There comes a darkest night,
A destruction of the soul,
When answers aren’t in sight,
It’s time to play the fool,

So if you really have to know,
You must reach out to grab it,
Are you brave enough to go?
To follow the white rabbit,

And what is it you’ll find?
A dream lost in a dream,
A dying of the mind,
Heralded by a Banshee’s scream,

An illusion lost in time,
The limelight downward cast,
A mirror reflecting rhyme,
The future of the past,

Or a vision prophecy,
Only when you dare to try,
Only if you dare to see,
Through the gypsy’s evil eye,

And it’s best to risk it all,
As the heart knew all along,
To the phantom’s deathly call,
Or the siren’s deadly song,

Now at long last I’ve arrived,
Or mayhap just what I think,
It’s the wisdom I’ve contrived,
From the Jack O’ Lantern’s wink.

JHenry

Just a tweak of perspective,
I somehow have to find,
And maybe looking upside down,
Will help untangle or unwind,
For a solution must be somewhere,
And if I delve into my mind,
If I sift through all the clutter,
And remove what makes me blind,
There! There before me,
Or maybe it’s behind,
Is the path that I’m not seeing,
A way eluding, undefined,
But once I can just glimpse it,
Then, then I’ll be inclined,
To follow it to hell and back,
Through pain and lessons, intertwined.

JDoyle

Love is a poison,
Slow working but sure,
There’s no antidote,
There’s never a cure,
Hope is a long rope,
******* in a noose,
To sway and to charm,
You’ll never get loose,
Peace is a bullet,
But not shot to ****,
Designed for a target,
Hits only your will,
Hearts held in prison,
To scream and to rage,
To cry and suffer,
Our ribs just a cage,
Spit out that poison,
Cut up the rope,
Now dodge the bullet,
And find a new hope,
Freedoms a jailbreak,
I’ve opened my eyes,
And hit the ground running,
To hell with the prize.

JDoyle

Just beyond my fingertips,
On the other side of time,
I wander far and further,
Searching for the perfect rhyme,

A wanderer still hoping,
A traveler from afar,
A lost observer watching,
For the distant shooting star,

Just over the horizon,
Further than the dragons fly,
On the farther side of nowhere,
There’s a castle in the sky,

And we can go together,
We can find our way there soon,
And we’ll be forever happy,
On the dark side of the moon.

JDoyle

A touch of somber,
I’d like to lose,
A melancholy,
I didn’t choose,
A whisper of pain,
Just barely said,
Momentary doubt,
And constant dread,
Rejection festers,
Betrayal stings,
When lies like acid,
Destruction brings,
The Tower falling,
Exhaustion, pain,
Exchanging my hope,
For winter’s rain.

JHenry

Lonely isn’t solitude,
The empty room or quiet mood,
Lonely is words of useless speech,
That get twisted, contorted and fail to reach,
Lonely isn’t watching the hours go by,
There is company in earth and sky,
It is desperately trying only to say,
Failing again, drifting farther away,
Sinking in words with nowhere to go,
They’re scattered and wasted, it’s always so,
Lonely is never the silent walk,
It only exists when I try to talk,
Softly or harshly, try as I might,
Somehow jumbled, I can’t say it right,
I’m never lonely when I’m on my own,
It’s when we’re together, that I’m alone.

JDoyle

And adventure awaits!
The vines entwine my spirit,
The mountains call my name,
And oh how I can hear it!
The sunlight leads the way,
I’m off to find tomorrow,
With the glory of today!

JDoyle

Time and again was history lost,
For a tyrant will reign at any cost,
Our books destroyed,
and minds subdued,
Or heroes slandered,
and spirits abused,
But hope, like life will find a way,
A light will shine, there’ll be a new day,
And hidden, kept hidden,
safely away,
Once thought destroyed,
forever to stay,
The wisdom that our ancestors knew,
They kept it for us, and never withdrew,
But waited, they waited,
through the long night,
To be revealed,
when the timing was right.
Fear not the darkness, just use it well,
And when the sun rises, there’ll be a new tale.

