The very first line of every good rhyme
Is such a fine chance to step out and sing
While the following lines eke out on the page
It sits right there at the front of the stage

In from the eather it comes out to play
Holding its own on this hallowed ground
The words swirl beneath it and tumble on down
They’re caught in a the grip of its blazing reflection

Line after line, the story grows
In the split of and instant it falls into place
Caught in the measure of a casual endeavor
The words seek a song that can last forever

Flowing on down to the very last line
There might be an answer if you look at it right
We’re lost in the thick of the poets firm grip while
The magic upends us and slips off the page

Taking a step that’s mine to take
Just dancing a dance that I cannot shake
Under the moon that shines down on me
I’m lost in the starlight and a subtle breeze

I look to the heavens so deep and wide
Falling on in, I take my next stride
Around and around the stars they do spin
There’s never a though of beginning again

Just wandering along, one step at a time
I feel the beat quicken my heart with a rhyme
I walk with a notion of what I have found
The path leads me down to my place on the ground

My feet tread the journey I was destined to make
My mind ponders over the route that I take
Blessed with the peace that I’m happy to find
I step off the road inside my mind

I take up the new path with a fire in my gait
There’s no waiting around, time simply won’t wait
Caught up in the whirl with a skip in my step
I waltz through the moonlight with no regret

The grand design
That hill that we climb
All tempests shared
To be compared
The walls that we breach
And thoughts that we teach
Are lessons learned
And passions burned
Our little world
Revolves around
While time spins away
And knocks us on down
We’ve almost read
To the very last page
Changing the score
Is not how it’s played
Absent that path
We reach for the stars
And dance in the moonlight
With all that we are

The spirit of the day just came to me
She stood right beside as I typed this line
Her message was clear and timing sublime
She left me with meaning in the nick of time

Caught in her rapture, happy and free
I’m so blessed to write it all down can’t you see
The tiny measures of sight that she brings
Are woven in lines across the page

There’s just enough time to get me on by
The hope that I have is to dream it and fly
The words they do wander out onto the stage
And leave me right here to ponder this day

To measure this moment is all well and good
Makes me feel happy as I know it should
I can’t stop the music from becoming a song
The time is ripe so I’ll just sing along

I took one step, one little step
Along the path I chose to travel
My mind was turned
To the thoughts I’ve learned
The gravel churned beneath my feet

The foggy path concealed my view
Just one more stride into the mist I stepped
I came upon a quiet place
And set myself down
By a jog in the road

I didn’t come here to while away
But rather I came to sit and pray
The words flowed out in a river of tears
The fog answered back
And a seed was sown

Never a fear nor even a shout
Just a quite moment to now write about
I picked up my feet and set to the trail
My prayer was answered
As I stepped through the veil

To bend in the wind
Is to stand in the storm
It all makes sense if you look at it right
The tempest subsides
And leaves us alone
To puzzle the moment
When we got to the fair
The fire burns bright
And it lights up the sky
Just a little flicker
Is all that we need
To sit at the table
And dance with the muse
We take our best chance
In our last pair of shoes

The mirror reflects a quiet face
But beneath the surface
A tempest rages
Caught in a moment
Of unwitting design
A casual glance
Reveals the question
Can’t really tell how the story goes
Don’t truly see where the magic flows
Wrapped in a mystery
And fraught with desire
The tempest is tossed
And I burn in the fire

Dear God,
What is your will today?
I want to hear what you have to say.
Each treasured view
of your grand design
leaves me entranced
and willing to climb.
A little bit higher
I’d like to fly.
Into your *****
I can take my rest.
There is no reason I can’t accept.
Your will is mighty
and I’ll take the test.

Tossed into battle
I break with the pack
The world flows around me
But I’ll never look back
Drenched in the moment
I sip at the wine
Caught in a whirlwind
Don’t know what I’ll find
Blessed with a mission
I go with the flow
There is no tomorrow
So today is my chance
I’ve paid at the door
To dance one more dance as
My time moves along
And I sing this short song

Good night to you
There’s little to say
I strike at the clock
Just to get away

Time has no meaning
I’m sorry to say
The moments they pass
And take me away

I drift on the dreams
That I find in my path
I measure each moment
Just to find my place

There’s nothing to hide
And far less to fear
Being right here
I look deep inside

Content to live in the moonlight
Accepting the offering as it comes along
Feeling our way through the dark of night
Spilling our thoughts out over the page
We render the fat to make a candle
And drift though the eyes of its flickering glow
The measures we take and
The memories we make
Are caught in the fire of divine escape
There is no thought of getting it wrong
It’s all about the time that it takes
To get it right and carry on
Time is the tempest but
Life is our song

Watching the breeze
Come to dance in the trees
The season of green
Is so near at hand
Never a mention
Of what’s come to pass
Lets make a new chance
To take it all in
It won’t be the same
As the memory we have
The days they grow longer
As we drift and we dream
Caught in the measure of
Birds in the trees
We believe in the notion
And settle on in

Just a few facts to get this straight.
There’s no looking back to the past we’ve unfurled.
The vision is bright as we look up ahead.
Gripped in a moment we seize it and fly.

