I have people often ask me
Where do you get this stuff
Which got me into thinking
Of opening something up

A little shop where poets
Can freely purchase rhymes
Either in bulk quantities
Or one rhyme at a time

We'll have daily blue light specials
That are bound to wow the crowd
From Rondelets to Sonnets
Up and down most every isle

Plus a discount rack for words that lack
Any kind of rhyming order
Still a true must have for this craft
Well be located in the corner

Of course what kind of store would this be
Without a Starbucks there to serve
Your "Triple shot Venti light iced skinny hazelnut with a left leaning swirl latte"
As you sit down to rhyme your newly purchased words

I'll call the store Rhyme & Reason
That's sounds like a pretty catchy name
Our slogan will be "Come to Rhyme & Reason
Where every season you will save

Am I winning at this game
Or is life beating me
Sometimes it's hard to tell  
Sometimes it's hard to see

When my chips are down
I try and quickly pick them up
Are you ready for another round
Or have you had enough

Sometimes it's hard to tell
If you're the monkey or the cage
I have yet to figure out
Am I the turkey or the baste

On life's shinny lock
I often fumble with the keys
When you find I'm in mid-sneeze
Would someone please bless me

While enter and exit signs
Loom everwhere I go
Not sure if I should stick around
Or pack my bags and hit the road

Sometimes it's hard to tell
If you're the noose or the rope
I have yet to figure out
Am I the grass or the goat

If ever there was a sliver
Of sun in this shade of doubt
It's that in life it is hard to tell
And even harder to figure out

I often fill my pockets up
With all sorts of stuff
From breath mints to deodorant
When there's a need to freshen up

Along with a dime or two
For those important calls
When I need directions
For the times that I am lost

My favorite flavor of chewing gum
Double the pleasure, Double Mint
Which most times slides from the wrapper
Where I just kindly brush the lint

Undoubtedly as always
There's a few string clingers on
Which in wisdom I save for later
For that urgent urge to floss

One or two pet rocks
That along the road I found
I just put this part in
To give you something to think about

I sometimes put my hands in my pockets
Though there's barely any room
Still a hand sometimes need a rest
If it's got nothing to do

It's little wonder I fill them up
With all sorts of stuff  
Cause don't cha know when it comes to stuff
You can never have enough

Nothing more that Ben and Jerry enjoy
Than Florida on Spring Break
Hanging out there at this moment
On this bright and sunny day

Swimming in the ocean
Just off the Southern shore
Waiting for a nice plump student
To dip his toes in and more

Nodding in agreement
They both would like that very much
After all what would two Great Whites
Rather crunch for lunch

Conversation rolls around to Daytona
Reminiscing of the time
Ben chowed down on four collage kids
While Jerry gorged on Nine

Yes, Spring is in the water
Where both the sharks relate
Nothing better in Florida when
You can sink your teeth into Spring Break

My hope is one day
I see life the way
My friend Ben the Poet sees life

From the edge of extreme
To all points in between
Taking us and his mind for a ride

Whether in a bubbly boat
Carved out of hand soap
On the high seas of a tile laden floor

Or chasing butterflies
As they flip, flutter, and fly
Knocking at his noggins door

I am always amazed
More than mere words could convey
As his imagination takes us for a spin

Which direction it flows
Not even the mind of Ben knows
As the wind whispers, take hold of his hand

Towing insanity's line
Like that of Ben's Frankenstein
Fresh off the shelf, Abby Normal...don't you know it

Setting all his thoughts free
Every time his mind blinks
Little wonder that Ben is a Poet

This is the last poem to ever be written
The very last rhyme to come down the line
We'll look back on it all, this thought in the making
And realize the decision was not taken light

With poetry reflecting the heart as it's given
Sometimes filling the spot in an unmade bed
Breathing into the moment words that are living
A thousand times over, what must be said

This is the last poem to grace these pages
The last piece of poetry leaving all this behind
Last in a line of heart felt words being delivered
Giving a blind notion a sliver of natural light

