I've learned that poems are like tattoos;
Using specific names just ruins the art.
But, I want to ink your name so deep into this page,
It bleeds through, and stains my heart.

I know what it’s like to be loved, I guess I’m truly blessed
I have been put upon a pedestal, far above all the rest
Even when I’m down and out, my friend is always there
Ugly, but cute, and slobbering, this friend is my dog Bear

It’s stirs wonderful feelings to have such a loyal mate
He doesn’t even wander if I forget to close the gate
Always quick to forgive ME when HE does something wrong
Like when I find holes in the back yard, or shoes where they don’t belong

And when I have to go out, a few minutes, or half a day
His welcome home is near ballistic, almost manic in a way
I never realised at first what a treasure I had found
When I first rescued that little puppy from death row at the local pound

His muzzle turning gray now, nose still as black as soot
Those big brown eyes stare at me as he dribbles on my foot
He’s wormed his way into my heart, become part of my life
Always pleasant company, and cheaper than a wife

I know he’ll always love me, I knew that from the start
The hand that rules the food bowl rules the heart.

Life seemed to ****.
The pain seemed so real.
The drugs seemed so easy
To change what I did feel.

At first it seemed to help
To cover up the pain.
But the ******* sound I heard
Was my life, down the drain.

The hole I found myself in
Got deeper by the day.
Hope seemed to fade from me
That help was on the way.

The help I sought and found
Was the “friends” who got me here.
Those who had the ***, the ****,
The drugs and the beer.

The family I once had loved,
Seemed distant from me now.
My love had turned to hate
By the love of drugs somehow.

The hole caved in on me
From a distance I could hear.
“We loved her, Oh so very much”
“We failed her. Somehow my Dear.”

They pulled me from the darkest hole
I, myself, had dug.
And took me into their arms
To rescue me from drug.

The days turned into many weeks.
My head began to clear,
To see the ones who really love me.
My hate was not so near.

A cloud of doubt and guilt rained down
For the things I had done.
Soon love returned to fill my heart
Where once the drugs had won.

Forgiveness came from those who loved,
To me, for the many years.
For the pain and sorrow I had caused
To them, through many tears.

A group of families gathered ’round
With love so great for me.
I soon discovered through the tears
Their abundant love was free.

I felt the love of those who care.
I learned to love again.
To care once more for what I’d lost.
To trust and live within.

When temptation comes to my door
To offer me a high.
Let Love instead answer the knock
And with Serenity say - goodbye!

(9-22-04 added 4 lines)

This story has not ended.
It will continue for a life time.
Life is about decisions we make on a daily basis.
It dictates what we will possibly do tomorrow
based on what we do today.
Life is built on decisions.
The end of the story will be written when
we meet the One who loves us unconditionally.
The One who died on the Cross for us.
(2-22-04)

Love triumphs over adversity when God is in it.
“Never give up” must be the words to live by.
Progress is made even when there are two steps
forward and one step back.
Thank God for the progress.
Hope lives on in the hearts of those who trust Him.
(2-8-06)

All is well. Just a few rough edges to smooth out. Hope lives on. Never give up.
(6-29-18)

She's on her way
out tonight,
all dressed up;
heart dangling
round her neck -
bare, stripped

of all but childhood
moments, held up glistening
to the light;
a weight moving about
as she hurries down the street
to the bus stop,

making her aware
of what she has
to carry, what there is
to hold on to
when so much is lost
with the rain
down the grates.

She can see children playing
twilight games,
but she's not a child:
her feet are not naked and sore,
no scrapes on her knees
anymore. She carries her pain
in out of sight places.

I would be content to be a constant star,
or better still, a constellation
shining brightly in your nighttime from afar;
a trusted guide, an inspiration.

Inner motivation pushed me from my place
and sent me hurtling through the skies,
chancing an encounter with your whirling grace
and the shining smiling of your eyes.

Now not driven, only being drawn to you
by planetary force - not gravity,
but stronger still - the sight of someone being true,
the steady pull of honesty.

Plunging, reckless, through your atmosphere of care,
drinking in your warmth until I glow
and burst - a billion blooming wishes everywhere -
too briefly, brightly burning as I go.

I have been condemned to be a shooting star,
one who deals in days and not forevers.
Time too short to catch enough of who you are
to last throughout a thousand nevers.

It was in the summer we crashed  in a wreck of  awkward bodies.
Two drifters lost,
Togather found  a demented teenage passion.

Two junkies clean in a *****  thought.
A outcast a ***** far from labels in a rejects refuge.
Runaways stumbling in a confussed state.

We fixed only to share a sweet addiction her lips
still tatse a bitter sweet strawberry in my thoughts
erased I wonder did she ever know?

Broken wings tattred  love isnt always true.
Many can have the flesh few a womans soul.
The rain did keep a steady rythm in that abandoned car.

Tracks the needle  kisses of exceptance thirst we all
shall in time.
But that is but a watercolor  cast eternal
within the vault of my mind.

Held for moment I wonder did you fade cold.
As the epitapth  draws blood  from thought.
I can only ******* past  as you speak gentle in the harshness
of what was then a nightmare of  a love i relize now.

Sometimes  such treasure's are cast aside.
Lost souls embers of emptyness from this city.
And the backseat from which we did confide.

And if the lines did ever connect and i found you again.
fragments would recall togther it wouldnt  know
the truth of my minds lie.

I hold you in thoughts as once i did in arms.
  

I wonder  if only for a moment if you ever knew.
In the ****** up  backdrop you were the
one that knew me best.
A jokers thought addicts  in  nights gentle
dream.

Goodbye honey maybe now you can finally
the peace you so do desserve.

Wipe that Shock off your Face
No one has truly Surprised you in Years
So She may Never Learn
I watch her Repeat a Mistake, That may Sting Later

Those Eyes that I am Tired of Seeing
They only Change with that Tricky Liquid

I Stop Making Eye Contact
I Can’t Stop Her
And I Shouldn’t Have to

I’ll Squeeze An Apology out of you later
I Feel it come up Short

I try and Force myself to Forgive and Pretend to Forget

I Can’t seem to remember all the Exact reasons why I Love You
But I Hope I Do