Behind a mask of smiles hides a child,
With eyes too blue to cry.

Behind the smiling mask,
the child wants to die.

But the child will live many long years,
through hurt and pain,
and hidden tears.

While the mask of smiles
hides the pain.

From those who might have cared.

I wish that we had met as children.
And played all the games that children play.

I wish that we had run together
through the fields,
and laughed and joked those days away.

I wish I had been there to see you,
Blossom into the woman
you came to be.

And I wish in that hour
of self awakening,
I was the only boy your eyes could see.

Your first smile, first kiss,
first love, first promise,
and every other first along the way.

Now I look into your eyes
and see memories
of an alternate reality,
and all I can really do is smile.

Because no matter the past
you are here with me at last.

And a last love
beats a first love
by a mile.

My love is not dependent on return
My love never needed to be learned
Nuances have been molded
sculpted, and refined
But the love,My Love
The very core of it
Is blind.

Can I kiss you?
Don't ask me, just do.
But I want to, I want to hear it from you.
Can I kiss you?
Yes yes, kiss me you fool!!!
Lips meet, hearts beat, temperatures rise.
I kiss you again.
But you didn't ask.
She asks, Why?
I didn't need to, I saw the answer in your eyes.

I've drank myself blind 
trying to have a good time.

I've crashed my motorcycle in the rain.

I've jumped out of planes,
hopped rides on cargo trains.

Made love to women I never knew.

I've slept under a desert moon,
slept in the rain in June.

Did nearly everything in life
I wanted too.

And the only thing that
caused me real pain,
was not giving you a ring.

Because I found you way to late.
And I lost you way too soon.

I need no light to know
that you are smiling.
Your hands in mine,
together in the dark.

I need no light to see
the beauty in your face,
it's locked forever in
the memory of my heart.

I need no light to guide my touch,
nor taste, nor smell,
no light to guide me within
all the treasures that are you.

I need no light.

It is merely icing on the cake,
as we make love
through the night,
into the sun break.

As I sift through the ashes of our love
Surely it must have burned bright.

For there is no black among the ashes,
Nothing but coal white.

There are no pieces left to gather,
nothing that could reignite a flame.
 
I search for just one tiny ember,
but only memories remain.

And so I'll take these memories,
along with your name
and give them rhyme.

Reading them in the rhythm of my heart,
a love song in four/four time.

Jenny your love was deeper than the ocean.
It burned brighter than the stars in the sky.

Your Beauty shined upon me like the sun.
And now I'm left alone to wonder why.

This poem, is all I have for kindling,
to try and restart a spark in your heart.

When it's gone it's gone
no light will remain,

and I'll be all alone in the dark.

I want to write something
that lives beyond me.

Something that brings joy
to someone I'll never see.

Something that has wings
to traverse time and space.

Words of rhyme that kindle love
in a formerly loveless place.

Just a line, or phrase
where someone will say-

to a dear friend,
I read this today.

A poem by some old poet,
I don't recall his name.

But I found it to be beautiful,
and it touched me,
All the same.

What can you do in a second?

I don't know, give me a minute.

Maybe an hour, just an hour to think about it.

Is that wrong to dedicate an hour to the thoughts of a second?

How many decisions made in seconds affect us for years?

Not hours, not days, but years.

To be clear, not hours, not days but years.

So go ahead take a second, take all the time you need.

I'll wait.

I remember that morning's kiss,
just a quick peck and you were gone.

Running late for work again,
we'd lain in bed too long.

I should have kept you there,
had I known I surely would.

But hindsight is perfect and looking back
does no good.

One moment longer had I kept you,
or one moment faster out the door.

These are the things
that will haunt
my mind for evermore.

Yes,

I remember that morning's kiss.

Just a quick peck.

And you were gone.

A heart of gold only shines in the sun.

A heart of stone warms no one.

A heart of glass is prone to break.

My heart without yours is too much to take.

My sad and lonely heart was broken and blue.

Until the day it was first loved by you.

In my head,
it seems, I'm in there everyday.

It used to be you in there,
but now you've gone away.

I thought when you left,
only my heart would break.

But it keeps beating,
It's more than I can take.

Pounding in my head,
as I mull all, all I should have said.

