A valiant knight in shining armor
A beauteous princess seeking a hand
A kind and charming bounteous farmer
That becomes ruler of the mystic land

A cascade of bejeweled fairytales
Embedded in endless pages
Thousands of magical paths and trails
The stories of many ages

A velvety cushion beneath my feet
A fantasy in my mind
An image of a world complete
With whimsical humankind

Flipping through the ancient tomes
Imaginating the scenes
A tale of petite garden gnomes
Of princes and kings and queens

Oh, how I miss being right at home
With my magical little friends
Even this dainty little poem
Can’t capture how each tale ends

Sitting on the dilapidated couch
The book within my sight
Upon the plush seat I slouch
My heart encased in delight

Gently placing the book in my hand
I feast on the creation of word
Little did I understand
These reveries would be deferred

Oh, how my life has unfurled
How change comes out of the blue
How I wish that our veridical world
Could be like a fairytale too

— OrcasTogether

White domes cap the mountain's head
Heathers bloom in roses’ stead
We cherish the diminishing light
The world blanketed with beguiling white

A serene evening, oh so still
Sun battling with nighttime’s will
A cloud of vapor when I speak
A rosy glow upon my cheek

A flicker sets the world on fire
A flaring coldness in its entire
If I close my eyes, I could almost imagine
The fairytale about to begin

The dazzling landscape sits bright and clear
The breath of winter almost here
Back to the wonderland so long ago
From a little bit of snow…

Sun rising along with the dawn
Sorrow etched in rivers of tears
Tranquil enladened in the setting dusk
Joy begins to outlast the fear

Peace claimed by centuries of war
Change does not come without a price
Yet the gentleness of nature still remains
In the cleansing sunlight, crackling ice

Days and days, ticking on
Always changing, us humans too
Nevertheless we’re rooted to the Earth
The element of nature still holding true

And so we embrace the shift of mankind
For sun and moon still shine bright
And when you are lost and afraid
Remember, there’s always a path back to the light

And though you remain trapped in the dark
It is only in darkness you can see the stars

— OrcasTogether

Life is an untamed surprise
An cycle that will never end
On the way we see what lies
Around the riverbend

There’s so much for us to face
Much that we don't comprehend
But let us travel to the place
Around the riverbend

There’s much that we adore
And much we won’t befriend
So don't wait for what’s in store
Around the riverbend

We floating and dancing free
And at the same time we’re penned
But let's see what there might be
Around the riverbend

We don’t know our future plans
But one day you’ll apprehend
So why not soar to the lands
Around the riverbend

We don’t know what we’ll become
But we know it’s not the end
So don’t fear what’s to come
Around the riverbend

— OrcasTogether

A breathless wonder spread above my head
It speaks of the truth that was left unsaid
It beckons to my wild heart
To the adventure that’s about to start

For I can taste the shift in the air
A subtle change, not quite there
But one can’t mistake the growing freshness
Or the revealing of the nighttime menace

A brush of a warm, wafting breeze
My eyes dart across the rising seas
Gentle grasses, lazily swaying
Wildlife peeking from homes and playing

I lift my head to the rainless night
Awaiting the soon coming light
The cloudless skies, oh so clear
The breath of summer almost here

— OrcasTogether

As the sun rises and the moon falls
And the earth bathes in its shining rays
And to our civilization it calls
So we preserve our home and earn our praise

From towering mountains to the rolling hills
We take in the beauty that lies in today
And the joy we bring comes alive and fills
The silent tears that spill astray

So we should preserve the home we see
For it sustains the life of thee

-- OrcasTogether

I wish I could touch the sky
Be up there, flying up high
To be like a cloud someday
Floating away, away

I wish I could get rid of the lies
Live free like a butterfly
To be a bird, living astray
Floating away, away

I wish I could erase the past
To come hug the peace at last
To somehow find bliss today
Floating away, away

I wish heaven would open the door
Forget the memories from before
The paradise to which I stray
Floating away, away

I wish we live a world of joy
Banish the darkness that we destroy
Come what may, come what may,
For we’re floating away, away

— OrcasTogether

I know you denounce the laws I abide
And feel chained and tethered standing at my side
But why can’t you let me draw in the light?
Why keep my world in this eternal night?

I know there are demons that lurk in your path
And times when you can’t help but feel their wrath
But why can’t you for once just try to shine?
Why live your life in steady decline?

I know there are horrors that you can’t forget
And the apologies and lies that you can’t accept
But why can’t you restart and try to relive?
What stops you from ever learning to forgive?

