Love is the itch
that I can’t scratch
It comes pretty easy
but there’s always a catch

love, if you get in
you may never get out
what you have to promise
will leave it no doubt

love is the pain
that won’t go away
once you get hooked
you are hooked to stay

love is the feeling
like you’ve never felt
love can take a cold heart
and make it all melt

love will make you crazy
drive you out of your mind
once you get outside your head
you don’t know what you might find

love is the happiness
when you see that special smile
when she puts her arms around you
and holds on for a while

love is like the future
cause you know what you’ve got
you can’t just give a little bit
cause you know you need a lot

love is like glue
that binds me to you
together we are stuck
so, our love must be true

The many nights I’ve longed to hold you
All the times I could have told you
Now it seems those times have passed
It’s so hard to make the good times last
If I could only love you in my dreams

The days are long without your smile
It we could only talk for awhile
Maybe things would change for you and me
Better days are waiting to set us free
If I could only love you in my dreams

I remember when the nights were yours and mine
But now they’re cold and the stars no longer shine
No evening moons or morning stars in the sky
Just lonely nights with a lot of time to cry
If I could only love you in my dreams

I guess there’s always hope in each new day
Somehow, some day I will find the words to say
To tell you that I love you so, you’re always on my mind
To search myself to see if your love I can find
If I could only love you in my dreams

Mamaw said there’s no one like family
She said just live and let live
Mamaw said you can’t be who you are not
She said just give it all you got

Papa said that a train goes over the mountain
He said the stars ain’t made for counting
Papa said you got to know what burns inside of you
He said you got to know what makes your sky blue

I’ve seen life and the stars burning bright
I’ve seen the cold of a dark and lonely night
I’ve held a memory until I was fast asleep
I’ve said a prayer; hope my soul to keep

Mamaw said there was life in the ever after
She said this life should be full of laughter
Mamaw said hard times make you stronger
She said be tough; you’ll live a little longer

Papa said you cannot be forsaken
He said your dreams are for the taking
Papa said you got to give everything your all
He said you got to listen to hear the call

I’ve seen troubles and dreams so hard to reach
I’ve seen the lessons a hard life can teach
I’ve seen the faith, the glory and the power
I will see it again in my moments of the final hour

Me, myself and I had a get together
We said, let’s talk about the weather
I said is it hot enough myself, me said me too
I said let’s talk about love, myself said why
Me said it always makes me cry
Myself looked at me and said what do you know about it
I said you are both full of ****
Me got mad, myself got sad
I said I never had it so bad
We are a mess, me, myself and I
Myself and me said I was the reason why
We all cried our hearts out together
We said let’s talk about the weather

I am the midnight sun
I am always on the run
Chasing down the break of day

I am the midnight sun
I am the only one
Who can show you the way

I am the midnight sun
I am the fire that’s never done
I am the only one

The only one to burn so bright
The only one who can light the night
I am the midnight sun

I am the midnight sun
Only there for anyone
Only there to see you run

I am the midnight sun
Burning bright for anyone
Anyone who needs to run

This must be my sad pen,
    that’s all it wants to write
It’s sad because my lover,
    she only wants to fight

My pen and I are lonely,
    no one to hold tonight
We can only see the darkness,
    we cannot see the light

My pen and I used to be happy,
    my lover was by my side
Now we share the blackened sky,
    where we can run and hide

Someday soon I’ll find my happy pen,
    write about how good our love was
My happy pen will make me smile,
    that’s what my happy pen does

I’ve got 61 volumes, with over a thousand files
Some full of crying, some full of smiles
I’ve got volumes of love, volumes of life
There’s a lot about me, a bunch about my wife

I have a few funny ones, you know I’m a cynic
I’ve got rants about the world, everybody’s in it
I go on and on about people, all different kinds
When I post online, we poets share our minds

I’m always writing, since about 1975
It keeps me humble; it keeps me alive
Sometimes my writing is off the top of my head
I’ll be writing poems, at least until I’m dead

I’ve got a new pad, 50 pages
That’s a lot of room for my rages
Enough space to spill my soul
Getting to the cardboard, that’s my goal
It might take me a while
I’ll have to laugh, cry and smile
When I finally get to the end
The cardboard will be my friend

I’ve got a new pad, 50 pages
That’s a lot of room for my rages
Enough space to spill my soul
Getting to the cardboard, that’s my goal
It might take me a while
I’ll have to laugh, cry and smile
When I finally get to the end
The cardboard will be my friend

