The night has its allure
The contrast of the light
Against the dark
Where faces become blurred,.
Intentions hide in truth
Walking in shadows
Unknown steps….
Leading to nowhere,
And taking a chance….

Misty eyes that sparkle,
blue in color pale
Sunshine in your smile
Gestures flowed with wine
Like a chameleon
You came one night….
And then disappeared
Out of sight….

Who are you?
Lovely lady of the night,
Black be your color
Blue be your life,
Crimson the sky
That watched you go by,
Never to return
From shadows engulfed
Fragrant dahlia a lifeless scent…
We’ve never known you
But know you all too well…

Your story is common
The beginning and the middle
At best,
But in the end the mythic tragedy
Turns its horns upon the beast….
What can we do the least…
But to run and run and run
Try to find you
Try to find the devil in you
Try to slay the slayer
The lavender avenger….

May you rest in peace, sweet child
The pieces scattered forth
In grasses strewn
with blood, invisible..
The essence of your
Tortured mind and
Myriad soul…
Many men have chased
their dreams of you
The blue eyed black
dahlia of the night

What prevailed is the secret,
Weary light….
Who begs to shine on your grave
Because in you, no one can save…..
But you haunt us far and near….
Like the waters muddy clear..

So farewell, oh lovely lady
Let the dahlia rest upon your hair
After all these years you are still fair
After all these years, we still do care….
Longing for your eyes that dare…
Shine the light on darkness lair….

You will never be forgotten
But your mystery remains…
Your epitaph shall read…
"She’s a star, a shimmering light,
And forever spreading, shining bright…."

Run, Gemini child
And run fast
For tragedy is hounding
You in the guise
Of glory
And billing you
For excesses uncontrolled
The end is drawing near….
Though you have no fear,
Must you also have no shame?

Hide, Gemini child
And hide yourself well
Hold still, unmoving
Drop out of sight
And out of mind
For the consequences
Have exacted from you
A high price to pay
A form of revenge
Festering in your unkempt spirit
How could you live
As you have allowed yourself
To lead?

Destroy not your soul
For materials that put their
Patents on you…
Must you go so low?
Can you never go slow?
Downwards is a long
And empty route
It was not the road
That the heavens had
Destined you to take
Though it be the one
You will never, ever forsake…

Be kind dear Gemini child
And go down alone
If you think that you must
Your looks might be lasting
But your heart remains wanting
Let other people move on
And share not
This unnecessary pain
Let time be the judge
Nor excuses be made
For your living the fullest
Through irreverent ways….

Curse of the seasons
Child of the star
Rest but your head
On a pillow of stone
Walls that constrict
From maggots insist
Anaesthetize all emotions
That plagued you in life…

Meet me at Forest Lawn
Where to you I will sing
To wipe all your tears
And sunflowers bring
Moodust on my pocket
And one for the road
Dear Gemini child
Running from cold
Kiss to the fate
All the prophets fortold
Dear Gemini child
So beautiful and so bold
Mine is a love
That time can not fold
Depicted in stories
That shall never be told…

Run, Gemini child
And run fast
For tragedy is hounding
You in the guise
Of glory
And billing you
For excesses uncontrolled
The end is drawing near….
Though you have no fear,
Must you also have no shame?

Hide, Gemini child
And hide yourself well
Hold still, unmoving
Drop out of sight
And out of mind
For the consequences
Have exacted from you
A high price to pay
A form of revenge
Festering in your unkempt spirit
How could you live
As you have allowed yourself
To lead?

Destroy not your soul
For materials that put their
Patents on you…
Must you go so low?
Can you never go slow?
Downwards is a long
And empty route
It was not the road
That the heavens had
Destined you to take
Though it be the one
You will never, ever forsake…

Be kind dear Gemini child
And go down alone
If you think that you must
Your looks might be lasting
But your heart remains wanting
Let other people move on
And share not
This unnecessary pain
Let time be the judge
Nor excuses be made
For your living the fullest
Through irreverent ways….

Curse of the seasons
Child of the star
Rest but your head
On a pillow of stone
Walls that constrict
From maggots insist
Anaesthetize all emotions
That plagued you in life…

Meet me at Forest Lawn
Where to you I will sing
To wipe all your tears
And sunflowers bring
Moodust on my pocket
And one for the road
Dear Gemini child
Running from cold
Kiss to the fate
All the prophets fortold
Dear Gemini child
So beautiful and so bold
Mine is a love
That time can not fold
Depicted in stories
That shall never be told…

You can not **** the hummingbird
And think that there
Will be no repercussions

You can not silence
His lips
With the barrel of a gun

You can not bury his memory
By stonewalling and
Distorting the evidences

You can not erase his ideals
By destroying his name…..

Extinguish not his memory
By firing the shots,
It is an act that only
Fans the aching flame

You think he is forgotten
But he lives………
Healthy in the hearts of millions
You thought are but a few

Someday we will sing his song of love
Someday he will rise again, defiant!
Daring to fly, as high
As the burning sun
And you can not stop him
Or **** him once again

For the hummingbird shall endure
The compassion of men shall sustain him
And he will conquer this death
That you have inflicted upon him

So you can **** the man and his body
You can blow his face all away
You can trample him with your
Angry tyranny
But you can never, never
**** his soul!