Passers by never stop to notice;
There is no chance for them to see.
We’re off on our own train, out from the station.
We’ve charted a course to a new destination.

We might find a way to just get along.
Let this be a lesson and don’t take it wrong.
The chart is broken; the bridges are swamped.
The map’s just a token; and life is the reason.

Never let go of what you’re trying to find.
Your heartbeat will quicken and your ears will ring.
Let the muse guide you in all that you do.
Just slip through the night and see it on through.

Tested by fate, we yearn to see
That mighty chasm we’re taught to believe.
The other side is so far away,
We can’t go around so we might have to stay.
The picture is grand but it stands in our way.
The measure’s unknown, dug down deep in the ground.
We’re found in a moment where the clock breaks down
And spins us around to the end of the day.
This problem requires a giant leap.
The edge of the cliff is mighty steep.
The bottomless pit is an impasse they say
But we might have the key to open the gate.
A simple step into the abyss.
Next thing you know we’re already there.
The chasm is closed as we walk on by.
The time we’ve spent was worth one more try.

Perpetual motion takes to the stage.
It doesn’t exist but it’s fun to pretend.
Notions, little notions, I can’t get away.
The patterns in daylight are here to stay.

I’m looking on over at your gay little tune.
Measure by measure it burns in my ears.
The clock swings around to chime out the hour.
From here and to there the distance evolves.

If you come back right now we can play it again.
We’ll tender the silence into verse we can mend.
The thoughts of our passing like ships in the night
Are haunting my dreams and dulling my sight.

Inside;
Deep inside.

There is no mention of what you hide.
The meaning is lost on the back of the page.
Did you really intend to steal it away
Or are you waiting for another day?

Where is the thought you intended to say?
I won’t let go of the mystery you made.
Down by the river our paths they did cross.
Let’s settle that moment before it gets lost.

You left in your own way; it’s unclear to me.
I said what you needed but you did not hear.
It’s naught but a bother, just something to know.
If you can find the time, I will share it with you.

On a wing and a prayer, we can both make do.
In the split of an instant, we can capture our dreams.
In the breadth of a moment we can find what we need.
In the time of a lifetime, we should share only peace.

Telling a tale that’s never been told.
I fight for the right to write it all down.
It’s not as easy as it looks don’t you see?
There’s no one here to do it but me.
It flew through the air and landed so close.
I couldn’t let it go just to wander away.
The rhyme is written the way that it’s wrote.
I can’t let it die before it’s been spoke.

Cherry trees bow down with fruit.
The cardinal whispers a joyous tune.
Time has come to seize the day
and whisk away the cares we have.

To reach my soul, I won’t contend.
There is no thought I need defend.
Summer days can fly away.
Just like the ones we had before.

We’ll always take a little more time.
The road is mine and yours to find.
Just come on in, I’ll hold the door.
We’ve much to do and to adore.

There is nothing beyond the moment we know
No start, no finish, just the now that we hold

The end is but a supposition
A juxtaposition over the current moment

I thought for a moment there could be no time
But that concept turned into eternal rhyme

Often I come upon a lost loose end
I try to trace it back to the start if I can

There is no start to the beginning of time
No end to the moment we’d like to let go

I continue to search for the beginning and end but
The circle is closed; they’re one and the same

So this is the end of this little thought
A great beginning to take off again

Hang on to the moment; the first and the last
Ride on the wave and never look back

This somewhat epic poem translates in defiance based on real life and my struggle against illicit authority.

“Ever since I was a small child, I've had this feeling - it's in my nature, and so it's not even pretentious - that if everyone's going one way, I will go the other, just by some kind of spirit of defiance.” – Charlotte Rampling

Moody lips scratch at the pain
Can’t resist the chance for a wholesale change
Settling down, I wait for the train
There’s nothing to miss like this time again

I seek the battle they say I can’t win
I fight for the right to begin anew
Twisted around in the tale that I wrote
Entranced in the time it took to write

We forge a fantasy and try to rise
My side is the best of a half-chanced world
Let me resist, holding fast in the night
Got to get back where I left the light

My sight grows dim in the pale moon glow
I rise to the edge of the walls that you raised
Over the top, I fly away
Beyond your moat’s where I like to play

