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471 · Nov 2015
Steam!
Michael Murphy Nov 2015
The train of despair is rolling now
It's building up steam
Faster and faster the tunnel approaches

Just a passenger, not the engineer
Powerless to stop my descent

The darkness now envelops all I once saw
There's a cold dank odor in the air

If this be my end, and my end this might be
Throw coal on the fire and build up more steam

Take me fast to the wall, don't linger, don't wait
It's the trip that I dread, not the crash at the end
465 · Nov 2015
Waking World
Michael Murphy Nov 2015
It is in waking moments, before thinking intrudes, that true happiness resides

With remnants of dreams still governing my reality, I fly, I love, I am invincible.

You are still in my waking world, we are still as one in my waking world!
464 · Jan 2017
Carnivore
Michael Murphy Jan 2017
I am a Carnivorous Zebra
I'm the only one of my kind

From the herd I've been cast
Because I just won't eat grass

So behind the strip mall I dine

Big blue boxes are a carnivores dream
As they fill them at the end of each day

With burgers and cheese
Eat as much as you please

Being a carnivore is really OK!
I know, I know, I'm strange.  We were talking about how much fast food is tossed at the end of the day, and how wasteful it is.  I got a picture of a carnivorous zebra in my head and it made me laugh.  I hope it makes you smile!
462 · Dec 2015
Thinking
Michael Murphy Dec 2015
see                      arranging                               ­                 puzzle
        do                   all                   web          posterity                       for

                                      is                                         my
                       sow                 for                   answer                   synapse                
                                                                ­                                                          
               the               filtered                   which     I    in     words            
                                                          to                                                           
                 flow                thoughts                   ­                       of*                      
                ­                                                                 ­                                
In synapse web my words do flow
Arranging thoughts of which I sow

Filtered puzzle for posterity
The answer is for all to see
The idea of how a jumble of words can come together to become something beautiful is always amazing to me! They take on a life of their own!
Michael Murphy Oct 2016
Let go and I will catch you
I would never let you

Fall
To the cold and hardened ground

Reach and I will reach you
Together we will forge through

Pain
Will die when love surround

Call and I will hear you
Feel my love within you

Joy  
In our once lonely hearts abound
450 · Aug 2016
True Love
Michael Murphy Aug 2016
A rush of sweetness in my brain
Your sugar lips are so insane

The sight of you just makes me weak
The touch of you is what I seek

The thought of you it makes me high
Away from you I think I'll die

You invade my dreams all day and night
I tried to battle but lost the fight

You loved me once then said no
I truly loved you so let you go

Find another my friends did say
But no other would feel that way

Now I'm old and now I'm grey
With loving memories I smile each day
When it's perfect, you know it!
447 · Nov 2015
Hidden Beauty
Michael Murphy Nov 2015
I feel you're a flower at the end of the day

When the sun has gone down and it's hidden away

All it's beauty is hidden, in a ball, oh so tight

Away from our gaze, this just isn't right

I howl at the moon to shine brighter on you

But it won't heed my cry so what can I do?

I'll stay by your side and be your bright light

Always the gift of your beauty,  in sight
438 · Jun 2023
Music
Michael Murphy Jun 2023
When did you stop singing
Where's the music that I knew
I hear echoes of a melody
You sang when we were new

Where's the smile and the laughter
That filled the empty room
Is it gone forever, tell me
When will your flowers bloom

It slipped away unnoticed
In the middle of the night
I should have held on tighter
Should have kept you in my sight

If I told you that I love you
Would it spark your inner flame
Or are you gone forever
Fearing I hold all the blame
434 · Dec 2019
Overwhelmed
Michael Murphy Dec 2019
Freeze time
Catch up

Go back
Repair
Redo

Go forward
Face fear
Prepare

Stop
Release
Let go
Having the ability to control time is the fantasy I embrace when I feel overwhelmed.  It might sound crazy but it lowers my stress!
433 · Sep 2016
Mad
Michael Murphy Sep 2016
Mad
You made love to me just this morning
Now you're out of my life,
without warning!

