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

These tempered thoughts
Roll around in my head
They spin me around
And fall to the ground
Down under my feet
Where I often tread
They’re broken to pieces
And left there for dead

But I pick up the debris
Of my shattered thoughts
And put it together
In a brand new design
One way or another
Let me tell you my dear
The story gets told
And the magic unfolds

In the heat of the moment
I take one more chance
I’m caught in your torrent
But I know how to dance
My mind turns around
And I look in your eyes
The picture I see
Is a pleasant surprise

I’m drowned in your laughter
And lost in your smile
That tale that you told me
Might last for a while
The music you played me
Is such a sweet tune
The moon in your eyes
Took me down deep inside

So…that Is my story and
I’m sticking to it
I’ve given you a deep look
Inside my mind
Don’t bury the treasure
Or think something’s wrong
Just let it sink in
And I’ll sing you a song

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

With a single step
Lofty goal’s become clearer
Dreams hover nearer.

Is that rock just a roadblock
Or another stepping stone?

Starlight is fading
As you surrender your dreams
To warm sun rising
O’er the landscape you're flying

Locked deep in your mind
In the breadth of each moment
Time drifts slowly by...

Here in the sunlight…streaming
Memories are fleeting
But the world is breathing

Your vibrant rainbow
Tosses many reflections
Gleaming in sunlight
Your deep vision remembers

As heaven descends
In the still of the morning
Dancing with daylight
The whole world is unfolding
A melody is growing

Let the brainstorm begin anew
Pick it back up then put it back down
Move it all around again
Get a new perspective now
Chart the future and play it straight
Assemble the pieces into what they are
Let it all make better sense
Allow your goals to guide your style
Watch the connections click into place
Lasting impressions they’re sure to make

Sifting through the clouds…
Searching for a rainbow.
I finally found one floating there,
Just outside my window.

Her colors flowing through the air,
Almost caught me unaware.
But there I stood in the silky mist,
Kissed by the sunlight’s fractured bliss.

Now I’m finding rainbows
Everywhere I turn.
Just waiting for another rain
To splash across my window pane.

I watch the clouds embrace the sky
With every storm that passes by.
But in my mind I always see
A rainbow watching over me.

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

Sleepy feelings erupted on the landscape in her mind. Volcanoes jutted up across wild fields of endless rhyme. Visions from the clouds rained down to fill the empty streams. The lava steamed with fury as her heart began to dream.

The streams turned into rivers and then they overflowed. Passing memories drifted through the valleys of her soul. Trees of truth grew in those valleys, just outside her door. A million leaves were scattered deep across her bedroom floor.

She was resting there on pillows of moss, lightly tossed to urge the scent. Windows open, the breeze came in and tickled her until she laughed. A fish walked through the open door and spoke to her of things to come. Running through sweet fields of clover, she met her dreams yet to be spun.

Down in the valley she danced to the rhythm of another moonlit night. Waltzing through the land of lyrics, she teased the streams with pure delight. Wandering through the lava fields with flowers growing in her hair, she tiptoed through the evening air, picking dreams once planted there.

Across the valley, the rains subside. The rivers wane and the starlight hides. A misty glow comes to steal the night. Sunlight rises as her dreams take flight.

In a laden sky, clouds are passing me by.
Wrapped up in passion, daylight decides.
There in the blue, a resilient hue.
Here on the ground, thoughts spin me around.

Green rises up to the heavens above.
Buds pucker out with nary a sound.
Laughter dissolves in the winds over time.
Memories are tossed in the space of my mind.

The leaves on the trees are waving at me.
The cost of this story is plain to see.
In the space of a moment, the earth turns me round.
Leaves me to wonder what else can be found.

Drifting through space with a smile on my face.
Dreaming of things I can still believe.
Walking the walk through the tales that we weave.
I'm treading the water in this silent pool.

I’m nobody’s fool but a fool I am.
The raging tempest blows me away.
The expanse of space is a welcome place.
The rhythm of days is that which remains.

Settling the rhyme for a stitch makes nine
Cost me the chance for a celestial dance
Don’t know where it will all end up
Your guess is as good as a guess can be

Lost in the forest I bend in the wind
Subtracting a notion, I can finally begin
Caught in a vortex of a proverbial spin
A biblical trance defines my stance

Praying for a change at the final tone
Blessed are you for carrying the load
Seldom has ever a tale been so told
Often the passing is a whale of a song

Delivering a passage we’re bound to forget
Captured by another we once were told
Hanging in traction we bought the whole farm
Twisting the melody into processed cheese

Burning the bridge, we challenge the knight
Telling his story with a bucket of time
Rendering fat in a once chilled vat
Spam on the plate leaves me asking for more

Born in the cusp of a half-baked moon
I can’t fake a grin ‘til it’s all settled in
Tantric memories collapse in my mind
Got to write down the thoughts I divine

Bursting in daylight
Buds are exploding into
A stampede of leaves

A drip in the clouds;
One drop
               flowing down…

                        …across the wind
and to the ground.

