Not ever'body got a big house
not ever'body got an acre
not ever'body got a two story foyer
and a fancy staircase
Not ever'body got a new car
not ever'body need a two car
not ever'body got an S-U-V
don't know 'bout you, but me
we're livin' fancy free

We got our small house
we got our backyard
we got our big sky
so high
stars fly
we got our TV
it was a free-bee
we got our die-hard used car
and we don't drive far

not ever'body got a gold egg
not ever'body got a bootleg
not ever'body got a full keg, two leg or a peg to stand on
not ever'body got a washer
not ever'body got a dryer ....
not anybody gonna read this stuff and feel any higher...

just saying...

"I think we try too hard, he said
we need to laugh much more instead"-
"I think we cry too much, she laughed
we're starved for love until we're fed."

"I think we spend too much he reasoned
need to save for rainy days"-
"I think we leave too much unseasoned
spice it up with mayonnaise!"

"I think we eat too much, he stated
we've got all this fat to shed"
:and I think walking's overrated
lets just ride our bikes instead."

"I think I'm talking to a wall
you cannot hear a word I say"-
"but I've responded to them all
just maybe not in your own way."

I think he thinks too much she pondered
I can't read his mind at all
and every time his eyes have wandered
spikes are sharp before the stall...

"I think I'm needing something more"
and she knows what he's thinking of
"Be my guest, don't let that door
besmirch your tender side, my love."

"I think I'm made for bigger things
than being saddled here with you"-
"but oh be sure those bigger butts
are gonna buck your system too!

She thinks "he has it way too easy,
thinks I want to hear this stuff!"
tells him that she's feeling queasy
"heard it all, enough's enough!"

She thinks it hurts too much to talk
about the things he puts her through
her tendency to shout and balk
has raised the foam up from the brew

and seeing clearer, painful truth
his disregard grew from that day
mistook the *** for love in youth
and clung to that which came her way

Daddy never knew his daughter
never built her up to know
how she was loved above the water
that he drank or his big toe.

It's sad the man that she admired
never knew how she'd be burned.
because the love from Dad required
words and  lessons never learned.

and to the wounding add some salt
the failure of the best to choose her
now she sees it's not her fault
she cannot tell the best from loser.

Mum was quite the same you see
a distance there but never spoken
always mediocrity
discontent, lines blurred and broken.

"I think I'll wait another year
before I set my course to sail"-
"why wait, just throw me off right here
this roller coaster's off it's rail"

to this He says, " You're here beside me
for the long haul as they say"
" I think it's best we keep on riding
tell me later, in the hay."

Lots of pain in barbed sarcasm
each has blocked the other's heart  
words in action killed the passion
boundaries blurred and torn apart.

Respect, protect your precious boundary
that which makes you who we are
love yourself and then each other
shining love and sparkling star.

When the boundary violator
makes you feel less than dirt
tell each other now, not later
how that word or action hurt.

I think we try too hard, he said
we need to laugh much more instead-
I think we cry too much, she laughed
we're starved for love until we're fed.

XO
Relational dysfunction, We are all products of some kind of brokenness which leads to our developing our own dysfunctional patterns. Choosing that which fits into our dysfunctional comfort zones, that which accepts our personal coping mechanisms. This poem illustrates from my own experience brokenness and blurred boundaries. Most important thing to do is forgive others and love yourself . If you can't love yourself , you will never be able to choose the right people to share your life with. http://youtu.be/7a5nmO1P5lo

Minding our own
barely making it rhyme,
it's all coming out
there's dust in the drought
but the rain comes in time.

Nothing held back
I've got nothing to say,
let it roll off my shoulders
puts less your mind
and it's better that way.

And isn't this nice?
you like hot tea on ice
thank you, yes, I can follow directions
so please don't think twice.
And isn't this great?
we can stay out real late
watching millions of sparkling stars
while you're lickin' that plate?

I said nothing at all
it's that horse in the stall
my foot fell asleep but I'm not gonna weep
I can drag it or crawl.

Now the wind's in the trees
and your hand's on my knees
and the warmth of your breath on my neck
puts my tired mind at ease.

