a romantic beauty to the way she looked
a sweet cherished innocence to her
and i was moved in ways that changed me
i was a different man in her delicate hands
spent that summer chasing rainbows at her side
fishing for lovely stars in the milky way at night
and puddle surfing in sweet summer rain on lazy afternoons
one moment out of our lives shared
that we thought would last forever
and in my heart it will

Elephants and donkeys
fighting it out in the trenches
My blue coat stained with the entrails
of orange trolls iv slain
in fierce hand to hand combat
fighting to keep us safe from the
filthy madman with no soul

Here in our trench
we bluecoats share a meal
and laugh among ourselves
strong hearts of brave
men and women
good people with a righteous cause
we tell tales of our exploits
slaying the never ending
lies that spew from the
despicable orange horde

A flash of light and explosion shatters
the night as the enemy releases some
photo-op or soundbite meant to destroy us
we all laugh
and shoot it full of holes
such weak lies are easily destroyed

We are Hillary Clinton's army
sent to do battle with the weak minded
and insane orange trolls
they fight in the name of evil
they fight in the name of the orange beast

We will win
there is no doubt in my heart
i look around me
proud comradeship
bluecoats defending the world
from the small minds of evil orange men
fight on brothers and sisters fight on
with Hillary leading us we will prevail

© 2016 mark john junor all rights reserved

i had rode all night
i was weary to my soul
and there was no end in sight
the mountain cold had me by the bones

she was there in her finest dress
she was there like a rough diamond
perilous and strange
with her wicked smile she said that her friend
would be joining us for our festivities
i knew right off that i would regret knowin her
but she has a way about her
that is worse than poisonous
cause she will leave you thanking her
as she murders poor you

in need of some rest i settled in and closed my eyes
thinking she would not make her move till she was sure
foolish child let down my guard
she got the jewels and the loose coins
she would have had it all
but just as she would have sunk the blade
the sunrise exposed her for the monster she is

so i set out when i was able
to southern paradise with a young honey
and saved myself from her cold hand
but i still think of her
and that inhuman cold i saw in her eye
how can somebody can live that way ill never know
for that i thank the good lord
labor in the sun
to make myself a new home
far away from the tomb of her heart
up there in the cold mountains

no more than a boy trying to be a man
i once had come a crusader down from a far country
proud and strong with a sword swift and sure
wrote my name in the battles and beerhalls
but as my years travelled i began to wonder until
in the failing embers of a nights snowstorm
i came to this place to her
where i had come a crusader to this the last mystery
where i had come a warrior
set to do battle with some dire foe
only to surrender with willing hand
in the chapel of her soft face
in the sunset birthplace of all mans deepest desires
in the fragile breath she leaves upon the very air
i dare not breath lest i disturb its soft flight
she tells me of a love that had forsaken
she tells me of a land from which she has fled
her eyes a dark fire like ancient pools of magic's
her lips supple like heaven creased with tender folds
in the chapel of her tender face
i did waste away my former days
wandering in the starlight musings of her soft laugh
dazed by the intricate dance of her deep words
she romanced me into the quiet of a man forgotten of himself
laid aside my sword and took up the ploughshare
laid aside my warring nature for the robes of a gentle man
now on this far distant night
with the crisp winter eve
a deep snow leaving a heavy silence all round us
the sound comes to me from a far land
the drums of war calling all true sons to defend hearth and home
i came to this place a young man
crusader to this mysterious place
where such dark fires burn in the eyes in such beautiful women
now old i pull on my armour
and unsheathe my sword and sharpen the arrows to fly true and swift
for even the chapel of her tender face cannot undo
even this the fairest of women
cannot deny
what dark wind has laid at our door
come a crusader with his stallion and steel
come a crusader to reap the careworn and the strong
come a crusader seeking his glory in the sun
i must go out to meet him
i must stop his plunder before he reaches her
i must slay what i once had become
a crusader no-more

an empathy face
comes into focus out of the grey rain
with her own set of capitulations to the greater good
with her own price paid for the comforts cold and thin
an empathy face alabaster finely carved
with tears in stark contrast to the brightness in her eye
comes into slow resolution out of the grey grainy surface of the rain
with its harsh aspects felt like nails slowly driven
her thin red lips and blue shadow
her divine voice as she talks to some side person
her eyes never leaving yours
she is drinking you
with a deserts worth of thirsts