JDoyle

My eyes open to morning’s light,
The glowing window shining bright,
But so indistinct the colors seem,
Am I aware or still to dream?
And I ponder long, if I should stay,
As the day dawns rose or gray,

A precious moment, rare to see,
And just to maybe hope and be,
The softest, briefest touch of death,
With a still heart and quiet breath,
And I know that, I would rather stay,
As the day turns rose or grey,

But we live to dare and dream and try,
With so little time before we die,
And we must give all we can give,
There is only, just, this chance to live,
And though I linger, I rarely stay,
To watch the day be rose or gray.

JDoyle

Down inside black depths of despair,
Many a day, have I wandered there,
An eternal night to haunt in my dreams,
Surreal wonderings, not as it seems,
The mind loses focus, wavers and flies,
In endless abysses and starless skies,
The promise of death, it’s only reprieve
So often I have been led to believe,
To the mind in its madness, it’s a surprise,
That beaten and broken, the sun still can rise,
But red stained has a beauty, all of its own
And I know in my musings, I am not alone,
But when we are facing, those travels through hell,
We forget that our scars make a story to tell.
And life’s not for winning, there’s no succeed,
We’re here for the lessons, we’re all gonna bleed,

JDoyle

Thorn in my hand from adventure gone ill,
My body to wound, my spirit to fill,
I thought I removed you, but no, not quite,
Small under my skin, just out of sight,
A little reminder, when brushed against,
Of days of splendor when freedom was sensed,
The skin has grown over, the wound to renew,
The repercussions so many, the feelings so few,
At last I release you, now we part ways,
No doubt I’ll meet more of you, on some other days.

J.Doyle

Mother births us, wishes well,
Father carries us through hell,
Sets us down to hear a tale,
Of what is best to do,

Mother rations, not to much,
Father gives a guiding touch,
Sparingly, he’ll use a crutch,
You must rely on you,

Mother kisses us goodnight,
Father sets the dark alight,
Let’s us know that all is right,
And it begins anew.

JDoyle

I am a restless wanderer,
And I wonder often too,
I wander where I want to,
And I wonder what to do,
I wander up the mountain,
Then I wonder what is true,
I wander down the river,
And wonder at the water blue,
I wander through the valley,
And I wonder point of view,
I wander ever farther,
And I wonder questions through,
I wander where my heart leads,
And I wonder that way too.

JDoyle

As I walk along today you quietly accept me here,
You listen to my ramblings and always let me near,
You never turn away from me, I know that I belong,
You always have a lesson for me, and you make me strong.

I’m humbled by your acceptance of me, because you are so old,
So beautiful and inspiring, so gentle yet so bold,
You’re powerful beyond all measure, our very lives controlled,
And yet you’re always right there for me, you always take the time,
And never turn away from me, my problems, quests and rhyme,

But I’m thankful just to be here with you, and share your quiet mood,
To see the sunlight softly dappled in this solitude,
To know the wonders that you offer, always something more,
Places of ease, but also challenge, so much to explore,

You’re magnificent to see and giant in your nature too,
Yet all the little things that matter are never ignored by you,
I bow my head and forever ponder,
The beauty in all you do,
You simply show yourself to me, and allow me free to roam,
And each and every time I’m here, I know that I’ve come home,

JDoyle

And the swirling mist it rises,
To obscure the path ahead,
Though I know that it comprises,
Both the living and the dead,
For my life is but a spiral,
And what I passed will come again,
There is always a reprisal,
I am made from what was then,
So I take this next step forward,
With heart both fearless and unsure,
I know well I’m going toward,
A future that has come before.