All I wanted
      porch...
                    swing...
            rhythm..
    back...
              and...
        forth...
        with you babe
                         All I needed
                          porch
                 swing
        rhythm
back
       and
                  forth
                with you.

Minding our own
barely making it rhyme,
it's all coming out
and there's dust in the drought
but the rain comes in time
Distracted, it's true
idle chatter won't do
Better nothing to say
put the music on play
and be quiet
with you.

He liked to say he had some shrapnel in his head
but I'm afraid that's not the only thing he said...

with his working arm he wheeled his broken body down the hall
pushing buttons of the nurses, you could say the man had gall.

he said, " Hey, you little blond, I don't believe I caught your name,
but I could shoot my AK rifle", then he talked about his aim,

"I'm not kidding, were it fitting, I could take you out right now,
and you'd never see it coming, 'Special Forces'"; I said, "Wow!"

He said " I can tell you stories that would spin your head around,
cause I've seen a lot of action, 'fore the shrapnel took me down".

Then he pointed to the helmet, that sat high upon his head
" I'm an invalid,disordered,yes, but surely not brain dead".

Had I met this man some other way, say walking on the street,
I'd be running for my life, 'cause you know he'd pack some heat.

A better man, though he would say the shell of what he'd been
not to listen to his story, would've truly been a sin.

I believe I caught the glimmer of a hope within his eyes
that I'd ask to hear about it and be shocked beyond surprise.

So I smiled at him and said, "I've got some time to **** here, Guy,
do slay me with your story and in detail, please, don't lie."

"Army, Special Forces, sent to Nam to guide our men,
I knew the lay of jungleland, believed that we could win.

I taught them what I knew to stay alive and get it done
without a leader they'd be dead before the setting of the sun.

And so I led my troops in battle and I kept them all alive
taught them everything they never learned in boot-camp to survive.

and everything went well until one night it went to hell
when on a mission I was ambushed and this story I will tell:

taken prisoner, beat and blindfolded, then forced to walk for miles
they took their turns at night guard, while they tried to sleep a while.

but all along I waited, for I knew the stupid one
would look away, then turn back looking down the barrel of his gun.

and sure enough it happened, that the ****** looked away,
and I was there, right on the trigger, and I took their lives that day.

and I broke out of the darkness and ran south for several days
I had learned the landscape well, but then, my head was in a daze.

When suddenly I heard them, distant voices. English speaking,
and I came upon a hedge in which I hid but did some peeking.

And what I saw, believe me, was the best dream of the day
I burst right through and ran to, waiting arms, the USA!

That was not the last time, I came back to Nam again
caught some shrapnel in my head, you know, and here I am, the end".

I do believe this soldier is just one of countless men
who spend their days in nursing homes confined, without a friend.

for years before and years to come, there will be guys like Guy
who need to share their war stories with folks like you and I.

and when we stop to listen, to appreciate the cost
we honor not the killing, but the living and the lost.

we validate the struggle, and the things they've overcome
encouraged in the battle, 'til the final war is won.

He liked to say he had some shrapnel in his head
but I'm afraid that's not the only thing he said...

Heaven help the citizen
the worthy to be denizen
of Love inspired by Tennyson
awaken from false hope!
and Heaven help her poetry
sincere insensibility
the height of all futility
to party like the Pope!

Heaven help the serious
who grasp that sweet delirious
the simple yet mysterious
is natures way of speaking
and Heaven help our attitude
to dwell in sleepy gratitude
her longitude and latitude?
a treasure for the seeking!

Heaven help her doggedness
the sluggish **** of fogginess
the rhyme afloat in bogginess
which pulls her reader down.
and Heaven help the man again
who treads the Old Shenanigan
to find a wretched mannequin
a fool in love could drown.

Heaven help us everyone
the world has lost it's sense of fun
depending on the wealthy one
to build amusement features
and Heaven help the child within
the haggard *** to see again
to breathe the life which God has won
and offers to all creatures!

It had been told the boy was old and wise before his time
his locks they say were peppered gray though he was only nine
he grew to be a prodigy, read every book he could
but played as hard out in the yard, this was his childhood.

