Do I dare to dream
To aspire to those lofty
heights from which I could fatally plummet?

Ah, but the air is crisp and the sky is
blue upon that misty summit

And it calls to my desire to have the world
beneath my feet

But if I am again to dream I first must rest and sleep

That room that I write about
With the sad empty couch
And the chair filled with smiles
Really is in my house
The carpet stained with tears
And wine
Memories covering the walls
good and bad
All times gone by
Yes, that room
Really is in my house
Even the starry sky
That room that I live in
Have lived in
Is always
On my mind

I was lost in  passion
Like a dream
All thoughts gone
Drinking her kiss like wine
By the bottle
Becoming deliciously drunk
Her scent and taste
All that I was aware of
Her hot skin pushed against mine
Filled my world
Until close to the dawn
What was I thinking?
That was just a few hours past
Now my head pounds,
Hung over from love
I think I need
More?

The many
blows of time
fall savage
upon my soul

I drive by to see if he is out on the patio

or by the bench in the sun

Taking in some rays

If he is, I stop in  to have a smoke

Time is short so I don't stay long

Just a short stay

Long enough to have been there

There isn't much left to him these days

The pain meds have him in a fog most of the time

Fading in and out

But he still has spirit

He's holding out now for St. Paddy's day

He heard that there's a party at a nearby club

And he plans on being there

I hope he makes it

One last day of being Irish

I just added a collection called "Only my best" to help people showcase their best works. I would invite any and all to add their works to it. Please pass it around as I don't really know how to invite people to it.
http://hellopoetry.com/collection/6380/only-my-best/

Falling, Falling, Falling; Free.

blue skied ceiling above, mother earth below.

I see.

I touch, I feel, one moment, one sight,

one, one, one.

One moment of freedom, air rushing,

caressing my skin, filling my soul.

I can fly.

Her sweet embrace, in one moment,

one fleeting instant, one red flash of

sight, envelopes me.

I am one.

When the wind sighs

and fills your sail

and pulls your restless

soul afloat

To journey ‘cross

The sea of night

In dwindling life

And muttered hope

One final prayer

Slips your mouth

Unknown, unsaid

You breathe it out

One prayer for your journey

The prayer for the dead

Your final breath

And all is said

I won’t hold her

I won’t bind her to this earth

Not after losing the second one

Not after losing her baby

I won’t force her to stay

Not by promise or time

Or love or sacred vow

There is only so much

A human heart can take

Before it bleeds and breaks

When this one goes

I think that I I will have say goodbye

To all that I love

I won’t hold her

Anymore

My internet is gone
my modem
lays on the lawn
like the colored
leaves of fall
It is haunted
by the signals it once received
mocked by the cables
so close
Their information left
like water
leaking onto the floor
I wonder now
in the dark still of night
Why, why?
Did she ever
decide on DSL?

She tried to be a daughter
But never had a chance
She would have
been
Could
have
Been.
But no one was there
so she went
her way
And made her way
She became
who she is
Today
Day by day
And
For all her beauty
she still hides
Though
she shouldn't,
Behind forgotten pain

Her tears flowed like blood
As she cried her life out
And her blood flowed like ice
Frozen in her veins
And her heart became cold
As cold as winter wind
And her hot breath stopped
Just stopped and was no more
And who she was
Was gone
Gone
Like a bird flown
Carried on the wind
Never to land again

It is in man to hope
and aspire in life

But what is hope without freedom?
How to reach and dream
When ones hopes and very destiny are
controlled by tyrants?

That breath of freedom
breathed into us at birth
and pressed from our chest
at death abides in us all.

There are those among us
who will let that gift
be suppressed and quelled,
fearful and timid; Life being
more precious than all.

Then there are those who
will say no at all cost;
Freedom at any cost!