JDoyle

Fear, I see you,
My old friend,
And forward do you urge me,
And sadness,
You’ve come again,
To help me more to see,
Pain, I know you,
Long we’ve walked together,
And much I owe to thee,
You hardship,
Are always near,
Let’s move along, shall we?
Regret, let’s talk,
With so much to hold dear,
Why question what could be?
Yet it is you, restless,
That sets my soul to wander,
And leads me to be free.

JDoyle

I think that it’s the questions,
Some innocently ask,
That cause me such turmoil,
I falter at the task,
The problem is the answer,
Is often rather dark,
So then I try to lighten,
Though tend to miss the mark,
Too vaguely do I tell it,
And it never really sets,
But the closer I get to truthful,
The more uncomfortable it gets,
I struggle with a balance,
To tell the truth and lie,
Cause no one likes the answers,
That cause beliefs to go awry,
It’s compartmentalized compassion,
Just for situations, pre-explained,
Have replaced real human empathy,
For the many types of pain,
And I think it’s true of many,
What you see isn’t what you get,
And that really is a topic,
Society chooses to forget.

JDoyle

The stones stand quiet, stained with blood,
Heedless of Odin’s eye, Noah’s flood,
The morning of memory, the dawn of time,
Pink skies were hazy, light eyes sublime,
The chants they rose up, mountains shook,
The tales fantastic, old Gods they took,
They took the children, they took the old,
They took the mothers and heroes bold,
To the land of Faerie, the land of song,
Our souls remember bright Tir Na Nog,
Cernunnos and Mother Danu,
Father Nuada, Ceridwen, Lleu,
The fair Arawn and Dagda, kind,
As noble Bridget can still remind,
Time goes backwards, forever on,
And what’s remembered is never gone,
The stained blood still beats through our veins,
Our light eyes wonder at what remains,
We read the poems, we walk the hill,
We celebrate the high days still,
And the Land of Faerie isn’t far away,
It lies in dreaming, still young today,
Where The Green Man sits on his forest throne,
And The Morrigan still calls her own.

JDoyle

There’s something about acceptance,
That really is the key,
Though often stalled by reluctance,
It’s how we need to be,
Then we can move to reflectance,
And that’s when we start to see,
From there we find transcendence,
It’s then that we are free.

JDoyle

Black as onyx,
Black as jet,
Black before me,
I can’t see yet,
Black as coal,
And black as night,
A black portal,
Away from light,
Obsidian friend,
And trusted guide,
On midnight wings,
Does wisdom ride.

JDoyle

Freedom, the long forgotten dream,          
Do you remember?
Shining in the morning, just a distant gleam,
What was it that you wanted,
And are you as you seem?

Is it you that lost it, careless in your ways,
Or was it everyone
A sacrifice freely given, to make for better days,
Was it worth it?
And are we better off now, here in this modern haze?

What is the price of freedom, dream though it may be?
Security and comfort,
That is the question isn’t it? so now we start to see,
Subtly it happens,
We lose our dreams of freedom, and join society.

But is that the way it is, or just what we’ve been told?
Who made those rules,
Do we have to sell our freedom, for another person’s gold?
Why?
Society gives no security,  and it’s gilt is chipped and old.

But the world is much the same, as when we turned our eyes,
Downward,
There are still the forests, rivers, deserts, seas, and skies,
Reminders,
That freedoms just forgotten, and maybe plagued with lies.

Don’t we all still see it, in the morning light?
Hope
Don’t we all still feel it, as evening turns to night?
Peace
Don’t let freedom be forgotten, it’s not to sell for comfort,
It is our human right.

J. Doyle

I look at the red sun setting, as night creeps slowly in,
Is this the final ending? Or is this where I begin?
On the brink the whole world teeters, a fall will lose it all,
But a leap to fly forever! And how the sky does call,
Eternity to shatter, and the day it will subside,
We are on the edge together, here where our fates collide,
One to stand in ruins, an illusion lost in the night,
One to jump in darkness, and turn a plummet into flight.
But the dawn that follows evening, remembers all to well,
The emptiness, the losses, a red sun to rise in Hell.

JHenry