Truth lives in the heart,
as a whale
lives in the sea.

Perhaps self-acceptance
   is the keystone
for bridges
   built between hearts.

Where flowers
   bloom,
weeds also
   flourish.

The fruits
     of living
take time
     to ripen.

cops beating my door
the last strawberry now tastes
sweetest of all

Monica,
she said her name was.
Of course I didn't believe her,
but it wasn't important.

What was important,
when she met me
with a cheery professional
smile
at the window
in the waiting room
of Anfu Massage,
was that she was
willing
to take me by the hand
and lead me
down the very dim corridor
into a dimly lit room
with a bed
where she and I shared
an hour of
******
pleasure.

She made me feel
like a great lover
and gave me her best
imitation of passion
so skillfully
that I believed,
because I wanted to,
for that hour
that I was
making love
to my lover.

I used to agonize
and feel guilty about it,
but in this solitary
autumnal season
of my life,
haunted
by the ghosts
of loves lost,
I am grateful
for even this
sweet counterfeit.

And, yes
I revel
in her gentle feminine
warmth,
her softness,
and in the primal
connection
we make.

Somehow, it
feels like
it is keeping my heart
alive.

Love loves
like heart got
just don't know,
hear ain't
oh night lost,
eyes silent.

moon dream,
want baby.
sea kiss,
time away,
home blues.

One piece of punctuation would
end this poem as it should:
a "." would make it good--
that is, at least I think it could

When writing haiku
do you always count it out
on your fingers too?

There are places I remember
from the time we spent together there,
filled with memories of our loving,
when our laughter warmed and filled the air.
Now I go there when I'm empty
and the pain is more than I can bear,
and I pretend we're still together
in the memories that we share.

Lonely days, so full of echoes
from the voices of the cherished past---
I call your name, I taste your kisses--
I believed our love would surely last.
Again I hold you, oh so tender
at the dimming of the summer's day--
I feel your arms around me ,
and I still can hear you say:

"You're my angel, you're my spirit:
my sun and moon, my everything!
I've never known such loving,
how you fill my heart and make me sing."
And I believed you, how I loved you,
it's so hard to go and leave you there
when I come back from the feeling
of the memories we share.

I ain't got nobody baby, but you
I ain't got nobody baby, but you
I ain't got no family
to care about what I do
I ain't got nobody, baby
but you.

I ain't got no friends to call my own
I ain't  got no friends, don't need no phone
I ain't got nobody
when I'm feelin' so alone
I ain't got nobody, baby
but you.

I ain't got no dog to come home to
I ain't even got no dog to come home to
I ain't got nobody
'cause I'm hard to get close to
I ain't got nobody, baby
but you.


(a blues)

I'm lost
between these chords,
thinking about you--
playing my guitar,
singing about you.

I know I shouldn't do it,
I should get the hell away!
We will never be together,
so why is it, whenever I play

I'm lost
between these chords,
thinking about you?
And every song I'm singing,
I'm singing just
for you,
just for you.


You are all I dream of,
though I'm not the one you see,
so I try to rein my heart in,
but it's wild and strong and free,
and it carries me away
to a place it wants to be,

where we run like wild horses in the moonlight,
flying like the wind beside the sea,
splashing through the diamond water,
there's a place where we can be

lost
from this world that we know, and
free
to run where our hearts want to go,
sailing to another world
that only love can find,
You can't get there from just anywhere,
you can't go in your mind,

you've got to be
lost,
to find that hidden door
free,
to reach that farthest shore

I want to get lost together,
just you and me,
Lost in that place where
we can be free,

running like wild horses in the moonlight,
flying like the wind beside the sea,
splashing through the diamond water,
let's go to that place
where we can be
lost and free
lost and free
you and me.

There's a different muse that you can use
who helps stuck writers with the blues.
She wears black vinyl, comes on strong,
and loves to party all night long.

Her pink hair's spiked, her collar too. She
pops her gum while she talks to you.
Her music's loud, and so is she,
she inspired "Bad Company."

She loves to belt, though she can't sing,
she's got a song for everything.
Her specialties are punk and rap--
she'll scream you one in nothing flat.

Just don't ask for love songs, or
she'll flash her tat: reads "Love's a *****!"
Romance? No, she's got no time.
She'll sing you, "Love's no friend of mine:"

"I've been mistreated and abused,
it's love that makes me sing the blues.
I don't want no love no more--
when love walks in, I'm out the door!"