The last poem to show up for the party
With nothing prepared before they shut out the lights
All dressed up with no where to go
As it steps through the door in its last goodbye

I can accept the wrinkles
The graying of the hair
The balding spot that sits on top
The memory that goes no where

The groans I make as I start my day
Before the aches and pains subside
Yes I can accept all this and more
As just another part of life

What I can't accept is the simple fact
I'll soon leave all this behind
As I take that final wisp of breath
Rolling over to the other side

Leaving those to which I've grown close
Through the laughter, trials, and tears
As we've held each other steady
After all these many years

The closer I get to deaths edge
The more on life I ponder
Yes most of this I can accept
In one form or another

But leaving behind the ones I love
I sometimes have to wonder...

we're all beginners here
we're all amateurs
learning daily the lessons of life
making our way through this world

seeing is believing
if you believe all that you see
take it all with a grain of salt
light on the seasoning

with this life of choices
you take or you give
amid all of the noises
we have lessons in life to live

I just puked another poem today
There was a queasiness so my brain felt the need
To up chuck all of its contents
All over you fine peoples feet

It was a colorful array of symbolism
That I hurled across the room
It must have been something I'd seen or read
That made me ***** this poem out for you

Don't worry I'll personally clean up the mess
Before anymore of this I let loose
But this close to a sick poet you should have guessed
That eventually my works would splatter on you

I wonder where would I be
If not for the Sharpie
To keep myself organized
Permanently

As I store my life in boxes
With short stories on top
So I'll know where to go
When I need to restock

I even Sharpie my name
On the tags of my clothes
So both my clothes and I know
By whom they are owned

Oh the Hollywood tragedy
If my pirated DVD's
Where not all color coded
By a rainbow array of Sharpie's

Plus they're the perfect party favors
With the overindulgent guest
For weeks they can look in the mirror
And see all the fun that they missed

There is nothing I like better
Than pulling out my permanent pen
And marking down forever
Whatever mood I'm in

Floating along on the outer edge

Filling in the in between

If time stood still there'd be nothing left

But the breaking of glass inside of the dream

There's a light that shines in the corner

That seems to come from somewhere beyond

Shining itself on the darkened side

Of the waters  you once swam upon

If you trust it will change in its meaning

If it must it will change in your mind

Turning its back in its leaving

Leaving it all back behind

The tune that it always carries

Is a bolder that is tied to its waist

Unto itself it is married

Stepping off the path it has laid

Bringing about a decision

Yet never quite sure what it means

Lagging behind in its vision

Fallen deeper into the dream

There's a guy that is waving a sign
Spewing hatred along with his lies
Saying God hates the ones that aren't doing right
But God loves all of mankind

There's a street walker that is selling her soul
Would she have chosen this life if she had known
That the drink and the drugs would take total control
God still loves you no matter how low

There's a couple caught up in a lie
Neither married but soon to be with child
Contemplating the easy way out
As the tears of God are raining down

There's a evil that has been let loose
Blinding mankind from the lasting truth
That no matter what it is that you do
God in Heaven he still loves you

God loves the born and unborn
When sin entered in the true fabric was torn
Which left us all feeling alone
God still loves you more than you'll ever know

He just doesn't like the spot that your in
When you both bathe and dry off in your sin
He knows that is no way to live
Sent his Son so we could all start over again

So place all you have into His hands
Go in peace and don't sin again
Fall on your knees pray for healing the land
Place your life into God's hand

I know I don't say this often enough
In fact not much at all
But when I stumble in this life
You're the direction I love to fall

You supply my many wants
Give me all my earthly needs
Guess what it is I'm trying to say
Is you're perfect for me

After all those years of searching
Blessings from above
You being the perfection
When love decided to show up