The hummingbird defies you
The hummingbird lives on and on and on………

(Mount Pinatubo and the Aetas)

the mountain god that has slept
for so long
has decided, it is time to rise
and as it opened its eyes
and stretched its invisible limbs
it unlocked a deep fury of destruction
kept inside for years and years
of restraint
not wanting to disturb the people
lying at its feet
worshipers and true believers they are
the few good people left
in this wretched earth
and yet the mountain god
would not keep them safe from
enormous grief and physical pain
they too must suffer
but they are flexible children
they never really complain

ashes flying while lava flows
one by one properties and creatures
were struck down like pins in a bowling alley
it was so fast and so vast
they never really knew what hit them
until it was all over

there are only shadows now
plus sporadic eruptions
the mountain god had made its
presence felt
and as it resumes its former
pose of quiet repose
i see the little black people
huddling together
and coming around
back to sleep at the feet of
the mountain god
as of the start

they said
this is where they were born
and whatever may happen
this is where they will die

so as they reach their
prized destination
i hear a song coming
from their lips
they are dwarfs in stature
but giants in character
i reached out to touch
my little black brothers
with pride
for i love them true.......

calmly....
ascending and descending
through fame, fortune and death...
such is your dignity

you fill my heart
with so much nostalgia
that sometimes I think
we have met before, in time...
through ripples in time....

the moment I knew of you.,.
I have loved you...
It's as if I knew you
long before I truly existed

and in this very special occasion
of your solemn birth...
one hundred fifty four years ago...

I wish to thank you....
for gracing us with your presence
for teaching us of life and love...
for making us proud as a nation
despite our failures, faults and
insecurities...

you gave us your name...
your intelligence and your love
in the purest form and sense

so now I say to you...
happy may this day be
for us all
as Filipinos, we must never forget
for it is a sin not to remember
a beautiful man such as yourself
that gave rise. meaning and relevance
to the word "Filipino"

I chant your name like a mantra
Rizal- my hero, my icon, my poet
and the love of my life....

Oh those glorious summers
of years long past...
bring me back to the splendid
days of our youth
dearest sister, life of my heart,
with your soulful brown eyes
and dark flowing hair,
how beautiful that face,
such delightful grace, you are
a standout among us, like no other
yours is character that never fades
creating a bliss that never fails
I must say, I am the lucky one
I have you as my sister, bright as the sun...

My fearless general
Full-blooded son of our nation
I call you
In these uncertain times….
I need your courage
And extreme nationalism
For I am surrounded by
Anemic Filipinos,
Merely like myself,
Unable to act and speak
No dynamism-
A lack of principles

Where could you be, my general?
Surely a man like you will never hide
No wound, no bullet, no threat
Can ever make you bend your knees
I hear no cried nor pleas
From your revered lips
My strength is failing me
I need your blood
Alone, I cry
Believing myself to be incomplete
Embrace me, for you are magnificent
And there can be no other

Through the years
I still remember
How I leafed the pages
Of history just to place your name…
Maybe time ran so fast
But to me you were never last
Because you last….

Tell your brothers what you
Could do for love of country
I know and I have felt
You are my first
And  foremost general
And I shall carry you
Upon my shoulders
And stroke your head
While you sleep on my lap
Because you make me want
To tell the entire world
That my general is a Filipino
And I am proud to be his comrade!

God’s little bud of rose
Reflects like a dainty prose
In lines that so sweetly glows
From veins that so lovingly flows

God’s little doer of deeds
Into souls might her goodness feed
The scroll of life
Unfolds and then reads
She is what this hopeless world
Sadly needs….

In life she moved a hero’s pace
Without doubt on her pious face
She who felt that holy embrace
Now is done with her ultimate race

Quietly rest, tender rosebud
Nurture that love in your heart
For us mortals alive,
We must continue to battle
The wars in ourselves
Never to know
When our precious sanity ends…

Fragrant rosebud of white
Gone-but not forgotten
You lived as soft and mellow
As the morning rain
Sowing your seeds of knowledge
And gain
As God’s own champion
You died not in vain…

Beloved brother
My comrade, my mentor
You see so much in me
That I do not see
Within myself
And you believed
In me when no one
Ever did,
When the road was rough
And the tunnel long
And arduous…
Dark, dense, humid
You taught me the power
Of love and unity
You showed me the tenderness
Of compassion
You made me a brave warrior
Trekking the thorny path
Being unafraid to fail,
To succeed, in the final analysis
There is a flower of hope in your eyes
In your heart there can never be lies
I can have no better friend than you
No better champion than you
Knight in shining armor,
When the days seem endless
And the nights, raven black
Together we weathered the storm
Together we braved the unrelenting
Torrents of rain, in this world war
Called life
There are no words to thank you
And as a poet
I now stand without words
For you are the words to this poem
You are the lyric of my songs
as we travel towards the end,
Of our hard won race,
As we lie below the grasses,
Beside our revered ancestors,
It will be an honor
To mark my tombstone
That I was she who had
A beloved brother
A comrade
A mentor
And  the most precious
Gift of a friend
Called
My beloved brother

If I am not beautiful,
Am I not bountiful?
...........The problem with beauty is
that it gets old
after that, it can not be sold
it is a fleeting commodity
it will never, never last

If I am not successful
am I not relevant?
If I am not rich,
am I not important?
does money really talk?
and can fame
equal true , unspoiled
happiness
or peace of mind?

If I am not powerful
am I merely anonymous?
do I contribute anything at all
and do I matter?

