Carmine refused to ever play her violin again
As she placed it on the stairs
Surrounded by music playing deep in her heart
She no longer wanted carried there

Saddened by the bitter note she played
At her last performance
Carmine set aside her violin forevermore
Banishing its soul to silence

As silent days and nights turned into years
She never changed her mind
That bitter note she played just once
Remained in fast rewind

Those strings Carmine strung so beautifully
Tuned with all her loving care
Are becoming brittle and cracked with age
Without her playing there

Will Carmine look on with longing glances
Up until her dying days
Never to play the music carried in her heart
Because of a bitter note she played?

My mistakes walk all over shore lines known as me
Touching on my foolish memories
I long to smile and depart into the sun I see
If only these mistakes
Would let me be

My skies sing counsel into my pulse each day
As I walk in silence to be content
Yet out of the dust my mistakes still stray
Calling out to my heart
In admonishment

Long years from the home where I love to be
Appear now in a haze of smoke
Choking out the vibrance contained in me
As I hide my heart beneath
This silken cloak

What joy could be my own I hear in my skies
Such treasures are upon my shelf
If I would only lift up mine own eyes
My shore would lead me home
As I forgive myself

There once was a poetess with a thesaurus
As big as the Adriatic Sea
She hunted down words in her book so absurd
Then tortured the world with these

She wrote lavish poems about simple drivel
Using words unknown to you and me
Inspissating her plots so we would think she was not
The harebrain her friends knew her to be

A plethora of words she abused along with our minds
As she wrote of the redolent roses
Why could she not say how sweet they smelled
Before she beleaguered all of our noses

Now her poems are a panoply of quintessential bliss
If you have any idea what that means
I surely do not and have no intent of learning
So for now I will say she is keen

I am the only daughter of the heart of understanding
Once again, I have come to be a gleam
In the eyes of those who are too demanding
Beautifully, I scatter my virtues
Into their dreams

Behold the hearts, full of pain and disappointment
Who think their fate is writ in stone
Watch their eyes light up in amazement
When they suddenly find
They are not alone

I am the only son of the burning flames of passion
Once again, I have come to be a gleam
In the eyes of those who have lost appreciation
Beautifully, I scatter my virtues
Into their dreams

Behold the hearts, which have lost their determination
Who no longer dare to follow their dreams
Watch their eyes light up in complete fascination
When they find once again
Their self-esteem

The dream world beckons your little soul
Your eyes are so heavy now
A million stars rock as you roll
Over the dream ship's bow

So very fast asleep soon you will go
The Sandmans on his way
No need to fight the ebb and flow
Tomorrow you can play

Now close your little eyes and sleep
Not the tiniest word do say
I will pray the Lord your soul to keep
And guide you on your way

In the morn the brightest day will peek
To shine upon your little face
And once again you'll play hide n seek
Tomorrow you can play

The statuesque stones were once placed in a circle so grand
Safely surrounding the secrets hidden within
Perchance as protection from the distribution of inequity
That raged from the inner recesses of man

An infinite hedge of fortification so majestic in its defense
Still stands proudly holding all the secrets within
Perhaps of the cycles of life or passing of time
Heatedly debated for ages by man

So many have come to observe this mystical circle
To meditate upon its original plan
Oblivious to the fact that what could be so simple
Can often be perplexing to man

These statuesque stones still bravely defend the secrets
While the mystified onlookers stare
Believing if the reason were simple for their existence
It would be such a sad and distressing affair

You snowed on the final words when they caught up with dawn
Then blamed the wind when no one held you
Your carefully arranged universe is now chilled in ways
That spins on a merry-go-round of frozen tears of nothingness
Haunted by the lightest touch of truth

To see pictures stopped in time you leave forever in the cold
Knowing danger tends to write with curtains closed
Yet you still choose your fate snowing on the final words
While your heart lies trembling on the ground
Preferring the warmest touch it knows

Are you all-knowing when the light of day has faded into black
Do you listen to every word you have frozen
Every now and then do you just sit and wonder why
You have to go and snow on the final words
Before dawn has them chosen

True confessions of the day, which never seem to end
Often bring deep shadows into light
When exasperating tales of how we crush each other’s spirit
We bring home to our loved ones and recite