Some won't understand, when you took my hand
That is when I was set free
At that moment in time I realized
You're perfect for me

you play the game and i do too
puzzle pieces, elmer's glue
truth or dare to tell the truth
when you stare i always lose

twenty questions maybe more
wipe it clean across the board
money flowing out our hands
with 3 questions left to ask

folded paper, rock, or scissors
personality trivia quizzes
you try to guess behind my back
while i guess inside your hands

hands we used for patty cake
over used...games people play

i'm not half the man
that i pretend to be
don't look behind the curtain
to the left of me

that's where i hold control
of the things i do and say
to the hidden truth
that's far to much to give away

would you still hang with me
or would this relationship
come abruptly to an end

wouldn't it be easier
if i were just me
not somebody else  
that i pretend to be

if i don't like the fact
of who it is i am
i should change my tact
come up with a different plan

i think perhaps all of this
would be less of a mess
if the curtain to the left
i would open it

1 Corinthians 1:18
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

All it is the world can see
Is a man dying uselessly on a shameful tree
If he really had thought it out
He probably could have saved himself

And you know what is a crying shame?
These fools that continually bring up his name
All this happened so long ago
Can't they just leave well enough alone
.........................................................­..............
The cross for us that have been saved
Is the power of God from beyond the grave
There is nothing more thought out as well
That can bring those back from the gates of Hell

So it's to the cross that we must turn
Putting back together what the worlds undone
Foolishness I'm sure to a dying world
**But to those who see they have a need it is the cure

Just saw a man carrying an end of times sign
Said we'd all be finished off at a quarter past nine
I figure before all hope is lost
I'd better do some things I've been putting off

Like the house could use a fresh coat of paint
Will that leaky faucet fix itself, I tend to think ain't
If that man with the sign knows this is true
Then I don't have much time to do what I need to do

I need to have the oil changed in the car
If the worlds gonna end it won't get me far
I should also send a letter to Mom
In case she hasn't heard what's going on

I've also been meaning to learn how to play
The electric guitar...hope I'm not to late
If the end of the world is really what's going on
Then I'd better hurry cause I haven't got long

Guess  I'll cut the grass that's knee high
Trim the bushes so in the end the place will look nice
Of course I'll have no neighbors around to blame me
For not having the best looking lawn on the street

I should wash the dog...the best  I can figure
Though we'll be long gone outta here his smell for years will linger
I've got to hurry cause if the end really does come
There's only a couple hours left to get it all done

my head is filled with crazy thoughts
to the point i went out and bought
a heavy duty combination lock
to keep it all well guarded

keeping them both out and in
the depths of my loony bin
is this were it all begins
homegrown or imported

does it come in a brown bag
to go orders from out the head
taking home all that is left
for later consumption

as always though the sanity leaks
from my crooked smile, between the teeth
as in and out i can't help but breathe
the thought of around the bend, crazy's coming...

here...
is all that is left

here...
is where it is at

here...
is between you and me

here...
is where we are free

here...
is the beginning of time

here...
is the end of the line

here...
is the answer to all

here...
is where we've been called

here...
is the hope we hold to

here...
is the brand in the new

here...
is where you've been lately

here...
is where you will make it

here...
there are no excuses

here...
no one is clueless

here...
is where we're meant to be

here...
is the place of that need

here...
is where they all say

here...
is where it's given away

here...
is where it begins

here...
is where it all ends

Hello innocence my old friend
It's hard to say how long it's been
Since you and I held tender hands
I still often wonder where you went

Was it you or was it me
That dove head first into the worldly sea
Or caught the whisper on the breeze
Is that why you felt the need to leave

Was it the way I treated you
Would I go back if this I knew
Trade it all out for the truth
Life's not been the same since I lost you

It's raining again today
How many days does this make
Praying for heaven sake
For this pain to go away

But of course it never does
It keeps digging itself up
All of this just because
Pain is all a part of love