Yes, I'm in my head, 

Questions,
So many, I can't sleep.

Bang, Bang ,Bang
incessant pounding,
heart beat.

I can't sleep.

I'm in my head,
stuck in my head.

I can't sleep.

Questions,
Pounding,
heart beat,
you're gone,
can't sleep.

I'm In my head,
where you should be.

But it's just me,
just me,

Why am I alone?
All alone.

In my head.

The sun burns hot and bright
heat waves distort the light,
where asphalt meets the horizon.

The Santa Ana winds dry the sweat
from my skin before I even have
a chance to perspire.

I head north along the coast, leaving behind
my blustering host.

As rocky cliffs, and pacific breezes sooth my soul.

And tonight as I sleep beneath the stars,
to the sound of the distant cars.

I let my thoughts wander,
Somewhere beyond Jupiter and Mars.

And wonder just when that journey,
might begin.

I'm in no hurry though, for there are miles left
to go.

And that journey will have to wait,
Until this journey ends.

Love doesn't have to rhyme.
It doesn't have to be shouted from the rooftops,
or written in the stars.
Yet it is a poets job to make it so
To elaborate, exaggerate, compare it to the incomparable,
Capture the unsnareable, share the unshareable. 
Like fingers finding fingers in the dark,
or tender hugs holding grief at bay.
The conversation of her eyes through a teardrop,
saying more than a million words could convey.
 And this is where we find the meaning of love,
in the quiet moments where no words are spoken.
Where tender kisses and soft touches
become a dance to the rhythm
of two hearts beating in unison, under a lover's moon.
Shared only in the reflections of their eyes.

Lying on my back in a field of gold,
 sky watching
as God's artwork unfolds.
Fluffy white pictures,
of animals, and faces,

intertwined lovers,
and magical places.
Flying on high,
oh how I wish, I could too.

Worlds they pass,
so slow, yet so fast,
it all shall be gone too soon.

I close my eyes and sigh,
as a tear escapes my eye.

 It all shall be gone,
 too soon.

I watch her walking away, 
body speaking in a way
 even a deaf man can understand.

My oh my ain't life grand. 

Swish Sway,
Swish Sway,

Her hips are fluent in every language,
And I desire to converse in every tongue.

She smiles back over her shoulder,
 laughter takes a hold of her.

Knowing fully well what she has done.

She blows me a kiss,
 turns down the volume of her hips.

 From a shout to just barely a whisper.

 And I smile because I know, 
even as I watch her go.

 She only makes them talk for me.

Old People Love 
that's what we have now you see.

That kind of love where we fuss and grumble
but would never think to leave.

Where we shake our heads at each other,
and laugh and talk about the weather.
Telling the same old stories,
of all our years together.

It's hard to tell sometimes where you stop
and I begin.
I've given up on that riddle,
Really, there is no way I can win.

After 40 years, together
We're not just lovers, but best friends.

So I overlook the Lipstick on my coffee cup,
and you stealing fries from my plate.

While you pick at your spinach salad, 
and worry about your weight.

Telling me I need to hurry up,
when you always end up running late.

You tell me I'm no better 
when I forget to take out the trash.

Or you catch me hiding cookies 
in what I thought was my secret stash.

Yes, we have that old people love,
It seems we know each other too well.

And even though we joke and tease.
Seriously, It's been Hell!!!    LOL

Only kidding My Love!
I wouldn't change a thing,
I'm even happier today, 
than when I gave you that ring.

That's Old People Love.

I touched her and she ran.
 Not far away,she didn't run to leave,
she ran to stay.
Just to the edge of where my eyes could see.
Hovering there in the periphery,
somewhere between hope and illusion.
She haunted me.
 No,Hunted me. 
A cat with great skill, lying in wait its ****.
(OH WHAT A HUNTER I THOUGHT MYSELF TO BE.)
I touched her and she ran, not so far as when first began.
It happened again at least a time or two.
As I was starting to understand,
It came to me,
(Stupid Man)
Don't you see?
 She's caught you.

A sentimental shaft of light
touched my face through
a cracked window pane.

A reflection of remembered
warmth, a memory of the
fire in your eyes.

My gaze turns towards
the window, searching
dancing motes of dust,
for a ghost of you.