So helpful, when you're feeling that
love's appealing as a road-killed cat.
A real romantic antidote, she'll
sink your boat, if it's still afloat.

I don't know
how to stop kissing you
long enough to untangle
our breaths;

how to move even the
slightest distance from the magnet
of your skin,

how to feel anything but
your heart beating
within mine.

I do know
we are healing the world
with our love
and each kiss.

I heard your heart,
the heart of a young wife,
loving, hoping, trusting,
bearing the shock of scorn
from the one who should have
cherished you, and whom
you wanted to love and respect
as your Lord.

I heard your heart,
abandoned, alone,
unloved by the one who had promised
to care for you always,
the heart of a young mother,
bearing burdens alone
that were made to be shared,
as you reached out to share
joys and fears of raising
precious children,
and finding no resonant heart,
beating with yours
in strength, joy, and pride.

I heard your heart,
when you cried, "Why, Lord?
What have I done?
I will still love and serve him,
for Your sake, but
I was made to be one flesh,
to share everything in Your presence
with the man You gave me.
Did You not give me this man?

Why, Lord, is there only pain,
emptiness and loneliness,
where You meant for there to be
unity of heart and spirit,
friendship, respect, joy,
and love, Your love,
sweet, tender,
unconditional forever?

I have offered him all I have,
all I am. He despises me
and my offering.
May I offer my love
devotion, and longing
to another who will
value and return them?"

And God said, "Yes, my beloved.
He would not receive my
most precious gifts,
offered again and again
through your devoted heart,
and so he has judged himself
unworthy of them.
You have given your all,
selflessly.
I will give you
the desires of your heart,
because I love you,
and your happiness
is My happiness.
I always hear you, my beloved.
I hear your heart."

I'm trapped
inside the shrinking
balloon of a deflated
world:
yesterday's party.
Today's trash
wrapping around my face
I can't open my eyes.
Pressured into
all the smells like
discordant blarings of
fetid flowers,
aching ages.
A dream memory
waking over and over
to the phone
ringing underwater--
sonar fingers
probing
into depths
too cold.

As the days go by without a word from you,
I'm left here wondering what is really true.
My mind counts all the possibilities
So here's a poll--won't you answer please?

There's no need to be cruel or unkind,
Just pick the choice that best bespeaks your mind.
And if somehow I missed your favored choice,
Use Other then to give yourself a voice.

Now if you're very brave, and Other's what you've checked,
You know how to find me: please connect!

I haven't written you because:
   a. You scare me!
   b. I'm waiting for you to get the hint: go away!
   c. My computer crashed so I lost your email. Thank God you wrote!
   d. You're divorced?  I can't even talk with you.
   e. I thought you wanted *** now--I don't want to be friends first!
   f. I got kidnapped by terrorists and have been held incommunicado!
   g. I got in a car wreck and I'm in the ICU.
   h. I met someone 'way cooler than you.  Drop dead!
   i.  Other

We here at Gallup thank you for taking the time to respond to our questionnaire. You may have been selected to participate in additional polls.

My eyes,
arms,
fingers,
hands,
lips,
my whole
body
yearns to carry on this
conversation
with you:
your
lips,
soft
shoulders,
pillowing *******,
tongue,
and
fingertips--
these ears
want to hear
our hearts
drum! Our
bodies yearning
for sweet intersection:
mingling,
melting,
knowing
me, knowing
you,
from the soft, sweet inside
out.

Let's dance
slow
meaning it,
feeling deeply
every
breath,
every touch,
every kiss,
every turning
toward
each other.
Home! Oh, so sweet,
home.
Home at last,
in
each others' arms.

Face after face after face,
they stare out at me.
I look into eyes
full of hope and pain,
fear and courage,
longing and loneliness,

and the faces,
the voices,
the yearning
are all my own.

How are we to find
the one who is looking
for us,
with that unique blend
of terror and anticipation
that makes us
their "perfect match?"

We each want to
change our subscription
to the romance channel.
No more docu-dramas,
please!

So much history,
so many angry
silent nights
The full moon mocking,
cold and distant.

Please care.
Talk to me.
Hold my hand--
Dance with me!
Be fun!
Make me laugh--
Don't hurt me.
Please,
don't hurt me!

We smile bravely for the camera,
affecting a nonchalance
that is gone forever,
and we show our friends that
we have recovered--
the surgery was completely successful!
See?

The scar is barely visible,
true.
But tell me honestly,
can you really feel life Now,
through the scar tissue of
Then?

Who am I? Who am I?
I am bigger than your mind.
Who am I? Who am I?
Do you know your mind is blind?

