I’ve learned it’s difficult to appear debonair
when your FLY is open

What right have you
To presume to cry
While you are you
And I am I

In every Autumn
Dies a leaf
Was not our love
Just as brief

Nothing lasts but
Stone and fire
Don't believe the
Pulpit’s choir

You must know that
The void's so vast
And time's so free
There is no past

Stone is common
And life's so rare
Why should we ever
Deign to care

There's no order
Just random chance
There's no border
Round happenstance

And yet you cry
And declare your union
Just let me die
Without communion

Please don’t waste
A tear or sigh
While you are you
And I am I

must you bring a ***** to term
before a butterfly, save the worm

who says save the fetus
the puritanical male elitist

returning to back-alley surgeries
forces craven perjuries

who should call this shot
the one who's pregnant or not

Bam Bam Bam
Mary shot a ***** ram
Unfortunately, caught on videocam
To save her cosset, now SHE'S on the lam

spread your eagle wings
soar over the mountain tops
want my son to fly

I scrape the bottom of my heart
for any remaining morsel of your love.
I’ve long forgotten the taste of your kiss.

Since the separation,
the image of you has fragmented
into scattered pixels.
I know now that only the frequent
contacts kept the vision of you intact.

The music of your laughter
has dissipated in the daily noise.
Your greeting voice no longer chimes.

It started with an angry word
that pride elevated into something more.
What a fool I was to react that way.
I’m still haunted by that dreadful day.

A year has passed with silent interaction.
I’ve heard you found someone new.
You do deserve much more of life.
My divorce forever robbed me of my wife.

I scrape the bottom of my heart
for any remaining morsel of your love.
I’ve long forgotten the taste of your kiss.

Since the separation,
the image of you has fragmented
into scattered pixels.
I know now that only the frequent
contacts kept the vision of you intact.

The music of your laughter
has dissipated in the daily noise.
Your greeting voice no longer chimes.

It started with an angry word
that pride elevated into something more.
What a fool I was to react that way.
I’m still haunted by that dreadful day.

A year has passed with silent interaction.
I’ve heard you found someone new.
You do deserve much more of life.
My divorce forever robbed me of my wife.

The *****
The Squirm
The Worm

the sun arose late
admiring its reflection
in the lunar night

The sea reflects a silver trail
To that vast starry envelope
An unrequited yearning

paper in the wind
wasted words unseen unread
found, a poet’s dream

desiccated leaves
I crunch in my weary steps
sound of journey’s end

if could capture the setting sun
stop the day from being done
send it back where it begun
I could relive this time of fun

wintry fingers probe
numbing low meadow grasslands
creatures huddle close

burst from white cocoon
imagine you have black wings
quite different flight

Dare I swing higher than my head
Seek a thrill, avoid the dread
Walk along the perilous edge
Or cower on comfort’s ledge

Shall I let loose laughter like a loon
Or purse it as a reedy tune
Should I sob on heart’s bitter break
Or quell it with chocolate cake

Shall I love with passions full
Or restrict a feeling’s pull
Shall I sail on music swells
Or row tone-dead between buoy bells

Shall I reveal my deepest self
Or tuck it away on a shelf
Shall I wander in the field at large
Or park myself in my home’s garage

It’s not just remembering
It’s so much more
Those moments unspoken
When I should’ve said adore

Now an inability to share
Any sudden burst of laughter
Any glimpse of beauty
Sleepy embraces the morning after

Not just minutes but whole days void of you
Can no longer reach you by telephone
Realizing now you’re not at home when I’m away
Without my queen, an empty throne

I pray that in another life
You’ll again become my wife

Not any choice of word
Can capture song of bird

I reflect on my life as episodes
a broken strand
just a handful of beads

was never one to settled in
never one to create an abode
ever seeking a new home

perhaps my loving was too sporadic
lacking a steady current
leaping from spark to spark

always looking ahead
seldom stopping to savor the moment
foolishly ignoring the love of others

life seems tasteless
as yesterday’s donut
all greetings are heartless
devoid of empathy

hard to find meaning in a universe of stones
there’s no pulse on the moon
why chase answers in physics or math
if all is relative, where’s the truth

is the life of a beetle
less important than mine
at what level is self
from the viewpoint of quarks

and yet deep within
I have a desire to understand
I yearn for sensitivity
And requited love

