for that moment
in the rush and heat of the crowd
under the television cameras and brilliant lights
there was camaraderie and purpose
there was the beauty of belonging to something bigger than
something grand and bright with promise
stood shoulder to shoulder against the powers that be
made the man back down
comrades in arms shouted the chants
held the line
for that moment we were heroes
we were heroes
but now a swift year has flown by
and the struggle no longer makes the five o'clock news
the cameras and crowd is gone
but you linger
because you want it all back
want to hold the line shoulder to shoulder one more time
chant and raise hell for the cause one more time
we were heroes
heroes
but its all faded
down to loud rebels in quiet coffee shops
down to the faded glory of 'remember when's'
and old photographs

'its the last stand'
she laughed as she said it in passing
as she walked down to the riverbank
from the sky the sun broke through a bank of clouds
and lit the scene with brilliant light
could see every detail in her beautiful face
could see the flaws in her thinking
but even knowin it was folly
followed her down
cause when you got your hand in another's heart
you follow even into the most foolhardy
cause for good or ill
we set the day spinning
and time passed slow while we waited for
things to pan out
while we waited to see how deep we had
just dug ourselfs
she just laughed
the rain had finally passed
and the sun slowly walked out from behind
and the grass sparkled with hundred fold tiny suns
like the night sky in broad daylight
barefoot she wanders these deep waters
holding up the edge of her new dress
giggling like a promise
of a future
of hopes
she was a woman of the season
and she lived it well

damnable heresies of the public mouth
spoken with such lack of leisure as to lay to rest
any notion of that we could go home forgiven and rewarded

damnable heresies of the public mouth
it speaks to the common mans basest fears
so to keep it to its brief dance on needle tip
they make us guess at the script of the
publicly performed production

while there it shone with
such dense bright light
to challenge even the sun
in her ancient chariots ride across
the vault of sky
to challenge even the darkest
of leather skinned harlots
whos nightly trek weighs upon them
till their weary eyes shut
and they slip to a dreaming of innocence once again
they dream they are children again
climbing in a world of trees

were it that we were children again
that some shiny trinket
could purchase from the day such
smiles and joys in you
that this darkness would be
forever banished from your life
that you would be reborn
to the warm heart i hold so dear

but it is heresies of the heart to wish such things
and that dear friend is
another poem altogether

she moves sleepheaded in the bed next to me
and in the stillness of the mornings dim light
her hand finds its way across my chest and like an idle dancer spins
nonchalant circles of heart shaped wishes on my skin
her lips draw next to my ear and
with a soft wet sound give a tender
lesson in the beauties of her naughty delights
the first tentative kiss in the tempest of her seductions

she wraps herself up in my arms
a gift to own darker delights
and caresses my eyes with her own
the soft texture of her gaze thick with passions and desires
deep with her heart touching mine
and in that gaze i feel her soul moving as one with mine
as our kisses melt us

she pleads with her hands all along my face
and down along my body
she begs and teases the flickering desires
of our heat that rise like the fires of a thousand suns
and with delighted sounds from deep within her
as she explores and plunders
as we dance in the tangled sheets
she finds again the desires that go hand in hand
with her hearts loves
that go hand in hand with her hearts dreams

timeless times later
as we lay entwined in the afterglow of our love's hot tempest
and with such a tender and timid voice looking deep into my eyes
tells me she loves me and no other
i brush back the strand of hair that
has fallen to her sweat bound brow
and kissing her gently
tell her that i too love her and no other

this is no ordinary love affair
this is one soul romancing another with every carnal delight
with every souls true treasure of loving embrace
this is passion
she is my dreadlock princess
i am her poet in shining armor
this is how love was meant to be

his blistered claw marks on the tarmac
lead from burning horizon
to the chlorine haze of the motel pool
where she lay in a barren repose
one string of her bikini top lay broken
but the slow pace of events gives no rush to repairs
she simply languidly sips from her ice tea
and bathes in golden sunlight
while he waits his just deserts as her footstool
muttering a shapeless version of complaints
but i see his worried expression
i know that his assassin commentary
under a different name is still a paper thin lie
the world has never known darker places
than the souls of men
and the devices they set to toil in their name
even fates twisted clown must pause
to consider
the weight of his thorny crown
for the eyes of a thousand lost souls
he has influenced are upon him
and you cant negotiate the stain of the past
once it has set
you can only spend your days rubbing
misery into its spreading web
i lean down and slip him a simple note
turn back the page brother
of the inglorious fates
and in these dwindling hours
of our old age
let us forgive our youthful selves of transgression
and as i depart the motel for the last time
i see the blistered claw marks
of his steady decline back to the burning horizon