A pitter a patter,
     it doesn’t much matter.
Rain dances with rain,
     while this teardrop evolves
and quickly dissolves…into ripples.

When I see you there in the brisk, fresh air
I’m watching you without a care.

To be with you is all I need.
Just little seeds of thoughts I’ve dreamed.

To walk with you down the garden path.
To breathe with you is all I ask.

I have so very much more to give.
Inside your mind, I want to live.

Into your eyes, I love to look.
Your heart is such an open book.

Your feelings they reach out to me.
They teach me thoughts I’d never see.

I do believe I’m mesmerized.
My mind is floating across your sky.

The clouds drift by, your light shines through.
I’m loving you with all I do.

Please let me stay another day.
Let the passing years take us away.

Let me dream with you
Till the creek runs dry

And sleep with you
In the bye and bye.

I can’t really tell you
Just how it feels
It’s quite an adventure
To live in my shoes
It’s not all that easy
This much is true
I just know that I love you
In the way that I do

I cannot explain it
This song in my heart
But I’ll sing it for you dear
While ringing this bell
I’m chiming for you love
Don’t know how to tell you
That I’m lost in your magic
And caught in your spell

Come glide with me here now
We can take to the sky
To get lost in this moment
Is well worth the try
The measure of our treasure
Is so hard to define
Let’s love at our leisure
And ride on this tide

Like I said before
It’s hard to explain
These feelings I have for you
I haven’t the words
The memories I’ve made with you
Are stealing the night
These dreams I’ve shared with you
Are such a delight

The story’s not over
There’s plenty to say
Your heart is a magnet
That attracts me each day
I waltz in your laughter
And dream in your arms
I’m caught in your rapture
And your many sweet charms

This is the place where
The bear went through the berries
Grandma always said

Grandpa caught a fish this long
So he hung it by the bed

In the window
Etched there in frost
ɘyd booӘ

You always said “I’ll love you always.”
But always didn’t last.
Your memories are a bulldozer
Just plowing through my past.

We stripped away the barren soil
And got down to the lode.
It wasn’t what we thought was there
There wasn’t any gold.

Now the ground lays cold and bare.
There’s nothing left of us to share.
We’ve divvied up what’s left of us
And left the ground to turn to dust.

We wanted gold
To free our souls and wash away the tears
But the gears of time kept grinding on
Churning up the years.

So I hold the gems we found back then
Closely to my beating chest
To recollect, to not forget.
**At least for you, I’ll do my best.

I poured my dreams into a lake
And watched them slowly dissipate
Those tender drops dissolved in waves
Rolling through the thoughts I’ve saved

Drenched in sunlight, dancing there
Those dreams evolved into a mist
Lifting up, it kissed the sky
Spinning rainbows for my eyes

Butterflies in brilliant light
What a sight as dreams take flight
Whatever comes, whatever goes
The ripples in the lake still flow

New thoughts reach back, deep down inside
As wonder drifts up from the waves
The lake returns so many dreams
Her wispy visions come to me

I let the dreams flow over me
The lake has now become a sea
I’m all absorbed in its salty spray
There many cares are washed away

I’m used to spending holidays
In the company of friends and lovers
The other day there was no other
Not even a hint of my little brother

I stood in a crowd of perfect strangers

Alone.

The sky was filled with twinkling lights.
All around the booms resounded.
People laughed and time slipped past.
I settled in

To watch,
To listen,
To taste,
To touch...

Inside my mind, I missed her touch,
Her laugh,
Her warmth,
Her smile,
Her love...

There on the trail beside the lake
I tasted all the happy sounds;
The scent of charcoal, blackened meat
The laughs of children, light of feet

Flowers bloomed in the fading sky.
Waves rolled easy on the sandy shore.
The moon rose high to greet the night.
While the stars lay hidden…twinkling.

All caught up in the sights and sounds
I pondered there for quite awhile
Behind these eyes the thoughts did fly
I cannot lie, I wanted more…

…To feel the sand between my toes,
Her hand in mine,
Our thoughts entwined.
To linger on that pleasant shore
And share our time forevermore.

But the past takes flight and now it’s gone.
Daylight drives away the night.
The sun shines bright;
My thoughts are light.
The blues have flown
With the red and white.

over-exposed…
what i look like
when i get out of bed

Treasured steps become
Long trails in the sandy path
A timeless journey

4/23/2017

You push me
You tempt me
You twist me around
You bring me sweet promises
Of things I’ve not found

You lure me with passion
And tell me sweet lies
You move me with reason
When I look in your eyes

You offer me sunshine
In the darkest of skies
You taunt me with laughter
And the thought of surprise

You’re really so clever with
These promises that you make
I’m lost in your banter
About the chance I should take

Nothing is clear here
Though it sounds pretty good
You said I could try it
But don’t know if I should

I’m enthused by your passion
And the song that you sing
You’ve captured my memories
But it starts to sink in

I’ve been tempted before dear
And you won’t be the last so
You can take what you’re selling
And skip right on past