The morning sun squinted bloodshot rays
through the eastern clouds

Let's hope today doesn’t produce
the same hangover tomorrow

Yesterday’s woes often linger
It’s funny that joy doesn’t last as long

interlocking sight
first day then night
a diminution of the light

the sun brings clarity
darkness uses similarity
there is some parity

vision always seeks verity

While the sun is daying
trees are swaying
now, clouds are greying

doesn’t heaven ever sleep
has the sky begun to weep
tears started to leap

wow, the gods are really sobbing
they have my emotions throbbing

please don’t tie my hands
no love, just violent thrusts
be kind, genetics

bless my child

if love begets love
what does violence beget
does a bad seed grow

does hate spawn more hate
is that evolution's role
just steps from jungle

is there balance here
between predator and prey
is the produce mixed

since the birth of man
savagery slow to change
what hope is there

empathy was mine
before that fateful nightmare
is it still alive

bless my child

the dark night blinds me
yet I see not in day’s glare
my eye needs shadows

You shred my words
Thin colors from my brush
You still the flight of soaring birds
While grinding my ego in a crush

What music can I sing
What melodies compose
After your scorpion sting
And heartless blows

If I ignore your sneer
And refuse to listen
Will I lose my fear
And start to glisten

Probably not
I’m so weak
My art is fragile
Not magnifique

I’ll silence my pen
And dry my easel
You win again
My inner weasel

sorrow flows full force
down through inner valleys
awash o’er empty days
unstopped by pleasant moments

I feel it at times
when the evening is hushed
when I hear you in a distant room
pass a picture longly hung

I see you in my children’s eyes
will often envy another’s hug
yearn to ease this persistent ache
sometimes pray for death to reach your side

sorrow flows full force
down through inner valleys
awash o’er empty days
unstopped by pleasant moments

I feel it at times
when the evening is hushed
when I hear you in a distant room
pass a picture longly hung

I see you in my children’s eyes
will often envy another’s hug
yearn to ease this persistent ache
sometimes pray for death to reach your side

sorrow flows full force
down through inner valleys
awash o’er empty days
unstopped by pleasant moments

I feel it at times
when the evening is hushed
when I hear you in a distant room
pass a picture longly hung

I see you in my children’s eyes
will often envy another’s hug
yearn to ease this persistent ache
sometimes pray for death to reach your side

shadows lengthening
day dying, as my heart cries
shadows fold in night

Do you ever wonder where daydreams go
They seem to vanish in the daylight glow
Perhaps to die in the conscious flow
Or, do they strive to somehow grow

Maybe they’re only sleeping on the wind
To reappear in a future nocturnal tale
Caught and twisted in some nightmarish gin
To frighten you beyond the pale.

But on a warm summer day
When all such thoughts are evanescent
With an airiness so light and gay
They’re often filled with lovely sentiment

This is something so serene
You marvel at its magic
You are moved to ecstasy
It’s seldom very tragic

There’s something about a daydream
That’s different from a dream
You can shape it to your scheme
You can alter its varied stream

But often in the dark
You are captive to the plight
Sometimes murky sometimes stark
A dream is always far from light

So you know where daydreams go
They escape into the dusky glow
They morph in subconscious flow
Where they survive and grow

As shadows stretch into night
I contemplate the end of day
All paths regardless of way
Lead to the same darkened site

My loves, pleasures and woes
My regrets, desires and dreams
Flowing in chaotic streams
Eventually reach a final close

The brightness of youth
Burning with a fire of hope
Probable necessity to cope
Slowly absorbs accidental truth

Lust and romance
Draw us to warmth and flame
Steps in an endless game
A must desired musical dance

Ambition and career
An overcoming of insecurity
All a part of one’s maturity
Protecting families of financial fear

In the final hours
It’s all about memories and regrets
Failures to hedge all bets
A solitary accounting of what’s ours

Rip the cassock from your body
Tear the robes asunder

Is it a spell you’re under
Or just colossal blunder

rivulets run free
flowing into careless streams
the ocean awaits

Vile, vile proteins corroding her brain
Synapses misfiring, ego down the drain

Heartbreaking to see her disappear
Bit by bit, especially the last year

Traces of her charm still come and go
Changing but dreadfully slow

First it was, “Where is my coat?”
Then, “How do you use the remote?”