I'm your bitter enemy; I'm your sweetest lover,
I'm the homeless wanderer, and everybody's brother.
Older than the stars, I was born anew today.
I've come to ask you questions that will drive your sleep away.

Who am I? Who am I?
You could say it all depends.
Who am I? Who am I?
Where your question comes from
Determines where it ends.

I'm the riddle you can't answer, the vision you can't see,
The name you can't remember that just won't let you be.
I am the unthinkable, the word you cannot say,
The truth you can't imagine, the song you cannot play.

Who am I? Who am I?
Why do you want to know?
Who am I? Who am I?
They neither know nor own me
At the church where you go.

When you presume to name me, that name will come out wrong,
When you think you've found me, you'll find that I am gone.
Believing that salvation is a prize for you to claim,
You'll hear my silent laughter in the echoes of your pain.

Who am I? Who am I?
Look up at the starry sky.
Who am I? Who am I?
I'm the one who makes you wonder why.

I'm the dream that haunts you in the middle of the night,
I'm your deepest terror; I'm your brightest light.
I'm the one you live for; I'm the one you fear,
I am the Mystery: the reason you are here.

What might the Universe be saying,
Behind the endless chatter of my brain?
What would happen if I really stopped to listen?
Could I hear my seconds running down the drain?

I'll make believe my ears are giant dishes
Made just to hear the music of the spheres.
I'll try to stop my restless mind from spinning
As I listen for the whisper of the stars.

But what if the Universe is sleeping,
And all I hear are snores and gnashing teeth?
Or what if it has taken a vacation
Someplace where it simply can't be reached?

I would hate to go to all that fuss and bother
Just to find out that it may not like to talk.
It might prefer, like me, to have a quiet cup of tea,
And at sunset take a silent evening walk.

And even if the U. and I were speaking,
No proper introductions have been made.
What if it couldn't speak to me in English?
My German's rather threadbare nowadays.

I really can't converse on astrophysics
Or other things that Universes do
"Tell me, have U. ever had an ice cream,
Or visited the tigers at the zoo?"

I'm sorry now I ever even wondered
Just what the Universe might say.
I simply don't have time for idle chatter.
I've got so much I must get done today!

On this first night of the new year
the Moon rises, full
yet veiled by extravagantly modest
silky mists,
floating serenely through
deep violet skies,
encircled by handmaiden stars.

O moon, I have the honor
of embracing your fading splendor
when you have sailed across
the spangled sea,
when, at last,
tired and pale,
your foot touches
morning's shore.

I will ever welcome you,
faint and disappearing,
into arms that could never hope
to hold your light of fullness,
and I will bear you tenderly
as a dream sleeping against my shoulder,
through each long bright day,
my weightless secret,
until we reach again the portal of twilight, where
my softest kisses, brushing your evanescent eyelids,
will bid you to stir, glow, and rise,
and fill my empty night again
with mystic light.

Ever and again, O Moon, will I follow your arcing journey,
galloping through night's uncertain lands below,
racing to meet you again
on dawn's awakening shore.
Since I cannot yet fly with you above,
I will love you thus,
your invisible breath
against my cheek,
the vision of your dreams
wrapped around my heart,
your mysterious embrace
my cloak.

Each dusk I dream: my longing
lifts me with you,
a second dark moon,
slumbering, a shadow,
through night's deepest mysteries
never parted,
never apart.

Love flows on
like a silent song
in my heart,
in my heart.

Love comes true
linking me with you
in our hearts,
in our hearts.

Love joins all
creatures great and small
in one heart,
in one heart.

Love flows free
rivers to the sea
in God's heart,
in God's heart.

Love flows on,
like a silent song
in my heart,
in my heart.

The birds of the air are my brothers,
all flowers my sisters,
the trees are my friends.
All living creatures,
mountains and streams
I take unto my care.

For this green earth is our mother.
Hidden in the sky is the spirit above.
I share one life
with all who are here.
To every one I give my love,
to everyone I give my love.

Driving alone in the moonlight
An hour or two before dawn
Jackson Browne on the radio
Big wheels all humming along

Rounding a curve in the highway
I see deer in the road just ahead
The littlest one forgot to run
I hit her and knew she was dead

The body lay still and broken
Soft unseeing eyes open wide
Kneeling I took her up in my arms
And I sobbed, and wept, and I cried

I cried for her broken body
And I wept for her stolen life
I sobbed for all the loves I've lost
Through all the years of my life

Your love is like a hammer, babe
hits me like a twelve-pound sledge.
Your love is like a hammer, baby,
hits me like a twelve-pound sledge.
Breaks my heart wide open,
knocks off the rough edge.