Always coming back for more
Trying to even up the score
The battle between the head and heart
Where pain and love get their start

i stuck my thumb
into the air
in a gesture
of i don't care
you can take me
anywhere
just take me far
away from here

because here is
not where it's at
i've had enough
of this and that
enough of hoping
that i get
enough of what
i've never had

which is peace
and prosperity
something that
is lacking me
hence my thumb
will set me free
as my thumb
speaks liberty

This is what love looks like
When it is one sided
And this is what love looks like
When it is misguided

If you don't believe that
Then take a look at me

This is how it feels
When you love another
And this is how it feels
When your not their lover

You might want to stand back
Give my heart room to bleed

This is how it feels
When it's all gone bad
And this is how it feels
When you've lost all that you had

When it comes down to it
Who are you going to believe

Cause this is what love looks like
On this side of nothing
And this is what love looks like
When it is missing someone

Especially when that someone
Just happens to be...

I'm trying to decide
Which words best rhyme
With the way I feel about you

They must be just right
These words that I find
Ringing with the truth

Like that of fine dining
Or the perfect timing
No other words will do

Then I alight
On the well trued and tried
The perfection of I Love You

No need for Elmer's
Or the strength of Super Glue
The silver tone of Liquid Nails
Or that Gorilla from the zoo

No Scotch, Packing, or Duct tape
To wrap tight what's loose
None of that so called sticky stuff
For this boy will do

No 10 penny or roofing nails
To hammer all this through
No Quick Set or Rubber Cement
So that things don't move

None of that stuff seriously holds enough
At least not 100 proof
When all I need is love
For me to be stuck on you

I sometimes miss
When I was a kid
And all the crazy things
That I always did

As it's awfully hard
To get used to this
Playing the old **** part
Like nobodies biz

All this growing up
Is mostly out to lunch
Will you pass the peas
Thank you very much

Growing bounds and leaps
Pretty as you please
What's in front, behind
And beside of me

With a wrinkle here
And a wrinkle there
Along with balding spots
In my graying hair

And a belly, Budda
Would be proud of
As I haven't missed
Too many times at lunch

With a memory
That's hard to find
As this wandering mind
Gets lost at times

If I had the chance
To do it all again
I'll show you where
If you tell me when

Cause I sometimes miss
When I was a kid
And all the crazy things
That I always did...

I bought a packet of seed today
From a rundown roadside stand
It came with ten seed which is all I would need
Is what the old man behind the counter had said

So I went home to my garden
I had cultivated in my back yard
And planted the seed one inch deep
As per instructions on the card

I watered it all so faithfully
Every day for a week
When the sprouts of inspiration
Started popping up like weeds

Now I have a garden of inspiration
That I visit all the time
Backed up against last years crop
Of melody and rhyme

By chance the seeds have all blended together
When a strong south wind came along
Which I guess its how it is
I came up with this poem

When I fall down
I bounce right back up
Lose what I've found
More than enough

I pay life no mind
When it kicks me wrong right
Day after day guess you could say
This is a Ricochet Life

With what I am given
I never give out
From where I have been
What I have found

Is a true attitude
Of do it or die
Not a piece of cake but I bake anyway
Cause this is a Ricochet Life

These days of hard knocks
I don't let ring my bell
Every toss is not caught
But it still turns out well

There's a tab to be paid
Cause this ain't a free ride
As I make my way through the daily of days
Of this Ricochet Life

I have a good friend in this life ya'll
That when good times come along helps me sing
And when things turn out bad they too are sad
Sharing in my misery

We have known each other for years now
Not saying it's always been an easy breeze
Ain't that how it goes with those we best know
Still all along we're both good company

Not one to get in each others business
Nor give out unwanted advice for free
We'll laugh at the jokes that only we know
Because of our history

We may not see each other for ages
But still there at the drop of a coin
Without a doubt always there to help out
With whatever is going on