For just an outline,
a shimmering silhouette,
to cling too.

But even as I search
I know, you're no mere ghost.

The light that touched
my face was you.

Under my umbrella
rain hitting all around
getting wet anyway 
so I take it down.

I really don't mind
it's been a hot day,
and the rain seems to
wash all my blues away.

Rain covers my face like tears,
but they are of joy
not of pains or fears.

Into every life they say
some rain must fall.
But I'll not complain,
the sun always shines
brighter after the rain.

And as I said,
it's been a very hot day.

And this cool refreshing rain
was sorely needed anyway.

Stoic as a stone she stood
against the night.

Against the news,

Not allowing herself to cry,
No,
not before their prying eyes.

Out of sight.

Alone,

Only then did
she weep for him.

For her loss,
for the cost,
it exacted upon her soul.

She stood alone,
stoic against the night.

Against the news.

And no one ever knew.

She loved him.

Sometimes life leads
Occasionally, we follow.

But today becomes yesterday
And quickly turns tomorrow. 

Time is fluid,
it always flows.

In the path of least resistance.

Always forward, never to return.

And so we swim,
like salmon up a river.

Trying to get back to some,
 something or other.

To a beginning not remembered.
To some end, to forever.

Back to that shallow pool of humanity,
only to flounder there and die.

Like the salmon,
who's life begins and ends in the same place.

Who knows how far we could go.

If we had only learned
  to go with the flow.

Summer rain storm
Soaks me to the bone.

Lying on concrete all alone,
under the overpass,
Cars blowing by,
I know they laugh.

I understand why.

But what they don't realize,
is that I'm laughing too.

I wouldn't trade this life,
because, I know.

I may be wet,
but I'm freer than you.

Give me a highway, a lonesome stretch of gray.

(Thanks for the line Bob)

And I'll be alright,
I'll find my way.

And if it rains, let it pour,
Let it wash my cares away,

I won't complain,
I love the rain.

Besides,
I probably needed a bath anyway.

A poem is just memories with you.
Lines on a page of special times we knew.

A moment,
a look,
a feeling,
something near to disbelieving.

Magic I only feel with you.
You are the poem,
I am the poet,
and these words are the love we share.

A record of time in rhythm and rhyme,
to show how much we care.

Pure as alabaster,  
no servant, no master,
only love abides.

Lost in a kiss,
divination of  bliss.

Together, they've stood, against time.

Their creator long gone,
still they live on,
to remind us that true love lasts forever.

Being six
It seems like forever
can I even remember.

trucks and *****, and even sticks.
Sword fights, and finger guns.

How politically incorrect!

We ran so fast then,
with nowhere to run.

Tag your it, you hide I'll seek.
You better not peek!

Ready or not here I come!

Laughing loudly,
when you found someone. 

Then once again we'd run.
We ran like it was our job,
and our job was having fun.

Can you believe it?
Our job was having fun.

Oh God

it was great
Being Six.

She has eyes that can see through my soul,
and a smile that melts
the coldest ventricles of my heart.

My sweet poet waif, 
words of beauty flowing from her lips like a river.

A river of rhythm and rhyme, 
my heart pounding a beat in time
to the song that is her voice.

Stealing my breath, 
leaving me speechless with desire.

A fire to hear more,
for only in her words
do I know her.

You know that I love you,
but I wish I could live you.

Experience the world like you do.

To touch it, with your delicate fingers.
To see it through your eyes so blue.

How different would our love feel
if I could live that love as you.

To feel our passionate kisses 
through your soft and tender lips.
Or the feel of what it feels like.
when you do that thing-
You know.
the one that makes me flip!

Yes Baby I wish that I could live you,
if only for a moment or two.

So I could feel your love for me,
the way I feel my love for you.

Being together is coffee in the morning.
Being together is a call at noon.

Being together is I love you,
be safe, I miss you, come home soon.

Being together is talking about the weather,
sharing secrets no other soul ever knew.

Being together is not saying anything,
and being comfortable doing that too.

Being together is a thousand intimacies
spoken only in each other's eyes.

Being together is a connection
even when we're far apart.

Being together is more
than being in each other's arms.

It's being in each other's hearts.

In a microscopic world
Am I an unseen God?

