Today, I found an old friend
on Facebook.
Or rather,
he found me.
It’s kind of amazing
that he found me at all.
How in the world did
this world get so small.

30 years
can take their toll.
It’s a passing memory
at it’s very best.
We had our mutual friends back then
but that’s looking back to so long ago.
It seems like an instant where we’re apt to pretend
but the world has been turning around since then.

We said our hellos and our how-do-you-dos.
Things clicked into place
and we caught up on news.
It was short but so sweet,
those moments we spent.
I’m looking for more
in the days up ahead.

Autumn cries as the colors fly
Rusty hues command the view
There’s a weeping in the willows here
A measured bliss settles down so clear
Summertime’s mirage drifts slowly away
We tap at the trees to get at the sap
The sugar is made for the table we laid
Flora and fauna celebrate the days
Life grows away, prepared for the night
Moments in an enduring cycle tick by
Autumn falls to its decided place
We’re left with a memory of what we have seen
We ready ourselves for this season to fly
We stand drenched in the colors of a fading sky

Finally found my way
Rambling down this dusty road
Skipping with your soul

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

A butterfly dreams
The warm breeze wants to flutter
Something from nothing

Is there something caught in your eye?
Is it a reflection of things gone by?
I look in your eyes and find only me.
I’m wondering what else you happen to see.

Watching the vision as it floats away,
we’re trapped in a trance and cannot escape.
I’m standing right here because I want you to know.
Please take a chance now and let me come in.

I’ll dance you a jig and sing you a tune.
We can waltz in the shadows and
bark at the moon.

The piper is calling us back again.
I won’t let you go with a tear in your eye.
Just cast me a smile and venture on in.
Let’s take this last chance to get up and fly.

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.

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

4/23/2017

Sort it all out and give it away
Never let loose of the games we play
Shivering cold, the pattern is closed
Entwined in the memories we left far behind

Damaged goods were never that good
Tell me a lie, I’ll wish you good riddance
Sell me a cow and I’ll give you some milk
Tell me a tale and I’ll weave it for you

Never forget the places we’ve seen
Let me forgive what you really mean
Cost me a nickel to buy a pickle
I ate it in one bite

There is nothing I tell that can’t go well
Also nothing I see that can’t be believed
This doesn’t make me a sear you know
It’s just something I had to say

Blithering idiot, I call her by name
Paying our dues with a bucket of snails
Are you really going to let that tainted score fly
And control what you dream forever more?

I want to be a better person
I’ll walk with you Lord just to be that way
I want to listen to all that You say
I want to give in and not only take

I want to wake up each and every day
Walking with You – it’s the path that I choose
The time is right and there’s nothing to lose
Teach me Your will and please let me stay

Let me bask in Your daylight and live in Your Grace
Living the life that You’ve planned for me
I’ll never forget what You’ve done for me
I’ll never regret what You taught to me

The earth keeps on spinning as You tend to my needs
The life that I’m living is Yours don’t you see
May Your Heavens rain down on this tired old soul
Let Your never-ending Love serve to make me whole


You know what I want Lord and just what I need
The things that I’ve asked for, I’m glad to receive
If You’ll have it that way then I’m very much pleased
If Your answer is no, I will still believe

It’s nothing but rumor, conjecture you see
We can’t get away from the fallacy pending
Tiny packets of thoughts written down
Means nothing need bring us right back here again

We'll just have to settle for a handful of prose
Some small reminders of where we have been
I compose this verse in a tiny place
Forward into the space I create

Can’t get away from this handsome groove
Bent on reflections of the over-absurd
Can you see it or did you miss it?
There is no fault if you did or didn’t

Caught in a war with your own intuition
Lost in the hall with too many doors
Trembling trombones might rattle your bones
But the finch sings its tune under a waning moon

If you pay 15 cents for a sup of some wine
The time will be ripe to look deep inside
The moment threads time through the fabric of space
We’re here to get caught in this frantic race

Believe if you need it or ramble on by
Don’t let it stop you from a breaking away
Make it your moment and surrender your soul
To the mighty journey that can make you whole

Catching up from the other day
Is not as easy as some might say
Can’t get back what we failed to find
If I try, I could lose my mind

I’m on the path that I chose to take
It’s all a result of the chances I found
Pleasant indeed is the song that I sing
My soul settles down and turns me around

Now facing forward into the breeze
Not looking back is the name of the game
Riding the wave is the style of my play
In the hint of a moment, I’ll chart my own way

Into the stormy sky I gaze
Here on the ground I look all around
Tossed in the measure of the sight and the sound
I laugh with the jester to whom I am bound

Love is not something to throw away
Love is not something to disregard
Love is just something I love to do
Love is just something I have for you*

4/19/2017

Bird feathers dancing
While singing and romancing
Singing a sweet tune

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.