His skin is fair and freckled, with eyes of grayish green
sometimes they are bespeckled but the clearest ones i've seen
he stared me down the sidewalk and I thought that I would melt
but never told him anything about the thing I felt

I met him then, at seventeen and just a budding rose
much less the height and weight he is but that's just how it goes
I got to know this gentle dude who goes without a sock
the King of Conversation, he's the baddest on the block

He made the grade without the aid of study hall Morrone
Lo and behold God broke the mold, he had a funny bone
but rarely let it out, his quiet kind of fun
his friends will vouch he loves the couch, it's where his nappin's done

Well he's somewhat into music, saw the movie, read the book
periodicals take floorspace while his CDs line the nook,
Lisk ain't into artwork, window treatments, floors or walls,
it's Thanksgiving over Christmas, can't be bothered decking halls

The only one I've ever met who can make me laugh and cry
all in the same moment though I really can't say why
but when I was just seventeen, he turned the big "eight oh"
i wished that I could be around to watch that old man grow.

it's my first cold of the season and my last poem of the year
and though I sit here sneezin', there's nothing we should fear
and I know that he will love this, and he may just shed a tear,
so let's toast, a swig of Lisky and God Bless the coming year!

Not entirely crazy though a little bit insane
outside in the daylight, her mind runs as clear as rain.

I took the test they gave me
to find a compatible fellow
Roses are red, Violets are blue
but my heart is screaming yellow.

Bottled up my beeswax
showered off the gloom
drew a breath of sunshine
pouring through her room.

Talking to a stranger
not the average Joe
wait until I meet him
the only way to know.

Yarrow is a color
I heard the Asian mutter
hold the petals 'neath your chin
to see if you like butter.

An over-ripe banana
brown speckled, getting soft
waitin' for his perfect match
the others he has scoffed.

Not easily misguided
I won't buy into hype
Perfect match confided
He's not the risky type.

Yellow is not fade proof
it washes out in time
hang your heart out here to dry
wind blows it off the line.

Whatever is the point here
of how she did you wrong
your history's no matter to me
it's always the same old song

No longer scared, just waiting
been down around the block
tasted and been tested
bid farewell to bio-clock.

Today I am feeling ready
tomorrow I'm bleeding blue
orange you glad I'm yellow
a bright and crazy hue?

I don't need the internet
or men to entertain
just read my lips
and bring some chips
I'll meet you at the train

you are a
very
mysterious one
don't know if I can
ever
figure you out
you hold my thoughts
within the palm of your hand
I melt like chocolate
sweet old M'n Ms

you are a very
mysterious one
I've never
liked your type before
not one to jump
into anyone's arms
still this is something
you've softened up my core.

You say you
can see
inside my shell
that my sweetness
was the very key
You say I've no more
secrets to tell
'cause you've devoured them for me?

Well I'd never say that
you are The One
and I don't need to tell you
you'll always be free
no I won't allow
you  
under my skin
don't come any closer
but hey there again
that's
just me.

You are a
very
mysterious one
my coldness lies
in the palm
of your hands
you don't care
that I am
a mess
you like me
just like we're old friends
tee hee hee

You say you
see inside my shell
my sweetness
was the very key
that I have no secrets left to tell
'cause you've devoured them for me?

you are a
very mysterious one
no secrets
and making no demand
quite open
and always looking for fun
tomorrow
gonna change my
my candy brand.

you are a
very mysterious one

What can you say
out there in the fog
in want of your old flame
you burnt your last log.

The memories are hot
the pain you remember
beneath all the ashes
that last glowing ember.

Don't bother to fan it
there's no fuel to burn
let it go out
save the ash for the urn.

Turn your attention
to the wood
that needs chopping
do something worthwhile
like sweeping and mopping

Sweep out the soot
and mop up your tears
clean out the attic
let go of your fears

Put on the blues
then something upbeat
get on your warm clothes
walk out to the street

Follow it down
to the steaming creek bed
the mineral water
is something it's said

Melts away saddness
and heats up your head
without all the smoke
without all the dread

Don't need a fire
the water is good
cleans away everything
and better than wood

The Word is water
still living and true
all that you need
all that you do

Lie back in the warmth
pulled free from the mire
be free and be healed
and forever on fire

My sister sent some money 'cause things had gone to hell
She said, "You don't belong there Honey, a trip home will do you well."
On a three day smelly bus ride away from what had been obscene
turned my nose to New York City where the air was fresh and clean.