— OrcasTogether

The wafting breeze that tickles my hair
The scent of nature tinges the air
The ground that crunches beneath my feet
The forest aroma fresh and sweet
A boundless sky opens above
A lack of stormy clouds thereof
The grasslands stretches in between
Rolling hills of beguiling green
The water the color of priceless jade
Over the cliff in a grand cascade
Glistening life swims beneath the seas
Rows upon rows of verdant trees
The towering mountain, a secret mage
Coated in plumes of sun-kissed sage

— OrcasTogether

Her smile is the rising sun
A beacon that you can’t outrun
    Loved by all
        Surpassed by none
A thing that serves to dazzle and stun

Her smile is a blinding sight
A glow that lights the darkest night
    It feels perfect
        It feels right
A capsule of both pain and delight

Her smile is the hope long lost
That begs you to forget all the costs
    Warmer than fire
        Colder than frost
A reminder of the joy you’ve crossed

Her smile is a shining star
A flare that’s seen both near and far
    A water that cools
        A knife that scars
Within we can see who we really are

— OrcasTogether

She traverses the deepest of canyons
And does without help from companions
One might say this is supremacy abound
That this is where bravery is found

She reads and reads through endless nights
And takes her knowledge to great new heights
One might say this is where power comes
That the wise ones shall never succumb

She opens her heart to all she sees
Her smile as soft as the wafting breeze
One might say this is mastery galore
That this is what everyone adores

She goes step by step all the way
The hardest burdens can’t make her sway
One might so this is profuse resolve
The answer to the question none could solve

So which of them holds the brightest light?
Who carries the ultimate might?
But our abilities need not be aligned
For there’s no truth to how strength is defined

— OrcasTogether

I believe in the sycamore trees
As they cast their reflection upon the seas
They tower above us, tall and grand
The commandant of the untamed land

I believe in the whispering breeze
They travel the lands in burst full sprees
They swirl akin against an azure sky
A dance hidden from the human eye

I believe in the rising sun
A watchful mother bested by none
A warming presence waiting up high
A shining gemstone upon the sky

I believe in mellow humankind
Benign and tender in our mind
That we can bring some good to this life
To rid the world of worry and strife

__ OrcasTogether

A horror abound, hidden inside
The repentance and guilt she had denied
The words all those years, left unsaid
And now tracked her dampened cheeks instead

A fragile bridge to the other side
A side where the hurt has always died
Step by step, she tip-toes across
Behind her chases the pain and the loss

The bridge shudders, brittle and frail
She starts sprinting, to no avail
Churning waters below, calling her name
Speaking of pity and fault and shame

A glow in her darkness, concluded and bright
A single star that can light up the night
Blame and despair morphs decided
Where hope remained, small and guided

In that moment, she must begin to choose
If there’ll be whites mixed in with the blues
If she should stop running and turn back to fight
Or give in to the neglects and the blight

She knows this burdens not hers to take
To be shackled and chained by other’s mistakes
So instead of hearing the burn of the woe
She spreads her wings and starts to let go

-- OrcasTogether

My caretaker from when I was young
A memory of the lullabies sung
From mountains we jumped
From treetops we swung
The violin on which my string is strung

The guide through the treacherous ways
My friend on the most playful days
She is the sun
And I’m the haze
That surrounds and bathes in her shining rays

She’s the ground and I’m the sky
She asks the question and I reply
She lets me flow
When my waters are dry
With her my river will never die

She’s the day and I’m the night
I promote her shining light
I’m the wood
That she ignites
The wings with which I can take flight

—OrcasTogether

Music speaks of a warming sun
Of a journey that has just begun
It’s an echo of the adjourning moon
A reminder that daybreak will come soon

It’s a soothing melody to ease our tears
A conciliating song to quench our fears
It cries out a sorrowful strain
It speaks of love and joy and pain

It tells of a breaking heart
Of a message yet to impart
Times of luminesce felicity
Times of complex simplicity

Music has traveled the sunshine’s beams
It’s traipsed along the river’s streams
Still it satisfies our eager ears
And will live on to do so for many years

Music is wonders abound, encased inside
The rhythm that ebbs and flows with the tide
Beguiling notes made to enthrall
And in a trance we rejoinder it’s call

— OrcasTogether

We each have our own separate tale
Not knowing what our path would entail
We’re scatters of stars on a celestial night
A laughing darkness with beads of light

We’re all a portion of the sky
A cycle to be born then to die
No wonder we look up above and yearn
For part of us wishes to return

Each star has its own beginning
Cascade of matter, bright and spinning
And then a story that lasts until its end
And through life they meander and wend

So all of us have a separate page
That spreads as we grow and we age
And we sparkle in our lifetime quarries
For we’re all made of stardust and stories

— OrcasTogether

Oh, how strong the pain
How long shall I need to feign
That tight smile, that fake laughter
When can this world look brighter?

