she gathers them up
holding them gently in her arms
there are more every day
like harvesting flowers
pick them when they are in full bloom
she walks barefoot in the fields
in a powder blue dress
big floppy hat to keep off the sun
she gathers them up
and brings them to the boatman at the river
he gives her one of the four coins he collects
for each one he ferries across
to the gates...
the gates....
one bright with golden promise of joy
the other dark and cold...
she hates the sight of the gates....
she wants her flowers to stay the way they are forever
tranquil as life in the country
serene as a sleeping smile...
she walks the battlefield that night
gathering up the fallen soldiers
she is death
come to harvest the late bloom
come to gather the souls for the ferryman
across to the gates of forevermore...

the cascading sunlight folds
itself over the tables and chairs
making the bland beautiful
as she sits with smiles
ever-present spoken exquisiteness of words
she is the guardian at the gate
she is the handcrafted perfection
spun out from the threads of heartstring
sewn into her fiery love of rock n roll
into her gentle quiet lover's restful adoration

the cascading sunlight flows
over the chipped tile floor
like a slow flood of cool waters
inked into the deluge are the images
of days shared here
of the worlds within the music that plays
of the moments where her happy eye captured me

the cascading sunlight rushing
up the far wall as sunset inhales all the day's joy
and then exhales all our gathered loves
like purity
like beauty
like her sweet heart

the cascading sunlight renews us all
this is the birth of my new world
this is the journey that i never knew
till after i had taken its first steps

© 2018 mark john junor all rights reserved

Standing at the edge of the lake
morning fog fading into the light wind
the forest alive with every small creature
giving voice to the rise of the sun
with each one putting its own beautiful song
into a symphony of summer...
this moment in my heart
a cool treasure from nature
a journey from sleepy places
to a joyous celebration
of the natural world

A single page of her
fills her lover's world
ardent appetite to be cradled like the  
adoration of a mortal unexceptional goddess
who sometimes has high-heeled shoes of clay
leaves her and her lover to waver among
joys shared blissfully diffused by tears shed quietly
A single page of her is written
with the fundamental spirit of a lust for love
an ambition to live loves dream
which is central to every man and woman's heart
A single page of her is provender for the soul
with a common language of immortal romantic notions

A single page of her
just a human being
a lover of another human being
just an exceptional love within an uncomplicated heart
a softly written cage open to lights of loving warmth

A single word of her
fills the canvas with brilliant colors
takes on the shapes of this feverish love affair
takes on the hue's of these hearts at ease
that wrestle each other's naked souls
then cleave to each other with a dire thirst
A single word of her statuesque illustration
histories and futures softly spoken in the animated night
expressions of this average celestial throne
this world of exceptionally average simple beauties
A single word of hers
that I have never actually heard
but knowing its there unspoken in her eyes
just a human being

A single picture of her
fills a poet's hands with rich verse
words laden with potent essence within their expression
as wild as the wind in the deepest part of the rain
as enriched as breathing exaltation and splendor
her photograph pasted to the mirror's edge
as if she were a reflection of dreams
as if perfection had a name
A single picture of her
embroidered by a light that shines
only from some souls
a warmth that greets every passing stranger
an intensity that verges on fire

A single moment of her time
leaves impressions upon you that will breathe within you
growing in the remembrance
like roses upon the vine
interwoven and lovely in the warm light
just a human being
but she will always be
just Kristen
© 2017 mark john junor all rights reserved

Breaking open this closed hand
revealing true natures
and altered images
strangers and friends
all longing for a sure path
never seeing but always believing

purchased illusions
price of a cup of tea
or handcrafted delusions
purchased with a lost love
never to be regained

break open this closed hand
revealing the gift
of heartfelt promise
to always love always be there
can you not see
every tomorrow
will always be a reflection of today
until you actually change what you do
who you are
how you live

unclench that closed hand
quit clinging to all your yesterday's worlds
let all you carry fall behind you
never seeing but always believing
that the road ahead holds promises of futures bright
that now things will change
love renewed in your cleansed heart
build  warm day for the winter world
© 2017 mark john junor all rights reserved

we are all searching for ourselves
in the desperate scribblings of our own pages
seeking the heights of beautiful light
in the darkest corners of night
terribly remembering
beautifully forgetting
we are all apologists begging for
scraps from a happy hearts table
our lives are lived from roadside signs
that proclaim our redemption is just around the bend
and some thief savior or ***** saint gonna
clasp us by the hand lead us to a promised land
seeking the heights of beautiful light
in the darkest corners of night
terribly remembering
beautifully forgetting
on our pages, we escape angrily  
on our pages, we are imprisoned willingly
taste that chain holding you down
french kiss the locks that hold you in place
write with a fever of words
that make your world dizzy with desire
write with the sweat of her ******* as your ink
write with the depth of his eyes as your page
the poem you carve out of your struggles
the poem you breathe into the winter night cold hard rain
is the poem you will be remembered for
is the one that you put your soul into
while you were seeking
while your heart was searching
in another life I was golden
in another life, you were made of sunshine
in another life, we were together

traffic in dreams
the deeper the love
the longer it will be to pay it off
deeper the diamond to carve from your heart
the darker the desire
the more cold cash
the harsher the wind in the lonely night

take sandpaper to your luxurious soul
but you keep its stain from your pretty eyes
pretty face barter for fish n chips
pretty words barter your bed and breakfast
dress it all in fashion from magazines
the strange combination of gloss and paper thin disguise
the strange combination of truth and lies

the greasy haired stranger
peers with all his might into the mirror
trying to find the man hidden within
he traffics in dreams
will sell you a plot of land
and the rainbow that comes with
ten by ten souls wide
ten by ten deep
sell em to you for a taste of the pretty
sell em to you for a touch of the tender
so rancidly reflected in his greasy smile

you thought the weight was easy to bear
thought that the lie you tell yourself suffices
but dreams are brittle thin walls you hide behind
watch the cracks spread across the pretty picture
it is painted with
watch the colors fade like sweet summer sunshine
the sweet wine turned bitter like tears
he sells you a dream that must be forever replaced
with an ever darker version
he sells you a lie that you will come to see vividly
it won't taste so sweet for so long
it will taste like dust
it will taste like loss

you seek him out once again in the dark city passage
his greasy hair fallen long ago
skin gone gray
he found the man in the mirror
he found his answer in all the chaos
tastes like dust
tastes like bitterness
seek him out to find he is gone
only a shell remains
a brittle shell

no-one gets cheap seats
without paying the price

the polished hand of admirers heralding a new poem
they have come so often to rub their eyes on your ink-stained page
leaving behind papercuts of emotion with which they grieve
for the words you spread on their sweaty palms
the polished hand of admirers...
wet with anticipation of the latest beachside laughing clown
he is a walking breathing cataclysm written for her comforts
written in adoration's delight and true loves of her tender hand
she lay in amongst your pages on the bedspread
like a spilled wine **** to the tongue of sensibility
like a spilled wine that intoxicates and leaves
watch her swaying hips fade away into darkness
she will bounce and glide on another man's stripper pole
if you fail to call her back...
the polished hand of admirers heralding your waking thought
muted cheers as your pen makes wicked strokes on empty page
like a dancing blade carving your wooden words
till they sing like beauties breath on cold still air
till she is your warmth wrapped so delicately in your twisted bedsheets
she mutters a cough as she puts flame to cigarette
and smiles at your attentions
she is a living poem
that you write ink and page
the polished hand of admirers will never see
how pure simple ***** girl is so intoxicating
how lush and enticing her gyrating beneath you really is
the polished hand of admirers like you go to bed and sleep
while your dreams are of her dancing swift and sweet
theirs are the dreams of pens cutting on page
like a dancing blade carving wooden words

© 2016 mark john junor all rights reserved

each unfolding hour
it's your warmth that sustains my heart
its that light in your eyes that rushes through me
fills all my dreamings with the colors of summers day
reach out brush back a wild loose hair from your face you smile
run my lips over the edge of your tender ear
whispering sweet somethings and silly nothings
just to hear your soft giggles....
we build a home in the field
run barefoot in the tall grass
feel the wind on our faces
tread on the moss covered stones
our world is the essence of our love living brave and free
undying flame of desires heart and soul
passion enfolded in your gentle hands
tender words felt from deep within
spoken while we are exploring each other
wrapped in each others arms
******* and play long into sweet night...
find you with waking eyes
morning light upon your soft skin
each unfolding hour to come with the warm day
we will walk hand in hand the dusty trail
to the mountain top
you'll read your french romance novel
and I will drift and dream head in your lap
you sustain me each and every day
run barefooted in the rain
hold you in the pure sunshine
softly run my hands on you
release my soul into your arms
forever loving forever loved