We are living in a world
that does not tolerate mediocrity
it dwells in mores of hypocrisy
and so it breeds profanity
it encourages deception
and if you want to have your
name remembered,
take a few lives in your
gun powdered hands
they will splash your face
all over the papers
and you can hide behind
the curtains of insanity

how sad to be lonely
but these are the
scenes that we condone
plastic caricatures we are
living in lies and
false smiles
we have died while
we are still alive
inhaling the polluted air
that we so happily create

The flames of Valencia
Rips through my veins
His colors course
Through the dreams
In my eyes…
Astounding architectures
Along his streets
I gathered….
Whispering expressive
Spanish songs,
In the core of my ears…
Inside a taxi cab..
Running  wild
Unmindful,
My heart soaring
Like the taps of
The feet of
A flamenco dancer…..
Wrapping my very soul
With eclectic passions
Rhythm and rhymes
Church bell that chimes
Carelessly,
Impatiently
He moves his fingers in a dance
….and
To me,
It is a caress,
that leads me to a trance…..

With a  soft cry of passion
I walked the streets
Of Valencia
Like a woman
Possessed…
With his glory
With his story
Loving minute after
Minute
Of his magnificence  and wonder…
Never wanting to leave
his Mediterranean shores…..

Sights and sounds of Valencia…….
With his pious ,stately cathedrals
Where I knelt in awe
Before the ******
Vowing to return,

A hungry kiss upon his cheek
Shall I plant before I go...
This I promise and this I know….

Valencia…..in my heart
You will always stay…
In fervent wishes,
This, I truly  pray….

Her name is Catherine Eddowes
and it rhymes with meadows
of green fields and moon's shadows
but in the street she wallows
in the darkened danger that swallows
through the London fog that follows
her every movement and her sorrows

Oh Catherine, my dearest
come to call in nights severest
of pain and pleasure without rest
strike you like a luckless jest
you are who you are, that's your best

I am looking at you and memorizing
your ****** features that are tantalizing
I do not hear if you are coming or going
But I never want to hear you crying

Her name is Catherine and pray,
do not forget
She is far away now,
much to my regret
I miss her but
I must not be upset

Someday ,perhaps, she'll
grace me with her presence
she'll look at me with no pretense
she will show me emotions intense
I'll smell her perfume like
fragrant incense

Hello and goodbye,
dear Catherine Eddowes..
a name that rhymes with meadows

I  speak your name
I touch you
from the cold you emerge
have I known you?
has it come to the point
where hearts must bleed
before they sing?
I can not believe
that I have loved you
for so long
and yet not see
what went wrong along the way
that the door between us
just snapped shut

have you suffered
cruelties that I
did not forsee?
and with a heavy load
that wanted to unburden itself
I cried....
long ago and far away
I seem to recall
you cradled me in your arms
the feeling stuck
to always haunt my mind
I ache with longing
for your touch
when was it born
this bitterness in our hearts?
why have we nursed it deep within
only to find shadows
climbing on our backs
clawing their way into the
very essence of our togetherness
somehow I believe
you must have loved me too
but that is gone now
and everything is through.....

The dark demons in my head
Would all proclaim,
The pain is dead
The shot so hard
The price so high
As gawking, ghoulish grins
Come forward to flaunt
The chains emasculating me
In wild, ecliptical regressions
Pressuring my senses
To lie in a calm
That no longer exists

The needles of my peace
Frustrate my confidence, sublime
As i await the restoration of my sanity
The renaissance of my agility
So i squander reality
Like a cyclone
About to unfold
A devastation
This whirling charade goes on
Until the hours
Have long passed their bedtime
The magic of the wasted clowns
Begins....

If i share with you my story
Will you tell a different tale?
For what I am about to say
Would cost my heart
The tears i’ve cried in vain
But i must tell it just the same

Do not close your eyes
Nor cover your ears
If the pretty pictures fade
For there will surely be
Devils where i come from
Within my room
Inside my head

When the magic drugs me
To sleep
Dreams are often dark and deep
Sorry slumbers shattering
A shivering soul
Predestined to meet its end
Where drunken cannibals blend
Into a wretched scenario
Of an afternoon in hell

There is no awakening
Once the reason is shed
There is no truth
To the demons in my head
No truth at all
About what they said
No truth at all
That the pain is really dead

It never was
And never will be...

Once the magic of the
Wasted clowns
Start to begin..

i had a dream about the world
that it was light
without a trace
of evil, of darkness and pollution
only the freshness of air and
the tolerance of nature exist
and it was wonderful to be alive

i had a dream about the sun
its rays extend to one and all
no race,no creed
was spared from warmth
the sun envelops the entire
surface of the earth
and it was bright but
do not burn the skin

i had a dream about a race
that it was black in figure and face
but then, no peoples would discriminate
only brotherhood would emanate
and it feels good to walk hand in hand
with all the creatures of the earth

i had a dream about a man
whose force was strong
and principles were fair
who has the spirit of wild flowers
who feared nothing and
feared not then to dream
and he stood for the good and the right
and he was not afraid to fight

i had a dream about a dream
alas! only to be awakened
by sharp screams that wrecked
my senses
and then i realized,
that he was gone......
felled by cruel men with angry bullets
but his dream still lives on
and all that he stood for
shall never be forgotten

tender stories to me told
of  yet  another conquest
far so bold
I see their lined faces
not so old,
intensifying heat in
eyes that are cold

I shall always be in love with my Mujahideen
the most courageous man
I have ever seen
wild  beats of heart
they have come to mean
colorful bursts of  flowers
to match fields
that are green

faith to survive
the rule of the hand
praise for the songs
that echo in the sand
fighters whose children
were born for the land
take away the pain that
comes with the brand

I see his wings preparing
for a flight
I see his glow consuming
in the night
eclipsing the sorrow
and the terrible fright
My Mujahideen stands
supreme in the light

The winds grow like wild flowers
in the Avenue of Liberty
sunlight kissing park benches
and statues of means
I have mingled with its people
The village fools,
The beggars,
The old men...
Retired to their places
in my river of memories