Oh, how large my fears
How long shall I hold back tears
That spend decades gathering in my eyes
Suppressed by my childish lies?

Oh, how dark the sky
Those clouds forming way up high
They cry as their tears come crashing down
In the rain could I just drown?

Oh, how blue I feel
My life hiding behind a veil
Made by the horrors of the past
How long will this nightmare last?

— OrcasTogether

I’m looking up, up high
Wishing I’m up there in the sky
To take off the burdens of the past
Peace at last, peace at last

I set out upon this quest
Travel to the world of the blessed
Up in the air I am cast
Peace at last, peace at last

In the heavens to which I fly
I look at the ground, but now from the sky

— OrcasTogether

Upon the surface, the ripple sways
Under the sky’s smiling gaze
     The winds dance
          The ocean plays
The sun sets the water ablaze

The ripples trace a circular trail
The shimmer and swirl in the storming gale
     The ocean screams
          The drafts wail
A raging contest in the air I inhale

The ripples draw a line of light
As the writhe and wriggle in delight
     A starry sky
          A silent night
While they douse and quench and ignite

The ripples lay under moonlight’s beams
Flowing silently in river streams
     I gaze alight
          At their kindly beams
They sleep serene under peaceful dreams

She’s ran across the river streams
She’s danced inside sunlight’s beams
She’s climbed the most highest mountains
She’s traversed the steepest canyons

She’s jogged across wide plains of grass
She’s stared at life through sheets of glass
She’s dove into the deepest seas
She’s floated high with the softest breeze

But still she keeps searching for more to see
The greatest wonders not enough to thee
You may be wondering why she needs
To continue to go through these deeds…

It is because she is trying to find a place
A place in which she could embrace
As one place that she could call home
A place where she won’t be on her own

— OrcasTogether

A million stars late night time reveals
Dotting the sky like flowers in a field
They glimmer and shine in abundant glories
They tell of the ancient long lost stories
They sparkle and form shapes of the past
Of the empires and traditions they outlast
A million smiles that guide our way
But fade and relinquish to the coming day

A million flowers laid wide like the sky
Like the million of stars that they defy
They drift their aromas for us to smell
To lure us to their scent to dwell
A short lifetime, waiting when
They flourish the next year and grow again
They guide us through our lives thereof
Together with the stars above

— OrcasTogether

And now this story shall tell of two
Entirely different, through and through
One a maiden, who sails with the breeze
The other, prince of the untamed seas

And this is how the story starts
When from the land, the maiden departs
For she loved sailing the unknown realm
Gazing alone from behind the helm

She has beauty and kind words she may say
But lucks not on her side today
For the wind picks up, and the waves grow
Currents sweep faster, and howling winds blow

At the helm she searches frantically around
Looking for a place of safe ground
But everywhere there’s rage and there’s storms
And around the boat the ocean deforms

The boat rocks and turns and sways
Under a sky of blacks and grays
And suddenly she is thrown overboard
As the wind blowed and the rain poured

And on the side, watching with glee
Is the demon witch of the dark sea
She chuckles as she finishes her spell
And to the maiden she waves farewell

As the maiden sinks down and down
A few more seconds, and she will drown
What a coincidence, for at this instant
The prince is there, coexistent

As he watches the beautiful maiden fall
His father’s rules he can’t recall
He swims over and quickly saves
The maiden who fell beneath the waves

The prince brings her over to the sands
And crawls up upon the human lands
Quietly he sings his sorrowful songs
And goes back to the water where he belongs

The witch watches with spiteful delight
As the maiden blinks in the incoming light
The maiden knows not of the prince appearing
Only the voice she remembers hearing

The prince swims back to his palace home
Coated with seashells and draped with foam
His father would never approve, he thought
So him leaving was not for naught

How he hates his responsibilities
No point dwelling on impossibilities
Or on the maiden he’s forbidden to see
How he just wishes to be free

The prince wanders, unable to
Think of the things that he must do
For he thinks his heart is starting to ache
For the women he met by mistake

But she won’t know that it was he
Who saved her from the depths of the sea
And without two legs like the other men
He could never see her again

Melancholy and pain arrayed
And then he knows that there’s a way
To travel to the witch of the sea
And ask her to answer his hopeful plea