If you ever find a friend that is like this
Grab hard and hold on to them tight
They will always be there no matter where
Because they are friends for life

we're born into this life, to live to die
before the north meets south
as we peddle fast moving past
all that we're allowed

rely on luck, call it a bluff
bowing down before our sacred cow
but never is it quite enough
all that we're allowed

we make our beds as we take the hand
to late we find it out
hoping when we land that it's soft sand
into all that we're allowed

before the fall we had it all
then riddled ourselves with doubt
when over time we moved the line
of all that we're allowed

we place our bets on so much less
as frenzy feeds the crowd
expect the top to have a drop
from all that we're allowed

we've made a mess of this no less
 as we took the task to town
 and what we found without a doubt
 is all that we're allowed

we all love love but it's not enough
as we wonder what that's all about
we lose our heads as we all fret
over all that we're allowed

we pay later the undertaker
to dig a hole in the ground
but he only bothers six feet under
because it's all that we're allowed

There's a person deep inside of me
That goes against all I believe
Only does what he wants to do
Do you have someone like that too

It's the sin in me that's troubling
As I blindly follow where it leads
You'd think that "NO" is what I'd say
But far too often that is not the case

After all these years I should know
Because it looks good don't make it so
As the guilt sets in after all
Another trip, another fall

There's a part of me that knows whats right
Though I too often side with the other side
Who can save me from this wretched life
Praise be to my Savior Jesus Christ

The other day my cousin Mabel
She said to me
Mike I ain't never seen
Nothing before like your poetry

Cuz, you need to be famous
We're going to take this on the road
We're going to knock down some doors
We're going to make some heads explode

She said I know this feller
He's going to do good by you
He's one of them there agents of sorts
He'll put you in the news

Right then and there she called up Bubba
Who believe me, didn't come cheap
Wanting all the money up front
If he was to represent me

So I handed over all my doe
And now that's where we are
On a whirlwind of a tour
Of America's Super Wal-Marts

He even had me a bunch
Of my poetry books printed out
I think that they're in English
But I still have my doubts

That's okay cause most here
Prefer not to read
And Bubba had his kid draw in some pictures
Which seems about all they need

They ask if I'm famous
I come back with a lie
Ever hear of Jeff Foxworthy?
Well I know that guy

That's when the book sales took off
Like history in the making
I told Bubba to buy his son more crayons
We're going to need more illustrations

Yes this being a famous poet
Seems to really suit me
Tomorrow we're going to set up a stand
Outside of Denny's

We'll be hitting the breakfast crowd
Right on up through lunch
So move over fame your in my spot
Just call it a hunch

What's the opposite of  Goodbye
Would your attention on that be grabbed
If you took out all the happy
Would you be left with sad
If there was a magic number
Could you count that high
If you lost what you do for a living
Would that cause you to die

These are some of the questions
That it is I've got
Oh, one more thing if you don't mind
Is that the opposite or not

With your head stuck in the clouds
Do you find it hard to breath
If you turned that frown upside down
Would a smile intercede
If you went out with the Butcher
Would the Baker still supply your sweets
If you dated the Undertaker
Would the afterlife come cheap

These are some random questions
That I have running loose
Wait a minute, here comes another
What's the opposite of truth

Is there an account on daylight savings
I can put interest in from my time
Should I have saved more of the day
And spent less on the night
Could I dilly dally in the stock market
And take it out in trade
Or buy a balloon in the shape of Johnny and June
And watch them float in serenade

Just a few of the questions
That I like to throw
By the way can you tell me
What's the opposite of  *Hello

In hiding my sin
You show me love
Pouring me out
To fill me up
From guilt's misery
You set me free
Proving again
Lord, it's you that I need

When I'm running out
You take me in
Walking in doubt
Taking hold of my hand
Who better yet
Than the lover of me
Proving again
Lord, it's you that I need

When my heart cries
You dry the tears
Losing my sight
You calm my fears
When I feel like packing it in
You never leave
Proving again
Lord, it's you that I need

My life is one long presentation
With thrown in power points
No need for explanation
It's up there written on the wall

With drawn out situations
In graphs and colored charts
This ground work that I've been laying
Is bound to leave it's mark