To forget about the day and come home with just a smile
So often, we quickly forget that this we need to do
Instead, we bring the awful grief that has been left at our feet
Into our homes to rest upon the ones we love so true

Now I will be the first to admit that we all need a shoulder to cry upon
Someone to tell about the gist of our unpleasant day
Yet I think most would agree with me, if given a choice outright
That our homes should be a refuge, come what may

When you travel through the door of your most blessed home
Shake the exasperated dust of the day from your feet
Greet your loved ones with a smile and rest there for a while
Leave the worst of your day there on the street

I listened to the hush that immersed the day
And could not stand the stillness
I felt the deepest hunger in my soul to try to see
What I could do to fill this

This silence worried me and yet I did not know
Exactly what it was I hungered for
I only knew that this discontentment that I felt
Was something I absolutely abhorred

Tears shimmered in my soul at this frustration felt
In this emptiness in which I did abide
While this hunger continued gnawing in my soul
My whole being began to cry

With sudden jubilation, I realized exactly what I needed
To end this emptiness that I felt inside
And as I lifted up my voice in song and sang aloud
My hungering soul no longer cried

You can call me crazy,  if you want to
Call me anything you like
I will  still love you in the morning
As much as I love you tonight

Come and listen closely to me now
Let me whisper in your ear
I will still love you in the morning
I will still be here

I may not always treat you right
I know that it’s wrong
But I’ll still love you in the morning
Still be singing this song

So come and hold me and call me baby
Please don’t be mad at me
Tell me you’ll still love me in the morning
Then make sweet love to me

The vagueness of the picture at hand hangs in the balance  
So elusive in all its logical respectability
You find you are falling over the meaning of all that is there
Because you cannot see the forest for the trees

An intrusion, such injustice, flows into the scheme of things
Delivering a crushing blow to all that you can see
So now how clear is this picture, hanging in the balance
As you stand without a shred of your dignity

A shade of gray has entered the picture with neutrality
Your sense of logic no longer holds the key
What was once so vague and elusive is now clear as a bell
As all of the forest you begin to see

Put aside for just one moment all the logic that you hold
Dare to see a dream of impossibilities
You may find the picture is not as vague as you think
When you open up your eyes and truly see

If the heart is the master of it all
Where does the mind fit in
Is there a battle going on inside each of us
A war going on within

Does the mind ever take on the heart
Attempt to take control
To change all the heart desires
Could it be so bold

If the heart is truly pure in thought
Impartial in its ways
Then by what means does it think
If the mind has no say

Is it possible for there to be peace
To stop the war within
For the mind to just rest in the heart
Held close there as best friends

When locked within secret burning thoughts weighing heavy on your day
Often we find it hard to see a calming river in a mist of pain
Recklessly tasting coarse twists of self-pity
While dancing to bittersweet music with shadows
In our own heart’s rain

Thinking with your eyes closed of lines in sand you dare not cross
While wishing those leaves you gathered would disappear
Have you drawn like a moth to fear’s eternal flame
Because you will not open up your eyes so you can see
A calming river running near

Silently, those secret thoughts are shadow dancing on your faith
While laughing to themselves as your heart cries
Curve those lips of yours and create the biggest smile
Cross those lines of sand and swim endlessly
In the calming river, held inside

In between the realms where my eyes shine like the rarest stones
I call and you come promptly from places far away
Yet never could I seize the full embrace of your secret sorrow
When it arrived in new disguises from all ages passing
On those crowded streets of yesterday

Like always, you wear a robe of desire that softly whispers to me
Of a comfort that will never turn away in discontent
Seen in the soft muted colors of a promise keeping rainbow
Is now what I believe to be all I need to embrace
When seizing what is and is not meant

A soft fire dances in the pleasure of a circling gleam of pursuit
I trace its spin barely visible with my fingertips
All that I may learn still lies here to be discovered
When I knock upon the doors of heaven
With gentle kisses from my lips

In between the realms where my eyes shine like the rarest stones
I am caught in the full embrace of your secret sorrow
I called you and you came to me within what is meant to be
When my heart knocked upon the doors of heaven
I walked in and your heart followed

I removed my glorious wings for just a while
To walk about here on this ground
Now I am so afraid to put them back on and fly again
A terrible fear of heights I have suddenly found

