I have lived the dream and have achieved my goals. I have walked a mile in another mans shoes. I have come to understand that all things are fleeting and that I must move on. I am unsure what my purpose is anymore, I have survived adversity and I have given to help the forgotten. I have sacrificed and endured the struggles of life. I have received a reward for my hard work and I have no more visions for my tomorrow. So perhaps I will not make any plans, but for once I will leave the world to chance. I will remember yesterday and savor today and let tomorrow take care for itself.

We grow food by the millions of metric tons. We can turn methane into gasoline, but instead we use corn for fuel. We throw away massive amounts of food each day because of invasive rules, when we could feed our homeless that live under bridges and in our streets. Perhaps we should rethink our point of view. If we make the simplest changes, just Imagine what great things we could do.

I entered the halls of higher learning with anxious anticipation. I brought my ideas and thoughts. I approached the podium to speak, only to be blown away by fixed ideals. Set in a paradigm that was unyielding, the academics cut me to shreds. My ideas were pointless and my thoughts were beneath academic reproach. Thus I withered into a state of lamentation and paralyzed fear. What was I to do, how would I succeed. Then from the darkness of dusty tomes, I heard voices call to me. A man with a raven told me never more and someone named Red Chief told me to take my revenge. I heard a woman speaking poetry from her hidden garden and songs from the Mississippi filled my heart as a doddering old gentleman bid me good day. When I came out of my stupor, I realized that I should not fear the established way of things, but accept what I must do and become the spinner of words that I would like to be as many others had before me.

Petals as dark as midnight, with black lace and red satin in her dress. Eyes like dark pools of water and lips like a red sunset. Skin like polished brass and as soft as a spring sea breeze, a Spanish maiden dances on the plaza to music that trumpets her beauty. Moving like a graceful reed in the wind, she bends and turns with twist and twirls. Her feet tap out a rhythm that sounds like a lovers heart beating at her coming. She carries a fragrance of a Olive grove or fine Spanish wine, subtle but filled with strength. She dazzles and mystifies as she dances to whats in her heart. A passion so deep that it rolls over you like the ocean waves. What a beauty this Spanish Rose, a flower of the Mediterranean.

Shine in the light and burn like fire in the dark. Be a star and glisten
for all to see. Radiate a special light that nothing can quench. Show how special you are, for all of the world to see. Never be afraid to step into the limelight, always be ready to take the lead. Show the world what you are made of, sparkle like a Diamond polished and refined. Let nothing dim radiance of who you are!

Mix a little pepper with a little thyme, see a covered dish melt in your mouth. Add some Pumpkin to Ginger and watch cookies come alive. Use a twist of Lemon, with a pinch of lime, bake until golden brown, it works every time. Food is a lot like life, for it to be good it takes the right spices.

Crystal lights adorn the walls as Peacocks fan with their tails in full display. I walk barefoot over golden cobble stones and stand on marble stair cases. I wave my hand and light flies from my fingertips. Glistening sparks dance from my hand and form unusual shapes. I step on to a platform made of Black hewn stone that is smooth and cold beneath my feet. As I begin to rise into the heights of the mysterious world I am sure it is a dream. Then I see spires of castles made of pure White stone reaching through portals to other places I have yet to explore and I pinch myself but do not awake, then I wonder is it really a dream or have I always been here and I am only now waking up to the reality and wonder of the world in which I truly live.

Sitting a sacred circle chanting and meditating as the fire roars before me. Waiting for the moon to reach it's apex so the light will shine full upon me. I let my mind escape the bonds of my mortal form and I rise to the heavens. I dance on moonbeams and ride the wild wind. As I become a shadow and shade, I delve into secret places and listen to forbidden tales of how the earth was before mans time. I revel in the night gliding effortlessly through the shimmering silver starlight. I circle the moon as it fades slowly from it's apex and I am forced to return to my mortal form. In a weary state I fall to sleep and dream of the time when I can take a spirit flight once again.

Surrender to the inner self and open the minds eye. Meditate quietly on a serene place. Release your physical bonds and let the mind wander. Look to the serenity and beyond your place of focus. See all that is possible and receive ideas from the open spaces beyond the restraints of the physical world. Ascend to the heavens and see the birth of a new star and the ending of an old one. Cry for the beauty of both, realizing that their span of life is only a small part of the fabric of creation as you wander among celestial bodies. You are a free spirit taking flight and discovering secrets that lay hidden from those to focused on the physical world and it's trappings to under stand the reality of what is waiting for those who are willing to seek it out.

