To love
the present
from the past

To love
the future
with the present

To love
the future
besides the past

To love
the past
without a future

The mad
do not truly exist
in our world.

They live in their own
so their madness
makes sense.

Not a passing dish
For the poor and frail
Seen within a faith
Behind a darkened veil

Granting gratitude
For a nemesis near
Without apprehension
To no longer fear

Like a toss in the jar
They are drinking from
Made five pence richer
To add to their sum

Biting on the coin
To test its metal
Convinced its true
They decide to settle

So a hand shake later
To test whose strong
Squeezing still
That lasted too long

She’s bucking a ride
While holding black and grey threads
Just taking her time

The realtor walks
Inside the house
Feeling so warm
She sweats her blouse

She reviews the property
From room to room
She checks every corner
Even the one with the broom

She steps towards it
When the space moves
The floorboards shifted
Easy to remove

She found steps
That led under the floor
Into an unknown space
And found what’s in store

Shelves built
To keep many jars
Filed with embalming liquid
And organs with scars

We honor others
by growing them
in our memories,
as we destroy some
by burying ourselves
in theirs.

I once knew her
A wistful love  

She was defined
In a refined rhyme
That left my lips
Each time was spoken
A name whispered

In my mind
There was no wrong
For a strong woman
She was to me

Sadly, deeply hiding
Truths soon learned
Of a love given
By another earned

So, she is forgotten
And now replaced
By thoughts new
Not of her, I once knew

Walking on slick tile floors
With caution signs around
Passing rich aging ******
Among crowds underground
Talking all to themselves
When the last dragon fed
On those shows about elves
From books we never read
While thieves on stage debate
On the crumbling public health
We are all licking our plates
Overwhelmed by hunger felt
Counting time for nothing
From all those lies told
Bosses ordered the shoving
That drove out the old
Finally to the stairwells
Up to brightly holy lights
Caught up in spoken spells
Of what prayers take our rights
Onto many more levels
Full of signs for us to shop
From charming packs of devils
On our journey that never stops

Gravity had to let me go
With no more power
To keep me on the ground

For where I do not know
Allowed to fly in this hour
Faster than the speed of sound

Yet I keep myself tethered
So I am not lost to the stars
To bounce back from the edge

Since I am granted no feathers
Made like the birds of Mars
As the stories had alleged

Thus, I am as Saturn’s rings
Shine on the blackened curtain
Along my destined path

Made up of imaginary things
Even you can be certain
Like the sum of all math

Longing so lonely
Remembering touching you
With my dream-like eyes

Drink in hand
A place to brag
A child to boast
Or a tail to wag

With every picture
Vanity revealed
We also know
Came from left field

Evidence to gloat
And plenty of bluster
Hope for favors
In losing their luster

Plenty of them
To show their hubris
Of their perfect skin
And all its smoothness

We like or comment
Or maybe we shrug
Or we post our own
Just to be smug

Hope to be
Pleasantly surprised
When you take
One more pull
At the end of your rope

Funny how they try to save
So many before the grave
Without looking into them
To see if they could know
If they could take the trip
Before their way to the crypt
By how much baggage to take

The noble take upon
their ill in silence

Laying in waters
wishing cool yet
never warm enough

With a slight wake
yet too still to feel

In a shallow basin
that fills too deep

Thrown all rumors
In a room alone

Hoping for privacy
while seen by all

Spent time of honor
with those that would
throw themselves into flames
without protest.

Lyrics drawn upward,
only for angels to hear
and the dead to remember.

Pride obtained on behalf
of those seen
without and unwilling.

Coordination is the key
With subtle talk and letters
Speaking in coded ways
For it is all a secret, you know
Not for hiding from the world
But for our purposeful play
To see and be and join together
On sparring days of ecstasy
With strawberries and cream
For the pauses from our joys
And with a bag of toys
Filled with plastics and ropes
For getting back to business
But not without smiles
And with a little laughter too
Then, after a long day
We join also in slumber
To be still under sheets
Which were twisted earlier
And not to lie still
On the spot made together
In the center of our chamber
While outside, chaos swirls
We find even more comfort
In a cool, quiet room
And with each other

All day thinking of you
Whoever you are
Dancing in my mind
Swimming in my soul
Surrounding me

After a day living
With dreams of you
As I toil the fields
Left to feel
Strength leaving me

I lay at the end
To a bed of my making
With a weak mind
And a broken body
Yet a hopeful soul

As I rise
The next day ready
To start a new
Again be with you
Whoever you are

Stolen from you
Taken so far away
At that moment
We never suspect

Brought together
That time to talk
Told it was over
Not what you thought

Barely a breath
Could leave you
Any easy way
From that day on

Until you gather
All your strength
Deep inside you
To wish it back

Are you able
To live again
When you feel
Fully anew

The saddest poems prefer their ink to run

Thousands of bubbles
Gently surrounding her face
Fashion a grand crown

Greedily to be
As if they were served to me
To dine selfishly

Draped body tightly
By a thinly crafted cloth
Gladly hides nothing

She carries her basket
Through the cool market
Her sandals lightly step
On the seamless floor

She hums along
To music she hears
As he follows behind
Singing softly to her

No one notices him
As he walks close behind
Sweet lyrics rise above
And heard over the aisle

She feels the waves
Of sound touching her
In her ears and her heart
Without ever turning around

From the cashier’s aisle
She carries out her fare
He’s a passenger with her
And sings without a care

Shaped so perfectly
So one could wish to get lost
In your soft lush folds

Thrown with all our might
From the surrounding crowd
By one hand threatening
To make a world blind
By shiny glass filled
With earth’s fluid fire
As it spins from screams
Only in anger meant
Striking the ground
And showering shields held
With rage and red might
Testing patience and duty
Of stained blue armor
And thus, no more waiting
As the race began
With one leaving
And another chasing quickly
To find a corner to turn
With barricades to change our minds
Since the smoke sting eyes
And throats left dry
We cower in wished pain
As all kindness burns away

Darkened night on the way home
Over the seas he once roamed
Went to the skies to test his skills
None agreed of his wish for thrills
Without a plan for his return
After rejecting their concerns
Riding strong winds as if he could
Drained of fuel was just no good
Spiraled into the sea just like dead wood

Just past the doorway...
world is screaming
throwing things around
breaking our windows
scratching at doors
burning down dreams
stealing the past
threatening to sue
spitting its venom
clawing in dirt
stalking the dark
howling to come out
coughing in our face
tossing spite about
pounding its chest
bearing its teeth
spinning many lies
shouting at children
scolding our smiles
denying the young
ignoring the old
scalding one’s skin
loving their crimes
faking the future
disrupting our sleep
breaking our hearts
killing us slowly...
Really why we stay inside

Those apparently strict rules
I am dependent on
Grant me my freedom.
Without, I would be
A hopeless slave to the fates.

Oh , we know our cries
By the ferocity we own
As struck into our backs
Same spear we had thrown

From far deep between
She soaks the world around her
With waves of sweet fire

Just the trickling heard
Of the brook flowing
Interrupted by a bird
On the water floating
Surrounded by catkins
Falling and lifted on air
By the softest winds
As they travel in pairs
For both genders present
As they travel abound
To become resident
Landing on the ground
Both treks farther
By current’s might
As they fall like feathers
Orange, purple or white
Joined by nature
As companions made
Seemly so stranger
For their fate is laid
With the water
They go to their fate
Like no other
Like if on a date

I read those same chapters
Before I go to bed
For there I sleep
And in my dreams
The story ends
I always awake
With tears dried
On my cheeks

Turning one's head
side to side
to catch which one
will not play along.

Curving or straight
dark or gray,
a confident corkscrew
reaching out to no one.

All it can do
is try to go away
from where it came
though it must stay.

At least for now,
while only an image
a reflection can see.

Darkened stain
to likely white porcelain
that helps keep the heat.

Holds a large handle
as if in a required industry
for the heaviest
yet precious works.

Larger than its standard
with its whale's mouth
to swallow all
to be swallowed
once again.

Hold more than enough
but less than needed;  
that wondrous liquid
matching its vessel.

The tours involved
A trip to Hillah
Up the mountain
From the villa

The hike is tough
And the sun beats down
Dusty and *****
On a hard, parched ground

Arrive at the site
And through the gates
No line to find
And no time to waste

Inside the ruins
Structure still stands
From the ceiling
Are the dried vine strands

But to see what was there
Was too much to see
For yesterday’s tour
Were hung from the trees

We wake on our coast
From a comforting sleep
Where we live all alone
Near the waters deep

Just a man on the land
Until out the front door
Each day sail our craft
Launched from our shore

Left our shallows near
Past cottages others built
As we slave for a living
To rid some of our guilt

Sail with the leaving tide
To find earth’s flow
With all those racing
While all whales blow

Only by marked routes
Would we reach our work
For pennies that we earn
In a storm full of murk

Shared tastes
From each other’s meal
Shared thoughts
Of how we feel
Hands feeling
The soft of our skin
Wiping away
Crumbs from our chin
Pulling on covers
A tug on each side
Changing the radio
While both on a ride
Lips licked
From another’s tongue
Deciding who
This time was wrong
Accepting fate
For time well spent
Memories kept
And what they meant
Small offerings
A cup or so
Keeping friendships
Of feelings we know

What brought together
Two lovers to be
One to be seen
The other whispering
Sharing the earth
With splendid glee
An appetite to feed
All that can be
One to warm
The space between
Other to cool
All breathing
By strength
Both guarantee
Time well spent
By living

True friends
give nothing more
than all of themselves

As we look up
We notice this side
Sunlight goes by
Of the truth that we eyed

We see what is under
Of each leaf waving
And we wonder
Their designs and engravings

For their top side
Are bathe in rich light
Yet below them
Is left out of sight

As for each petal
Or for each portrait
And below each statue
Or under each fortress

Their worth is the same
For all had sufficed
Since they are of value
By nature’s full price

Walking back to the cabin
Arms filled with timber
Stepping in deep snow
And with steamy breath

Onto the porch
Shake the snowfall
Off both shoulders
Then through the door

Into a comfortable room
With dances of light
As he kneels to the fire
And places the wood inside

Standing up after
And rubs his hands
Presenting his palms
To flames charity

Turning back
To the table
With a cup of coffee
And pen and paper

Sitting down
To his joyful work
As he leans forward
And cradles the pen

He thinks back
When there was company
Of a lady fair
And moments of joy

For that was living
During hibernation
And the nothing
That builds outside

But the inside
Is where all fires
Are kept steady
And burning rightly

Even if the times
Are lonely and cold
It is inside
That all memories roar

Only in one hand
do specks and flecks mix about
among grains and dust

On my battlefield
There are more tombstones
Than in all the graveyards.

Waiting patiently
Crouched to leap to my best heights
To touch the grand rim
Of such a sparse milky way
To come back again

To be consumed, possessed,
infatuated, obsessed,
enamored, crazed,
engrossed, and enthralled.
Otherwise, its not worth
doing it at all.

The ability to see the world
like someone else
is extraordinarily difficult.

Each person sees the world
uniquely and distinctly.

Pain, joy, love, sadness, remorse are unique
to each of us as snowflakes and raindrops.

Thus, the ability to communicate, understand,
and appreciate another person is to say
the least an overwhelming struggle and undertaking.

Yet, we seem to do so to some degree,
each and every day.

Our very existence as a species is absolutely
and completely dependent on our success
at connecting with each other.

Imagine, with all our concerns, troubles,
and issues, if as a species,
we were just a bit more lazy.

True friends give nothing more than all of themselves

Leaving the body
Faster than light
Does a heart leap
Finding another

Only first seen
Into gifted eyes
Sent to the mind
By lightning flash

Spun around
In a whirlwind
A struck spirit
Can only go

So the heart
Begins to burn
Lighting the way
Back where it came

Hoping for care
By one be judged
Not by the body
But by their soul

While in their kisses
Turn the sheets into a twist
Drenching both in bliss

For where my soul
Was found under foot
Of who once said
That they had loved me