center of my soul
down there in the wet hot sandy soils
down there where the black dog digs
her claws furiously tearing at the thick grainy clumps

center of my soul
an inescapable silence clouds my thoughts
like her deep eyes lingering on my open face
like her words seeping slowly across the hard wet breeze

soft finger traces figurines into the damp frosting
in the bathroom mirror
a tactile thought
a brief pinpoint of light in the darkness of her embrace
her soft tangle of skin wraps itself across the surface of me
i feel her moisture and her warmth
texture of crumpled paper burning
texture of a smoke filled room
texture of a person who allready left

joined in a single moment
by a conspiracy of lusts
joined slowly in this dark touching
united in that quick heat of wanting

never seen in her face
never hoped in my closed eyed dreaming
the silence slips slowly past our window
it is everywhere
in the damp morning grass
in the temple of night
surpassed in the vault of morning light

illustrated in ink
her dark hearts tales all told
all but one
his visage haunts her every breath
her bronzed skin
the inked pallet upon which i lay
the foundations of this dream
like a golden chalice laid upon a roughian's hand
wet lips pause round the more difficult things
like things she would never wish to say
as she weighs them carefully on her pierced tongue
dry eyes as she weighs implications on her unadorned mind
find her soft hand
and unleash my aloneness on it gently
she smiles a quick vulnerable smile
i reassure with strength
she looks up into my eyes with doe in headlights love look
we draw images of ourselves for others to dream upon
we draw images of what others tell us we are
end of the day
its alone in that mirror of your own closed eyes
that you must measure
you must pass or fail

stillness fashioned from the bleached bones of the eternal sea...
heart fashioned from the indecipherable night...

all the madness of
her young breathing heart distilled
from the rushing growing lusting living giving loving longing wanting
found in a single tear of her fondest fare thee well....

unyielding to forces of nature
his will easily overthrown
by a single touch of her honey sweet lips...
he thinks about her and surrenders...

found her on a beach of wood
washed up on an
evenings tide of chellos and champagne
her fragrant lace done up in a knot
lay in a tattered heap
thin bittersweet joy
all too fleeting
irreplaceable perfections kitty

laying here in the dark of night
listening to my lovers soft breathin'
listening to her sweet dreams as they sweep her
in beauty's company through the
mystical and the magical
and i hold her tight to me
and think of how wonderful it is
to be a part of her magic
part of her world
to be part of her tender smiles
given so freely to each and everyone
like a kiss of a mystic rose

and as sleep sweeps me away
i know i will find her heart waiting for me
with a great laugh we will run
and play in the sweet visions of
such beautiful forever sunrises
like a homecoming
in her arms
sweetly dreamin of eachother
and i will know her as she will know me
body and soul
touching eachother like stars touching the sky
like homecoming
waking in her arms
to thouse beautiful eyes lovin me

the keepsake of former years shattered
slowly seep thru each dense  syllable
like glass ground underfoot
as memory's get shredded by change
i insulate myself from the unbearable
and sift thru the ashes

she presses her face to the glass
staring out with a worn eye
pushing her stone
she gasps for breath
the room she infests has a chipped and bruised floor
where her naked feet dance in the dust bunnys
leaving traces like tales of her days
footfalls of a sneaking doom

she cries in her sleep
and stutters a used and warm phrase
it highlights certain aspects of her wild form
as it bends along the lines of conversation
like a momentary prisoner of our daily premise
she escapes answering revealing things
but is trapped by showing her smile

breaking into the memory
you steal away your moments with her
in your arms dancing
steal away the hours without fear
and hope to find somthing that can
endure beyond the dream
live out side the vision
keep your warm in the cold light of day

its in her glass encased old room
that she waits pulling wires out of boxes
and humming a song that she cant remember the words to
but loves nevertheless
pressing her face to the glass
her worn eye searches for the path leading away
from here
from her
hoping to find her own escaping form
fleeing into the sunshine

circular pathways
but some grinning thief
has made off with every aspect
of direction he could pry
off the roadsings
so the soft hand normal Joe's
all just pile up in a corner looking worriedly
at the passing crowds
hoping to catch some mental relief
for their moral delemias
and tickets to ride the soft ride
they are the nine to five crowd
and its hard for them to digest all
this street kid lingo
all this dark of night dumpster dive