This whole charade is crumbling now all around my head
As I quake in fear at the very thought of flight
Yet I sit and look upon these wings of mine and long
To take off and fly with all my might

As I sit and stare at my wings the only sound I hear
Is that of my own racing heart still beating
In the stillness I stop and realize without my wings
Myself I have been defeating

I gather all the strength I know I hold inside of me
And put my glorious wings back on
With a cry of triumph heard around the world and back
I spread my wings and I am gone

I gathered waves of laughter and began to run wild
With horses who came to see the sun
Although my footsteps were soft and sweet
The earth still saw my soul
Started spinning wild
And gathering waves of laughter
With me

Some people are like empty boxes
That have been wrapped in beautiful paper
And tied with lovely bows
You size them up and shake them around
To try and determine what is inside
There you find a beautiful empty box

Some people are like the crushed boxes
That the mail delivery system has damaged
Their packaging is torn and creased and often *****
But inside they are packaged so well
And all of the contents are there and intact
And those contents are so very beautiful

Turn away from the petals that did not take the time
To look down with pitying tears
Upon the stones which adorned their soil
Pushing aside
What could make their hearts soar high
If not
For shadowy fears

A bit of light is reflected on where you see them lie
Just a blur to those who cannot see
Yet would you their sorrows drown in tears
If you could discern
What real beauty is with your heart
And know
What truly lies at your feet

What impels us to go there
And visit that pain
To torture ourselves
When there is nothing to gain

Why do we have to continually fight
Against what is in us
And what is without
Trying to do what is right

What is this battle we feel
That pulls at the strings of our heart
Our happiness steals
And tears us apart

Is it our conscience that stings
Or our pride that smarts
When we look inside
This place called our heart

What is it that makes us bring
Ourselves to look so deep inside
Until what we find takes our voice
And we can no longer sing

Will someone please stop this spinning
I am ready to get off of here
Is there no one able to make time stand still
Or at least make today yesterday again

I look around at this rushing sea of faces
Arms reaching out to me
Expressing sympathy because you are no longer here
I just want them to all go away

I do not want their sympathy, I want you back
I want my life the same as when I fell asleep last night
Asleep in your arms
Knowing I would see you in the morning

I look around at all of these sympathetic faces
Accept every condolence offered
Knowing that tomorrow they will forget you existed
The world will keep spinning and I have to stay here
Remembering, that you existed

Scintillating shades of brilliance absorb into my pores
Opulently bathing me in a radiant light
Flowing through my senses, appealing to my soul
An incandescent energy of pure delight

Tranquil beads of silken dew form upon my skin
Expressing adoration for the light
Pleasing drops of exultation, tears of joy divine
Sending darkness into the swiftest flight

A renewal of my spirit, eagerly blooming intensity
Persuasion of the sweetest kind
Is found in this release, the delightful peace I keep
Bathing in the brilliant light I find

An incandescent energy is flowing from my senses
Sending darkness fleeing from my soul
Tranquil beads of light are beaming from my spirit
Sweetly smiling, as darkness loses hold

Her delicate hand holds a snow white dove
Captive and yet still free
As her grip is as light as the air he breathes
Flying over his sparkling seas

By her lovely side he sits for hours on end
Never moving a single feather
Happily content to be held in her delicate hand
Through even the stormiest weather

One could easily ask how such a wild creature
In captivity, could be so at ease
With wings that could take him to places unknown
On the simplest touch of a breeze

Perhaps his contentment lies in the knowledge
That he is always free to fly away
Knowing that the delicate hand that holds him captive
Will continue to love him anyway

Subtle whispered streams of gentle sighs
Elate silken strands of hair
As they softly dance and weave upon the neck
Of the yielding radiance they find there

An exquisite submission sweetly lies divine
In all the welcoming allure
Felt like the velvet kisses of whispered fire
In the obscure haze of ashes they have stirred

A touch of heaven,  swiftly moves the earth
Inhaled by the single silken strands
Tempting enchantment in a fiery blaze of motion
Within the whisper of love’s command

Deeply mesmerizing in their intriguing flow
The radiance is invited, by the gently streaming haze
Yet still you wonder if the whispered streams will be welcomed
If the spirit remains unyielding and unfazed