Sugar sand beaches reach the horizon
Water so far it is naught but a glimmer in the distance
Sitting in the warmth of that powder-like earth
The sun seems to set over a desert
Purple and pink in smoking swirls of Heaven
Sopping up the beauty in open pores
Ready to receive all that is offered
Watching the sun begin to slumber
As Luna's light begins to shine in bulbous splendor
The glimmer seems to twinkle as brightly as the stars as they awaken
Multiplying by the moment
Mesmerizing, as the lights seem to grow
The air changes, a little cooler now
The sand turns to black glass glistening in the moonlight
Slowly taking over the horizon
Watching the twinkling onyx reflect the night sky
Almost hypnotized by the melodic whisper
The only evidence of life within the breezeless air
As black meets gray, the warmth of the water glides further
Swallowing the shore inch by inch
Blanketing all as it comes upon its farthest outstretched reach
Bathing in the warmth of black water,
Stippled with the most brilliant twinkling reflections
Wrapped in the heat of the night
Consumed by the darkness, by the stars, by the very heat of the earth
Slowly, deliberately, the water rises
Basking in the beauty of a sea that came to greet all who care to notice
As the ripples and waves wash over the footprints
Erasing the day and birthing it anew
The moon smiles its bright smile
The sand swims by unseen
And the stars shine like the brightest diamonds
in the light of the moon

The air grows thick in this place
This cave of indecision
Of labored movement
Of emotionless mazes of living nightmares
Heavy with weight of thoughts
Heavier with each passing moment
Being buried under a car full of skeletons
Never letting bygones be gone
Hanging out the windows
Laughing as they crush
The very breath from your lungs
HHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA
With their pretty painted bones
Dressed up more for a party
Than their own funeral
How can they die while they **** you in slow motion
So they laugh as you suffocate
Unable to gasp for air that isn't tainted in their stench
Stagnant, putrid thoughts
Light the rotting carcass of hope aflame
Burning ash into your eyes
Blinding you against the glimpses of joy
That could possibly set you free

The well runneth dry
Words like sludge
Are painfully excreted
Through thickened and broken skin
Gone is the peace from this place
All semblance of sanctuary
Eradicated by derisive battles
Of witless wonders
Still, words try to flow
The beauty in freedom gone
The art in emotion
Hindered by fear of judgment
Joy erased to distant memory
Gone are the days of unbound expression
Missed are the times of universal acceptance
Words seeking approval are skewed
Honesty is painful
Truth is rare
Their union is all I know
And it is a  punishable offense

A sparkle like a diamond
A twinkle like a star
I look into your eyes
Your sad soul and smiling face
Un-fallen tear and a quiver
Bewildered by your beauty,
Though I knew it was good-bye.
You're beautiful
But I won't miss you

Build* your *new illusion
                                       on
                               The bones of your **reality

A loaded cloud of debris whirls around
As I remain firmly planted in its eye
There is silence but no peace
The strain of stillness takes its toll
One step in any direction and it all crashes in
Safety is not comfortable
And comfort is not necessarily safe
Teetering on the precipice and ready to fall
No way to escape unscathed
No landing zone in sight
Ready to falter and take the hits
Hoping to make it to the other side
The side where peace resides

Lost in the music of childhood Saturday afternoons
Never before realizing
The broken soul she purged through impassioned verse and powerful refrains
This same music offering insight and healing
Songs wailed from the depths of my being
Tears burn my tired eyes
As I cry, never having realized i lived her pain
I am living it now, through my own wounds
Wounds i borrowed from her broken heart

Once upon a time I knew who I was and kind of what I wanted, or rather expected from life.  I was sure I knew who I was.  I had a plan, general ideas on a tentative time-line.  This comes before that, and so on.  I got swept away in the rapids of others.  Tossed around and wrung out.  

Swept away
White water, no raft
Lonely ride

Left in the gutter, I found my way home; vacant-eyed and sullen, Jaded and confused beyond the realm of humanity, but home.  What had I done to attract such things?  Why was it okay to be garbage to others?  Abused and unwanted, still far from myself.  Plastic bubble gum smiles, no one asks and I don’t tell.  Made it home, scathed and broken.  Thinking the me I knew couldn’t possibly have done that.  So, was I ever who I thought I was?

**Beautiful masks worn
Thin veneer of porcelain
Hides maceration

Love travels with the seasons.
Is love a tourist?
Will it stay?