she squats in the road to pass gas
and pick her own pocket for its
semblance of change
the hover kings stand round and
keep a wary eye on her proceedings
after all its only natural
they are depending on her for cash flow
but all she has managed so far is to
get tears flowing
she thouse one of thouse break
your hearts over and over kind of faces
she rescues the normal Joe's sends em on their way

the sunbelt in winter
and after all the barnburners
have packed up their stainless steel plastic wear
and formed a caravan of semi's headed ever south
into the industrial lights of miami night
it comes down to people like her
and her very human open hearted approach
to make this day worth living through
its her rough but realistic hopes
that make this day worth believing

the pen has rusted
and the hand has grown old
are there any words left to say she wonders aloud
are there any roads left to walk down
the rain keeps my head in places id rather not be
and there are too many people trying
to make thick walls before me blocking my way
there are highway lights that are like deep oceans
and small rivers of the logic that must be bridged
there is so much standing in the way
i wonder if i can keep going on with this
even write another word
but they keep coming
not always so easy not always even worth saying
but they come anyway
because there are heavens in the eye
there are summer fields in the heart
full of life and birdsong
that its hard to just turn and walk away
still dream of it years away
its the kind of thing who's beauty catches you by surprise
and takes the breath away
cause its that moment for me when the
words strike true to the song of my day
when the words hit home to what i'm feeling
to what i'm burning to say
that it lives for me
that the rest of the world falls away
when the small minds and the troubled hearts
disappear into the darkness they live for
and i'm here in the bright light
of the knowing
of the perfect line
of the good phrase
that taps cleans
that shows true to the thought

the rain is thick
and bright in the minds eye
captures the wandering and
turns skyward all thought of walking
seek shelter under tree
but its stirs the leaves and
resides on your skin in a
damp codependent relationship with you
up close and personal

the rain pours through the phone line
making her damp voice warm with invitations
and layered with the hearts silts
each woman ever loved has left her trail upon the heartland
each trail become a river of regrets and wishes on her leaving
each leaving having dried like tears with time becomes a layer of silt
that the hearts home is built with
the sum of the hearts who have come
and gone

the rain slows
as the phone line falls to a stillness
a lack of words between two who know far too many words
none of thouse words can change the color of a sunset
none can unfly a flown bird
we make small talk till even that slowly fades
we say goodbye
the rain begins in earnest

but theres so much noise in my head
telling me five different directions to run
real quick fore something catches up with
untangle the mind
to discover the narrow distance
tween whatcha thinking and how it feels
my heads all cloudy cause my hearts caught
in the backwash of somebody else's fearful fall from grace
catch her like a broken angel
only to watch her fly free and clear
while i slug it out in the mud of misunderstanding
just wanna get back to the drawing inside the lines
get back to where it all went according to plan
cause i'm foolish enough to have a plan to go wrong
she swings by my emotional wreckage
trying to lend a hand
guess thats part of the mad scheme
called love

it was a hot summer day
and my heart was running free
she called out to me to come home
but the words had gotten away from me
and i could not see the ground anymore
just the boiling sky
just the hot dream in my blood

four times she called out to me
four times she cast pieces of eight at me
but my head was locked in a stirring of wings in the skyscape
my eyes consumed by the faster drums heartbeat

when i came upon a dark bird in the height of the sky
it did know my name
it did have a bearded saint in its talons
and his weak eyes did reveal a softer way
but i did not want to succumb
so i flew harder into the setting sun

she called all night
she called into a spanish day
casting pieces of eight like they were snow
she is my home sweet home
why do i do this thing
i will never know
why fly among the cold towers of distant shore
when romances candle flickers at home

the saint carried off by the dark beast
left me with a curse or a charm
he told of me to his brethren
and now they pursue me like a flock of lies
they will chase me down till my dying day
they will come upon me in the cold light by chill waters stream
beat upon my souls eyes with wings of black
till i am captured

she ignites the spoon
and in the flickering light
you see the hunger of her vacant eye
you feel the heartbeat slow rush
as she plunged
the walls sweat
things are crawling everywhere
but neither of you move
only sit in the awful silence
listening to the thin whisper
of water in the distant bathroom sink
to the soft sound feel of her fingers picking at
the eternal lock
of the death clock
here again you see that horrible hunger
in the eyes that once held nothing but joys
once held you with such love
now are slowly consumed
in this dark room
in this terribly silent place
this eternal lock
of death clock
hear the thought as she slips under the guise
that this way her tears cant be found
this way nobody can see
she ignites the spoon
and in the flickering light
you can see she is already gone
gone down that dark road alone
without you
you see the hunger of her vacant eye
you feel the heartbeat slow rush
as she plunged
in this eternal lock
she picks at with fevered desperation
futile
no one escapes

