Of all the trials, struggles, battles I’ve faced,
none have struck me down, pulled me in
swallowed, no, crushed me in the depths of darkness
splattered my will against the “extraordinary” stone fortress
the way You have.  You’ve stacked the ramparts
so full of honor, or, hate? So high, I’ll never conquer.

There should be stars for great wars like ours

An endless struggle to be separate, better
“not like them.”  Toe the line, rarely falter.
A constant voice murmurs, concealed in solitary psyche,
disinclined to utter in my own favor. Your mind, unwavering.
The stone towers, soundless, yet booming against my plight
as if your soul’s bones are ****** clean of empathy.
Yet I dare not utter the slightest contention, only to be
ostracized, pushed further from banks already hazy in the distance.

There should be stars for great wars like ours.

Realization, this doesn’t define me.  I am more
like those within your guarded walls.
Throw me a gamble, open the sacred gate,
I’ve followed the path straighter than many of Your own
Yet, You let it define me, did I even stand a chance?
No, Your stars don’t shine for the ones like me.



There should be stars for great wars like ours from “One Last Poem for Richard” – Sandra Cisnaros

A gentle thief flies through my marrow
Leaving nothing but small, hushed imprints
The kind we try, but won’t forget,
While my eyes betray my final thought.

He left nothing but small, hushed imprints,
Pinned down by the past, now gasping for release,
My eyes betray my final thought,
And plunge to where no light reaches.

I’m pinned down by the past, gasping for release
For now, all sounds of life are out of tune
And today I plunge where no light reaches,
A single traveler on a lonely road

Because the sound of life is out of tune
And I, once a tall and thunderous mountain,
Am just a single traveler on a lonely road,
As the last light shivers into its final fade.

Trace the moonlight on the water
So pretty it may seem,
Tiny glistens in the dark
Starts feeling like a dream

Yet it’s simply a mirage
There’s nothing really there…
You want to reach out, touch it
It starts to feel unfair

The memory starts to fade
From a cloud that floats on by
It’s almost gone completely
There’s no more need to lie

But with a sudden gust of wind,
The moon rises, once again
So brightly, it shines now
You think, you might just win

So bright on this glass river
A perfect, silver disk
Do you trust it’s really there?
So suddenly, so brisk?

The ripples on the river
Reflect questions in your mind
How do you go and look for,
Those questions you can’t find?

When all you think you want
Is to go and just say yes,
But what you really want? That’s simple,
Something real, and nothing less.

I turned from you
Time, and time again
We couldn't, shouldn't be
You, taken, and
Me, a broken, withered soul, yet
In your drunken, misty, haze
In the darkness, quiet
You asked to kiss me

I cried, because of that,
Don't you realize, but you don't.
I wanted, but couldn't, shouldn't
And now, you are free, in the sense
That kissing me, isn't a sin
Yet still, here, couldn't, shouldn't
Perhaps, except, in shadow

I tried to turn again,
And then that night
You held me close, your soft
Breath, on my cheek
Your touch, imprinted,
Then, just then, I thought,
perhaps we could, should,
Perhaps, you'd kiss...
But no

Suddenly, it's your turn to turn
Away, while still so near
Your words, just questions,
Tingle, in my ear

The Ache in my heart,
A constant reminder of
Your blue marbles, that swallow me
A fool, who couldn't, shouldn't
And yet, I love you,
The quiet, hidden, secret kind
That no one knows
The kind that couldn't, shouldn't,
But does.