A swarm of street cars pass by
and I hear the soothing sounds
of the Portuguese tongue
But I missed the sight
of the purpose of my flight
even though the joys of her beauty
has become Lisbon's lullaby...
I have had my share of tears
In the Avenue of Liberty

I tried to drain the
sorrow of my pain
through bottles of
foreign liquor
in drunken passion
I laid myself
into a wishful slumber
yet nothing can erase
the shadows that tormented me

In the deep of the night
with pictures of your face
in my dreams
then all was dead silence
at the stroke of dawn
But the Avenue of Liberty
gave me no moment of peace
and the river of my memories
ran like arrow
eager to pierce its mark

A piece of my heart
will always remain
Down in the Avenue of Liberty
where you and I were so apart
yet, somehow, in spirit
we merged through the wires
In conversation and distance
we loved as we danced
The dance of fate
that pulled our strings
in a masquerade of feelings
into a labyrinth of consequences

Body and soul
I still long
for the hours I've spent
though alone,
though weeping,
in that haunting park
at the back of my French hotel
There in the liberty of Avenues
The Avenue of Liberty....

In wolf’s lair,
Will you be?
There to meet me
and greet me
With salutations free
I can see your eyes now
soften with sadness, somehow
But then,
Like the howl of the wind
There you stand,
without fear
You reach for a hand
You will not fail this time
For here your future
Awaits you,
In wolf’s lair,
The glory of your dignity

Morning’s child
And poet’s rhyme,
Etched on your face
The contours of your grace
aristocrat  born
With kisses mourn
The passing of life
Your only destiny

Beautiful man of the ages
Beautiful passion of the sages
You who threw  your courage
In wolf’s lair,at the villain’s outrage

You have won in your defeat
Carried the burden of this feat
Neither the moon in its dark haze
Can forget the intensity of your gaze

Lay your weary mind now,
In wolf’s lair, the cry  has sounded
glasses wildly strewn
Across the earth’s floor,broken
The valkyrie have chosen
Your name they have spoken


You will fight with reason
You, a hero for all season
vaguely a whisper in December
born in sweet November,
dying in July,
On your lips was a cry
Long live
Long live
Forever you shall live
Like the waves in the sea
Like the leaves of a tree
Everlasting in your sleep,
There, the hero will no longer weep

Will you meet me ?
One last time,
In wolf’s lair, the valkyries’ nests
Gently smile upon this solemn memory
That shall forever nurture
And grow in love,
It can never die
And you will  never die,
One last look my hero ,before you go
Into the sky,
Into spirits high
Mark my soul with the breath of your
Silent song,
Pictures of your face
Give me strength to grow
And to glow…
You will always be….
My hero
You will always be,
My love….

Death hides a stranger
Into the *****
Of the night
And like a freon smile
It beckons to beguile
Leaving us empty
And with shame

Death knows no blame
And fathoms any danger
Like a whiplash
It scourges our pride
So in the end
We leave
Without a benefit to claim

In life we taste
A little of the sweet
But bitter pungent
Do we meet
And all favors
That we pray for
We must pay for
They are debts to settle
In a square

The sky is clearing
And i see
The clouds that hung
And clothe my stars
They are not mine
Those that i seek
And all i know,
I’ll soon release

Death hides a stranger
And so
A stranger i shall be
Gone and unto my grave
to fall
The rocks
The rain
The vultures all
For stranger still is truth
When unto me
I finally meet
The stranger that is hiding
Behind the mask of death....

crystal rains,
silent songs
an angel's breath.....
sweet fragrant memories,
amazing zeal
fragments of the past,
compassion,
and courage
the fire of grace
danger of the unknown
stepping inside a war zone
never to return
a young life cut short
snuffed out...
a body torn to pieces
hit directly
by the renegade grenade
what for, I ask...
it's not simply a task..
can anybody tell me why..
questions in marks
no one..but no one
can tell me why.....

the archangel has fallen
the sea has lost its seal
today the sky has no sparkle
the stars refuse to share their light
but the world still turns
and people will never really learn
history is bound to be repetitive
then all is forgotten
what was is what is...

the war cry has sounded
the wing of the angel hounded
his mellow heart wounded
in his flight ,he is grounded

goodbye archangel of our times
know that love in these rhymes
commemorates the bells in their chimes
when they lay you down to rest,
you sleep eternally in your best..

I shed a tear for you today
not knowing who you were..
we have met ,not in this lifetime
but somewhere in the metaphysical
world of spirits
far, far away where none can hurt us
I dream to see your smiling face again...

Shadows of desire
In a sylvan conflagration
Fortold in bamboo pantomime
Incendiary moans
from a cryptic milieu
become a citadel
of apocalyptic proportions

The jazzy pitch
of a saxophone
and the beats of
the sensual drums, afloat
portray the movements
of your body parts....
fingers tapping with a music
unknown....
bring forth a cornucopia
of emotions so wild...
assiduously courting
prodigiously praying
never to be daunted
and never wanting to yield

I am your shadow lover
for you, I will give
In you I will live
For your kiss ,I will breathe
For your touch, I will feel

The world turns
with every sigh that you take
my heart swells
with every sound that you make
Sylvan fires will never cease to be
your love burns brightly
deep inside of me...