Pulled into Central Station, a different kind of highland
was met by my dear sister, a castaway on Gov'nors Isand.
Being broke was half the trouble,and we played it like a game
but the nasty shoe debacle, well it made me take the shame.

I didn't know quite what to do, but I knew I had a job,
a suit of hounds-tooth off 'The Give', and my hair cut in a bob.
The suit was fitting perfectly, for shoes we found some flats
pink with silver circled cut-outs, kind of clownish without spats.

Well I stood there in a laugh-cry, 'cause my job was in the city
I gotta make these babies black or be lookin' 'Hello Kitty'.
So she gets that strange expression, perhaps as from the Lord
In an empty apartment down the hall was some paint for the old baseboard.

We laughed the night we dipped the shoes,laughed until we cried
And early the next morning, it seemed the paint had dried.
You could see that they were shiny and ready for the weather
and from an eyeball's distance they could pass for patent leather.

I was ever careful as I slipped my stockinged toes
into brand new 'hello baseboard' shoes and no-frills tailored clothes.
Mincing along, but gingerly I hopped aboard the ferry
missed the bus to Beekman, in the dark, the walk was scary.

Made it the building not a minute did I lose
I tidied up my hair and then I glanced down at my shoes...
Blasted ****** got 'em muddy, bits of paper grass and sand
I heard my toes scream out, "Hey, buddy, for shoes, tar paint is banned!"

Quickly then I kicked 'em off and tried to wipe 'em clean
but every little thing unstuck took off the tacky sheen.
I did my best to conceal a sob but had to pay my dues
as more than one allergic snob caught sight of battered shoes.

I tried to blacken out the pink, with a big old magic marker
but folks complained about the 'stink', and not a day was darker.
At 5 PM, back on the street, with nowhere else to roam
my misery was made replete, as I tracked some more dirt home.

I'm gonna tell a secret
for all we know, a lie,
I'm sure you're sure to keep it
cause no one else cares why.

We potted wild ivy
and left it sittin' out
the roots we hardly watered
and in spite of years of draught

it climbed upon my outer wall
and once over the sill
the ivy grew into my heart
it's growin' wild still.

time has past us by my friend
like Ivy up a wall,
a vine of green on everything
which feeds it's will to crawl

Now don't be making promises
let's keep it on the low
We never said "forever"
and none will ever know

and  just like wild Ivy
I wish it weren't true
love doesn't need much love to feed
upon a heart that's through

Clipping back the foliage
that's crowding out my brain
the roots embedded deeply
are really quite a pain

The leaves obscure my sunshine
and cloud my vison too
to think our lives could pass us by
without a word from you.

This love's not one to keep in touch
no social butterfly
but tend to take it day to day
it's plans made on the fly

I let the wild ivy in
it's just a simple vine
low maintanance and oxygen
I thought we'd be just fine.

But truth be told
this green ain't gold
and bricks beneath are tired
the mortar's cracked from roots which hacked
and into crevice wired.

I'd never believed
weeda lasted this long
without a word from you
it's time to cut the Ivy back
and let the truth be true.

I'm not alone but still sometimes it seems
so much alone, and often in my dreams
just like the one who calls me "Dear"
you speak my name and draw me near
but leave me hanging, way up on these beams

and waking, suddenly it's very clear
I'm climbing on this bridge from there to here
eternal space surrounds me and
a sense of love confounds me, when
in reasoning, I think ought to fear

"Gonna be alright", You say,  I ought to know
I've never been a stranger to the show
you play the song, I know the score
we wrote the music long before
You'll never leave, you say, come on, let's go.

I think too much I'm told, I know it's true
but that's okay, this traveling mind will do
it's time to put this girl to sleep
my thoughts will settle in the deep
but slumber stirs the climber in us too.