she kept her bedroom eyes in a marble box
i opened it expecting to find
but there was only dusty footprints of some stranger leading away
her cool hand rested on mine like reassurance
but her far off eyes trailed his every move
knew id have to leave soon
before it got to me that she was already gone

i packed my pockets with the silver and gold
that we garnished from our long years
and headed for the ornate doors
she was waiting there for me
the light has faded from the winter day
and now she was just the logical other end of
the footprints that are stretched out behind me in the snow
'take a little love with you' was all she could say
so i clutched the heart shaped coffin to my chest
like all the pain it contained could be wished away

quick shoes have lead me to this strange place
and my companions the broken engineer
and the sketchy girl with the funny hat
so i unpack the marble box on the hot sand
hoping to find all the things i know i left behind
no disappointment there
the hollow box was full of empty promises
and unspoken love sonnets
the devoid tears of loves aching

in constructing the poem i made mistakes
and all the words i left out have come back to haunt me
they all come to talk to me in my dreams
wanting only to be spoken aloud one last time
before the final curtain
but i left them all in her pocket and
she will always be back there somewhere
at the logical end of all the logical footprints
bury the marble box so her memory cant ****** me
throw away the heart shaped coffin so i can forget me
but ill allways be making thouse footprints
that lead back to her

there are bold words spoken in haste of the moment and heat of inner battles
but thouse bold words evaporate into the haze of morning
as bleary eyed we emerge from this hostile thought
to the new day….

bold words to challenge the heart
to incite the mind
enflame the senses

but it falls to some girl loading the cannon
in the bathroom
and such folly comes to light

she is no friend

she loads the cannon with care
and shoots you
you thank her

the brittle sound of the room
seeps slowly into my  conscious mind
soft low watt bulb echo on closed eyelid
leaves a bitter metallic aftertaste
while an expanding cold puddle
crawls unevenly out onto the hot floor
from the rattling roach infested mini-fridge
stark contrast of filthy green linoleum tile
and what can be described as a breathing moving
once red carpet that seethes with life in the dark end of the room

refugees we huddle in the light
awaiting the shouting and gunfire to die down
long enough to seek semblance of sleep
but naught to be had for love or money
was only days ago we rode into
this place like kings
now we resemble peasants hat in hand
but inside i am smiling
she loves me

iv written a thousand love letters to you with my fingers on your bare skin
written a thousand love poems to you with my lips caressing
an epic love story with every with every smile we have shared
a love song with every tender embrace
iv written them with the magic i feel simply holding your hand
iv written them with my hearts truth
iv written them with this gentle kiss i give you now and forever my love
my love
my love

it was hot
makes you feel spent just breathin'
but she was comfortable as judas in hades
just like ice cool in the shade
you shout and dance about with all this jealousy
you are electric hot under the collar
but the winds are blowing in her favor
but the rivers are sweet on her lips
it was hot as death warmed over
not an ounce of inked shade to be had
and you got issues hounding your thoughts
beginning to feel like its a church to the
apostle's of rage
darken your horizons with her
like the universe is her little game
the wind walks its ignorant gesture across you
and that just fans the flames
after all she just acknowledged her divinity
its hot enough to cook my head
but you are wrapped tighter than a prisoner
all used up and jealous
key to surviving this day lay in her eyes
in them you see your forgiven soul
in them you see your salvation's way
if you can forgive yourself first
if you can grow that fast

the royal palace in the mountain's shadow
with the ***** so subtle
in the sweetness of knowing what it is to have her in the night
beautifully wrought dreams wrapped in her delicate hands
but the dream most desired is in the simple truth of her smile
the honest beauty of her open heart
the long night gives way slowly
as dawns stain spreads across the cloudless sky
birds once again discover voices
the world rouses itself like lumbering giant
i creep out the motel door
while the ***** lounges in a salty mix
of cheap perfume and chemicals
the morning light leaves little doubt of intentions
it reveals all too much of ill conceived
shuffling faces show weary hearts
make peace with your yesterday's
gather your baubles with more than casual delight
for they are all you will have to show
for this nights sweaty labors
for this nights strange paths
but now that morning has come
and i creep out the motel door
i know the way i have come is forever gone
and i now must plunder new palaces under a distant sun