Claimed
Unhidden
A heart laid bare
Words I read in awe
Poets
Unbidden
So want to share
They know who they are
Alone
In darkness
The words were read
A heart leapt off the page
A soul
In starkness
An empty bed
The wisdom of a sage

Everyone is in a mood
Happier when unhappy
At home in wistful, lamenting desire
Everyone is emotional
Though we truly are emotion
Everyone has a reason
To feel what they feel
And some of us
Feel what we feel
Feel what they feel
Feel what we would feel
Feel what they should feel
Feel what we want them to feel
It is those of us who can feel to the extreme
Who can fill up a universe with tears, bleeding hearts, and love
Yes, it is the few who can find the beauty in pain
The joy in sadness
The comfort in the last wistful breeze of the season
The rare few who are gifted with depth of emotion
It is those who we call poets

The black sky turns navy, turns blue
It is tomorrow
Today is yesterday
Yet it does not feel in the past
Still fresh, it lingers
It taints the morning with its unanswered questions
With its thoughts weighing heavily in the air
It is hard to breathe
Barely notice the rising sun
Roosters crow in the distance
Cold permeates the room
Seeping through the walls,
Like a ghost of Christmas
Chilled and Aged
Not as fine as wine
More than sour grapes
May the heavy head be cleared with the fog

No act of kindness is truly kind
When to another's heart is blind
The honesty of what's beneath
The hardened steel of friendship's sheath

Encapsulated memories
Enraptured deep in love's warm breeze
When longing turns to searing pain
So much to lose and naught to gain

Still, above all else there is a joy
That lingers in the heart's employ
Time will tell how deep it lies
Until that moment, the smile belies

trapped beneath a fitted rubber sheet
a lump in the mattress
suffocating on
rancid latex sweat
and yesterday's dried fluids

who were they
the nameless in the dark
this one smelled of popcorn
that on howled in delight

a collage of senseless noise
scented by cats and Ajax
leftovers always go bad

Chuck-will's-widow
in the tree by the window
it must be after midnight

though noon looks the same
in this cage that gives just enough
to torture with possibilities
of breaking free

freedom is overrated
roses stain glass
with the bloodletting
of thorny mishaps

blurred by smeared wounds
ain't life grand
when love ceases to be a goal

how can one find what is
utterly indefinable
if it cannot be decisively named
it cannot be concretely attained

then again, love's fluidity
is its charm
no hard edges
ebbing and flowing
elusive and longing

**** me latex blind
unseen and used
by those who never did mind
a lumpy mattress

High upon a pedestal
Backlit by Angels
A vision of perfection
A smile resplendent and healing
A magical site to behold

She does not see all she does
She just does what needs doing
Trudging through clumsily
Never thinking she hangs the moon
And the sun is merely a reflection of her soul

I did not see.
I could not understand.
I believed I could.
I never knew.
I am sorry.

The poet weaves his magic web of words
They dance in the moonlight
Glistening with dewdrops
Like mezmerizing stars
Stalk and pounce is left to lions
The prey will come to him
Lured by sheer beauty
A glimpse of the soul
Hidden secrets locked in boxes
Peeks inside draw her near
The truth is found in years of purging
Unabashed release without inhibitions
Darkness and light
Shadow puppets of reality
Watched, absorbed
And loved more with each passage
Harsh words foment
Pain breeds caring
Love and hope pull her in
Laying bare on the dewy silken words
She waits and he smiles
As he claims his prize

It is like a bird soaring past the horizon

Not stopping until it reaches its end,

And sinks down until it cannot be seen

It will take to the skies once more

Until it reaches the top

Doing what is good when you please,

wherever you may go

It is life

It is you

The opportunity to change what you have done

What my reality is
Is not a dream come true
It's a flowing tide of incidents
With people true to who they believe they are supposed to be

What my reality is
Is a mess of circumstance
And an unrivaled openness
That oft scares those afraid of who they are

What my reality is
Is the nightmare that my truth
Leaves me lonely surrounded by those I love

What my reality is
No longer concerns you

Oh My Darling
My life, my love
You are all that I am
Everything that I can be
Without you
I am naught
At times we are at odds
Though my love remains
I long for you,
When you seem distant
I am wholly lost
Left to fester in my head
With you at my side
I am whole
I have sacrificed my sanity for my emotions
To feed my dearest love

Slithering serpents, midnight chills
The shadows twist and bend at will
The hall is growing longer still
                                   The spinning sky
Has heralded I've reached my fill
                                    A  fool am I

Instead of falling on the floor
There was a chair beside the door
I sat and smiled and begged for more
                                    And all seemed well
Not knowing what it had in store
                                     I could not tell