graceful she flows across the tiled floor
like she was born to such places
like she was born to glide where all others had crawled
but when she reaches you puts her hand to your arm
her fingers trembling her breaths short and swift her face flush
she pauses and lifts her head and plunges her soul into your eyes
with breathtaking abandon like an ******
her black sweater with a golden bird stitched into
her bracelet silver and bejewelled
her perfections catalogue in your mind in that momentary glimpse of heavens unattained
that she breaths in deep
drawing breath and strength
before she opens her song
before she cries out in such sweet tongue
at the bitter night

an empathy face
with her own set of capitulations to the greater good
with her own price paid for the comforts cold and thin
and i cry with and for her
as she cries with and for me
an empathy face
in the grey rain

consequence has no face
but he has a voice
speaks so loudly in the lives of the unwary
i can hear him now talking like misery in the
background of her eyes
her loves are empty
her love will only last till the sun has ground down
the lion of your beautiful moments
look at his once proud mane matted with
the dusts of your life of compromise
its consequences handiwork illustrated in sorrowful colors
a lover of the feelin fleeting and vain
a stealer of the better things
a child of her consequences
bitter is her joys
in her sour smiles

There is a muted conversation
In broken english  from the recesses of  the  dark room but the intent is clear

Overnighters all eyes and hands
grasping at the tattered remains of
reason they struggle against
the methods of maddness
this world makes custom
for each of us

Her smiles
are near to my heart
but her fingets too close to my wallet

The heavy hitters
step to the plate but
remain mute when they given
a chance to save the day for
this set of innocence

The crippled man limps
slowly to his last meal
while vultures pick his pockets clean

Im in trouble here

the leaves turn as they fall
twisting on the breeze in a
dance of winters hand on my world
hurry along the path
each footfall scattering the leaves with a
dry rasping sound

winter cold the air harshly grasps at me
as landscape spread in brilliant white snowfall
makes a trial of this inevitable trek in morning light
my books and papers heavy if only in a worrying mind
scrawled there the first words of poetic heart
ill defined the weight of the matter at hand  
joyful poems of a true beauty lover
and my desire for her affections
this itself is the rub
winters hand
cannot write a warm thought

now all these years and poems later
my eyes open
my heart hearing
this new winters day fades into view
and still i struggle to cross the snowbound landscape
with the weight of a thousand words
with the self deception of a young heart believing
the promise of warm loves where hope springs eternal

the leaves turn
dance of winters hand on my world

she is a rendering in darker inks of lighthearted subjects
the eloquently illustrated surrealistic seduction of the heart
demure yet ravishing sexualization
the ideal of beauty offering itself up like a sacrifice
at the alter of some wanton hedonistic temple to gods of lust
she looks up at me from her practiced good girl gone naughty dream
and tells me that she wants me
wants it all to be perfect
like in the paris magazines
wants it all to be crafted in perfumed perfection
near to goddess as human can be
she is rendered in darker inks
but i am captivated by the lovely
entranced by the beautiful
enraptured by the perfection
as only darker inks can be

her dark eye deflected
the fan ceases it mechanical blur
slowly grinding to a halt
and the air of the room breaths of its own
it breaths her day old sweat that is deeply ****** and
it defiles you as you slake your thirst with its filthy thought feel
remembering how she tasted as you had her the night before
but the room is oil and burnt tastes
old fires of longing never capitulated
her sweat is cold as she shuts her legs this time
denied a second adventure into her tangled eyes
you pick a spot of carpet and wait

as she sits by the silent sealed window
watching the rain engulfed street
for signatures of approaching quick footsteps
lover who bears with them the tightly wrapped balloons
she waits with a spoon gripped with brutal tightness in one hand

her lips twitch over unspoken phrases
but some linger loud enough
to endure the air and your ear catches them
darkness is a dead souls delight
she has carried the corpses of both
her soul and conscience for years
she revels in their decaying weight
she bemoans their dead hand cold fingers
on her purse strings
you can perceive them sitting by her side
grinning with absent humours

her fingers tapping the frail glass of the window
one is compelled to wonder but fails to ask aloud
when at long last he returns breathlessly
bearing the seeds of her bitter contempts
she dives into the mixing and measuring
with skill and ****** devotions
you leave them to the whisper game
peek peek shuffle shuffle