Mood swings from laughter to tears
Eroding into halluncinatory fears

Angry transferences from caregiver to caregiver
What was an emotional ocean, now an unchecked river

No longer wakens with the dawn
Where has this lovely lady gone

We all want her back
But slipping through the proverbial crack

Alas, I know the end is near
Perhaps in this very year

She’s becoming paper thin
A mask over empty skin

I miss her and my fading memory of her
Now mere fragments and a diminishing blur

is your ***** in heat?
you talking to me *******?
no, ma’am, to your dog

Doubt seeped into our "Love"
through momentary crevices
Was that a bad thing
or a necessary respite for passion
- Did she love me
- Did I love her

"Like," however, is an easier terrain
Warm and comfortable
But, even here, doubt can corrupt
- Did she like me
- Did I like her

Is doubt a sudden lack of courage
or a necessary safe check
to jar the sense of reality
and test a relationship

I should not have expressed my doubt
Some thoughts are best hidden
Our relationship was severed
I could not mend it

Doubt should be contemplated in silence
It's often a temporary condition
Best not allow it to force an emotional decision
A sleeping dog can ruin even puppy love

I’ve learned my lesson
Doubt can cause the deepest hurt

Where do you hie, Dragonfly
In this clear blue sky?
Whom do you espy
With your multitudinous eye?

Who’s your prey today
Amidst the woodland spray?
In your watery youth, it was larvae,
Now the whole forest's your breakfast tray.

But are there dragonflies among us,
That you chance meet on street or bus?
Who are never heard to cuss
Or even raise a fuss.

Beware his iridescent charm.
He means to do you harm.
When he extends his slender arm,
There's much cause for alarm

There’s tell-tale signs for his breed,
Oft rumors of treacherous deed.
But he'll remain aloft to mislead,
Then swoop with blinding speed.

Proceed with care.
Beware his debonair,
For in the sunfilled glare,
You may have no prayer!

Where do you hie, Dragonfly
In this clear blue sky?
Whom do you espy
With your multitudinous eye?

Who’s your prey today
Amidst the woodland spray?
In your watery youth, it was larvae,
Now the whole forest is your breakfast tray.

But are there dragonflies among us,
That you chance meet on street or bus?
Who are never heard to cuss
Or even raise a fuss.

Beware the iridescent charm.
He means to do you harm.
When he extends his arm,
There's cause for alarm

There’s tell-tale signs for his breed,
Oft rumors of treacherous deed.
But he'll remain aloft to mislead,
Then swoop with blinding speed.

Proceed with care.
Beware his debonair,
For in the sunfilled glare,
You may have no prayer!

Yonder comes the eastern sun
Dragging me another day
No place to run
I guess I stay

Someone has to work the soil
Plant the cursed seed
Endure the merciless broil
*** the rampant ****

Wish I were another man
Not in this forsaken place
A heartless God devised this plan
Probably die without a trace

I dream of a blue refreshing lake
A sunlit meadow vast
Relief from this persistent ache
Expunging memory of days past

But alas, there’s no escape
Forever squalid in the dirt
Clothed in this dusty drape
My body in tedious hurt

The setting moon leaked silver into the languid sea
The sailor lay below in the murky deep
Far from the glimmering light
He who could fix any boat lay with those no one could heal
His parents Dee and Beep wept with sorrow
As did his wife Tina at the marina edge

But the day will come when white clouds and blue sky
Will kiss the sunlit sea and their dogs Brady and Otis
Will romp in the joyous surf with the sailor’s beloved Farley dog
And they’ll know the sailor and Farley will forever move with the ocean tide
And forever live in their hearts

A sailor can’t leave footprints in the sea
But Gary left his on the home shore of friends and family
All our lives are traced in water
But some are etched in loving memory
I

photo in my mind
can't put away in album
love has pasted it

photo in my mind
can’t put away in album
love has pasted it

love washed over me
an ocean of emotion
providing a shore

randomness is key
else universe is a clock
chance disrupts balance

The Painter tires of his daffodil
The Writer’s embarrassed for his timid quill
They yearn for a primeval thrill

They want to be the lion on prowl
To utter a guttural growl
To hear calf’s final howl

They yearn for deadly hunt
To chase the prey in front
Not just perform fictional stunt

Nor go to a zoo and gawk
But stalk like a fearsome hawk
And deliver the final shock

Art’s oft served on a nobler plane
But below this surface lies insane
There’s a wanton lust in pain

Thank god, civilization holds us in check
Many would risk their neck
Their lives would be a total wreck

Our love is losing its gripping,
like acrobats whose hands are slipping.
We pay too little attention
to each other’s intention.
We ignore the shading
and are too quickly abrading.

What started this downward turn?
Was it a careless spurn?
Was it an angry moment
that began the foment?

What started with loving laughter,
even through the mornings after,
has become at times judgmental,
or what’s worse, inconsequential.

I feel I’m spinning into a cosmic shift,
tumbling freefall from your world, adrift.
Are you pulling from me or am I letting go?
All I know is that it hurts me so.

for sure
haute couture
but soup du jour?

the shadows whisper
eternal winter is near
summer is dying