I look beyond the veil of the mortal plain. I look into the darkness where spirits reign. I see the tumultuous churning of emotions wreaking havoc on the world of the living. I step beyond myself and wander between worlds.  I see flashes of lightning but hear no sound. I feel the universe quake and see heavenly bodies shaken. The balances of cosmic harmony have been tipped to far in one direction. I begin to shiver as a cloud of chaos surrounds me. Then in a flash, a force of spiritual energy shoves me backwards into my own place. I awaken shaken to my core. The disharmony is simply with in my own self and I am at the center of a spiritual storm.

I walked out on to open plain and I saw the mid-day sun. I watched my brother the Eagle soar into the sky. I looked at the lonely mountain and I began to climb,on through the day and into the evening past many clinging Pines. On to the top of the mountain from which I saw my brother the Eagle fly. I watched the sun go down and I saw the stars fill the sky. Shining down as the souls of the ancestors watching me down on the Earth below. I sat down by a roaring fire and began to chant and listen to the night, when I was taken by a vision in to the heavens and there I saw many wondrous sights.  I soared into the clouds with my brother the Eagle and I watched the ground pass below. I saw the tops of mountains and the clinging Pines as I went on. I came to the birth place of the river and saw how it is given life, as it pours up out of the Earth and begins on its long journey. I asked the rushing water where it had come from and where it intended to go. It replied I came from the Earth and to the plains I must flow. I followed the raging river until it became calm and at peace. I saw the great Buffalo grazing beside it's banks and they stopped by it to take a drink. As I poured out my soul into the heart of all living things, I ran with the Buffalo as they thundered across the open plains. I went to so many place and saw so many things, I heard the stories of the mountains and of all living things. When at last I returned to my own place on the lonely mountain top, I knew that I had been changed inside and many new lessons I had been taught. I saw the world through new eyes as I completed my Spirit Walk.

Part of my soul is here, part is there. My emotions are everywhere. My dreams are broken into pieces, I feel like a puzzle with missing pieces. What I would not give to feel whole again. Like a tree that was struck by lightning, I am fractured into. I don't know how to pull it all back together. I am not sure what to do?

Prance through the lilies and run through the streams as the cold snow melts into crystal waters. Listen for the birds to sing and dance to a tune of life. All things are made new and all things are beautiful as winters death releases it's hold and life begins anew. Celebrate the coming revival, rejoice and dance at the coming of spring.

Covered in a crown of Daisy's her smile makes all time stop. Beauty is too poor a word to describe her gentle soul. A nurturing spirit made perfect for a wife and mother. I am speechless at the simple kindness she gives each day. Her hair flows like Dandelions in the wind. She laughs at the simplest things and spreads warmth even when there is no sun. She makes my stomach churn like a swarm of butterflies ascending on the morning breeze.  All things about her make me feel new, like the spring bringing life back to a cold and forgotten earth. It is my hope that the springtime of her love will never end.

Dust thrown up from footsteps that pound the ground like iron. The sounds of thunder coming from an unruly herd that is completely out of control. The roar from their yells is deafening. You try to hold the gate, but it is busting at the seams. All attempts to calm them down are to no avail. They are riled up and hell bent for leather. As the gates open, they surge forward, in organized chaos, they come. A stampede of hormone enraged teenagers, pushing and shoving to see the next hot band.

Spread your light over me. Scatter your dreams around me. Sprinkle me with your essence. Let me feel your power and rise to join you in your world. Show me the path to Never land and I will fly there as soon as I can. Open my heart to see what you see. Let me become what you are and shine brightly as a new star. Embrace me, and teach me to trust. Lift me from this mortal plane with a bit of star dust.

Looking down the barrel of a loaded gun, I turn the whiskey bottle up and put it to my lips. One more drink and that might be enough courage. One more sip and it might do the trick. I spin the cylinder and listen to it click shut. One bullet one pull, that is all it could take. Looking down the barrel of a gun, I pick up the bottle and take one more sip. Perhaps this is enough courage to do it, I **** the hammer and then wait for the click. All goes black, did it work or not?