Gentle Stockholm, in my mind
Tender city with its laid-back ways…
Sun-kissed, snow covered days
A sleepy lover’s eyes along its bays
There I was, a foreigner
Gasping at the breathtaking view
A beauty simple and true
Learning to walk through
Its cobbled streets….
Singing and humming
To its sensual beats…
Like a lover, it strums my body
It’s fingers knowing all the cords
To play……
And I pray,
I swear, I will return
To this unforgettable place…
That has invaded the space
Of my peace
Like its trees…
with leaves of,
Green, yellow and brown
Four seasons of  harmony
Boring holes through my senses…
It’s memory stored through the tenses…
Stockholm in the summer, winter season
Through the autumn’s rise and fall….
flowers bursting in bloom at spring's hall...
Always will I remember it’s
Echo’s call…..
Into my heart….
It will never part…

You broke the chains of
My sorrows…
Lending me the promise
Of many tomorrows,

Stockholm, gentle ,Stockholm
Sing to me your songs of life
Set me free
and make me see,
But never let me be…..

The flaming sun is
About to be extinguished
And the evening star
Will rise, to take its place

Like the cool gentle winds
Of the night sky
Your languid smile
Hush the lonely tears
Into a lullaby
Singing of gallantry and
Bravery
In battlefields where
You excel above all others...

You are not afraid,
Death has no power over you..
What you are made of,
many men only dream to possess
kindness in strength
compassion in faith,
courage that knows no bounds...
the very definition of a soldier
like no other...

it is not in your victory alone
that you are revered
it is your quiet conduct
of playing fair
and your innocence in
atrocities perpetrated
by the monsters around you...
but you did not capitulate
you are unblemished till your end

sweet hero ,gentle general
i lay a wreath of promise
on your grave...
a promise of remembrance
till the day i cease to be..
you will always be remembered..
as a loving husband,
a caring father...
and a soldier’s soldier
a man of principles
and the light of the men you
led in battle ,
the man they know
as their general in the sun...

truth lies in the heart
and there is no denying
that sincerity is bred from within
a space unidentifiable
and goodness is a virtue
impossible to clone
compassion for fellowmen
comes from teachings
of old folks of wisdom
and assimilating it comes
from a sense of responsibility
for the welfare of others

in other words,
love of self is placed second
and what is done be done
despite the pain of suffering
and never complain
nor put to shame
circumstances of some unknown god
who neither had a hand
in the goings-on of this world

for years as i metamorphosed
i watched you
the butterfly within the cocoon
all your beauty radiating
to those inflicted by so great a pain
and their suffering became a little less

because of you
i retained my belief in the human race
because of you
i learned to conquer my doubts
because of you
i believe we can still be free
and because of you
i know ,it is good to be alive..

Solemn and fervent kisses
Of the past
Beholden unto memories
Of golden yesteryears
In your mind
In my eyes
The laughing lies
Of unborn sighs

Figure the future
Inside an hourglass
Amused and bewildered
But bending reflexes
The body that cries
In the faithlessness
That refuses to die,
Is the same body
Whose thoughts run
In discord
Without ties…..

I see you
And you see me, naught
Caught in amazement
On the webs of a maze
You tell me
What I must decree
But how can you
When we both can’t be
The words to a windsong
In the fall of the summer long

Someone is worshipping
The fallen idol
Whose sorry pieces
Are strewn all over
The strawberry walls
There is blood
On its wounds
And tears in its eyes
But the prayers
Never stopped
Till the mid-morning sun
Shown its face from the clouds

Someone can hear
The green notes
Terrorizing the lobby
But the emptiness
Is magnified..........
The eerie harmony,
Fed the notes
That are out of tune
They silenced the laughter
When the song ended in pain

Where are the broken icons?
The windows of regret?
To fading memories
Forced a muffled scream
Prayers are only heard
When a crowd comes to cheer...
A star that is dying..
And her voice is cracking...
Destroyed and long gone
No longer the angel in the choir
She is silently weeping...

Such is her destiny
And thus unraveled her story
Let this fallen idol
Rest in peace....
Let her savor the happiness
Denied to her here in this
Miserable earth
Let her sing for joy
In the altar on high...
Let her tears dry
And her sorrows fly...
Let her voice fill the rainbows
Parading in the sky..

What verses are these,
Not worthy of thee...

Lost in words that
Would not let me be

In phantom misery
I chase this allegory
To chance upon your grace,
Oh, that I would trace
The now familiar,
Unfamiliarity
And stumble
Into that I mumble

For in your rhyme
No rhythm ever broken
Brand the mark,
In hidden cost
So much confusion
In this unholy fusion

What hast thou done?
Why push the quill,
In secret shadow?

I can not utter one more syllable
I can’t construct another phrase
But let me see ,the final draft
In your benevolent hand
Create a masterpiece, divine.....

There’s plenty more
Inside your core
Words flow like river,
Keep me whole

For no mask can hide
Nor lies, deny
Thou art,
The master of thine art

And in thee resides the words
Beating in thy heart
Love rages...
Thou art the soul of the ages!

(There are those who claim that the works attributed to William Shakespeare were actually written by Edward de Vere).

Celestial gardener
Grower of the seeds
Of spiritual flowers
Multi-colored scents
Of restful souls…
You plant on clouds, graciously
The stems and leaves
Swaying in the air
You hold lives in
Your gentle hands
In a little corner in heaven
Where the Almighty has
Assigned to you
To tend His garden
Of everlasting life
There is an immortal
Glow in your eyes
As you nurture these
Cosmic trees in
The hallway on high
No more sadness for you now,
No more painful tears
Or regrets
You have passed on to another form
Where sinister shadows do not exist
And darkness is defeated
By the white of the light
Rest easy now sweet gardener
And spread all your love and kindness
In the eternal garden called “heaven”

For: Francois Jeanne
05 August, 2009

'Tis the morning
to surpass all mornings...
The faint light of dawn
bathe its whispers on your face,
The beats of your heart
are controlled and deliberate
'Tis a recalcitrant heart
that has a mind of its own...

