In the pursuit of happiness I walked the roads,
I stopped at milestones, leaned on posts.

I saw a flock of birds in flight,
Rings of gold.. an orb so bright.
I looked around at mountain walls,
The raging sea, white frothy falls.
I looked up at the sky serene,
The valley lush a summer green.
Banyan trees with leaves  bedecked,
Gulmohars lined with blossoms red.

Faces walked engrossed in streets,
A touch, a nod when eyes would meet..
Saw hunger, anguish, weary eyes,
Sorrow, terror, shock, surprise,
I saw the tears of loss and grief,
Faith, resilience, resolve, belief.

I heard the laughter of a child,
I saw the magic of a smile.
A hug, a kiss, a warm caress,
A helping hand that love expressed
I felt the cord of love that binds,
Hearts across the world and time.

I found happiness in little things,
In nature that surprises springs..
His art, the colors that I saw,
That left me breathless, full of awe,
Happiness in that special touch,
In smiles, laughter, that gentle brush.
In kind words that wonders do,
In love that breathes life anew.

In all things that I could see,
I knew happiness begins with me,
Within me what I see or do,
The trail of thoughts I send to you.

And happiness is what I found,
When happiness was spread around.

I'm in love
so in love
with the idea of you
and I don't know
what to do..

I keep forgetting you
now and then
and in the end
I know you'll disappear
If I ever open my eyes

and now i have to walk
blind.. for the rest of my life

and I'm only alive
for this brief moment in time
and before I leave behind
this world and sleep
I have a few words
I'd like to carve on a page
in a language so strange
that it becomes a cage
for your mind to keep


you don't have to weep
you'll never know
that I was here
that I was yours

I won't bother you anymore

[when it's too far..
when she's standing so close]

from a thousand miles away
down the road


I don't exist.

Sleep is the last thing
you want to do
You could miss the apocalypse
Miss Florida on fire

You've wasted so much time
trying to belong
to fit in that tiny
pegged square hole

But you are the circumference
Conforming your
way to happiness
indulging in mediocrity

Time is now
for something authentic
something more burning
than the flesh of hades

Seize god by holding her
in silence and hearing
her deep

No pessimist skies  
When the sun doesn't rise
Can reign my parades
Or dwarf me in size
With their cynical shades
On my evergreen trees
I'm a jack of all trades
I'm the uplifting breeze
And my ace of spades
Is the heart on your sleeves
So drop the charades
And come jump in my leaves

For life is my game
And my pieces in pain
So I play to win
For all one and the same
And all of you cheaters
Remember the name
For I raise the stakes
From the ones that you claim
All ownership over
The shattered-glass frame

When broken lie dreams
All split at the seems
We condemn our ambitions
To bite all the bullets
Of human conditions
And sentence to death
My master tactician  
Who ceases to fire
In wars of attrition
For I am the peace treaty's final revision

Ignition flames in your engines of trust
In a world made of more than machine cogs to rust
I could be the pebble
That ripples through time
Transforming you into
An optimist prime
I could be the cure
To the most common cold
A lonely lost lover's hands
Longing to hold

Awaiting the day you embrace me again
When the light in the tunnel is distant and dim
When everything falls I'll be there at the end
Since from the beginning
I've been by your side
You took your first steps
With me in your stride
Of your deepest secrets
In me you'd confide
Then I let you drown me
In oceans you've cried
Yet still I resurface
And rise like the tide
At your emptiest depths
I will fill you with pride
And be the surfboard
On these waves that you ride

Though we loosen our ties
When you tighten the rope
And you don't think of me
When you're penning the note
I still send you letters
In sealed envelopes
If you would but open
The ones that I wrote
And read that each one is signed
    
                                                       Your old friend,
                                                                ­        *Hope

As I walk the streets of this old town
footsteps of the past are retraced;
though I look upon it with brand new eyes
every place still has your face.

The wind will always carry your voice,
words echoing on the breeze,
like whispers in the gathering dark
between the cemetery trees.

Fragmented memories of a tortured past
are just riddles without clues.
Haunted are these same old streets
by the apparitions of you.

The moon was full and bright just
the other night.
The howling and appearance  of the wolves
were nowhere in sight.
Fog draped the sky like a velvet cloth.
Flying bugs showed up. ( Gypsy Moths)
Such a fear was released in the air.
It bellowed deep within me shattering
my thought's with bells ringing in my ears.
I fell to the ground, not being able to take the
next step.
A taxi then pulled up with a lady in the
rear.
I was told she asked the driver to stop.
That was the last i was to hear.
Morning followed with the sun beating
down on my face.
I awoke in satin sheets, and a unfamiliar
place.
Three knocks with a butler opening the door.
Asking "Coffee Sir"? I reached for it in
my pajamas of silk.
I felt like a piece of a puzzle that would
never find it's way home.
Interrupting my thought came a voice of
a woman. A beautiful woman. "Thank you Simone"
She said to me that i have been missing for hours, and
time to get up for my morning shower.
I did what she said, and at the same time thinking
i maybe dead.
That's not the case. I just happen to be in
another place.
My mind speaks to you. It's what so many of us go
through.
I'm a man with Alzheimer's. Someone who needs
to be cared for. Please don't make me wander
anymore."