I can't believe that it really happened. I can't believe you didn't close the door behind you. I am still in shock and disbelief! After all of the words said between us, this is how it ends. I am sitting here in the middle of the floor, my tears flowing as I stare at the open door. The door that you went through and took my heart with you when you said we were done.

The sun is setting and doors are closing behind me. One road I have walked is worn out and I am tired. Soon the horizon will begin to fade behind me and I will look at another direction. Seeking a new path is never easy, but there comes a point when you know it is the right thing. The task you had to do are now in the hands of others and they will do just fine. So with a sense of new purpose, I see to see new places and start a new journey in my life.

Your smile warms the day and makes flowers bloom. When I kiss you I can withstand the coldest night. When your heart was made, God filled it with sunshine. When I am with you I feel as I have stolen a small piece of it away.

When something is broken or torn we use a needle and thread to sew it up. When the heart is shattered and torn, you can use threads of love. The kindness of friendship will be the twine and caring will be the needle. With each stich of love, the heart will begin to mend and soon you will find that it is whole again.

When life blows you over, get up again. When the waves of turmoil wash over you find yourself a towel and dry off for another swim. When angry clouds come overhead, simply look for a ray of sunlight. When all things are against you simply be still in the storm until you find your center, then press on.

Childhood was supposed to be play, until they took mommy and daddy away. Strangers came in and life suddenly changed. There were no locked doors, everything is theirs not yours. Home was supposed to be a safe place, but mommy and daddy had to go away. You were supposed to be loved, you weren't supposed to be hurt. Bruises were not supposed to come from the hands that were supposed to care. Happy times are gone, and tears are all that remain. Now that you are in a strange place, since they took mommy and daddy away. I was told I shouldn't tell, but someone was going to see. The marks and scars couldn't be hidden forever you see. So now its just a waiting game, to see if someone wants me. Perhaps there is a loving family who wants someone like me. Then the nightmare will be over and I will again want to play, just like I did before they took mommy and daddy away.

Curled up on a front porch swing with a special someone under a blanket watching the rain fall. Playing patty cake with a two year old who is just mastering the ability to walk. Listening to an old friend as they pour our their heart to you. Holding the hand of an elderly parent as you guide the one who used to carry you. These are stolen moments that occur in life. Special times that you cannot get back and that are held as treasures in the heart and our memories.

Black clouds appear on the horizon! Lightning flashes and thunder rolls. Rain comes down  in sheets as destruction rolls across the prairie. People cringe in holes like Gophers for fear of their impending doom, that is all but a select few who brave the fury of the storm. Running towards the danger in order to catch the wind by the tail. They lunge towards chaos with little though of their own mortality. Racing to learn from destruction in order to better understand forces beyond mortal control. Men and women of untold courage live to storm chase in order to help others strive to live.

Taught to hustle at an early age. Learned the code of silence and a gangsters ways. Making money as fast as I can. You got to have a gun to become a man. Hoping not to die before I reach seventeen. Trying to forget some of the things I have seen. Living my life by the hustlers code, giving nothing and taking what ever I want. Let others sacrifice for the state, getting what I want cannot wait. Learning hard lessons just to survive, having to grow up street wise.

I am not sure what is wrong, but I feel that she is somehow different. Perhaps I am paranoid, but I feel that something is going on. She smiles differently these days, she seems to glow with a new light. It didn't come over night, but it is beginning to worry me. She plays with her hair as she did when she first met me. She giggles like a teenage girl, when she is on a phone call but not with me. I fear that I may come in and she will just be gone. Perhaps I worry too much, but subtle changes have been happening for too long.

I sit in a cold sweat, I am shaking like a leaf in the wind. My mind is racing and my heart feels as if it will explode. I can't go there again, I can't let it win. I can smell the scent of my what approaches and it excites me to no end! I can't allow the demons to fill my head, I must resist the voices. I hear a soft voice as she approaches. I am suddenly still, as though I have become a stone. My eyes focus and my ears are keen to the slightest sound! The intensity of the urges are overwhelming! I try to scream out, but my voice is muted from deep with in me! My sanity has been lost and my rational man has given in! The dark thing that lives with in me is  now in control and all I can do is watch helplessly as it satisfies it's appetites!

Paper cuts, sun burn, permits and delays. Freezing in the winter and getting wet in a down pour. Spring showers so I can capture the image of a few flowers. Dust in my eyes, sand and pebbles in my shoes. Bug bites and multiple shots to get over what ever they think I may have. Critics and gallery openings where my work sits in the back of the room. If I am next to the snack table, perhaps then I will at least get a mention along with the finger food. Such is the life of an artist, trying to become well known. Often starving and seldom fed, except when there are left overs. A paint brush, canvas and a camera are some of the tools of my trade. It is my hope that good fortune will find me before my suffering debt is fully paid.

They say it doesn't hurt. They say it is over quickly. What if they are wrong. There are so many ways to do it, but what if I change my mind. I just want the pain to stop, I am dying inside. I have thought about it a lot but I am afraid. How will my family feel. What happens next, I am not really sure, then who is. If I go one more day will it get better. I don't know, I only know I want the pain to end. Will someone tell me does it really work, is it worth it. I am dying inside. Please I want to end it, but I am not sure. How do I do it, will I succeed or will I be left worse off than I am now. I am not sure, perhaps one more day and then I will try. I just want the pain to stop, I just want to sleep. I want to stop dying inside.

String bikini's have replaced over coats, flip flops have replaced furry boots. The sun rises higher in the sky and stays longer. The warm trade winds come in from the ocean and the smell of barbecue fills the air. There is no question that winter is gone and summer time is here.

Carpet of Green as far as the eye can see. Trees blended creating a blanket that hides the ground from the sky. Beneath a shade I find comfort and a coolness as the sun beats down. Oh why must you go so soon, summer why can you not last. Too soon the Green fades into rainbow then brown and bland. That the trees would stay Green and that the sun would stay warm but not to warm, just enough to make life wonderful beneath a shaded patch of earth under the carpeted trees.

Oh how your hair is swept in the wind. Your brown braids flutter in the breeze. Walking in warm sand forgetting our cares, I am trapped by your smile. My heart has been swept up by your love, as the waves of the ocean sweeps a boat out to sea. I am lost in a moment that I am not sure I can leave. I hold your hand and feel as I never want to leave. In a brief time, I have know what it is to be in love, but it will soon turn to loss. The summer is short and our time will not last. The forces that will tear us apart cannot be controlled, because we are so young and in love.

I sit on the veranda and look out over the fields. Across the land scape of the vineyards that have been cared for with my own hands. As the sun sets I raise a glass of my own making, a fermented bouquet of wine in celebration of of life at sunset.

I once thought I had a grasp on love until you swept into my heart. Just like a cool wind that rustles Autumn leaves carefully placed in a pile. You brought me nothing but confusion, tearing down the fabric of my orderly existence. In one instance all of my plans were left as nothing. In emotions so vast that they could swallow up all of the oceans, I became lost in the idea of you. From your hair as dark as a Ravens wing to your smile that is as warm as a summers day. I fell hopelessly in love with you. I gave up my grasp on reality or what I thought reality was. I surrendered all of my dreams to make and cherish yours as my own. I have no will left to resist. I am enslaved by your gentle ways. I have given up all hope of escape, I have become a servant to all of your passions. I am yours humbly to command.

Hush now and close your eyes. Lay your weary head down. Your eyes are heavy I know the night has fallen. The stars pierce the curtain of night and look down on you. Pull the covers tight over you and rest well. Dream gently and think of beautiful things. Tomorrow will come soon full of new promise, but for now gentle one, have sweet dreams.

Reach out and pluck an idea from the nothing. Lay down the foundation and build upon it. Stack the blocks that form the steps. Walk up each one headed for higher things. Do not look back or get frustrated when you fall. Get back up and build a hand rail. Then push forward laying each block for each step. Then you will wake up one day and realize that what you have been dreaming of is now a reality.

Release the passion inside of me, break what lies beneath the surface. Bring me to raptures precipice and push me over the edge. Indulge me in carnal pleasure beyond my wildest dreams, make me submit to your will. Fill me with desire unlike I have never known. Leave me in wanting for your touch, leave me empty inside. Leave me wanting you as if it were an addiction to your love. Remove my will and use me for what ever you desire. Take me and make me an object for your pleasure. Just so long as I can be yours.