I wonder, am I prayed to?
I don't think so, do you?

I Only ask because,

In that microscopic world,
you must be a God too.

Right?

Or maybe I'm Dr. Suess,
like Horton hears a Who.

But I've never heard a Who, have you?

Not even Cindy Lou Who,
Who, is a great singer I've been told.

But I can't remember by Who.
maybe it was Bud or Lou,

or maybe the guy on first base.
What's his name?

No, What's on second!
I Don't Know.
Third Base.

Okay well, that's enough of that,

Anyway,
I have seen a red fish, 
but never a blue.

And as for a Cat in a Hat
absolutely,
I saw that.

It was on the internet.

To My Valentine

You're not just the girl for me,
You're the world to me.

My first good morning,
my last goodnight.

When You're in my arms,
everything feels right.

The sound of you sleeping soothes My soul.

The warmth of your touch makes me feel whole.

Lying here in my arms,
the kiss of your lips,
the smell of your skin,
the curve of your hips,
in those moments the world disappears.

In those moments,
all that I hear
is two hearts beating.

Saying love is here.

Man for Sale

Man for sale slightly bruised and battered,
but still performs fairly well
in all the things that matter. 

He's a daily driver he never fails to start,
paints a little faded, but not falling apart.

He's never been a model that will turn a lot of heads,
his selling point has always been comfort,
and reliability instead.

So hop in turn the key,
take him for a spin.

He'll get you where you need to go
and safely back again.

The price is right,
practically free,
I'll even throw in a money back guarantee.

He's a certified pre-owned classic,
they no longer make them like this.

But this is not a handshake deal,
it must be sealed with a kiss.

I want to touch you in a way,
that's playful, but not play.

That's gentle, yet firm.
Not taught, but learned.

Through a desire to love,
and be loved too.

Without any fears of exposing my all to you.
And a hoping that you will show all too.

So come play with me this game of love.
I long to see our future in your eyes,

Feel life's passions in your kiss,
and It's ecstasy in your sighs.

Eternity lives inside a lover's stare,
so come join with me in this gaze of love.

Let our eyes speak of things,
our tongues do not dare.

Just know,

This is no love game 

 Where we can simply pretend,
 we don't care.

Your lips whisper poems in my ears,
and warm the blood that flows within my heart.

My creative juices begin to boil at your touch.
But your skilled hands hold me to a simmer.

I long to write the majesty that is you,
the masterpiece you've lain upon my soul.

Your love, My love,

has made me a poet.

And you are the poetry that makes me whole.

A wordless message of love,
Soars from my heart on the wings of a dove.
Caressing the edge of Heaven,
releasing all that I have in my soul to give.
 May it settle like a blanket upon you My Love.
 Keeping you safe and warm.
 Until you're in my arms again.

Touch her ****. 
Not a ***** or a squeeze.
Just a gentle caress, or pat if you please.

Hold her in your arms,
kiss her forehead.
Snuggle on the sofa watching TV,
before heading to bed.

Gaze into her eyes,
not like you've never seen them before.

But like looking in a mirror
and you know every pore,
every wrinkle, line, and freckle,
on her beautiful face.

This is the good stuff
there's no reason for haste.

And after you've made love,
Look at her and grin,
then touch her **** and whisper.

Let's do it again!

As the world moves toward a singular
race this does not bother me.

It does not affect my Heritage,
History, or Ethnicity.

I am not white, yellow, or red.

I am not black or brown.

I am an amalgam,
a melting *** in a world swirling round.

No man is a color.
No color a race.

Someday you'll have to check my DNA
to decide if you hate my face.

So I'm a little darker than you
  maybe I have a good tan,
if I stay out of the sun and fade a bit
will that make us friends again?

Games of race are senseless,
I know what race I am.

I'm a member of the human race,
just like every man.

Eyes on the prize 
See the truth not the lies. 
Open your heart and let the love flow through.

Take my hand walk with me,
share a laugh and a smile.

Let it all go for just a little while!
 
Don't worry about the future,
forget the past.

Life is just a moment,
a precious memory,
there is no way to make it last.

Moments and memories of Lovers and friends.
That's the prize that hides behind the lies.

No treasure of gold, will satisfy your soul,
only the love you give and receive.