As you walk the path
that leads to the slow dance
that is your death,
your feet are firm
your eyes, alert
'Tis as if, it is not death
that you come to greet
But the passionate embrace
of someone, so long ago ,
you have loved....

Farewell, you say-
farewell to this world,
this nation and this people...
that cost you both
pleasure and pain

-But no regrets-

This morning, you die
willingly and with
poetry on your lips
"It is done", you say...
'Tis time to rest
Dear hero of mine
Tomorrow, you wake again,
looking towards the blue of the skies
challenging the blazing sunlight
if it can,
to eclipse the very essence of you....

It is still your name that we speak
with reverend sighs
your name that is forever etched
in the soul of our race...

Carnival roses bloom late
In early winter
A strange cloud of passion
2 strangers delight
Champagne of gold
Showers like turbulent rain
An adventure that whispers loudly
Of midnight joys

Desires, smoldering in the eyes
Delivered like shock waves
To the bodies,
Smash into souls
Like carnal sighs

With a hint of a tempting smile,
This, I dare say,
Once upon a time
I have met a tall, fair prince of Sweden
And I led him to the wild side
Of the garden of eden

blank paper
a white sheet
the purity of nothingness
when thoughts have gone wild
refusing to share mild pleasures
of the soul
leaving blank paper in white sheets
like a ghost in an anemic bedroom

i recall
fragments of the past
the pain of first love
the torments of a forlorn heart
and the shame of rejection
a youth that did not know better
i hear a small sound of laughter
from the corridors of regret
the ache of losing you was too much

have i loved you
without knowing your touch
how your skin would feel in my hands
and how your eyes sparkled when
joy sets in
how your mind could recreate a given
situation,
i don't know you, at all

yet you remind me of many things
of uninhabited beaches
of sugar while sea sands
of multi-colored butterflies
of wild flowers in the forest
and of my youth
(having loved you through the most of it)

the dawn is setting in
and i stare thoroughly
at a mental photograph of you
unretouched by time
i do not know where to begin
to end this love affair
long unattended, never consummated

and as i walk away
from my point of origin
i could only feel
that you have not died
from within me
fermented by years
this place you occupied
in my heart
has left a mark
a scar  i could not erase
nor can the tempestuous
changes accompanying life
you sleep within the soft place
inside my heart
that i have created for you....

glass slippers
lost forever
in a world where
no one sings
no one dares
and no one dreams
only puppets
ride their strings

hiding faces
without traces
of a single blemish
or anguish
****** like walls
stemmed from calls
of unproductive falls

shapes and sizes
epitomizes
love so lost
to hate embossed
wary a world where
trust would die
consumed into ashes
where heroes
once lie

faced by reality
without the possibility
of ever having tranquility
is a sad feasibility
in this ever-growing incredibility
of a world without sound durability

must i go on with my mockery
or shall i show you reversibility
continuing this charade of nobility
we are but dust in anonymity

tell time to stop
the tick of the clock
no sooner said of
words unspoken
a breath of tears cascading from within
if love be for a moment tolerant
then i can spend the hours wisely
into fantasy come running
alive with never a trace
of doubt...
but.....what is done is done
and what is now-
lost forever
such is a man's fate
in a short span of time
mere mortals fading
in hopeless shadows
blending in obscure background
a foreground of sorrow
and shame
i had my time to live and love
and so goes, i'll have
my time to die...

Body movements swaying
Voices in your eyes
Then the silence broke,
Into a mass of
Convulsing laughter
Fingers tickling my mind
With your scent

I brushed my hand
Through your hair
I sensed
Qualities of
Rare innocence
A sensual flight
On a panther’s gaze
Make up an indolent picture
Mesmerizing me
Into a deep ,uncomplicated slumber,

I hear  magic,
I hear music
My heart perceives
My touch declaims
The very essence
Of your name

There is something
More about you
Than just the way
You wear your clothes
Something more than just
A carve of a smile
Or a tilt of the head

When you walk by
Zephyrs whisper
Mighty low
Attesting to the birth
Of blossoms
And the prayer of trees
Accruing to the slow
Dance of sunlight
And the faint swell
Of the dewdrops
When the morning braves
The lush of the
Green grasses
As the world begins to wake…….

Blue jeans and bangles,
Mr. Bo Jangles
Black shirt and pendant,
A rebel unrepentant…..
Dyed hair and wrist bands,
Henna in your hands……..

But I am not blind,
I see you in my mind………

A confusion in rhapsody
A contradiction in harmony
Changing colors, off-key hues,
Syncopating off-beat cues…….

I want to see you in tuxedo
Where no crossovers,
Cross the line…..
I want to see you as you were
No make-over,No pretense…
When the fusion ends
And the fugue begins…..

For no matter how they change you
No matter what they say,
Your tuxedo origin will show
And there, your heart will go…..

Back to where it all began
Back when you were just a man….

No fame,
No game,

I love you now
And I will love you more,

Back then,
Back when,

You were just a man
Behind the piano

Into the night I seek
The silhouette of chance,
Black merges into white
A flight of dances
Step into the light
To erase the shadows
Of a man
Whose face over voice
In melancholic range
Now weeps beneath dreams
Of reckless prose
eager to know the birth
Of another dawn
In the arms and wings
Of past future strides…

The deadly dark of the
Running night
Is everywhere in sight
From bars to bedrooms
Juxtaposing
Each irreverent line of
Tomorrows yet to come
But has nothing to offer
That is of consequence

Forget the deranged sorrow
I say
Night has its blessings for sale
Turn your head to this side
And derail the empty wail
A breathtaking flight
Is a plight that is borrowed
From fateless time

Oh aphrodisiac nights
When the heart seals
The worldless spirit
I caress your face
With the touch of my mind,
I have known these moments before
When the throat runs dry
And feelings are high…
A song is conceived
By the magical sighs
Born to grow
With the sweet breath
Of love
Night blossoms
And withers into morn
The stars swoon
In the slumber of the moon
Maybe again
Your face will I see
As the creatures of mystery
Celebrate their
Change of colors
Outrageously
Into the night…..