Dragons sail through a cloudy sky
Nothing can get in my way right now
My cheeks are frozen in a rosy hue
It’s only the rest that I want to do

Blithering idiot, get out of my way
Don’t set your soul to such passing fate
Rattle the cage and set yourself free
Toss off the chain you’re taught to believe

Complete this phrase with your ****** words
Trace your shadow and set it aside
Grieve for the moment you let slip by
You’re caught in a whirlwind, caught on the fly

Collect bygone moments and try to
Tear down that wall and set it to rest
The best we have is a spoonful of time
Take your regret and salt it away

Spin the yarn that you spin so fine
Deliver the blow that blows me away
You can’t stop me now and you never could
I won’t sit down and let it get by

You pass my time in an abstinent way
I test you with answers you can never know
You’re caught in the pang of your own little show
Your dream can’t contain me from passing on by

Your heart is a stone and your head is like bread
Your magic got sold for a stitch in the quilt
I’ll never believe the tale that you told
I’ll rewrite the scene and scatter your dreams

Build up a house the only way that you know
Leave me alone, I’ll build my own house
Don’t bring me down with your rancid dream
I am the man you can’t understand it seems

Break your own rules or set them aside
Leave me to try on my own if you dare
Don’t get caught in your miserable state
Forgive yourself and don’t you be late

The pain on my lips cannot resolve
The fear in my mind you happen to cause
Your wall it too high and your mote too deep
You can’t see the plain for the mud on your feet

You trample the facts with your own stupid dream
I am left all alone, do you know what I mean?
We’re lost in the maelstrom that you cannot see
My point is a line that you cannot read

Putting words to pen is how I contend
The lasting phrase I chose to arrange
Time cries short for the longing we have
There is no room to play it again

Lost in the moment, riding the wave
Treasured thoughts give way to tireless dreams
I’ll measure my time and measure it well
No one can see the me that I am

You think that you know what is best for me
You haven’t the eyes to know my state
I cast you away for the freedom I need
My heart bleeds thoughts that are measured in glass

You are a broken man with a broken mind
Still you try to define my world
I won’t step back and I won’t stand by
Settle your debt with some other guy

Caught in the dream, I can only wait
Severing the bonds for a great escape
The clatter of hooves on the hard stone floor
Leave me with haunts of the evermore

Building a mansion is not easy here
To cast a shadow one must have light
There is no glow in your gloomy depths
I leave you right now with your own regrets

The timekeeper riddles the path of this line
Taking away one day at a time
I can’t get them back, there is no reason
Your actions, to me, feel a lot like treason

You cannot stop me now from being who I am
Your can of worms is not my can
The worms are long and slither around
The berms of your mote are all but sound

I never recalled such a troublesome mote
I will dig you a ditch and settle the debt
You can’t stop my mind from deliberate rhyme
You can’t give back the time that you took

I will not give up, will not step back
You can’t have me, I am not your pawn
Protect your king if you think you can
But don’t attend me with your bruising mind

There are no thoughts like the thoughts that I have
There is no peace like the peace that I know
Biding my time on the castle walls
I push you away just to watch you fall

There is no room for a second chance
The light of the stars leaves me glowing for more
I take my path with a grain of salt,
And pepper the measured insightful dream

I will fly while you sit there watching the breeze
Unsure of yourself, you’re weak in the knees
I cannot regret the place where I stand
Your shoes are too small to see where I am

You’ve broken the pact with your eyes so blind
Can’t see the facts that you’ve locked inside
The truth rings true and you stand much to lose
I will walk gaily by, singing a translucent tune

Born in the wind of a course moon light
Saddled the horse just to get it in stride
Tempted the fates with a bottle of truth
Caught myself falling and withstood the test

Trying to see all the things that you bring
I’m left wanting for more, I’m dressed in rags
For heaven’s sake don’t get in my way
You’ll regret yourself even more in a day, or two

Pretend to know when you act it all out
Savor this moment you live in your dream
Imagine your thoughts are a river of steel
Just don’t let them cost more than what is real

There’s truth in the matter you choose not to see
Believing your delusion is all that you have
I’d help if I could but why be rude
You’re lost in yourself and that could last

Obsession is just the face of the facts
Memories are bound to the fading rain
Splitting a hair with a duller knife
You’re lost on the wave of a deadly game

Built on the foundation of sand and clay
The earth it trembles, your house will sway
I cannot be mute, I tell it this way
Nothing can take this true feeling away

I was taking a look the other day
A deep bold look into your eyes
Mesmerized, I took a chance
You stood your ground
So,
I kissed you

Your lips and mine
Became entwined
We lingered there
For quite awhile
Our tongues embraced
In the time it takes
To wrap my arms
Around your waist

I laid your head down on the pillow
With kisses, many across your face
We never thought for a single minute
That we could get so lost in the split of an instant

Time flowed by and we knew right then
Our hearts were together to the very end
You kissed me back and let me in
So I took you right there where the love begins

March 9, 2017

Let’s keep this short and to the point. This is my first ever shot at writing a haiku. Would love some feedback on this please. Thank you kindly.