They will cast off the shackles
that were slowly forged on them

Leave behind, the grey, secure,
concrete walls of peace

and march towards the green
meadows of freedom

They lived as ghosts
Between the light and the dark
Leading their lives as dead men
Gone without the funeral
Buried beneath headstones without dates
No green fields to tread upon
And see their names
No flowered coffin to cry upon
They were the chosen
The few
To fight
Chasing the wraiths of freedom
A ghost as elusive as themselves

She moves through the darkness

Alive yet dead

In sheeted glory she breathes without life

Bleeding without battle, she fights

I wait and wait

I hope

It is a battle I cannot fight

My skills cannot persevere

Though sword and knife

Are easy to my hand

I wait

I trust the skill of another

Who's knife gives life

I hope that she can fight

She is all that I have

I wait

My heart is broken
I
  bleed
           sorrow
                      like
                            fal­ling
                                      rain

Fall Dixie

Only now

Only now

In flames of fire

Conquered but in cold

Long buried hearts below

Last memory gone

Upon empty prairie’d fields of battle

Gone, now

Gone

In evil forge

Of tyrants flame

To burn Like the hate of war

Fall Dixie

Fall

Down in the fields where the old pines grow

The grass runs green and the young deer glow

Glow in the dark deer under the lines

Cutting the sky In the shadow of time

Old #3 bleeding like rain

Dust and smoke

Carpet the plain

Glow in the dark deer

Eyes amber and green

Glow in the night

Too faint to see

He was betrayed
In the end
By the Gods of his youth
His prophecy
Ended
By the only deities he knew
Parents
The infant's almighty
The Gods of small children
Hanging like
The mobile of life
Over them
It is all they born to
But
Bruised fists floated
Like angry storm clouds
Over Seas of battered emotions
Sweet red lips
Buttered with coated  lies
Whispered
And Whispered
Into the wind
And in the end
He was left all alone
And on his own cross
Was forsaken
By his God

The blows of time
                               Fall
                                      savage
               ­                                   upon
                         ­                                 my soul

                                                           I bleed

                                                          ­           sorrow
                                                          ­                     like falling rain

Mrs. Gardener in her gloves

Silk and blue

Planting in love

For her children

Too poor to eat

Carrots and peas

Planted in peat

Cotton for clothes

And potatoes for stew

Poor Mrs. Gardener

Plants in rows

For the future

In her blue gloves

I want to ride on our river
Peaceful and calm
We've carved our canyons
Our torrents gone
The earth once moved before us
Our waters swelled by storms
But now I want the quiet beauty
The rolling river that runs between
The mountains and the high blue sky
The quiet waters of our river
That you and I can ride

I'm hoping that she lives now in the green pasture
That's nestled into the curve of the forest
Outside of the dappled dewy shade
And hued moistness
The blue sky running like water above
And the lazy trickling creek running it's course below
All the red clay gone
Cut through to shale and rock
By the water that cares nothing but to run
I hope that she has a place here
A place in the meadow in the Sun
A place to be warm
After all the cold she had in life

There are only a few more tears
And only for me
For I am gone
And weep no more
Five and maybe six
Fall upon the barren ground
And nothing grows there
Droplets in the dust
Bearing circlets of grey
Like the children
Of dead hope
And despair

My life has gone

and I say

Goodbye

One drip at a time

I give my things away

I pay my debts

Make amends

Then

and now.

Things are mixing.

I may pass

from one new life

to another

Either way

I pass through,

whether it be

to a new life

or a new death

Only time

will tell

Kiss me now like it is the last time
For tomorrow only brings sorrow
Kiss me now
And hold me
While warm love is still on my lips
Warm breath still in my body
Kiss me now
While I still have life
For some time tomorrow
I will be cold

She sits in the cold rain
And lets the dark night weep onto her skin
She does the only thing that he can't
Which is to feel
She is as cold as him now
But she breathes
Weeping into the night
But breathing nonetheless
Still having life
Even as the cold sting
Robs her of her warmth

Will you take my bloodied hands

My broken bones

My heart grown old

My body cold

My very soul

As tax to you?

Can I pay your tax in blood and pain

My worn out back

My knees

My eyes

My worried nights?

Are these yours too

Your cut from me

Or do these things I get to keep?

She was a Young Maiden

As Blonde as summer white

Riding in the darkened wind

Stealing it's music in the night

To the sound of waves

And sea foam blown on salty air

Old men, comforting forlorn wives

In the glowing cast of Morn'

Still heard the music chime

As she rode away

They sipped their coffee

In screen porch outrage

And swore to get revenge

He lay beneath the cold

Dark roots reaching down

As dead as the day he died

He lay beneath the cold

His dreams untold

In the light and warm sunshine

As dead above as down below

He lay beneath the cold

He couldn’t tell with lips of stone

His dreams unknown

A hero gone in hate

Alone in the cold down below

His heart now as still

As his hope

I remember

When we still danced like we were young

Under the silvered moon ’round the crackling fire

Spilling wine and laughter

Late into the night

Our own private party

Until the dawn of the day

When we still danced

Like we were young

And all that time
And all that love
In the end
Came to mean nothing
And the dreams of the young
Oh, those passions
Died on the beaches
Shot down storming life
Killed as surely as any man
Put to their end
And they bled out
All that they had
Tattooing the sand
With all their crimson hopes
Until the next tide
Erased them all
In shifting colored eddies
And washed them out to sea
To be gone forever

He walked through the wood

Tangled and Grown

Shade and clinging vine

Grasping at him

Thislte and trail

In the cool Of early spring

Leading him to

Blueberries

In muted cool

On shaded path

Blue eyed and looking on

The fruit of his desire

In baskest blonde

Of woven reed

Come before his hand

Came the fruit

That drove him there

“til springing beast

In Muscled brown

And killing rage

Charged through the forest

And drove all thoughts

Of civil life

Off

With just one Grey squirrel

He cast himself against the rocks
And the waves and the cold
Ground him into sand
Yet still
As a man
He tried to stand
But the surf
The power and the fury
Of the earth
Pounded him
And pounded him
Until he could no longer stand
And slowly
Wave by wave
He was taken out to sea

Ready to take a ride

Even though the roads aren't paved with gold

But I still want to roll

Maybe sit at the table with warrior kings of old

Come on down

Take a ride

To the new Alamo

Toast of the town

Riding alone to the great dining hall

Kings and Cowboys

To tell their tales of war

Shields and spears hanging on the wall

Toast! Toast!

In new Valhalla

At the table of kings and Gods

Her kiss

Spoken softly

Onto my lips

Recites me poems of love

Wild with passion

Told to my tongue

And I listen

And listen

Rule shakes off of me , like Yesterdays dust
And I dream freedom
Freedom like a vision
Freedom shining like the sun
So bright that all the shadows of chains are gone
The prison walls built by men
Fade away
And my own shadow
That ruled man
Is overtaken by the rays
And becomes light of itself
And the dust of yesterday,of years, of centuries
Is blown away on the breeze
Gone, gone, oppression
The currency kings
Gone in freedom
Freedom in my dream

The trigger has already been pulled
The hammer is on it's way down
All I have to do now is wait
For a giant chunk of lead
And one more moment of pain

I drive by to see if he is out on the patio

or by the bench in the sun

Statued in stony white

Taking in some rays

Getting warmth while he can

If he is

I stop in  to have a smoke

Time is short so I don't stay long

Just a brief stay

Like the spring breeze

Just long enough to have been there

And then gone

There isn't much left to him these days

A man once

But

The pain meds have him in a fog most of the time

Fading in and out

Clouded like mist

But he still has spirit

One last fight

He's holding out now for St. Paddy's day

He heard that there's a party at a nearby club

And he plans on being there

I hope he makes it

If he does

I'll be his ride

And we'll have

One last day of being Irish

I guess I am like that Rat

He was  the tough one that wouldn't die.

