Do not come gently into my dark night!
Intrude boldly on this loneliness
That creeps through my veins like a killing blight,
And no words of comfort can suppress

Blast the prison walls of this tortured mind,
Setting it free from its doleful plight;
Send it soaring toward realms yet unassigned
In its quest to find Love's guiding light

Pound loudly upon my heart's bolted door,
Shout to stir and wake these sleeping dreams;
Let them once again walk Hope's blissful shore,
And wade through Euphoria's glistening streams

All the bridges of caution must be burned,
Unfurl audacity's fearless claws;
Brashness is welcome where Love is concerned,
For Love fulfills the greatest of God's laws!

I searched for Love in my garden,
Parting each flower's petals,
I searched through briars and brambles.
Pricking my fingers on the nettles

I searched for Love in the heavens
Where God and the angels are;
While floating on a cloud, I searched,
Only to bump my head on a star

I searched for Love at the seashore,
Scouring each tide, high and low;
When a wave carried me away
I almost drowned in the undertow

I searched for Love in the desert,
Sifting sand through my fingers,
Burned by the sun, choking from thirst
(The torment of it all still lingers)

I searched for Love among the ruins
Of heartaches I overcame;
I found not a trace ..... all was gone,
Not a single dream was left to claim

If searching for Love brings such pain,
What can be done about it?
Nothing! but continue to search ---
It's more painful living without it

Perhaps you are not aware that many of our recent poems are not being seen by all members. I discovered this a few months ago when I was asked to "log in." I have to log in every week, and I don't know why.  Anyway, I had visited the site of a member who told me he had posted a new poem.  I read the poem, then realized I could not comment because I was not logged in.  After I did that, his latest poems disappeared - nowhere to be found.  Well, the next time I had to log in, before I did that, I checked out various other sites and found the same problem - all latest poems, going back as far as 4 months - were not visible to me after I logged in.  I have notified management at least 3 times of this problem, but received no acknowledgement, and the problem goes on. So many times I get Error 502 and cannot gain access to the site for days.  So if any members have noticed their readership and comments diminishing, this problem may very well be affecting you, too.  Perhaps if we all "storm the citadel" and complain enough, this problem will be resolved.  Good luck to us all!

Eight chimes of the clock announced the new day
As I struggled to get up from my bed;
Could this be morning? It's so dark and drear .......
But that's what the clock said

And so I arose, still numb to the truth,
'Til I heard the whisperings of woe and dread
Repeating "He's gone."  Words I can't accept .......
But that's what my heart said

At once, his solemn promise was revived:
"Our hearts, tethered by Love's unyielding thread
Cannot be parted," and so I believed .......
Because that's what he said

Love was the sum of all things beautiful,
Near my heart, woe and sorrow dared not tread;
And I know his love was deep as the sea,
Because that's what he said

No, dear reader, his love was not fickle,
He now sleeps in Heaven's celestial bed,
While I share endless nights with Loneliness .......
Because that's what Fate said!

They say that Love is but one step from Heaven,
And about Love there is not much else to tell;
But in its absence, our steps are misguided.
How true ...... I've already got one foot in Hell

This thing called Death is but a return
To the soil from whence we came,
The soft clay of this Earth, our components,
Formed into shapes, then given a name

The dust we see floating on sunbeams
Is the soul in disarray,
But when arranged in the proper order
Molds us into who we are today

How we cherish these bodies of clay,
Though we don't get to choose them,
Defective or whole, in sickness and health,
When Death calls, how we fear to lose them

Proud as the peacock we wear our flesh --
Fine particles of matter!
But Death carries us all to the same fate:
We rot, and the particles scatter

Our value diminishes to naught
When we realize this truth:
"From dust we came, to dust we shall return."
(Though you may find my ramblings uncouth)

And those who shed tears at our graveside
Cry for their own destiny,
For well they know that they too shall become
A speck of dust in eternity

So many words of love flooding the atmosphere,
Anxiously I wait, yet not one reaches my ear;
Endless tweets and emails go soaring through the skies,
Amorous verses, but none intended for my eyes

Charming refrains, scattering love all around me,
I just don't understand ...... why hasn't love found me?
Am I perhaps a spirit that no one can see?
**** you, Fate, for this unwarranted cruelty!

Empty arms abound, yet none offer to hold me --
What joy is found in an embrace! (so they've told me);
So many love-filled hearts, yet none to call my own,
A world filled with people, yet here I sit, alone