Rose or thorn
choice is yours
from me is only
    LOVE.

“I used to be disgusted,
Now I just have to refuse
The allure of money and status.
Before, I could be happy just being me,
Saying “No” to anything that I didn’t need.
But now, she’s told me I’ve got to choose,
Between her and the life I want,
Must either be a corporate shill
A shallow, capitalist dilettante,
Or be myself, and lose her good will.
I am so close to saying “’goodbye’”
And testing her just to see,
If she really means what she says,
Or if she has fooled herself
As I did for so long.
Trying to be like big brother,
Upright, moral and honored (by some),
But something in him was lacking
“And as I saw through it,
I knew I did not have the nature
To pretend I was that grand
Or could sink that low
in hidden plots to undo those he envied.

I watched her in the dim light
Of a place where the punished toil
And I was consumed with hatred,
And a wish to set her free.
How can I save her from this charade,
This bourgeois masquerade?

When she notices my clumsy efforts,
she asks me what it is I want and I reply,
‘All I ask is to practice in my own style,
Colorful but honest, riding the edge”;
Her response is inscrutable but
She likes it when I con the corporate ******,
And joins in with a new name and a sly smile,
We drink tequila and don’t pay,
Leave some loudmouth with the bill and
hedge our bets as we kiss in the evening breeze.

“Apparently, a kiss was more powerful
than me acting as an imitation drudge!
And a night in bed together satisfying enough
to draw her into my world.

I would show her little ways of breaking rules,
the cheat with no one noticing,
building up our own little universe,
rebelling against the system in subtle ways.
Oh! Those were golden days and I was happy.

Yet now, years later, she has gone far away,
perhaps for good, though I don’t see why.
When I call and ask, she will never say
what I can do to bring her back.

Granted, my life has turned around,
perhaps to something she dislikes,
but she leaves it for me to guess
whether it’s too flamboyant or just a mess.
Yet I refuse not to try so hard, hanging on the sound
of her cherished voice on the phone,
its flat, restrained notes telling me:
“You are alone”.
And still I love and hope.

Sharon Talbot
February 28, 2025

Two birds left the nest after they had learned to fly,
setting off to find what the world has got to give.
Each had what it takes to ascend into the sky,
but each bird also had different reasons why they lived.

One lived a life to soar above, his days spent in the air.
The other lived to gather in and build a stable home.
One was carefree enjoying daily views beyond compare.
The other busy always finding better sticks and stones.

As time went on, the bird who soared had many tales to tell,
all his adventures often were the envy of the cast.
But time, it never stops so when his final moments fell
he was alone when he slipped silently into the past.

The bird who built a home found love and raised a family.
He spent his days so busy, with his daughters and his sons.
From time to time he thought of all the views he didn’t see.
But he thought it was worth it, for he knew when he was done

he’d leave a heritage behind. Those who would carry on,
a family and a legacy to stand the test of time.
Now time has passed, this tale has since become an old folk song,
something that we can sing as we consider and align

the choices that we make with what we want to get from life.
It is true our lives are nothing but the choices that me make.
They add up to what is to us - the sharp edge of the knife.
So, make your choices carefully, I plead for goodness' sake.

I write (wrote) just for the thrill of it,
I write (wrote) because I liked it a little bit.

Verse was my drug of choice,
And ingesting rhyme is the reason for my raspy voice.

But I could stop whenever I wanted,
Now I won't stop because it pleases you.

From all these years questioning why I am alone?  Now I can simply answer, it was a choice I made that never made sense since until I see I was behind all closed doors.

In silence love is a ghost cold and detached
Whispers are lost estranged in a world so cold where warmth once burned but now simmers to a dim glow
In time we have been challenged the ashes encourage growth.