The one that just couldn't be killed... until he was

He had been shot and hurt, holed through, at least 3 times, gone to death though still not yet,

But still he fought, running, hiding and evading

When the dog finally came for him, scented in, brown and power in dusted thunder

With spit, teeth and blood rolling

The rat actually jumped up to fight, springing and trying to bite him in the face

He bounced and sprang, almost like a boxer, dodging in and out, feinting and snapping

For a moment, surviving

The dog , for his part, was a  little more cautious

On the last go round with this rat , he had taken a nasty bite to the lip and nose while trying to put the death clamp to him

The rat took advantage of the moments hesitation to quickly squeeze through the chicken wire and escape between the layers

The dog ,snapping , bit him as he went through, trying to crush him in his powerful jaws

But the wire caught his teeth in gnashing

And the rat slipped away

Gone in the dark

Until he wasn't

Until he was found again

Found behind the planter, then under the footer and then back on the other side of the aging chicken wire

He had been shot again in the meantime, yet still his reserves weren't gone

Still he ran and led the dog on the chase, evading him at every turn

Until he didn't

The last shot stopped him and he lay down

He was wet with dog spit and bedraggled and still wanting to bite

But it was over and the dog pounced on him and put the death bite to his stomach, ending it finally

This rat had been trapped the week before and escaped from the jaws of the trap, into the jaws of the dog

He escaped once again with a well placed bite and lived to fight another day

And what a fight it was

And I think that I am like that rat. I just keep going and keep fighting and I think it's mainly because I just don't know how to give up or maybe sometimes I am just too dumb to give up..

Maybe that was the rats problem too.

Her heart lay beneath
his ear
It's beat
Strong and near
The only peace upon the earth
The only place of  hold and rest
Warm skin
Warm blankets
Heart marching
Marching
Marching on
Tomorrow
He will go on

She couldn't touch him
Not for one moment
Dead not on the cross
But at the crossroads
Crucified on the splintered tree
Speed
Speed
Rubber
Metal and grief
And he was buried in an empty coffin
Trash
Like a beer can
And his mother
The only one who really cared
Never even got to see him

Woke up to shovel snow in the rain
So cold and gray
Another day
Another day
Another day
All just the same
Still waiting for the warm
Waiting for the light of day

I remember the day the world ended
Just went away
No flashes of light
Nothing to see
A Blanket of dark
Over my eyes
Gone
Gone in the night
The world over
And now nothing more
Nothing but war

We were young and beautiful
Ivory Gods under the sun
We invented love and passion
The world of things to do
We created as only Gods can
Living in the wind and the waves
In our idle time, in dark past night
Wet kisses spent
We quietly changed the world
Through well spent meaning
and whispered revolution
Our Hubris surpassed
In the end only by our age

I have since been accused
Of stealing words from my muse
Thoughts and strains
Not my own
Rhythm and rhyme
Verse and poem
Stolen from the purse of a muse?
I am speechless

Oh, bread of mine
So enticing
Warm yeast rising
Brown crust darkening
Tender white
And steaming hot
From the oven
Comes my desire
Waves of heat
Barely seen
Yet Still waving
Pouring off of
Fresh cut slices
There you sit
My soft warm pleasure
Hot and waiting for my butter

Somewhere within the dark dreams

I think that I knew what death was

Day was night and turned to sky

And the night was lit like fire

Sleep was awake and awake was a dream

And I was over and under water

I was haunted by the faces of all those I loved

Voices echoing down the dimming hallway

Seen yet gone in fading sense

Shadowed vision in cold and sweat

Burned and burned beneath the covers

And then the ride

In red and white

The hearse not yet

But low and long, oversized, with tires singing

Humming their song while he called my name over and over

Sirens sang too, not steel and drum

But sweet sirens, enticing

Swaying down the blocks

Stoplights passing, windows flashing

Slatted light blinking beneath dark buildings

To end, the end

In sleep

Rested sleep

No fever burning

Rested sleep to awake from death

From dreams

For tomorrow

Cold toast and salted ham
Just sitting in the sun
Warm skin
And hot coffee
Bringing in the day
Soft boiled eggs,
Breakfast honey
Suckled like morning dew
Brown beast,
Muscled madness
Laying at my feet
Just waiting
Perhaps
For breakfast in the sun