YES, I'm ******! Argh!
428 · Nov 2015
The Gift
Michael Murphy Nov 2015
Two years ago
I didn't know your name, I couldn't see.
My world was dark, so very dark,
And then you came to me

One year ago
I didn't know the friend you would come to be
My world was light, so very bright,
Your love had set me free

An hour ago I didn't know the power of your touch
I think heaven made a mistake today
I'm smiling way too much
Michael Murphy May 2023
Average I'd say
she presented each day
makeup smoothing the rough

By some standards plain
Would never complain
and her size was more than enough

Then she smiled her wide smile
Oh and she moved with such style
To reveal her beauty within

When she laughed at a joke
Or her angel voice spoke
Every heart in the school did she win

I fell so in love
Prayed to God up above
That the prettiest girl in the school

Would just look my way
Words of love I would say
To the prettiest girl, such a jewel

Our love would not be
Still I learned how to see
The prettiest girl in the school
416 · Nov 2015
Silence
Michael Murphy Nov 2015
In her silence much is said

There is no comment on what she read

She can't tell you how she feels

That in your words, there's no appeal

She doesn't hold what you desire

So let your tears now, cool your fire

Your course is clear, just let her be

And in your silence, you will set her free
413 · Nov 2015
Happy Pills
Michael Murphy Nov 2015
Take control of your life
Take control of your heart
You're never too old to have a fresh start

No one can judge you or make you feel bad
It's your perceptions, you see, that are making you sad

You'll never need drugs, forget happy pills
The thought that you take them just gives me the chills

It's as simple as this, I know what I say
I'll give you my secret how I'm happy each day

It's a decision, you see, it's all up to me
I choose where I look, only happy I see

When bad comes along,
tries pulling me down.
I just smile and laugh as if nothing is wrong.

So live in the now and love all that you see
I'm telling you how just let yesterday be.
410 · Jan 2024
The Process
Michael Murphy Jan 2024
I wrote a word and then another
A thought I did provoke

A feeling buried deep within
Asleep but now awoke

So many words I can't contain
Spill out upon my page

To illuminate so bright with light
My soul I did engage
I am self publishing a book of 100 poems and was playing with this for the back cover.
410 · Nov 2015
Sweet or Sour
Michael Murphy Nov 2015
The next words that I write could go sweet or go sour

They could last for mere minutes or go on for an hour

There's a power I have when I start to create

It can be somewhat awful or truly be great

I try to pick words so a picture they paint

Sometimes there is color and sometimes there ain't

I hope what I write, in the end, makes you feel

Like a diner who's about, to consume a great meal

If you're happy and full when you leave from my table

Then I'll continue to write, as long as I'm able!
This is what happens when I get no sleep!
408 · Nov 2015
Change the World!
Michael Murphy Nov 2015
How do I teach if I've never been taught?

How do I love if I've never been loved?

How do I give if I've never received?

Teach, love, give

Change the World!
The solution is simple, but so complex
404 · Apr 2016
I Pray
Michael Murphy Apr 2016
I pray you sleep
I pray you smile
I pray you dream on this awhile
Where love abounds,
I pray you know
Only happy seeds will grow!
403 · Dec 2024
Into the Light
Michael Murphy Dec 2024
Into the light,
Into the night,
Darkness abounds,
Faint are the sounds.
A sliver of light,
So ends the fight.
Freedom at last,
No air, then a gasp.
Soiled, degraded,
My cries unabated.

LIFE

My cries unabated,
Soiled, degraded,
No air, then a gasp.
Freedom at last,
So ends the fight.
A sliver of light,
Faint are the sounds,
Darkness abounds.
Into the night,
Into the light.
My first attempt at a reverse poem.  My inlaws are in a nursing home. The similarities to the beginning of life are striking.
397 · Nov 2015
Lights
Michael Murphy Nov 2015
He was all at once, at peace.  Looking down at her, kissing his cheek, like watching a movie, he saw himself take his last breath!

Effortlessly, like on a moving sidewalk at an airport, he was moving.  His first thoughts were of amazement that there was no more pain from the cancer and that he still felt like himself.

In the distance there were three brilliant lights off to his left. They were very tiny but so familiar that he couldn't look away. As he got closer he heard his mother's voice coming from the lights.

He could now see his mother very clearly.  The odd thing was that he could see her at any age or just as light.  Like switching channels on tv he could view her as a child, a young woman or any point throughout her life.  "How is this possible?", he thought, but didn't ask.  She responded without him asking.   "The light you see is all of the experiences, knowledge, and love that I attracted in my earthly existence.  As you came closer you could feel our energies joining."
395 · Nov 2023
It Was Me
Michael Murphy Nov 2023
If ever there was a man
Who sought to understand

The trouble in your heart

It was me

To apply a healing touch
To comfort and as such

To curb the flood of tears

It was me

Now the time I fear has come
My work complete, must run

Just remember as you smile

It was me
I have been the turnkey in many a life, with no regrets
393 · Nov 2015
Gone
Michael Murphy Nov 2015
There was a life
There was a love
There was a time I'm thinking of
There was just this
Just happiness

And now it's gone
It's gone......

I turned around
And you weren't there
No sun shines anywhere
Just loneliness
There was your kiss

And now it's gone
It's gone....
391 · Nov 2017
Sleepy Hours
Michael Murphy Nov 2017
In the sleepy hours, I miss the warmth.  

Body on body,  breathing as one.  I miss the touch, the being touched. The feeling of skin, not my own.  

In the sleepy hours I think on memories,  I imagine making new memories.  Hoping my memories fold into dreams and dreams become real.
Laying alone at night and this is my stream of words.
390 · Feb 2024
Rearview Mirror
Michael Murphy Feb 2024
Looking in the rearview mirror
To a simpler time and place

Everything much clearer
A smile on every face

Peace, love and Innocence
So safe in mother's arms

A time when every thought made sense
Sheltered from the harm

Looking up each day
My vision filtered child

Buried life, now packed away
Once lived, recorded, filed
Some days I miss my youth.
389 · Aug 2016
Stories
Michael Murphy Aug 2016
Unlike in a book, the chapters of
my life arrive unannounced

The birth of a child, the death of a loved one, the passing of a season, bring subtle change

New memories are made as old ones fade into the mist of time

Each day arrives full of possibilities
New adventures evolve into new stories

It is the stories, told and retold, that woven together reveal the fabric of my life
Sometimes a word triggers a thought.  I could rewrite but sometimes I like to just let go and let the words fall.  If it reads like a stream of consciousness, it is because it is. Something very personal and honest about the unedited word.
388 · Oct 2023
Snapshot
Michael Murphy Oct 2023
There was a moment
There was a time
You in my arms
Your heart beat with mine

I thought that I knew
I thought you were mine
I thought it was true
But only to find

It was only a moment
A snapshot in time
I look to that moment
To see I was blind
What you believe to be true might only be true in that moment
385 · May 2023
Private Notes
Michael Murphy May 2023
Diary, journal
Recorded thoughts
eternal

Private, locked
Sifted feelings
blocked

Ink  smears
On pages
tears

Memory recorded
Life neatly
ordered
Does keeping a diary lead to writing poetry?
340 · Jun 2023
The Urinal
Michael Murphy Jun 2023
Standing at the ******
I really gotta go

Starting to get ******
Cause I ain't got no flow

I feel the eyes upon me
The pressure starts to mount

A line of guys behind me
More than I can count

If only I were younger
I could **** a hole through steel

Now I just go drip, drip, drip
Seriously what's the deal

My prostate's like a grapefruit
I go five times a night

I haven't slept in fifteen years
It really kind of bites

When I close my eyes the final time
The biggest gift for me

Is when I get to heaven
I won't have to ***
325 · Apr 2023
Soul
Michael Murphy Apr 2023
Is it just me and
The people you see

Could it be frogs and logs and
The bumble bee

How about flowers, turkeys, and crows
Could it be them, does anyone know

It has to be puppies, and kittens I bet
I keep asking, but no answer yet

What about creatures from planets unknown
Forget that last thought if you think we're alone

What about rocks the inanimate type
You know what I mean, no carbon in sight

Do they all have a soul, a spirit like mine
Do they they all go to heaven at the end of their time

I hope so
323 · Dec 2024
The Bullet
Michael Murphy Dec 2024
On the other side of the bullet
You hope the crooked road to straighten

I fear the fog remains
With path unclear

Fix it here
Or
Fix it there

My prayer for you
Seek help here
A friends brother committed suicide over the weekend. I hope he find peace in his new life but...
313 · May 2023
Don't Judge Me
Michael Murphy May 2023
You're old and yellow
A crooked fellow
and still support me so

I keep you covered
Like a secret lover
I guess that you should know

When you're in pain
I cry too

I hate to see you
black and blue

I love your friends
You keep them close

Just know it's you
I love the most

I can barely see you
far away
I gaze down towards the floor

I can't reach you
as you lay
Can't help you anymore

I hate to say this
but I need help
to keep you nice and neat

My Right big toe
I love you so
You're the anchor of my feet
If I won the lottery I would pay someone to tie my shoes.
299 · Sep 2017
Magical Tapestry
Michael Murphy Sep 2017
I was born with a mending thread. A gift.

I see sadness and stich smiles.  

I see a hole and stich a patch.

I see a broken heart and seek to mend it.

I  see loneliness and weave it into a magical tapestry.  

It is my nature.  

Yours is a different cloth. The strongest and most elusive I have seen.  

Try as I might to lay a stich, my thread dissolves, my needle misses.

I still always feel the need to try, though the fabric resists.
It is hard with some people to know if you are making a difference.
283 · Mar 2024
Small
Michael Murphy Mar 2024
I rise above the earth
The noise transcends to silence

Darkness giving birth
As peace replaces violence

If only from up here
The big becomes the small

Gently falls a tear
The absurdity of it all
I long for the world to be civilized
276 · Apr 2023
The Path
Michael Murphy Apr 2023
See the path
It's right there

I see it not
Tell me where

Close your eyes
Believe it now

So hard to see
Show me how

Hold my hand
The darkness clears

Release your thoughts
Let go your fears

I see the path
Revealed and clear

So clear to me
Now you are near
This came out of a time that my son couldn't find the sugar that was inches from his hand.  I told him to believe it was there and he couldn't see it until he believed.  We have to be ready for the reality in front of us.
272 · Mar 2024
Sympathy
Michael Murphy Mar 2024
Words there are not
to express how I feel

Hearing your words
of your sad ordeal

My heart reaches out
to shoulder your pain

Hoping this song
has a happy refrain

My angels are yours
to carry you through

Til happiness blooms
like a flower anew
Searching for words for a friend facing the death of her sister
270 · May 2023
The Day I Died
Michael Murphy May 2023
I didn't think it would end like this
I couldn't catch my breath

Gasping, I could feel my blood run cold

Time stopped
Feeling stopped, even pain

I heard someone say, "time of death
2:34 am."

No bright light, just nothing
Asleep and awake coexist.

Back in our home, I turn in bed to kiss you goodnight, as I have done for a thousand nights

Your side of the bed is cold, so cold
Great loss comes with great love. This was written after witnessing my father's reaction to my mother's passing. I felt part of him die. She passed peacefully.
258 · Feb 2024
Shades
Michael Murphy Feb 2024
I wrote a book
And all it took

Was the love and support from you

Thank you to everyone that left a kind or constructive comment over the years!

Michael James Murphy
I know this is shameless self promotion, but I do sincerely appreciate my HP friends. 'Shades' is up on Amazon. One less thing on my bucket list. Thank you
256 · May 2023
Imagination
Michael Murphy May 2023
The luxury of the imagination is the
dream without boundaries.

I am the keeper of time
The universe is my domain

Flying through time
is simply a thought manifested

You're mine again
You're here in my arms

I have total control
No broken hearts

Smiles and laughter abound
I can feel you again

Touch you again
Your spirit fills the room

Trying hard to hang on
Reality is the battle I'm fighting

If I let go, you're gone
If I hang on, I'm gone
256 · May 2023
I'm Not Shakespeare
Michael Murphy May 2023
To be or not to be
Is that one question or two

Should I suffer
Hell no
What a dumb thing to do

Would I fight for an outrageous fortune
It depends
How big is the other guy

If he's slinging arrows
There's a chance
I could die

Swimming in a sea of troubles
Making trouble bubbles
Of course I want them to end

But, "Not to be", really
I don't know
Have to ponder this again
I don't know
252 · May 2019
Road Rage
Michael Murphy May 2019
Such an ***
Is the fellow
Who crosses the yellow
When solid
And then again doubled

Run the red
So he thought
Cause he'll never get caught
His decisions are
What's making me troubled

Do the rules not apply
To this *** of a guy
So stupid, selfish and vain

I pray for his soul
Cause he's out of control
That he learns to
Stay in his lane
250 · Mar 20
LET ME
Let me live
Let me smile
Oh and Cry just a while
As the sun sets
And warmth fades away

Let me run
Let me swim
In emotions, some Grim
As the child
Embraces the day

Let me fade
Let me fall
At the end of it all
Knowing love
Every step of the way
248 · Feb 2024
So Much
Michael Murphy Feb 2024
So many thoughts
Not shared

So many words
Not read

So much music
Not heard

So much beauty
Not seen

So much time
WASTED!
As I get older I feel like I'm running out of time to experience everything.
228 · Jun 2023
My New Hair
Michael Murphy Jun 2023
My dilemma this day
Should I cut
Or let stay
The new hair
That is driving me mad

It grew out of nowhere
On my forehead
I thought bare
You'd think a new hair
I'd be glad

It's two inches long
Should I style it
Is that wrong
With two more
I think I would braid

It looks like a tree
With both eyes
All I see
Crosseyed I am
I'm afraid

Snip
Then that happened!
227 · Mar 26
Apologies
Beans and greens
And flying machines

Mystical unicorns everywhere
Colors bouncing here and there

More sane than the flippin world right now

Dreams are my salvation so
I sleep and let my visions flow

To wake,  to cry, with heavy heart
The world I know is split apart

All I can do is
Hope and pray

The world doesn't end this way!

Apologies and love for all!
I miss believing that we were past most of the cruelty and hate in the world.  So sad. I hope we make it.
227 · Dec 2019
Decision
Michael Murphy Dec 2019
Crystals on the windshield, ****!
Forgot to start the car.

Blizzard blowing daggers
Close is now so far

Decision do I quit and stay
Or trudge forth through the night

Fear has conquered want
I'm abandoning the fight
222 · Feb 2024
Tree Swing
Michael Murphy Feb 2024
Mighty swing tree
that carried me
through summer days of yore

To-and-fro,
each pump I fly
higher than before

So strong, you stand,
with single hand,
you hold me safe and true

With me here now
in rocking chair,  
from wood where you once grew
This is a rewrite of an earlier poem
215 · Jun 2023
Intuition
Michael Murphy Jun 2023
The gun barrel burned into her temple, still hot from the two shots he fired into  the wall.  Lydia lay naked on the bed, paralyzed.  Tears clouded her vision.  Fear blocked all feeling, noise, thought, pain.  Time stopped.  Literally!

A bright light from the archway to the hall filled the room.  Lydia lifted from her bed. Walked without walking into the light.  Back in time to her family home, four states away.  She sat in the kitchen of her youth across from radiance.  A glowing figure, not a man, not a woman, just happiness.  

Without words Lydia knew she had made the wrong decision. She always was uneasy around Jake, but she thought he would change if she just loved him enough.  She heard that voice, that we often hear, the first time he asked her out.  She ignored it.

Suddenly the room began to spin.

"Lydia", Jake hesitated, "I was hoping we could get dinner sometime?"

Lydia had to catch her breath before she responded, " I really don't think it's a good idea, I'm sorry!"
I was thinking if it would be possible to take multiple paths in life just for the experience.  Maybe intuition warns us of a mistake we might have already made.
212 · Apr 16
Fruit
Apples and oranges and peaches are nice.
Add a banana and cinnamon spice

Sugar so sweet, a pinch of salt too —
A bowl or a salad?

Well that’s up to you!
210 · May 2023
Writing Rules
Michael Murphy May 2023
Don't think too much
For filters sake

The rules are there
For you to break

Speak your mind
Your thoughts reveal

Though some will say
There's no appeal

You own these words
You choose to share

Be true to you
Do not compare
When I read my poems I can say that it is hard to identify a style.  For brief moments I worry that I'm not following the rules. I then remember why I write. I write to express what I feel. I do hope someone else can identify with it. I cannot let that be my driving force.   I write with low expectations and I am never disappointed. Still, I write!
205 · Sep 2023
My House
Michael Murphy Sep 2023
I built a house of many rooms
Each different from the rest

The threads of time, each memory
are woven through my nest

The room of youth
Just windows now

I peer but
Cannot see

So many rooms of love within
I feel the memories

Each room is filled with lessons learned
The staircase as you will

I'm still building strong and true
New memories UNTIL...
Thinking about life
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