a page is such a cold place
pen has a sage who delves for inner face truth's
the page entrances with silent mocking
word thought dances just outside the blocking
the sage thirsty now craves sweet success
but only digs graves in the sheet of paper white
mourn the poems never born
sorrowful worlds in the words
sage now sleepwalking
his empty words never talking

this melancholy
drifting in thought like a skiff windless
on the cobalt blue
on the rich scent of salt and sea
on the deep memories of her
the mast tilts and wavers across the pattern of sky
like a pencil etching invisible patterns
among the ever silent stars

but it is not the seas vast salt tinge
but the harsh taste of my tears
that the mast writes of this night
that the mast scribbles madly into starfeild
far into the night
this story of loves known
and grand heights of lovers embrace
that the heart speaks
that hidden sea of the soul
made from a lifetimes loves and loss
they are
the peaceful and deep waters
of night that have always been the world
where my words could run free
sails unfurled
swift and rough breaking on wave crest
tacking ever eastward to open waters
out into
the deep quiet halls of the sovereign serenity
found in the solitude of night
where my thoughts undisturbed
could be true unabashed

cronos and the sea

this melancholy
and now i find myself
nailed here to the deck
by the turmoil of emotions
shore a sparkling light miles to south
and first breaths of dawn slowly
expanding along the east
i am caught between all the things i was
and am
i only wish to drift and dream
nothing to feel
nothing to worry upon
nothing to trouble my old heart
free me
let me forever drift now
free

the soft cotton skin of her jeans
against my bare cheek was warm and enticing
i lay curled up against her sitting cross leg on the bed
her hands busy with her notions made quick shadows
in the light on my closed eyes
her scents heavy on the air
intoxicating
i stir and ran my hand up her thigh
and was overcome with desires
for every inch of her
we were occasional lovers
we just enjoyed each other from time to time
she was a giving and warm person
lit up a room when she entered
with her smile

she was lean
and tight
she was made for making love
and she reveled in it as much as i
long black hair
and deep brown eyes
where i often lost myself with willing abandon

she never asked
but i wish now i had
i do not know what became of her
i wish her love and happiness all her days
i send her my love from
this empty dark motel room
on the edge of urban blight
hope you fared better than i joyce
hope you have fared better than i

his unwashed clothes retain
their vibrant colours
'neath the streaks of dirt
he stands facing the rising sun
soaking in with rabid hunger its warm glow
pieces of sunlight through broken cloud
his fingers loose their frail grip
on his bag which tumbles to the soft earth
without a sound
it lay gathering its shadow like desperation
he utters a soft sweet single thought
into the breaking sunlight
heal that which you have left broken far too long
he cannot know if the silence greeting
his words is a denial or affirmation
bear the unbearable
speaking to the wind
he awaits answer
please
please
heal that which you have left broken for far too long
even the lowest creature
from time to time must shine
within the graces of
she walks up to him quietly as to not disturb
and begins to sing in a voice soft and low as whispered wind
to sooth his heart upon his sleeve wounded appearance
she had never seen one so close at hand
and studied his form and nature with care to detail
caressing the nature of what she beheld with her clear mind
this is the grace
this is the secret knowledge from ancient text
invisible incantation of old lore
this is the grace he seeks
heal that which...

like a carpet of dreams
woven from the purest hearts
stitched with the tenderest notions
only dreamers who are sweetly guided by
their inner truth could tread in her heart
her golden light dreamscape fraught with her desire for beauty
with her need for love's true dream
with her heart's lovingly crafted magical hope chest
where she has keepsakes of every lover she has known
where she keeps a smile from every friend she was blessed with
where she keeps a carpet of dreams
that she dances on in moonlight

close to sunset and a chill wind starts
but the light that warms my soul comes from her eyes
enticed out of sleeping memory by
this falling shaft of sunlight in my backyard
as i rake some spilled leaves
a lifetimes of summers memories rushing back to greet
with their own legends their own grand tales
spirit flys like a summer bird
with open wonder at the beauties of a world below
in the clouds where nothing but sunlight can touch
these lifetimes of summers daydreams all bid fare thee well
and one by one lay back to dusty memory
closing eyes to dream once more
of thouse days in childhood
and that moment running out the front door
with the whole world to play in and a whole day to do it
that endless freedom and joy that childhood gave
my life with her is like that
its close to sunset
but the light which i endure by
comes from her heart