I've supplied pads and pencils
If you feel the need to take down notes
I've tried to keep it simple
I've tried to take it slow

So could someone kindly draw the shades
And someone dim the lights
I'll try and not keep us all too late
On this, the presentation of my life

There's something 'bout a woman
Like the flicker of a fire
Makes you want to stare
Fills you with desire
No need to turn the heat
For you to feel her warmth
There's something 'bout a woman
Makes you come in from the cold

There's something 'bout a woman
That keeps your heart afloat
When the world around you
Is a sinking boat
She is the island paradise
On the raging sea you're in
There's something 'bout a woman
That's perfect for a man

There's something 'bout a woman
Makes you want to hum along
To the beauty of her melody
To the best of her in song
The joy that's in her sound
The drowning of applause
There's something 'bout a woman
Where all she is, is all you want

A sudden hole in my bag
And all my groceries fell out
Just look around
If you have any doubts

I hate when the items
Make a run for their lives
Must have been the sardines
With their pocket knives

They saw we were home
And before it was late
They sliced and they diced
On their paper bag prison break

Now their all hurrying and scurrying
In a mad dash for their lives
While the veggies went left
The meat products went right

With no time to delay
I went right, right away
Toss this dog a bone
And just see what I say

Never realized how fast
Bologna could roll
Or steak could gallop along
When out of control

But I grabbed them both
Without a minute to spare
As a pack of wild chihuahuas
Came from out of nowhere

Who proceeded to think
Of me as the meat
And made a melee
Below both my knees

When I made it back home
The veggies didn't get far
As they were still fighting
Over the keys to my car

The rhubarb had sights on the North
The avocado due South
As the artichoke thought
California no doubt

Luckily I got there
In the nick of time
And marched them inside
All in single file

Where I had them for dinner
From dips to dessert
Thinking back on the day
And how it could have been worse

Next time at the checkout
When paper or plastic is asked
I'll kindly speak up
And say...
do you have something in a wire mesh instead

I used to smile
With the best of them
But now for awhile
My grins been thin
When you see the world
And the shape it's in
With an insanity crust
And a crazy filling

I would wake my day
In the usual way
With a howdy do
And a smile on my face
To those I passed
I would kindly wave
As I would always have
Something special to say

But then my smile
One day went South
If you need to know
Take a gander around
Look high, look low
Look up, look down
You too will see
What I'm talking about

When I say ...

I used to smile
With the best of them
But now for awhile
My grins been thin
When you see the world
And the shape it's in
With an insanity crust
And a crazy filling

i paint on you a blue tattoo
against your porcelain skin
coloured in to hide the truth
of where it is you've been

fill in your eyes with crayon white
with the slightest touch of grey
can't be to bright, i'll tell you why
so you don't give too much away

a blood red heart in the center of
the hole that's in your chest
i'll give to you colours seldom used
you can fill in all the rest

Take the leaf from out the table
The guests have all gone home
Just you and me if we are able
Once again to be alone

The emptiness that's in the silence
Grabs a hold our hearts
Wasn't it love we once relied on
Before alone came to play its part

Place the extra silverware after it's polished
Back inside the bottom drawer
We won't be needing it at all
For at least another year or more

The leftovers that we are left with
Is in not having much to say
About our missing wants and needs
With loneliness being the cutting blade

Make sure to put up all the chairs
Leaving an extra one behind
A seat where silence can sit and stare
At these lost and lonely lives

I often play Checkers
With Fats Domino
In a downtown park
Underneath the lamps glow

When he wins a game
Sings out Ain't That A Shame
Where I'm less than thrilled
On Blueberry hill

Then it's off to Dominos
During the day
With Chubby Checkers
A game he loves to play

Twists and he shouts
When he turns over the tiles
Making up his own rules
I'm not sure that's aloud

You would think with their names
They'd play different games don't you know
But who can understand those
That Rock & Roll