© 2016 mark john junor all rights reserved

her empty heart keeps beating...
her empty gaze still sees
her voice a shell filled with the cold sand
sluggish monotone wet
of a violent empty sea....
she romances the dark masterpiece
of your voiceless screaming....
she sits with you in the gray room
her fists balled up in limp rage...
she is the daughter of her cherished heartbreak
the end result of her old lover dark and bittersweet...
a tasty gem all bright and beautiful
wrapped up in the bandages
of her battlefield romances...
her empty heart keeps beating...
her empty gaze still sees...
her warm hand still gives comfort
she is still the life behind your unmoveable force
she is a woman of these modern days
strong in ways not even she can see
beautiful beyond what any mirror can see
her heart will find its way
the love will return to eyes
her voice will grow strong once again
await her heart's spring
await her and she will see
you are the man
that was meant to be

a desolate bargain
all my dead days with a
crown of thorns
for a single gesture of warmth

all my days
as her silent saint of persecuted tears
my fireside midnight in the comforting
company of what appeared to be angel
their dead languages ring true to
my long deceased heart

feel light as a feather
like the wind itself come to tear
my very soul from the mortal soil of
this unforgiving life

from my burying ground
seen a burning light cresting the east
burned with a silent majesty
an unspoken glory come to lift
my eyes from these dark workings
heard an old man with a child's voice
telling wasn't my crown of thorns to wear
wasn't angles but shadows
come to keep the midnight watch with me

still a saint of her persecuted tears
now that the full weight of
this mortal dirt soul
hangs upon me like a corpse
all the living done wasted away

i just want to tell you
because your all i ever wanted...
all our night on the dancefloor
under the lights so magical....
all our beaches in moonlight romantic
embrace so enticing.....
i just want you to know
how much every moment with you
has meant to me....
every walking hand in hand
in sweet summer sunshine so warm....
every moment we whispered **** things
to each other and how it makes you blush and giggle
so wonderful....
just want you to hear
how special you are to me
how deep our love truly is.....
every day i find new love for you
find the beauty between us
so forever sunshine in my heart.....
every kiss shared softly
lips caress with a loving soul song
so much of what my heart has longed for
all my life.....
just needed you to hear
i love you
forever magical love together

when all your stories have been told
when you can no longer invent a twisting tale
that will captivate
that will romanticize
that will fill the heart with images of beauty and
lost love returned at long last
when the ink has dried on your last tale
and all the shadows of characters that
live on in your memories imagination
have been lost in the dusts of time
will you write me a song
to keep my lonely heart amused
while i wait here by the dying fire
waiting to hear your footsteps coming home to me
waiting to hold you close to me
while you whisper tales of your travels
while you whisper tales meant to distract me
from the stain on your hand
i see it so clearly but i try to blind myself
i curse my weak heart for doubting
i can clearly hear the lie in your eyes
but i can only think of your sweet lips upon mine
your cold words have frozen my heart
and i lay awake till past dawn
hoping beyond hope
i know one day you will fail to return
but i cling to our brief moments
i cling to the wish
long after wishing had failed
sit and stare into the dying flames
numb to truth
numb to lies

the summer sun hangs overhead
held there by her dreamy heart...
softly painting heavens with the fluffy clouds
softly illustrating passions devoted kiss from
the delicate dance lovebirds do in the
beautiful summer air...
she writes me romantic stories as
the first stars to pierce the
tide of evening skies
washes away the last of summer afternoon...
with the gentle blessing of
her dreamy heart she entices me to her bed
and into her arms...
with wondrous stories she has found in
the summer eve's graceful song
she tells our profound love story
set against summers beautiful day...
everyday we find each other's sweetest desires
in each others dreamy eyes

she was a fiery soul
emotions spilled out of her cup
like a bittersweet wine
an aftertaste of tears
salty as the sea rushing beneath me
heartfelt as the lonely moonrise
burning like the hearth of home remembered vivid but far
inviting you back from your cold journeys
the faceless sea's of humanity's wanderlust
from the dark romances of uncaring hearts
feel your heartbeat thunder in the stillness
hearing your tear ravaged breathing
as you struggle to find solace in sleep
her words carried on the thick air remembered vivid but far
like swans floating on the still waters of childhood
like images my heart paints when
her electric touch torches my soul
she leaves a wake of silence and
appreciative eyes behind her drifting the worlds ways
she comes to my bed now
slips into my cold sheets
and with lips forsworn to her fiery tongue's wicked ways
and crafts a bird from blood and bone
a flightless swan that will forever be companion to
to my seasong
moonrise comes with a silence
that my heart can never greet with joy

midnight lived in her eye
shadows of which graced her words
with a tale of yearning to be told
one of the heat of her passions self-denied
one of heartfelt awe of the power love could hold
traveling this dark evening with naught but starlight to behold
with naught but the souls secrets to keep you warm
wrapped in the threadbare veil of the lies you tell yourself
fluttering in the ever present cutting wind
with great care unwrap the bandages of hurt you hold to your heart
with great pity unleash your hope for tomorrows dawn
it will begin with the glimmer in her dark
every soul must walk alone with midnight
before they can understand the breaking of daylight
feel its warmth with their soul
know the truth
you need never walk alone