When you are a poet
you don't place yourself on a pedestal
don't spit venomous hate
think fellow writers are dismal.

When you are a poet
you don't feel a superiority
fellow writers you gleefully berate
make yourself perversely witty.

When you are a poet
your heart is a little more wide
you don't fume and fret
readers are not on your side.

If you are a poet
you know better than to be arrogantly vain
don't carry ego's sinful weight
but let your art pour through your pen.

The conductor looks at me
and then at my ticket
the train is running on full steam
splitting the night with monstrous weight
cutting darkness by its beam.

A mess up he says is always on the card
in this journey's hurly burly
if you are even a little off guard
you pick up one too early.

It keeps happening more with good ones
taken by jumping the queue
denied a trial one fair chance
lifted before they are due.

I am amused by his strange remark
what he means find hard to get
seems the guy talks too much at work
can't quietly just check ticket.

Haven't a clue sir to what you say
the mess up and jumping the queue
make it clear if I may pray
this lifting before it is due.

Holding the ticket before my eyes
the conductor points at the date
unpleasant though this little surprise
you are traveling on tomorrow's ticket.

It's a small bed we share
barely enough for the two
but big enough for the pair
to see the years sail through.

The wood now creaks with age
shrunk thin the old mattress
weighed down with passing days
buoyed up with embrace.

The pillows are thick with stains
of tears that flowed all the while
from rivers of joys shared pains
upon travel of the long trying miles.

Loyally it carries us along
our bed of priceless worth
could mere wood be that strong
if not bonded with warmth!

I'll stay here under this dense tree,
Adjacent sea shore,
Here I'll carve my hut,set my bed,hear a lullaby.
Here where waters beat their drums upon rocks,
And the evening wind whispers to the ears of the cypress swamp.

Here,this very place,
I'll carve my resident,set my mat and rest my soul.
When eternity comes calling,
upon humanity,
Together in haste I'll gather myself,
And to my maker I'll return.

Down a peaceful, quiet lane
The two-story farmhouse awaits
Bathed in evening hues
Of rich lavenders, pinks,
And dusty apricot
The lilac scented breezes blow
Whispering stories of summer
Let me dance in pastures
Of buttercups and wild daisies
Where horses graze contentedly
And Virginia bluebells sway
Where time becomes stuck
And lets me live this golden moment
Just once more

**~Marian~

warm
spring day stroll
next to those
nearly naked trees
their tiny leaf buds
that flanks both
the creamy
cloud swirled
dreamy light blue sky
and the pebble strewn  dirt
path
curving  through
the local cemetery
not far from the railroad tracks
near the creek
with the squeaky metal bridge
my neighbor's leashed
fierce little  ankle biter
marks his spots
between
the plots