leave her with a gentle kiss placed with care
on her bitter lips
and as you say your long goodbye
you reach up and button her shirt
hiding her exposed breast
she laughs brushing off attempts to cure her
of deviant behaviours
she is a watercolour study of rain
its mood and substance are flowing vagueness
the statement of grey in all forms of her existence

you hold dark weddings in your slumber
where the groom is no more than a fixture
painted smile brittle and small
mothers hold cages they wish upon
daddies girl no longer blue-eyed saint
your bestie too drunk to carry your tune
where the cake is bitter
the gifts torn

i looked to you but could not be seen
so a lament came to my wicked lips
looked to you and all I could see was the gravity
that drew me into you
a stranger with her own maps and masks
showing the straight line between your dusk and dawn
a statement of what's not fair
strange you love me

looked into you
a stranger who comes up slowly
I colour with magic markers the darkness in your eye
make it as pretty as you wished
hide it all away
I sleep each night inches away
from your slow walking fear
as you toy with silk strewn lusts
sweet asylum that is never too close
always far too near

I looked to you but could not be seen
so a lament came to my wicked lips
mumbled a carpet of apologies
spread out 'neath your feet
as you dip one toe into the waters
you called me
but when I looked to you
you looked away

there is a ship that sails tonight
I can see us on it
we wave bye-bye in slow motion capture
I can see joy in your eye
dance cheek to cheek under the moonlight
shine cause I know you like to touch dreams
breathe for me girl
just keep dancing 'neath starry sky
ill crash your dark weddings
catch your tears before they can fall
be waiting on your morning doorstep
come home to find me
come home from those inches away
look into you
just for you
not that someone
in a dark wedding day

looked into you
a stranger who comes up slowly
I color with magic markers the darkness in your eye
make it as pretty as you wished
hide it all away
I sleep each night inches away
from your slow walking fear
as you toy with silk strewn lusts
sweet asylum that is never too close

I looked to you but could not be seen
so a lament came to my wicked lips
mumbled a carpet of apologies
spread out 'neath your feet
as you dip one toe into the waters
you called me
but when I looked to you
you looked away

there is a ship that sails tonight
I can see us on it
we wave bye-bye in slow motion capture
I can see the joy in your eye
dance cheek to cheek under the moonlight
shine cause I know you like to touch dreams
breathe for me girl
just keep dancing 'neath starry sky
ill crash your dark weddings
catch your tears before they can fall
be waiting on your morning doorstep
look into you
just for you
not that someone
in a dark wedding day

she folds her man back into
his neat lines
she folds her lies back into their
well defined places
she drew a bath and drown the fears
she drew blades and let loose with
a little light carnage
always good for the soul
always good for the complexion


her false faces placed neatly aside
in the small hours of night
tears would come
small and dainty
perfumed and practiced
the tears would mirror the tale
would mirror the woe that must have
been in her heroines heart
been in her heroines soul
the tears would flow picture perfect
captured in a small vessel
to be tasted later
to show her true felt sorrows

in the the dawns breaking mist
a face dimly perceived
a man she would have known
if she had not chosen this path
a man who should have saved her
from herself
and she runs up the battle flags
and the the guards fire
volley after volley
till the apparition is vanquished
till the man withdraws
she folds him neatly back into the box
from whence he came
and carefully locks it up again
lest he escape

i lay in the ruin of
a distant castle
on the scottish shore
warm in my bedroll
with another woman by my side
such a distant place
of darkness long forgotten
a place of such hates long left behind

the engines of night labor in the distance
flush with the sound of enduring all that might come
flush with sounds of all those  who thrive in its endless warrens

the creeping shadow
waitings baited breath just at lights edge
for a quick peek at another way of life
but must retreat along its own mindless dream ways
a victim of its fantasy of ever better tomorrow's

the engines of night labor on
producing a fine silt that stains the river of time
with its dark mutterings
and cast off malformed beasts
they writhe in pain at the touch of light
that speak in dead languages of mystery's
that souls never harbored

bring out the small boat
we venture out onto the still waters
mindful of the noise we incur
that threatens to expose us
to all prying eyes
we put out our line
and fish for the treasure
but never having been here before
we failed to think that nothing will be gained
we failed to believe we could ever succeed

i must soon leave this room
this place of years
and venture onto the sandy soil
onto the thick air that strangles
and hope there is something to be gained
from such utter folly

