A game of love and hate
A game of joy in pain
Her smile is not the same
Her walk is now of shame

We wished for better days
We knew it couldn't be the same
Gone are our days of play
Gone with the joys of yesterday

Why do play this game
Why? Because love,
Was it truly real?
Was it really fake?

Sometimes I just wish I could hug you.
Like a sweet little novel I've been dying to read, I wish to read you, all over, front and back, spine to paper.
And yes, often times, I just wish I could wrap you up in a roll of oozing vanilla and breathe the moment in.
I wish I could tell you that you're worth more than the girl who left you standing on you front porch with a lingering love.
Sometimes, I wish that your eyes would softly rest upon mine and feel peace in knowing your life is not complete with her, but rather complemented, perhaps, with me.
Someday I wish you look at life's disappointments as a step towards greater and not a stand still of why's and why-not's.
And if you're willing, I would hope you sit and wish the same for me.

- Julia Aubrey Rhodes -

You use your voice
In every sense of the meaning
I don't agree with what comes out all the time
But that's okay
Because you have such an incredible perspective
Fresh air
When you sing
I almost melt
You always know the words
Of the songs on the radio
No matter the station
And every word reminds you of a song
I know because I always hear you singing
Running to a flight
Setting up an event
Loading  up the car
Ordering American food
And you just say what you mean
You don't care what anyone thinks
You know what you want
And you want me
I know not just because you tell me
You show me
You don't just rub my back
And hold my hand
I don't just catch you staring
And smiling
With hundreds of faces on you
Your eyes find your way to me
Again and again
I secretly love it
It's not just what I hear you saying about me
It's not only the way you look at me
It's how you ask
How you care
How you show me you care
You can see I can take care of myself
But you want to give me a hand
And you see when I'm anxious
You just say what you know
And its from the heart
From your soul
I've known you just over a week
Your smile and the way you walk
The way you talk and the things you come up with
Makes me want to get to know you
You  pick my brain
And make me crazy
I know we can never be together
Our families would never allow this
And it ***** because I like you
I like how your hair curls over your forehead
And how you speak your mind
I like your smile
The contrast of your white teeth on your deep tanned skin
Your skin that represents where you come from
Who you are
And how you say 'willage'  
You say you are weird
I tell you I love weird
And your smile
It's contagious
And uncontrollable
I like it when you sing
When you talk
Or just purse your lips at me
When I wake up and hear you
When I know that music
Is you playing piano
And singing songs of all varieties
Especially when your singing to me
I like talking with you
And staying up until dawn
Losing sleep every night
Just to be with you
And joking about what's in front of us
You keep life alive
We are in an alternative universe
An alternate reality
Where we have a common goal
And shared purpose
I guess kind of like real life
With school and work
Friends and dreams
And you talk
and speak about your life
Leaving everyone curious
About you and your world
I wish to be part of your world
And your story
And for a moment I am
And for a moment I believe we can be
For this moment I will cherish
This moment we are each other's
This moment has changed me
Your voice has moved me

Life is a
constant pull
between
running &
fighting

and

your brain
tricks you
into believing
that

nobody cares.

It is all in your head.
Not in your heart.

Every day that you wake up,
you have a choice
to be better
or worse
than the day before.

And even if there
is no point to
this life-

let that be a reason
to ignore
all of the people
that drain you
of your energy
and let go of
the problems
you CANNOT control.

This world is
temporary.
This pain is
temporary.
This moment
is temporary.

And so are you.

Please,
smile more.
Laugh more.
Express more.
Do everything you can to
leave your mark.

There is no concept of time,
anymore.

There is only you
and what you adore;

keep it.

Coyote’s mournful howl echoed
in the new moon’s enchanting sultry ether;
breathing the living harmony of the wilderness rhythm

He seemed to sense a soul reincarnation
      within a pervasive spirit light
      an oft misunderstood
      common thread shared
      this hallowed land’s night

An uncommon Zen stirring from within,
              stifling apathy ..,
. . . of rumble deep beneath
      a dormant volcano reawakening ;
      that which lies undiscovered
      just before the ruptured moment ..,
      liberation of release ―
      dust and ashes taking flight

Through open window              insomnia churns
                          fifty shades of blue ..,
      cast in shadowed hues of broken silence

Coyote stirred the stillness
      with a hauntingly familiar cry
      reading the ridge-top echoes
      like the book of my mind

" YIP YIP   A ―W O O H !!! " . . . the somber plea

For it is in these final hours chosen chore
      the recurring torn
      these chains and things

Coyote was going there ―
      to stand these watermark crossroads
      this hour of need

Accepting brother has always been lonely
      sometimes anything
      means something - -
and so it goes ..,

Coyote communes in pulse
      from ancient realms
      this sacred blood ..,
                Om
         the lost chord

      wounded healers ,
. . . one mutual spirit
      runs marrow deep
      where dogs run free

The moan of doves whisper to the impending dawn
. . . always known these days
      too soon do come and gone

What once was a life well lived ,
      s l o w l y     e v a n e s c i n g
      like the summer river’s flow

some say ..." you never miss the water
      'til the well runs dry "
. . . regrets a waste of time - -

Rumination, a loathsome silent reverie
      a taunting unsolved koan

      an unplanned oxymoron ,  
      beget of a deafening silence
. . . dust sleeps with indifference
      veiling a beautiful handmade
      unstrung guitar
      muted - - abandoned,
      tone poems, unsung

and so "re-begins" the task ...
      come what may rise up
      into the dark star's light ...

Coyote was going there - -
      a dawning metamorphosis
      under another nebulous sky

. . . refreshed by Luna's potent alchemy bestrewn
      in her spellbinding lambent moonlight elixir of life ...


harlon rivers  ... 5. 21. 2015