tower.
to find me there, an old time square without a New Year's ball
much better to found alive than not be found at all.

Well it's been my vain conception that I'm good in any storm
I'm graceful, no deception, all my landings, perfect form
pride reserved an answer for the blasted state I'm in
only New Years Eve will bring out all the things I've never been.

Well it must have been near midnight, turned my head to hear the riff
distant music on the river and my mind began to drift
when something kicked my ankle like the tip of someone's shoe
could it be the boot of heaven checking if my soul was due?

I'd landed near a tire, whose tread was laced with snow
which buried in the mire, had nowhere else to go
and glimpsing my reflection in the hub which shined like new
I witnessed my deliverance, 'twas the light of God, it's true!

From somewhere deep within the smoky bellows of my ire
a verse from someone else's song which rose up like a choir
"Is it you my sweet beloved, come to raise me from my plight?...
for I've fallen in my drunken state this cold dark News Years Night!"

"And what have we beheld here, it's a woman in the snow
her hip looks out of socket though her face is all aglow"
They rushed me to the hospital and just in time for tea
which warmed the cockles of my heart and thawed my love for thee.

Never I've felt so foolish, though a fool I've been before
and every time I've done me wrong I'm laying on the floor
if maybe someone else's song will save them from their grave
I'll take the shame on New Years Eve if just one soul I save!

All these years I've been a sinner, running circles, chasing youth,
with my hair as gray as winter I've come face to face with truth
Lying flat out on the sidewalk on that News Years Eve from hell
I learned to trust correction and I hope you're doing well.

Now I'm singing Someone Else's song, for me it ain't that true
I don't get drunk on New Years Eye and rarely think of you
Well If one day you should meet me on the street where you might live,
just be sure to wave and greet me if you've got the time to give.

And never you'll feel so foolish, though you've been a fool before
and every time you've done you wrong you're lying on the floor
if maybe Someone Else's song will save you from your grave      
then take the shame on New Years Eve, if just your soul you save!

Love lets go
of whatever it must
in order to remain loving.

Caught a glimmer of joy in his eyes, icy cold
as I left on that bus, he was smiling,
though the memory's quite old and the shimmer has dulled,
it's a full-color framed, out of filing.

Sepia pictures more often I hold
old negatives covered in grime
it's a shame, though foretold, that we're all growing old
with limited space and less time.

Considering self, I'm content on that shelf,
with my picture fresh smile set in stone
just like Walter Mitty, whose lost in a city
of thought, I am mostly alone.

Despite all the charm which my countenance exudes,
these tattered old blinds can't conceal
soft light filters truth from my cheap platitudes
and the good from the dark stuff I feel.

Over there in the closet, a huge bank deposit
I'm saving for something worth while
been trusting the Lord. yet can never afford
that 'single and lovin it' smile.

The clock on wall tells me just where I stand
and it's chime brings the heartache of doom
as the seconds tick by, I can't help but cry
all alone in my heart's old dark room.

Watching my step, I tread deep within
without the desire to save face
I gaze at a skin, done by guilt of that sin
in the light of God's love and sweet grace.

Though my heart is your home I've n'er let You roam
through these passages marked 'Do Not Enter'
they lead to the room where the waft meets the loom
forming poems wherein I am the center.

The fabric you see in that heap seems to weep
burdened down with my aches and my pains
I've asked that you'd heal all this stuff while I sleep
but I wake and the damage remains

Your Spirit reminds me, at home in my heart
how you've taken my sin to the grave
it's your pleasure to clean up, yet I must forgive
and let go of the garbage I save.

Afraid now to look any further for fear
we'll discover the worst yet to come
You tell me to follow, for You hold me dear
since we're no longer two now but one.

Beginning to see how I'd lost all my hope
when I left on that bus in the rain
I forgive him for not being able to cope
without love and the will to remain.

You Lord, my comfort have been here within
you know how my heart is in shambles
You've rolled back the stone, I'm no longer my own
and you smile though my poetry rambles.

So welcome, my friend, yes it's been quite a while
since we've bathed in the sun and run free
got a mind for preserving your beautiful smile
in my state of the heart gallery!

The last he spoke he said it all
he said your back was to the wall.
and far from being her best friend
a man who'd rather see it end

You just can't argue
with his truth
it's just his way, for in his youth
He dreamed of places
make-pretend
big open spaces
where he'd spend
In long embraces
hours on end
through fields chasing closest friend.
but that's not how
it's gonna go
he won't reaping what you sow.

Born at night
but not last night
I see the problem with his plight
He wants to make
the pieces fit
complete the scene his mind has writ
but forcing love
to take it's place
to glue the pieces down, a waste
just take a picture
make it last
'cause that one will be fading fast
Let her go
and shut the door
Sow true love and reap far more.

the last we spoke
I said it all
my tendency to blame the fall
and all the angst
scorned love could spare
on fires of Hell, which can't compare
how well I argue
with the truth
it's been that way since troubled youth

I dreamed of forests
not pretend
of wooded hollows with my friend
where trees grew tall
but wind could bend
where fires could rage but love would send
the rain which hastens
souls to mend
that's not our story, so, The End.

Wanting for something worth having and waiting around
having seems better but wanting is all that I've found.

I stood on the ledge of my sleepy blue sorrow
back from the edge, guess I'll see you tomorrow
can't lie, not the first time I'm thinking of you
but the night bugs are out, life's distractions will do

I looked to the west as the day slowly faydeedid
turned up the volume of cricket and katydid
rhythm rubs life in the darkness outside
steer clear of the blue light or get yourself fried

With the zapper you took out the skeeters and flies
while spiders and ants faced the raider's demise
yellow jackets and wasps, you chased from their hives,
but these night bugs are here for the rest of our lives
bittersweet bugs for the rest of our lives

Back in the house now, I roll down the screen
protecting myself from the lurking unseen
from the critters, which drawn by the lure of the light
make feast in their famine on food, flesh and fright

we handle the things that intrude in our spaces
the bugs in the dark and the unwanted faces
we roll down the screens and we listen to voices
those sweet summer sounds, and this night bug rejoices

With the zapper you took out the skeeters and flies
while spiders and ants faced the raider's demise
yellow jackets and wasps, you chased from their hives,
but these night bugs are here for the rest of our lives

too many months have passed without hearing
the music which blends with the night bugs I'm fearing
I nearly lost hope for those sounds in my life
but these night bugs revive good ol' summertime strife
bittersweet bugs, for the rest of my life

Stood on the ledge of my sleepy blue sorrow
back from the edge, guess I'll see you tomorrow