Monsters have crashed
we laid the clock naked
even the gravity smiled

The dream was a deeper feeling of emotion
There was nothing to hold it back
No notions of manhood
Or sanity
Or walls to build
Or stones to carry
Only bare feet
And faith in our differences
As shapes of anger and longing float by
But as he looked upon them they changed
And he realized that they did not want to him to know
So instead of looking
He felt their presence
And the room suddenly was full of light
Not because his eyes were filled with the sunrise
But because his soul was awake
Every emotion he had ever felt gathered before him
And none would look upon him
For they could not ask of him what they could not give
And when he finally stood up
He took his time
There was no reason for haste
Or impatience
His life would now forever know
That a dream was the way inhibitions yield to truth
And that emotion is the only way to love

Being with you was like eating sunshine
I was full
I was happy
I was warm

I used a black sharpie to write a love poem on your arm
Hoping the ink would sink into depths causing little to no harm
That the rough words may permeate through your tough skin
And the permanence may prove that forever starts from within
That the black is dark enough to hide all your scars from being used
And that my words are evidence and proof of my love for you

So let that ink sink as deep as it might
My words peirce your soul without a fight
My sharpie art fill you with awe and an imaginative spark
Be inspired by my loving words and the permanent scar they leave on your heart
You may forget my face, you may forget my name but **never forget where my love made its mark

During my teens I determined not to rely on some higher power
For what was Good or Bad.
And thus I entered Purgatory or Chaos
Or worse.
For years I struggled with
What is Good, of Value, Right?

But now I’m growing old I must Decide.
This much I know:
Every living thing is good.
Intelligent, sentient, compassionate beings are even better.
Be a “Lifist” and a Humanist too.

Cherry pick the best that Religion has to offer,
And discard the rest.
Some Christian Values are very good
When winnowed from the chaff of doctrine.

I’ll never like a wasp, I feel,
But I will always love all Life
And stand in awe
At Nature’s Force.

A Man of Peace
I truly am.
Embracing all my fellow men (and women!)
Loving my animals
My family
And my friends.
I’ll drink to that.

Paul Butters