The music drifted,
Then, faded
When I saw your eyes
There, I dreamed of paradise
You asked me to bring you
To my exotic land,
So with pleasure
I take your hand

Here in summer’s kingdom
Will we be,
You my angel
Flying free,
Like a bird that hurls
Its spirit in the sky
You spread your wings
And take me yonder, high

Tender did the moments
Travel by
Tender still the touch
That rested on my cheek
Warm and soft like
The tropical rain
Your voice I hear
And nothing I fear

Angel with the golden hair
From a land of winters
And midnight sun,
Kissed with the morning mist
Of sweet dewdrops
You come to me
One balmy moonlit night

Never again, will I be lonely
never in tears but joyous only
for you are the words in this poetry
you make me smile in wondrous revelry

The drugged door
Opened , then shut
Ushered an era
Of pernicious rebellion
A voice that stood up
To stand down
Conquering
And then conquered
In death
Be sleeping
Overdosed
And weeping…

Sing your protests
Vehemently
Hallucinate the dreams
That will never come true…
All your  false hopes
Are trapped in a
Revolving door
That shall never swing back
Nor can ever swing in…

Goodbye rock prince
Sleep well
In your forever slumber
I can still feel your music
And I can still hear your pain…
But so many years have passed now..
Since you’ve made your final bow..

Yet you remain
A misunderstood icon
A tortured soul
A misguided prophet
With a sensual face…
Screaming wildly
And being screamed at
In return

Goodnight my prince
I close the door
And you are gone…
But not really gone,
Your voice will always
Sing those haunted, twisted songs
You interpreted so well…
Selling your soul for a high..
Burying your sorrows where you lie

death can not touch you
for in the bliss of your
innocence
lies a power so great
that it defies all things temporal

your purity is your beauty
your humility, a tender reminder
of the ecstasy of living
that none can mar..
truly the light of morrow
shines in your eyes
and what can not be seen
by common vision
can be felt by the softness
of your youthful heart

I can not stop looking at
Your face,
For it is a countenance
That speaks of ages
Yet it is not old
And it will never be old
For you are like a song
That lasts forever
With words that save
The souls in dark oblivion

Therefore sing- and unto the night
Cast a light to shine upon us
Save us from this dreary depth
And lift us into heights of higher grounds
For it us you who knows the way
Out of this dreadful maze
Guide us with your soothing voice
Unto your memory let us rejoice
And through the eye of the day
Teach us the goodness of your way...

Neither fire nor storm
can wash the tide away
it is this earthy season
that takes the most of may
i plucked a seed from
whence it came
to plant a new breed
of unknown origin
i know not when i shall return
for every reason that is bare
i only know the beach is free
and the entrance must be so
it reminds me of wooden shells,
of starfishes and swimming trunks
can make an afternoon
an aftershock
of things that happened
and things to come

i walked the silent beach of home
with but one tragedy
i am alone......

Do not steal my moon
and leave me out to sea
with tears of passion....
Where is my moon?
the one that I pledge to
of my undying love,
how has it covered the sun
and still be hidden from sight?
how has darkness
with its heavy footsteps
Come to knock at my door,
yet leave the light
craving for more
of an empty musical score
In a night without the rays
of its breath,
making it a cynical stage
in a meaningless world...

I have come to ask you
In this moonless night of pain
Not to forget me,
when you close your eyes
to kiss another lips...

Do not forget me,
when you cradle another
one in a fervent embrace...

such spectacular feelings
of which I have never
come to know....
nor my eyes have come
to see....
nor my touch has come
to taste...

remember my name
and its sound of life,
remember my song
and its words of woe...

oblivion is death
in the hands of
a twisted dagger
piercing my heart
with a magnitude of sorrow
unmatched...uncontested...
with blood in
the wine of regret...

I ask thee only
to forget me not
For I will always
thee remember
Remember thy face,
they voice...
and all that in thee
I have come to love..

For if my moon were there
then I could swear
with all my might
and turn this lonely day
into a moonlit night
of chance,
and romance

Where is my moon?

Pieces of the shadows
Of the dying sun
Lie on the face of
The ever-moving sea
Tinting water with
Its orange hue
Rippling figures in
Shades of green and blue

Darkness hides
With unknown fear
But living legends
Live on a spear
Bravely facing enemies
Unseen and unheard
A deafening blast
Took its toll
And found its mark
But she lives….
Spilling blood
On  turbulent soil…
Temperatures rise with
Fists, to a boil…

I only see
The light in her eyes
Feel her passions
Like the fragrant breath
Of the willowed wind
Know her courage shall sustain
Her country on the run
In ruins, underneath the sun…

She is Pakistan’s muse
And she lives…
Her legend cries to be told
From far and near
It shall be heard….
Echoes of her voice
Casting shadows by the sea
She will persist
And none can resist
For then, we will know
That she will not go
Deep in our hearts
She will thrive
And survive
For legends like her
Shall always be alive….