And so he swims to the dark and deep
No time to rest, no time to sleep
He reaches the dungeon of the ocean floor
Goes up and slowly knocks on the door

Inside answers the witch, appeased
Thinking of the kingdom she will seize
She listens to the prince ask for legs
As he bows his head to her and begs

She tells him that he has a choice
To give up his alluring voice
And in return walk on land
But only if he follows her demands

For should the maiden not love him back
The spell that holds him would begin to crack
And he’ll dissolve into the seas
But foolishly, the prince agrees

And so the prince swims to land
And embraces the chilling spell at hand
His tail disappears, and is replaced by two
Human legs, both soft and new

Wobbling a bit, he slowly stands
And brushes away the water stained sands
And there he awaits, hopefully
The maiden who fell into the sea

When she comes, she comes gracefully
And he kneels before the shine of she
The maiden, her heart kind and bestowed
Welcomes the prince to her humble abode

And the next few months they go to and fro
And through this time the prince knows
Should the marriage of the maiden to another resolve
The dawn of the next day, the prince will dissolve

The maiden didn’t mind that the prince was mute
For it wasn’t his voice that’s his impute
But what a pity, for all the maiden knows
Is his beautiful voice singing his woes

On the day the prince will declare his love
The maiden tells him then thereof
That there is only one who her heart is for
And it’s the fisher who she believes saved her

And so the maiden, in kindness and laughter
Finds the man and declares her love after
Their wedding will happen at that midnight
To celebrate dawn’s coming light

So early that day, before the rising morn
The prince kneels at the water, sad and forlorn
And his brothers rise with a solution
That to save him there must be an execution

So they hand him a knife, sheen and bare
Traded for their golden hair
And tell him this **** he must complete
And let the maiden’s blood drip at his feet

Only this way could he enter the sea
But the prince knows he cannot agree
For it is not the maiden’s faught
That it is the wrong man she sought

And so the angels of the sky
Hearing his sad, lovesick reply
Seek to show the maiden the wrong obverse
And fly down from heaven to break his mute curse

And so finally he could speak again
And he sprints to the wedding glen
His voice calling to the maiden’s ears
And hearing it, she cries joyful tears

And as their words of love are spoken
The last part of the spell is broken
So that they will forever live on land
The prince and the maiden, hand in hand

And so in the years to come
The prince and the maiden become one
And though he misses his family
He and the maiden live joyfully

How far they’ve come from the prince of the seas
And the maiden who sails with the breeze
How far they’ve grown through the years
Through pain and joy and laughter and tears

The story all started back when the prince saves
The maiden who fell beneath the waves
And in the future days hereafter
The prince and the maiden live happily ever after

Once about a time, she began
There was a kingdom no one knew
It resides underneath the waves
Entered and seen by few

In the sea, these creatures swam
With not two legs, but a tail
They had shining sparkles and flares of light
At the teardrop of each scale

They were different, these creatures were
Not many know the truth
They had beauteous faces, and shining skin
And forever remained in their youth

Some say they have magic, simple spells
But wicked sorcery is what’s said by the rest
Spells and power that rattle the stars
It is said it’s what they do best

Some men say that they’ve spotted them on
The journeys upon which they embark
But these men think foolish fantasies
And are complacent in the dark

For these creatures are never seen
Forbidden to lay eyes on the lands
They stick to their homes beneath the waves
Away from the human sands

So some say they’re only a myth
But they’re just not there to dwell
So listen closely, listen here
For I have a tale to tell

There was a time when I was trapped
On an island none could see
As I waited there on the darkened lands
For someone to find me
Days and days spent gazing out
At the still, empty waters
Never knowing when the day will come
That my life here would falter
I wonder if there would be a day
I would want life less than death
But if I tried jumping into the sea
I know I would hold my breath
Staying here, I am confined
On an island of my own making
Wondering if this day will be my last
But next morning I keep waking
There’s no way off this silent place
No way to end this pain
And I can’t stop my will to live
From continuing to drain
As I gaze upon the shimmering blue
I know no one’s here to save me
And as I watch the days ticking by
I know no one’s here to free me
But now I know as I continue to live
My freedom’s not defined by others
And I cannot keep waiting here
To be freed by another
So now I know never to wait
Until the tank fills to the brim
When no one’s there to witness you drown
You teach yourself to swim

— OrcasTogether

Jewels embedded in the starry night
The blackness devours the beads of light
An ocean of depthless inky darkness
A lurking place of fear and plight

But there’s something different about this dark
Perhaps it is the way the stars spark
Or the entrails it carves up above
For it speaks of journeys yet to embark

So join this night in its swing and sway
To bid farewell and welcome to the rising day
We’ll frolic to a place beyond our minds
To a place that exists far away

Here to waltz and twirl and entrance
To swirl and jump and turn and prance
For the sky is now beckoning tonight
To come join it in the moonlight dance

— OrcasTogether

I know you travel the wind blown lands
And dance across the sun kissed sands
But when the day fades with the sun in tow
Then where will you go?

