When I seek asylum from distress
And Love gently takes me 'neath its wing,
I'm numb to the pain of loneliness,
My heart becomes immune to its sting,

Fleeting are the memories of sad tears
Cried in moonlit hours of solitude
While a host of feathered balladeers
Offer their orchestral interlude

I vaguely recall the sleepless nights
That were spent soothing my anguished heart,
Forcing my spirit to soar to heights
Where angels their mercy might impart

No longer is my fate predicted
In the sad song of the mourning dove;
I'm drugged .... and hopelessly addicted
To the divine ****** that is Love!

Tell me what things you've seen, Brother Moon,
From your outpost at the top of the world,
Stories of lovers' trysts cause me to swoon .....
Please relate how Cupid's arrows were hurled

But tell me Friend, what else do you see
When you scan the four corners of this globe?
Do you sigh viewing man's iniquity?
You've earned the right to wear the judge's robe

Does our intolerance cause you pain,
Does our wickedness ever make you cry?
A pity our dragons have not all been slain ---
You witness it all from your perch on high

But perhaps you might take a minute
To recall if you've seen my darling boy;
You know, my world's cold, there's no life in it,
Without his love my heart can find no joy

Please, won't you help me to find my man?
One winter morn he left without a word;
But how foolish of me to think you can
Possibly keep track of each fallen bird

O, let the stars tumble from the sky!
What do I care if the moon turns to stone!
Without someone to love what need have I
Of heaven's jewels if I must walk alone

Forgive me if I've broken the rules
By cursing the heavens for my despair;
Mortals are no more than a crew of fools
On a ship that inflates its sails with prayer

No longer will I burden the air
With prayers whose replies are long overdue;
But dear Moon, is there hope in my despair .....
Or will my lonely nights be spent with you?
And then the moon gently caressed my hair,
Reaffirming what I already knew

As I watch Autumn glide into Winter,
Sparse are the fond memories I invoke,
Just a fragment here, and there a splinter,
But Love left not one ember to stoke

Hopes and dreams that held promises of Love
Hang like withered fruits upon the vine;
And my heart, like the solitary dove,
Mourns for the love that never was mine

As the hourglass marks the eleventh hour
I watch anxiously as the sand falls;
Loneliness wields its consummate power
While Death impatiently walks the halls

Is there time to right this egregious wrong ---
Will Fate discipline its heart of stone?
Before the last refrains of my swan song
Might I yet ascend Love's golden throne?

Only Fate foreknows all that's yet to be,
But it has no voice with which to speak;
Silently it walks toward eternity
Veiling the havoc it may yet wreak

If only to alter Fate's fickle mind
And beg Time to walk a slower pace,
The days yet to come might be redesigned
To show me a more merciful face

And each path I take might be strewn with flowers,
When I bet on Love, I just might win .......
Ah, what futile dreams fill these lonely hours,
Trying to calm the churning hell within!

I watched love take wing, swooping in constant flight,
Seeking a heart upon which it could alight

I watched Love clamoring for recognition,
Begging to be claimed without inhibition

I watched Love floundering in desperation,
Wearied of its flight with no destination

I watched Love grow weaker with each passing day,
Pleading for sustenance to keep death at bay

I watched Love yield to its frail mortality,
Defeated by the truth of reality

I watched Love succumb, forlorn and rejected,
Now it's dead ..... never to be resurrected

I'm needing Love like the rose, needing rain,
With bowed head awaits dawn's dewy cloud;
Her frail petals wither in distress
Beneath deprivation's brutal shroud;
So Love denies me its sacred balm,
Thrusting me among the loveless crowd

I'm needing Love like the stars need the sky
To recline in its endless caress;
So my lonely heart seeks a domain
Where sadness and pain dare not transgress --
A sanctuary where I'm absolved
From the tyranny of loneliness!

I'm needing Love like the birds need their wings
To worship from a loftier perch
Their God, who tends to their every need,
Yet, how vain and futile's been my search!
All my pleas for Love have gone unheard,
Doomed to die in a vacuous church

I'm needing Love just as Nature needs Spring
To rub Winter's long sleep from her eyes;
Please tell me that Love is sleeping, too,
And from its slumber it soon shall rise;
Tell me Love will come and carry me
Through the golden gates of Paradise;
Tell me! and then wait for the heavens
To resonate with my joyful cries!

Blithe and carefree as a wandering cloud
He drifted one day into my life;
How sweet were the hours Heaven allowed,
Tranquil - even though misery was rife

At times I'd been blinded by the sun,
But in his shade the path became clear,
No regrets appeared when day was done,
Joy, even hope, dared to draw near

Life is such a melancholy thing
When the heart is denied what it craves;
Now at Love's throne I was worshiping,
Dead dreams resurrected from their graves!

Like dormant seeds in a Springtime rain
My heart was awakened from its sleep
To welcome Love to its new domain.
(No longer would Heaven watch me weep)

But Heaven scoffed at my happiness!
Once again, Fate bared its ugly streak;
A brewing storm foretold my distress,
And in an instant my world turned bleak

Restless gusts were rehearsing their flights,
Like fierce gales that form upon the sea,
And as clouds often do on starless nights,
True to the wind, he drifted far from me

On this grave don't lay your spray of flowers
As tearful mourners bid me adieu;
I'll not be moved by their sweet perfume,
Nor be dazzled by their brilliant hue;
Your past deeds defined my curtain call --
Deeds that bear the bitter taste of gall

Please, let there be no sorrowful tears,
Don't pretend to lament my demise;
Remain unmoved as you were in life
When you saw tears flowing from my eyes;
Show no sorrow, not even a bit,
Lest you be branded a hypocrite

Come not to the mound where I've been laid
While uttering some meaningless prayers,
Once Death announces the end of day,
For broken hearts there are no repairs;
Don't seek forgiveness while on one knee --
I'll be slumbering in tranquility

As I drink from the Eternal Fount,
Do not sully the Waters of Peace,
Keep your distance, this soul is at rest,
At my grave is where your torments cease!
To the Light I will have made my way
As shreds of a wretched life decay