She is  Pakistan’s muse
Her name is like a prayer
Say it softly and it soothes
Whisper loudly
And it moves
Like the pieces of the shadows
Of the sun
On the face of the ever-moving sea…

when have we become like this?
and what have we missed?
cynicism in a tryst
a superficial list
acquaintances in the mist
the art of courting is dead
the joy of loving , misled
and unto lust it is wed
our minds to this is fed
in loneliness we are led
have we loved and yet not loved?
have we known and yet not known?
our eyes behold it not
only bodies cold abed
the art of loving is dead.

Sky Lord,
Airborne, you are without equal
Unsurpassed in your ballet of the sky
Cloud dancing, rainbow colored hues
In this, you have paid your dues..

Born with a poetïc face
And a mind that raced in numbers
You walked tall among men
In riches degenerating into rags..
What began of dashing beauty
Became a scourge of grotesque painting

Aviator, with your broken bones
Break their hearts
In the mystery of your misery
Compensate what you lack
holding intimacies in your hands
Merge their bodies with empty promises
And the poison of the loss
Of your genius
with the disintegration of your sanity

Repeatedly in circles
You repeat your words
A hundred times
Sans grace of rhymes
Paper airplanes torn in shreds
Lie wasted in the grime
Of deathly dust
Like germs permeating
On blackened windows
Walls that hear your wails
And tales of woes

In the end you have lost all reason
In the sadness of your gloom
Many men have spelled your doom
Like an outcast in the desert
You were but an empty shell
No one there to care for you
Though they all gave in to you..
Silent tears deprived the laughter
In the midst of all the fame,
And all the fortune
You have died a lonely and
Neglected man

But, you are up the skies now
And I can just see you smile
Waving like a shy schoolboy.......
with delicate delight in your eyes,
Maybe there, in your spiritual might
You shall be free at last
For airborne, you are without equal
Like a true conqueror of the constellation
You shall sleep in an eternal sleep
Where all but peace shall stay awake
In your heart that is already mended

the man will stand
and take my hand
stop the band....
he has a magic wand

look, the photos click
in place, like a tick
of the clock so chic
is it a trick?

or are you an illusion
to my sad delusion
is it merely infatuation
or is it simply frustration?

you are so richly debonair
a quality so rare
of grace magnificently fair
i love the color of your flair

you don't intrigue me
by what you have, you see
it is though these things three:
your face, your smile and thee...

I know your name
And that is all I have
Of you
But in some strange way
You and I are the same
We are nobodies
In a world of somebodies
Lacking in social graces, we are
Obscured by oblivion
Sans the thrill of appeal, we are
Confined to the solitude
Of our loneliness
No true love will touch us
Even though we tried
And tried our very best
Our beauties are unattended
Because no one sees
What's inside of us
But I see you as a delicate flower
Your aura surrounds
Me with splendidness
What's in you is truly good
Though no one understands
And no one ever could
You and I,
The tears we shed are one
Though in this lifetime
We will never be popular
There is another world
That exists far beyond us
And there we shall stay
Without judgment
In men's eyes
Nor jest on women's lips
Friends we are and
Friends we'll remain
Until the sun tires of rising
And the night frowns its gloom
On all our doubts and
All our fears....

Come away with me.....

on the shores of sorrow
over the threshold of pain
my eyes indulge figures
only to perceive
the harshness of a cruel reality
that now exists and revolves
in synchronized rapidity
with the earth
there is so much fear i feel
so overwhelming
so full of problems haunting
tormenting the human race
nothing but diseases and calamities
to mar the much-treasured
peace of mind and happiness
such are no longer in consonance
with what is, today....
i do not know just when or where
some twisted minds convulsed
to form mass murderers and calloused
criminals
gathering the seeds of massive destruction
hurting and terminating
one's own kind
why this useless treachery and
waste of human lives?

on the shores of sorrow
i cling to maintain my sanity
the long walk home is laden
with thorns and shards of
broken glasses
my feet are numb ,my heart
in emotional turmoil
i gather my  inutile strength
to come to the point
confronted by eternal loneliness
i can only say
that sorrow is my comfort
and love, the only sustaining feeling
which keeps me alive
never to forget
that i am still a human being
and out there, is a heaven somewhere
with a promise of another life
in another kind of world..

the day is passing like a riot
a cloud of people
chant the jailbird's song
a string of placards
encircled the throng
a meteoric rise in the atmosphere
has reigned in the souls of many a fist....

the heart of a crowd
is listening wildly
to speeches and voices
emphasizing a point
and views that each and
everybody shares
a unity that binds the masses

there is one man
that head the arms and bodies
of this throng
and he comes on strong
to those who have done
the nation wrong
a slim and simple being
seeing, seeking and wanting
some changes
some soothing replacement
to this scourging arrangement

the sun shines through him
and although wounded with scars
knowing one cell to the other,
he keeps the challenge
in his soul
and tried to reach a porch
in the sun
for his people, for his children
and for all that will come,
after him.....

My beloved commanded clouds
With his wings spread wide
Beneath the sun
In his silent rapture he ran
Rings around the moon
With speed unheard of
In altitudes untested
He was the uncontested
Prince of the blue skies

My beloved’s eyes
Reflect the yellow horizon
At the end of the ocean wall
He was fearless in his quest
He was a cut above the rest
His daring knew no boundaries
He had no fear of the unknown
Way out yonder ,there he flew
Where no other ‘s ever been before

My beloved’s ways up in the
Air was never wayward
There among the white formations
He was unsurpassed
A venerable hero of his generation
He had set his mark so steady
In the echoes of history
And though his life upon the ground
Was less than perfect
Up there,  he was without equal
And this is how
He’d like to be remembered
For he carved his name
on the soft cotton clouds
And though his magic chariot
Now lies majestically still,
he is truly,
ever truly
the beloved son of
the great big blue skies