I’m thinking of you
And all that you are
Our stars seem aligned
In the mirror of your eyes

Let’s dance together
And see what we find
Our memory of motion
Is so well defined

Just sing with me now
A new lover’s tune
I want to romance you
Here under the moon

Let the flowers of spring
And birds on the wing
Remind us of that song
We so love to sing

In a land of enchantment
Our hearts can combine
We’ll build up new memories
As we make the climb

Together forever
We can take love in stride
Out in the open
Where we both can abide

Don’t settle for less
Than the best of this time
What I have for you
Is not easy to find

Let the slings and arrows
Of the world sail on by
Let the moment be ours
To the end of our days

Call me a dreamer
Or laugh it away
You can’t change these feelings
That I have for you now

Let the bells ring around ‘til
The walls come down
Let the horns sing out loud
For this love that we’ve found

Just got the news that you died today
Just when I had so much to say
But now that you’re gone
I can’t sing that song
The words are but echoes
Inside my mind

My thoughts are so blind
To the feelings I have
I can’t stop the tears
While trying to dance
I’ll say a goodbye
And wish just for you
A happy journey
You so well deserve

The pain is gone
I've set it aside
And I’ll live with your peace
Inside my mind

Everything I write
seems to want to come out like
a sentence. But why?

Creatures great and small
I was born to love them all.
I’m doing my best
But the rest remains – a test.
I love mosquitoes to death.

Riding through your fields
I lost my chariot wheels
Now head over heels
I’ll never forget--your smile
Or the green grass in my pants

Your glowing starlight
So softly illuminates
The space in my mind

I set down my well traveled backpack
next to the sign which read,

            No Pedestrians,
            No Equestrians,
            No Bicycles or Motor-driven cycles
            Allowed Beyond This Point.

Thus confined,
I stuck out my thumb
in a well-defined gesture
specifically designed
to catch the eye of a
friendly motorist
just passing by.

The traffic was light though
still in quite a frenzy.

Alone and content,
on the side of the road,
I was watching the drivers
as they breezed blindly by.

Each had the potential
to give me a ride.
There on the roadside
I waved them good by.

The man in his Benz
and the lady in her bug,
the banker, the waitress
and an old pickup truck

Each one was equal
as they passed down the trail.
Barely a gesture
or the meeting of eyes.

The time right then was not important to me
but all of the others had somewhere to be.
Getting along from A to Z
was all that mattered to little old me.

Patience is a virtue
for those who wait.
Along came a trucker
with a load on his tail.

He pulled up beside me
and bid me “get in.”
                                  -- So I did.

The engine revved up and we took to the road.
Right past that old sign that kept me confined,
we took up the hum of that asphalt trail
and measured our distance with the passing of miles.

Lost on the road with the corn rushing by
I'm free -- I’M FREE and that is why
I’ll come back again
For one more try.
The lessons I’ve  learned will help me get by.


I hitchhiked thousands of miles in my younger days. The opening stanzas were written on the side of the road nearly 40 years ago.

4/14/17

Let the words flow slowly by
Drift and dream your time away
Pass though the portal with your magical eye
Drive on through to the other side

Correct the line with a little rhyme
Bridal the horses of war with your phrase
Detect a mention in what you can say
Deliver the truth on a platter of clay

Surrender the false and let it ring true
Remember the place where it all began
Don’t get lost in the words on the page
Tear them apart with a dulling rage

Take the splinters and make them whole
Install the spline in a deliberate way
Spell out those drumbeats you care to believe
Ransom the rest for a bottle of ink

Remember to tell us your treasured thoughts
Carry the banner and hold it on high
Watch as the moments slowly pass by
You can be just the same without knowing why

How is it
that I can’t see your face?
I love you so but
where are you now?
How did we get so far away?
The music we made
still rings in my ears.
The laughter
has drifted away is seems.
Just echoes are left
of the dreams that we made.

I’m not really a poet…
I just like to write poetry.

I’ve broken the rules
That I don’t know exist.

I’ve tempted the muse
But I can’t resist
The chance to break down
These words into song.

I sing and I dance
When I get the chance.
I laugh and I cry
But I never know why.

Please don’t compare me
I’m quite very wary
But all that I’ve said
Might be better off read.

Not all that I write
Is even alright.
I just want to say it
And let it go by.

Don’t puncture my words
With needle and thread.
I’m tempted to say it
All over again

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.

A blank page tries to stare me down.
Devoid of words, the empty space
Surrounds my mind and
Fills it up with little thoughts.

Forget-me-nots, that’s what they are.
Just IOUs awaiting payment.
A keen arrangement with the empty sheet.
How sweet it is and very neat.

A thought takes shape, the space is bare.
But ink conveys a tender kiss.
Sprawling there my words resist
The emptiness I cannot bear.

That lonely space is now set free.
The story flows and grows…
Into a mighty tree where
Thoughts to be are simply leaves.

I climb that tree so all can see
And leave behind a memory.
Across the page, no longer bare,
I stare into infinity.

Walking through fields of madness, pretending all is real. Picking blooming flowers of sadness, descending deep into their scent.  Feelings grow in the waving grass. Teardrops flow from the evening sky. Rivers rise. Daylight hides. Just stormy clouds are left inside.

The wishing well is full of coins but still I stand here broke. Broken heart, broken soul, just token pieces left to hold. Chains of rain bind my brain, just thoughts of you in the misty haze…wandering through the cold dark maze, I’m searching here for the light of day.

Insanity might set me free. But I won’t get lost in this endless field. Forgetting you might ease the pain as petals fade in the pouring rain. But I’ll just chase my follies through the autumn leaves, pretending you’re right here with me. Caught in the gusts of a troubled breeze, I’ll bend with the grass till these feelings pass.

Looking into the portal
A chance knowing occurs
Putting it all together
We simply wait and wonder
It's turning in our heads
Where most still fear to tread
You hold the key
Please share it with me
Let your insight move our open hearts
Let it dig down deep and set us free