Your love is like a fire, babe
burns me to the ground.
Your love is like a fire, baby,
burns me to the ground.
Glowing in the ashes
some diamonds I have found.

Your love is like a mirror, babe
one I don't want to see.
Your love is like a mirror baby,
I don't want to see.
Staring in the fiery eyes of truth's
not a place I like to be.

Your love is like a hammer, babe
It can break or it can build.
Your love is like a hammer, baby
Break or it can build.
Your love will make me stronger
if it doesn't ****.

I'll tell you a story about two young brothers.
Like fire and smoke, that's what was said.
Always together, laughing and singing,
Sharing adventures, sharing their bread.

One day these two brothers both became lovers.
Yes! They both fell in love at the very same time.
Though always before they'd shared all their secrets,
This was a secret they would not confide.

Each of the brothers went into the garden.
One picked a red rose, the other a white.
They rode off at sunset, not one word between them
In opposing directions, into the night.

At the balcony window of her father's veranda
Rosa is anxiously scanning the street
Pablo is late now, soon Hector will ride up
This cannot happen! They surely will meet!

Rosa hears hoof beats from different directions,
Riders approaching along cobbled streets.
Each bearing a rose, and a heart full of passion
Brothers no more, but two rivals that meet.

A challenge is offered and is quickly accepted.
Their swords are both drawn before Rosa can speak.
She cries out to stop them, their blood's screaming louder.
They fight like two madmen and fall at her feet.

Their life ebbing from them, they lie there before her,
Rosa is sobbing, "Oh what have I done?"
She kisses their lips, so cold now and pallid,
And sheds her tears on them, so soon to be gone.

Bending over her lovers, they whisper to her,
"Take these two roses, and plant them tonight
on each side of your window, they'll grow up together.
Our love will be with you, though we die in this fight."

That's the story he told me, when I was a small boy,
When I asked my papa of that house on the right,
With it's balcony window grown over with roses,
Twining together, the red and the white.

And each day at sunset, Rosa goes to the old church.
She kneels at the altar to say her long prayers.
Lighting two candles before the Mother of Mercy,
One red and one white rose she lays gently there.

Sole survivor, she
watched the ship go
down
without a trace.
Alone in the endless ocean
she struggled to keep from sinking
under the weight of despair and grief
forcing herself to think only
of staying alive.
No raft,
nothing.
Slowly she scanned the horizon
knowing she would find nothing
but she gasped, seeing
dorsal fins, big ones, approaching
slicing through the water
just beneath the surface
circling closer
closer.
Briefly, irrationally
she tried to think
of a reason
why she should be spared.
"I have a child at home
who needs me!"
There was only one scream
unheard--then
nothing but
the silent sea
and
blood in the water.

Will it surprise you
to know I've been with you
all these many days we've been apart?
Or have you felt my soul reaching out
to draw you close and hold you in my heart?

Time after time I have closed my eyes
to shut away the world and see your face.
Have you seen my eyes as they have sought for yours
to drink from them your light and loving grace?

Oh, how you water my soul with your presence!
Like a desert I burst into bloom!
When, like a rainbow, your smile shines upon me,
banished from my sky is all gloom.

Now joy reigns and tears are forgotten.
All loneliness melts into light.
Now I am sure that through you She has touched me--
the Mother of all that is bright.

Bloom-- where you are planted
Bloom-- wherever you may be
Bloom-- for you are Her flower
And She needs you to bring beauty
To everyone you see.

Bloom-- to brighten your corner
Bloom-- to lighten the day
Bloom-- and so become a witness
Let your gracious goodness
Show someone the way.

Everybody's got an old, sad story
'bout a love that didn't last
Everybody's got some bittersweet memories
'bout lovers from the past
Everybody's got a dream inside them
'bout a love that's true
Some give up and let it die
Don't let it happen to you
Yeah, some folks up and let it die
Don't let it happen to you!

Chorus:
'Cuz if you let your good dream die
You might as well be underground
But if you keep believin'
Love will come back around, oh yeah!

Now everybody who has waited for love
Will get another chance
Just be sure to keep your heart wide open
and your feet all ready to dance
Live your life with a smile on your face
and a love song in your heart,
Love will come runnin' back to you
and you'll never ever be apart, no!
You'll never ever be apart!