Wrapped in an unimaginable warmth that flows from deep inside. My toes tingle and curl as I laugh at the stupidest things. Not caring who hears us , I embrace the feeling that has overtaken me. I have lost myself in you and I do not want to be found. For me time has stopped and I pray that it shall never restart. From the moment we met, I have been on a journey to know you. My heart does not rest when we are not together in anticipation of the hours we are apart. Some say that I have lost my senses, but I just say that I have been taken by love.

In quiet moments of the day, take time to pray. In the sleepless night, take time to pray. When all seems lost, take time to pray. When you are doing well, take time to pray. For no particular reason at all, take time to pray. In all things be grateful and take time to pray.

Commit to an action, answer what passion excites you. Offer your help in any way you can! To feed a homeless person and help them recover from their plight, to save one of Gods creatures if you feel that is just and right. Let no one stand before you and tell you that you cannot achieve. In the smallest measure, the simplest kindness can become a great and powerful deed. So what ever is your interest, move forward where you see a need. For each mighty forest must begin with just a few seeds.

Join me in nether world and watch fairies at play. Look at the unicorns prance around and dance on blue grass. Watch the colorful birds fly around in trees filled with rainbow blossoms and golden fruit. Jump into a stream that flows with Strawberry water that flows from magic fields from high in the silver capped mountains. Sit down on the ground and watch the two suns rise and the third moon descend from it's apex in the amber and blue sky. See the purple and pink clouds sail across the horizon and listen to the thunder as rain comes falling down with sweet crystal blue drops of pure water that washes everything clean. Open your mind to the possibilities and join me in taking a trip.

Cutting through the tried and true, seizing on the moment I move forward on my own path. Not know for sure if there will be a tomorrow. I walk on a rough and rugged trail. Facing twist and turns as each adventure unfolds, I do not sit idly by and wait for life to find me. Opening up every door to see what lies on the other side. I have never been one to conform to what is expected. Until at last I look back on a life's journey, seeing the path I have taken. I see my mistakes and my triumphs. Not all things went as might be expected, but all of my journey was my own, for in taking my own road I discovered who I really am and that is a journey that I can live with.

You crave my flesh and want a taste of my blood! Not to end me, but only to draw out a small bit of my life. I hear you calling me, you watch me until I am numb. Only when I am at the point of despair do I speak back to you! I balance you in my hand and debate with you once again. As the emptiness crawls up through the pit of my stomach, you win the argument. I let you sample me and take a small portion of myself. In return you give me ecstasy and a feeling of life. Though the ecstasy is pain, feeling this is better than the numbness. So I set you aside until next we speak and I argue with you to see if you will win again.

You are better than them, they should give you their stuff. They talk in a funny, I am prettier than you . You are fat and I am skinny. I don't like your clothes. The examples we set show our children things they should not see. Thus the education of ignorance is fomented.

Into a Brown mix I stare, looking for some sign of what life might bring me. Intently I desire to see a glimmer of what might be, but alas all I have to show for my efforts is the soggy remnants of a reasonably good cup of tea.

In the garden he wept sorely. In the garden he cried alone. In the garden he wept for you and me. In the garden, he cried in anguish for another way. In the garden, he wept until they came for him. In the garden, cried father let it end. In the garden he shed his tears until he shed his blood. In the garden he wept to fulfill the will of God.

Water runs down my cheek as the rain falls down around me. I fall to my knees weeping because you are gone. My tears are mixed with the water falling from the sky. Both fall to the ground as I am dying inside. No one can tell that I am broken, no one can see my pain. I simply sit on the ground missing you as my tears fall with the rain.

Dressed in soft colors with eyes painted like jewels. Lips like ripened fruit and soft to the touch. Hands as smooth as satin with the perfume of lavender and Cinnamon, walking subtly towards me. Looking but not looking at me, She passes by tossing her flowing raven locks with a glint in her eye. Her every movement choreographed to exude her forbidden nature. In complete loss of reason, I let my senses take it all in. Her beauty is undeniable and her affect forbidding and overpowering. Forgetting all of my obligations and my relationships, I submit to the breaking of my will, as this temptress seduces me without even a word spoken.

I will speak of the love that has no end. I will tell all of the love that will not fail. I will show the world his mercy as I seek to be like him. I will fall and stumble, but his love will lift me up. From my first breath to my last, I will testify of Jesus love.