*Brevity’s lessons
They are scarcely not something
To elaborate.

This is a pure “stream of conscience” poem. There is actually a story here despite the fact that none was intended.

“I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.” Edgar Allan Poe

Lost in a chasm of broken dreams
Can I measure the depth with my inky quill?
Is there another place in the realm?
Do you remember where I put my head?

Where in the world did my orb get placed?
How can I get it back and reply?
Little issues pass by
There’s something to say
Catching my breath is the chance that I take

Traded for a note, I spy with my eyes
Clashing in the path of a desert wind
Rasping in the hash of a convincing beat
Born of a lion I cannot defeat

My feet walk the trail and I scratch at my head
Oh there you are, my trusted friend
It’s good to have you back again
Of that I am sure and you can depend

I’m set on the path that I trod with intent
Never was better a moment spent.
I’m lost in the magic of this well worn dream
A casual glance is all that I need

Well, that and my head.

There is an old homonym used in this poem e.g. “habit”. Its usage in the opening lines is something I wrote on a napkin decades ago. It creates a pleasant ambiguity in the mix. Homonyms are words that are spelled and sound the same but have different meanings. The question is, it a nun’s habit or just a good/bad habit?

“The truth is that everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits.” Albert Camus

Take a look at this old habit
I know it’s worn, I’ve had it for years
It’s tattered and torn in all the right places
Cost me a dime and a lifetime of tears
Transforming my soul it is worn with respect
Counting the memories it passes the test
Round the corner off the end of the bend
My shivering tears contend with the rain
Mentions of settlements wrought in pain
Never will I ever be here again
Deliver me now to the dragon’s lair
I don’t even care if it’s not really there
Made a hat to match from a well weathered mat
I tossed it aside to the place where it’s at
Never again will I tread on this time
“Buyer beware” of this train of thought
It could cost you a page
From your own weathered book so
Never forget when you came on this chance
And never believe you can get it all back

Thank you Joyce for handing me a blank notebook and suggesting that I do something creative with it. This is the first poem I wrote for my upcoming book. Short but sweet.

“Love is when the other person's happiness is more important than your own.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Periwinkle tears decorate her face
The moment of this fountain leaves no doubt to its source
Joy springs like a river onto the plain of her cheeks
He watches them cascade down over her lips
He kisses and nibbles at the tender drops
His eyes moisten over and he issues a smile
He is happy they are together again
Her heart is a beacon that serenity brings

Here’s another poem from the dust bin (first verse was written circa 1985). It took decades to come up with the rest of the poem.

“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” Joseph Campbell

She sat in the forest of moments.
Puddles of inspiration lay at her feet.
Moss-covered memories danced in the shadows
And her wheat-colored hair tumbled freely
To the bundle of choices that graced her shoulders.

She danced in the pool of reflections.
In the swirls of her laughter she saw a chance.
Beyond the ethereal moment she passed.
Little ripples romanced her style and grace.
Absorbed in that place, she slipped…into dreams.

Wandering the fields of her many past lifetimes,
Her toes caress the sands of each stride.
Inside her mind where the memories reside
There stands a good reason for taking each step
And then again, another step.

In the space of a moment, she sought to divine
The taste of that place where verse is defined,
To carry with her on this loose-woven path,
She’s lost in the forest and pines for a world where
Her dreams lead her on as they sweep her away.

Nothing can matter to this wandering one
A spark of the moment entrances her hair.
Her ears perk for questions she’s bound to receive as
The path leads her on to the land of invention where
She settles her debt with the author of dreams.

From somewhere deep inside the circle
We come upon a special place
There is no harm in staying there
We can take our leave without a care

It happens all the time you know
And takes just a moment to notice it so
Takes more time to really care
But life is something we can truly share

The circle of life reflects on our time
And spins up new moments for us to find
We struggle with the trials that we all have to face
Our time is short and not to waste

We're caught in the vortex of the hands of time
The wheel turns round and we stand on its rim
The world goes by as we spin through space
Looking for a place we can truly fit in

“The wheel is turning and you can’t slow down
You can’t let go and you can’t hold on
You can’t go back and you can’t stand still
If the thunder don’t get you then the lightning will” -- From the song titled "The Wheel" on the album titled "Garcia" featuring Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead