You cradled me in your arms,
Kiss me on my forehead,
Say the word I love you in my ears,
Then hug me while we’re both lying in bed.

You never leave me alone.
Instead, you lead me on my way home.
You are my inspiration.
That was never afraid to face your true form.

Decades passed, changes are too many.
Attitudes of others, truly a malady.
But your gift of love never becomes an envy.
You are the one who nurtured me, loved me completely.

Behind all his smiles and silly gestures
He longs to walk a thousand miles away
He desires to escape from everyday
No more small talk
Or large gatherings
The curtain has CLOSED
A contemporary task.

In the eyes of the crowd
All they see is the proud facade
Entertainment is important
And all they care about
Forgetting the person
behind the PERSONA
a temporary mask.

As his mask fades
Rabbits shift
into sparrows
No light at the end
Only cued applauds
Some flowers
And skewed imagery
An exemplary stage.

Disappearing into the night
Unmasking the illusions he conjured.
The sinking reality comes back
As
Lingering
Silence echoes his longing…
A price to pay of the famed gift
Hoping this will be his last...

~FINALE~
    

Justin G / **Pax

Not a casual day for me,
I get nervous ever hardly,
And that was the day buddy.

23rd September in 2014,
Tensed I was that mornin',
I was making sure at that time.

Luckily all was sorted out,
I reached on time that day,
It was your b'day gift - the pout.

¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯
Love
is a fire
in each of us;
it is fueled by every
breath we take and it is
kindled by wholesome
faith and passion.

Love
is a persistent
blaze that is only
extinguished
by the
suffocation
of our death.

Love will
burn
until
there is
no air left
to feed it.

Hatred is
not the absence
of love; hatred is the
conflagration that sparks
from the haphazard tending
of the inherent love-flame.

Hatred is merely
the byproduct of a
series of choices that
ultimately result in
suppressing or
denying that
which is
undeniably
aflame within us.

Hate steals our breath—
the precious air—causing
the flame of love to wane,
yet love's fire will burn
at any cost.

Love,
of
its
right
to consume,
will always aim to
overcome and redefine itself
as well as any flame that rivals it.

Destruction is intrinsic of a flame.
Yet, love's fire endures to make
us pure.

Severe
structural damage
is inevitable, as love will
destroy all that is not of it.

But, love will never
destroy us.

Love
works
to destroy
the machinations
we have allowed
the ruinous
world
to
*****
within us.

We must all choose a
flame to tend and we must
also choose how to tend it.

We must never misuse
the bellows of faith, lest we
start another fire that will ultimately
starve that of atonement and purity—
the one we were all born with—
the one in what's absence
we would cease to exist.

Fighting fire with fire
accomplishes nothing directly;
it only succeeds in adding
'wild' to the fire,
encouraging an
incinerating confusion.

We must focus our attention
to giving the love-flame
the fuel it desires
and let its
nature
take
course.

As love thrives
to grow within us,
all other fires will
cower and die.

The flame
of love
will
leave
us clean
and whole;
a tended flame
by any other name
will leave us
ashen and
wasted.

You're a Poet, but you don't just write poems, you're so much more
gifted with the power of perception, knowing how to make hearts soar
compelled to share your heart's impressions, both the good and the bad
taking the beautiful and lyrical, making them happy, and sometimes sad

You're a Poet, writing poetry, sharing imagination with a flowing creativity
wanting to bring people close, ever watchful to avoid unwanted negativity
coming from the Greek word poietes, poet, which means maker or to make
allows us to appreciate each other as poets, life's all about the give and take

You're a Poet, loving the world and the people in it, wanting to see the truth
knowing your limitations and flaws, always open to introspection and proof
self driven from a powerful force within, and needing to share your thoughts
you tailor words just so, keeping your objectivity intact, as your poetry talks

You're a Poet, unlike the rich and wealthy, your treasure will never be stolen
a power to create, using the simplest of tools, even with a measured semi-colon
you have a venue for sharing and caring, you warm the feelings of those around
drawing people into your inner world, giving them words with a beautiful sound

You’re all Poets, all having the power, and making the difference to someone dear
never stop giving of yourselves, because so many find direction in what you share
so to all of you calling yourself poet, my friendship and admiration for you is clear
honorably spreading messages of hope, by disseminating poetry to those that care