That floating feet beneath the mind
Had chosen to be quite unkind
And proved immensely hard to find
                                       That witching hour
Scared that they'd be left behind
                                        Or worse, devoured

Dragged with screams of desperation
Sighs lined with exasperation
Could not grasp the intonation
                                       Without my feet
Doubled over there was elation
                                        At last we meet

The wails, that proved I was insane,
Crescendoed, through my thrashing brain
This clearly was not my domain
                                        I found my shoes
Only the truest friends remain
                                        Can't hold my *****

Striated thoughts broken
by a life in dappled light
Shadows cool the flame
flickering wildly in exhalation
Stars mimic streetlights
in memories long left behind
Each speck a lifetime
and life seems eternal
Traversing shadows reluctantly
cloaking truth in darkness
A trail of flesh glitters
a path dragged on bended knee
marked by pieces of me I
just couldn't hold onto
Light debrides road-rash
unapologetically
Each transferred piece that replaced
a speck of who i was
slowly leaves a void in the shape
of the very damage the shadows blind
Can you see the truth
The light shines on the perfect pieces
for the world to ogle
as shadows mask the tattered flesh
of a life that tastes like
the muddy shoe that bludgeoned
it unrecognizable
Who are we if not who we were
Who can bear the truth
and still pretend to love the unloveable
Who can see what I cannot show
as fear has stunted joy
in the dappled light
that breaks each thought to pieces

In black and white across the screen
The sun, peeks over the mountainside
The bright white orb shines through the black leaves
The sky in light gray
And it's the dawn of a new day
One picture snapped on a whim
And hope is caught on the horizon
The camera blinks in time with perfection
Emotion caught on a breeze
A view into the soul of the man behind the moment
There is peace in this place
A picture, a snapshot of insight
An infusion of peace
And the smile on the face of a stranger looking at a screen

My shadows unite
As he remains out of sight
The night he walked home alone

My heart tosses and turns
For his safety I yearn
The night he walked home alone

For reasons unknown
His strength he has shown
The night he walked home alone

He is stronger than I
As I await his reply
The night he walked home alone

I wait for the phone
To signal he's arrived home
The night he walked home alone

The pain seeps out in flashes of insanity
I do not doubt you love me
Though I will always wonder why
In my shattered self-image
In my innate ability to be unseen
Was born an adolescent desire
A desperate need
A yen to be quenched of doubt
To be noticed
To be seen
Both within and without
In that longing to be alive
To be sure that I am a tangible being
In that way I push limits
I test boundaries like a child
Taxing the last nerve of an exhausted parent
Pushing hard until something breaks
Proving I matter enough
Or proving I can bend reality
Until I matter not
To anyone
For surely there is a reason I remain
Unseen
Unheard
Invisible
Intangible
Irrelevant
And Unnoticed
So I push when I'm hurt
Because you promised you won't leave
And I believe you
You said I meant everything I always wanted to mean to someone
And I believe you
You said you'd do anything and everything it takes to make me smile
And I believe you
The pain seeps out in flashes of insanity
I test boundaries like a child
Not because I doubt you
Because I need to always believe

Permeating the depths through cracks in the wall
The light fades into darkness once more
The hope of its return glimmers

The path to tomorrow is paved with those glimmers
Toward a day when that hope will break the wall
And the future will shine so brightly once more

When no longer remains a longing for more
The glare born in hope is much more than that glimmer
And powdered earth is all that is left of the wall

Light must return through cracks in the wall, darkness can be taken no more, a glimmer is not much to hold onto.

Chained to him
Bound to you
A promise of forever

Logic or passion
Pain will ensue
For I am not that clever

Not enough
To erase the doubt
In everything I do

Distance screams
As silence shouts
All I want is you

When now becomes never
and fists remain clenched
through a heart distance silenced
macerated between fingers
in disconnected chunks of purity

When now becomes never
under the weight
of broken promises
fractured dreams still glimmer
like a sharpened knife in the sun

When now becomes never
days turn decades of disillusion
the tiniest lifeline of hope
slicing through every breath
the cruelest kindness
aspirating the viscous memory of emotion

When now becomes never
the beacon of a smile
fades into the darkness
that always surrounds it

When now becomes never
love lives on behind empty eyes
that hide a soul given
when never was never an option

Bright and shiny
Pedestrian views
Glare induces migraines
Simplistic bands of nothingness
Almost too painful to watch
Pushed beyond painted lines
Crossing into...nowhere
Where is the dark and twisted,
The interesting and obscure?
Turn the lights off and feel the way
Touch the cold steel
Delight in the balmy breeze
Experience...everything