And in the end,
I pray that you hold me in a way,
that lets me know that I was loved. 

Kiss me softly as I leave,
and please do not grieve.

Just remember how much I loved you.

Die hard the poet's heart
Dashed with great fury against the wall.

Cursing to the heavens,
for sense of it all.

To see the beauty in the blood
 as it drips thick droplets from the blade.

To see, same said beauty, 
from a child's tears upon the grave.

Curse to the heavens.
Dash my heart against the wall.

And **** my poet eyes,
for the beauties seen in all.

Good Morning Is a prayer
not just a salutation,
and its return is the answer we pray for.

Goodnight is a promise,
that all is well and right,
and Good Mornings will follow as before.

You are my Good Morning,
my beginning, my new day.

You are the Goodnight I strive to reach.

So Good Morning My Love,
I hope your night was well.

You will be on my mind throughout the day.
Until I reach the evening,
and say goodnight to you.

My final act, my final prayer,
before my day is through.

Write a love rhyme
off the top of your head
post it in the comments below.

Valentine's Day
Is the day to say,
****, Silly, Romantic things
To make her heart soar,
cry, or sing.

Blackberry hot chocolate
My new favorite flavor.
Two things so different so good together.

A sweet indulgence,
Decadent,
like you and me baby.

A taste that lingers on my tongue.
leaves me wanting more.

I am a poet, that means I believe in love.
I am an idiot, that means I believe in love.

Love is not an illusion, or a confusion of the heart.

Played like a brutal game of desperation,
perspiration, and art.

I Love the art,
But I hate the game,

A feeling shared by two,
Is not open to general consensus,
of what constitutes me and you.

I am in you, you are in me,
How much more sanctification do we need?

Who's ******* approval, before our love can be true?

**** their opinions!

I choose you!

So just let it be, can't you see,
I was made for you.
And you were made for me.

And that's all the approval we will ever need!

So the billionaires tell us
we may feel a little pain,

but they're doing it all for us,
it's not for their gain.

Such noble men
these saints must be,
twisting the fabric of democracy.

How lucky am I that they do it all for me.

I'll tighten my belt and **** it up,
for the sake of my country's prosperity.

Seriously, 36 trillion is all they need!
Can that be done by making 300
million bleed?

Now I'm no mathematician,
but those numbers don't add up.

And as much as I hate to say it.

Honestly, I think we're ******!!!

Kisses short and sweet.
Kisses long and deep.
Of all the Kisses I have known, I long for yours and yours alone.
You're January I'm December, opposites yet close together.
Your thoughtful analizations,
My dreams without hesitation.
Your emotional stability.
My artistic insanity.
Your whisper to my shout, my bass to your treble.
If I'm the words then you're the song.
So take my hand and sing along.
Because the music's always better,
when we play together.

timer set and go.
lets do this off the cuff,
on the fly, enoughs a nuff.
5 minutes to get r done, oh **** 2 minutes gone.
how much poetry can we write off
the cuff.
Sunrises, sunsets, ladies eyes i'll never forget.
picking and choosing as time flys by
1 minute left I sigh.
this poem comes to a close with one last
I love you before I go
time.

Whisky and Poetry
The look in your eyes,
smoldering ******,
begging good times.

A bold and beautiful Celtic Lass.

Emerald eyes and auburn hair 
make this Irish heart beat too fast.

I wish I could kiss her ruby red lips,
caress that creamy skin,
with my calloused fingertips. 

So stunning in moonlight,
My eyes drink her in.

A vision of innocence 
a portrait of sin.

Just a paperback cover
in a bookstore bin.

Polarized and filtered not reality,
A 35 mm dream girl 
I'll never truly see.

But in my mind she's mine
as long as I want her to be.

Through the magic of
Whisky, and Poetry.

If you kiss me once before I die
I will not die a happy man.

I'll die wishing I had more time
to kiss you once again.

To kiss you a thousand times
Like I've done so in my mind.

Pressed against your flesh in
loves passionate embrace.

A lifetime has passed
to find us in this place.

So do not kiss me before I die.

Eternity is far too long
to ruminate on why.

Was this a kiss of love, 
or merely of goodbye?

Please, please don't kiss me!

My dying soul can not bear it.