Fence me in with what you see
not who i am or am about to be
you will see that word
and think thats all he is
but your wrong
im so more

Iv stood at the edge of the world and peered over the edge
iv sat on a sailboat in a dead calm sea at midnight and saw the stars surround me

iv walked in the darkest streets of the darkest cities and felt no fear
because i was the only one there

iv looked at thousands of you and not found a single one looking back at me
you will see that one word and think it defines me
you will never know just how wrong you are

she steps out of pure moonlight
and she is just as magical as the night
her words give their love to me
she is sublime when she smiles
she renews me with the artwork of her mind
she heals me with the artwork of her gentle heart
everything to me
in a simple cotton t-shirt and hair in a ponytail

she walks the waters raining
and her soft skin is warm against my cheek
sheltering me and comforting me
she stands at the gates of the worlds confusions
the last sane voice
she stands at the furnace of creation
dips in one graceful hand creating masterpieces of the soul
she stands at oceans edge
the last breathing image of true beauty
she stands next to me

and i know that things will be allright
because she is a titan among the stars
because she is the hearts allure
spun out of the silks and lace of caring
spun with the true hearts threads
a creation of exquisiteness
in a cotton t-shirt and jeans

she steps out of moonlight
bringing with her
worlds to live in
lives to be lived
because she is the gift of light and life to me
just as magical as the night
as i lay dreaming of her

Her elegant day
welcomes her
subtle and sweet evening
dances in amongst the fallen leaves
barely touching ground
She floats along
a melody only she can feel
Delicate she moves
Delicious her carefree smile
as she lingers the moment
As she lay the foundations of
lace and flowers
on the mantle of the moon
making it forever
romantic in its fiery glow
As she dances softly silently
dances among the fallen leaves

a poetic darkness clings to
the edges of the room
ageless in its mental aberration
all the years of its incessant whispering softly the sounds
of a life forsaken to a hunt for
all the things that can never be prized possession
all the things that forever slip through seeking fingers....

my face demonized in the mirror  
unchanged except by the years
still holds the taint and taste of her words
like a thick oily poison slowly seeping
from the soil of my eye
where such lovely dreams once grew
now only a parody of silhouette dark upon a shadow
the void form of a man against the cloudless gray sky

an emperor's tongue speaks regal
but the words spoken fall like black leaves from a black tree
dead and devoid of all aspects of a beautiful fall day
an emperor's tongue lavishly paints visions of such beauty to come
but like the footprints in newly fallen snow they are
doomed to fade in the sun
little lies constructed to tell the willing girl
that her satisfactions lay not in the mirror
but in the pit of some man's soul
in the vile places of lust and longing
her love to become a void form against the grandeur of starlight
her plans for the wedding now only faded ink written by a child

my face demonized in the mirror
I seek to choke out the words that would spell an end
to this mournful song
seek to extinguish the doubts and rages that haunt that image  
I am the one who has made this face in the mirror
carved it out of the stone in my heart
I am the one who sees its ***** lines its twisted fable
my hand slips to the light switch and
turns off the forever eating at my soul

the heavy winter air lingers
into the night
starlight drifts slowly like snowflakes
in my heartfelt dreams
a displaced man in the sea of wet snow
her eyes cast at me devilish ideals
her lips painted pink wet allure
disheveled hair falls limply over her face
obscuring the expression there
muffling the words that have slipped out

the snow filled air entangles the night
falling all around like leaves in the height of autumn
her warm hand runs along the edge of my jawline
fingertips like voices speaking treasured gifts
touching nimble and quick
along the mask of my years
grey has seeped into the story
has painted its own landscape on my visage

she withholds her thought
trembling
waiting for my heart to speak to her
waiting for my hand to guide
i coax her phrase like drawing a lost child to its home
i draw her near
and in her bedroom sweat i trace my own line of thought
i breath in her soft silken taste
her soft line perfections etched against the cool fabric of sleep
she has drifted off to dreamland
leaving me to whisper thoughts
leaving me with her love utterances clearly spoken
the snow hits the window
slowly building at that edge of our existence
silently compounding its presence in my mind
a dog of war leashed by the absolute solitude of night