An eagle pair came in a dream
I searched for what their cry did mean
I puzzled that one eagle, dark
Struck my chest and left a spark
Then mounted to the sky and flew
With the white bird, one as two
The two in flight so close beside
Their beating wings as one I spied
They higher flew and ever higher
That spark burst into blazing fire
"Freedom!" is my own heart's cry
My quest that will not be denied
In you I've found, O blessed be
An eagle heart to answer me.

I awoke this morning
without you
My first night alone
without you
Without you the bed
Without you my arms
With you
my heart

Tide of tenderness rising
pushes waves of love
up over the desolate
abandoned beach
of my without,
whispering a million
loving thoughts
into every listening shell--
the shore sparkles
with the wet kisses
of my love's waves.

As you stroll barefoot
in the sand,
There, on the other side
of this one blue sea--
Can you hear my whispers?
Can you ******* kiss?

Like a lion caged am I this restless night,
Straining to thy presence only fly,
On winged feet through forest's starry light,
There gently on thy lap my head to lie,

That thou may'st quench the fire within me rages,
The thirst for thee that doth my soul inflame,
Thus drinking deep of thee, whom my heart craves, I
Recover human stature once again.

Then would I pour on thee, who art my treasure,
The loving sweet that thou dost richly measure,
In hope that in some manner, in some kind,
I may bring you joy, oh joy of mine!

I fell into your kiss
your lips opened
more than soft
and all of me
was focused there
I was drawn
into your heart
hot, passionate
hungry, savage desire
needing me
to set fire to you
and go down
in glorious flames together
burning through
everything!
Fire flows
from my heart
and yours
our bodies glowing
clothing burns away
crackling sparks fly
as skin to skin
our flames
come together
and the fire dance
begins:
unspeakable pleasure
caresses electric
fire flowers bloom from
lips tongues fingertips
hotter and hotter
moaning, dripping
trembling, sighing
one
all-consuming
flame!


From far, far away
I hear someone
call my name
again and again.
Unwilling, I
tear my lips from yours
the kiss ends
our eyes open
we fall into
each other's eyes
and the sparks begin
to fly all over.

Again I hear my name
someone is shaking me
I wake up for real this time--****!
I'm back
in the Afghan mountains
it's time to pick up my rifle
and go on patrol.
My buddy looks at me funny,
"How'd you get
lipstick all
over your mouth?"
I touch my fingertips
to my still-tingling lips
a huge grin
steals over my face.
"I fell into a kiss."

Oh, come with me, master of Galilee,
I know that it's long you have waited for me.
Now I am ready to sail o'er the sea,
Oh, come with me, master of Galilee.

The waters are raging, the wind is a roar,
But sunlight is sparkling upon the far shore.
I'll raise the sail, will you take the oar?
Oh come with me, master of Galilee.

Along the shore
       fall the waves--
            fall
                and hiss
                    fall
                       and hiss
                          fall
                              and hiss.

"I'm a mermaid," she said as she kissed me.
Ah! her kiss made me drunker than wine.
I'd been longing for the ocean in her blue eyes,
it was calling to the diver in mine.
She whispered, "I've got just a little bit of magic
from my home in this big blue lagoon--
join me tonight for a swim in the moonlight,
I'll make some magic for you."

The full moon was rising in Paradise
as I made my way down to the shore.
There I dove right into the water,
I just couldn't stand it anymore.
Here she comes, swimming up to meet me--
wraps her self around me like a glove.
As long as I live I never could tell
the magic of a mermaid in love.

Goddess of the crystal blue ocean,
sharing your mysteries with me.
When I'm with you I can breathe underwater
and swim beside you under the sea.
If I could stay here under the surface,
I would never go back to dry land!
Goddess of the crystal blue ocean,
Meet me here whenever you can.

The spell would be broken by sunrise,
but her "little bit of magic" was no lie.
We soared, freed by love, underwater,
free as two birds in the sky.
All too soon the sky began lightening,
the moon and the stars took their flight.
Our kisses were mingled with tears at the shoreline
where we promised to meet every night.

Goddess of the crystal blue ocean,
sharing your mysteries with me.
When I'm with you I can breathe underwater,
and swim beside you under the sea.
If I could stay here under the surface,
I would never go back to dry land!
Goddess of the crystal blue ocean,
make me a real merman.

In the silence of the desert,
with the stars so close and bright,
there's the feeling of a Presence
in the stillness of the night--

Oh, let me, like the desert
hold a silence in my heart!
And in that sacred silence
let me know You as You are.