I know you laugh under moonlight’s beams
And swim joyfully in the soothing streams
But when the river’s currents cease to flow
Then where will you go?

I know you run through the muddy plains
And jump into seas to clean the stains
But when the bottoms of oceans begin to show
Then where will you go?

I know you trek up the highest mountains
And gust dandelion seeds by the thousands
But when the swirling and cheerful winds don’t blow
Then where will you go?

I know you run to escape from your past
And move before they catch you at last
But when your consumed by those crying woes
Then where will you go?

— OrcasTogether

A whoosh of whispering air
A flicker of a wing
Black and smooth as the night sky
For whom does this dark bird sing?

It soars, flies, dances
Swift as the breeze
Sharp as the edge of the knife
Shrewd as the deadly seas

Those glittering eyes
Dark, endless holes
Like a unknown gateway
To a million souls

Into the air it flies
It’s form invisible against the night
It’s voice a siren’s song
That leads many to fake light

Their chatter is not a secret
They are made to enthrall
But, animals out there, you better hope
You don’t hear the raven’s call

— OrcasTogether

Days, months, endlessly changing
We stay here, mindlessly aging
    Stuck in our lives
        Humanity waning
Purpose and hope steadily draining

Always thinking about that future day
Where we think life would go the right way
    Only tomorrow
        No more today
How long can our joy be delayed?

Only ourselves and only our sea
Only what we’re expected to be
    But there’s many droplets
        That we did not see
Waiting for the day we can say we’re happy

I can conclude that we’re not aware
That meaning comes from the joy we share
    We should stop waiting
        We should start to care
For there is quite a large world out there

— OrcasTogether

The sea is stretches of vacant land
Followed by masses of barren sand
    The inside dark
          The surface bland
A teeming demon of claws and fangs

The sea is a base of shining life
Color and type and shape alike
    The families large
        The members rife
The many creatures bathe in delight

The sea is a place of certain death
A place of perilous watery depths
    Can’t open my eyes
        Can’t take a breath
A realm of danger and risk and threat

The sea is a domain of many wonders
A haven from the storms and thunder
    A beauteous mystery
        A magical under
A serene world a blanket of blue covers

— OrcasTogether

The ******* who we call mankind
Is a place where we're all to reside
We move forward by using our mind
But in the end, on our hearts we rely

We are raised to feel the compassion
We are taught to spread our warmth
But a perfect world is hard to imagine
For on every rose exists a thorn

Grief hardens around us like a shell
And inside we may be flooding with strife
But though mentally we see war and knell
There's always the goodness that lives in life

But despite the evil alive today
There are still others who rely on you
So catch that kindness that wanders astray
For in the end you rely on them too

-- OrcasTogether

Once upon a time
There was a world so fine
And in it ruled a king
Who grew evil in his reign

Faithful subjects they may be
But one cannot help thee
When darkness begins to foil
And innocents begin to toil

Malice claimed the land
Through a dark ruler’s hand
And in dissatisfaction
Began the fabrication

War cleaves the world in two
Battlefields through and through
Red tinges the once clear water
But still battle cannot falter

So dark meets the dark
Joy now bleak and stark
Found not by deigning to fight
But by holding to the light

— OrcasTogether

A memory abound in the people here
Leaving behind a trace of their fears
Don’t mark me if you plan to leave too soon
And see me only when my plants are in bloom
A thousand beings, in my life
Staining me with tears and strife
Don’t take a main part of my home
If soon you’ll go back to roam

— OrcasTogether

Where have all the flowers gone?
Their delicate petals have withdrawn
They’ve curled up, like they are scared
Their bright colors no longer flared

Where have all the waters gone?
They no longer gleam at dawn
The river and the streams run dry
Leaving the many fish to die

Where have all wildlife gone?
The subtle birds and the baby faun
The chitter and chatter leave only an trace
Of the wonders that have been erased

Where has all the sunlight gone?
It used to wake at morn and yawn
Only a memory of warmth upon my skin
A ghost of what things have been

— OrcasTogether