Whoops, time to fill the pages I missed
I’ll use the one about when we first kissed
Our love was young, impulsive, good anytime
I am always yours, will you always be mine
Here we are, much later than before
I am still here; I only want you more

I’ve got a paper heart and a rock hard brain
It’s hard as any stone; harder that any pain
Now, my paper heart; it bleeds quite well
Look through my eyes and you can surely tell

Love is a tragedy; it’s all systems fail
All that’s good and right, all that’s what the hell
Paper hearts can’t crush a mind of stone
Paper hearts, they only cry when they’re alone

The paper folds quite easily; in the creases you will see
All there is to find and all there will ever be
Solid ground is where you like to run around
And here you are in the lost and found

Paper hearts and rock hard brains
Harder that the hardest pains
Paper hearts with your creases deep
Which of my secrets will you forever keep

I’ve got plenty of ink, it’s my paper that’s shot
I can only write a few words, that’s all I got
Quick to write, slow to understand
I’ve got a fast mind and a slow hand

I had to scratch out some lines
I was trying to find some rhymes
But now it’s over, I think I’m done
Looks like I penned another one

Sometimes my muse only sees the dark, he fills my pen with pain
Makes me write sad little lines, and makes tears fall like rain
He’s only trying to spill my heart, so I get poetic relief
He makes me think these things, but it doesn’t change my belief
I believe that I know myself, there’s no one else to blame
I keep writing with my muse, we play a poetic game

Poets write poems
They think and think
Pickup their pens, it’s over

Checking on my progress, I’m halfway home
Still enough pages to let my mind roam
I can bounce around, the subject won’t matter
Read between the lines, I’m as mad as a hatter
Oh well, this one will take up another page
I’m taking a break from my regular rage

Poetry calms the savage beast
That’s what they say, to say the least
My monster rages within myself
It doesn’t answer to anyone else
Not that it does just what I say
It takes over, it always has its way
I keep on raging, it’s only in my mind
Rage against the world, or whatever I can find

Just trying to roll with the tide
Catching waves to the shore
Sandy beaches made for love
Every grain wanting more

When life is in a hurry
You need to learn to chill
Maybe take a drink or smoke
Get some kind of high-naked thrill

Life is good, you just don’t know it
Study up on what you’ve really got
Practice what your soul will breach
Talk about the righteous, those that have not

Karma and comeuppance, they like to dance
It’s all over when you lose your life
Give up your heartbeat and it’s dreams
Life and death is a sharp razor knife

One day I’ll end up dead
No more words in my head
Hope all my pens are out of ink
Left on pages when I tried to think

I’ll be dead and gone
Only my words to live on
No more rhymes or even prose
Cover my grave with a rose

Cry for me, pages wet with tears
I wrote you love poems, all my years
Read them when it’s late at night
Read the ones where I find the light

Ice cold beer, red hot lovin’
Talk some trash, do some pushing and shoving
Cold beer keeps the wit so smart
Play the game like it was an art

Red hot lovin’ is the prize
Strong intent between the sighs
One more smile and you’ll be mine
One more kiss in the clear moonshine

One more sip I’m feeling high
One more wink; another try
Can’t wait much longer to be with you
Can’t wait for it to be true

Red hot lovin’, you’re mine at last
Sunrise don’t you climb too fast
Red hot lovin’ in the night
Red hot lovin’ burning bright

Forget the good times that we had
Remember what was good is now all so bad
Can’t remember that time we snuck away
Or how we spent that cold and rainy day

Laughter cries as the days go slowly by
Every night gets longer like the darkened sky
Kisses long, yet only once remembered
Love from a feeling down to just a word

Remember me; I’m the one who said forever
Remember me, when I said that I would never
Remember me; I’m the one there in the moonlight
Remember me; I’m the one there holding you tight

Afternoons and those old lonely nights
Mornings come, I just don’t see the daylights
Memories they seem to fade with the afternoon sun
I remember when it was just one to one

Remember me; I’m the one that you said you could run to
Remember me; I said that I would never hurt you
Remember me; I’m the one with my arms open wide
Remember me; I’m the one, I’m your side by side

I could write a song about how the world goes round and round
I could sing about how my life goes up and down
Every word is like a snapshot of my soul
What I dream, what I love and what I like to hold
When I sing about the part that makes it all come true
The world would know everything I love about you

You’re the one that holds me up, when the world puts me in a spin
You’re the reason when I fall down, that I want to get up again
When you hold me in your arms, the world just goes away
Another night of your sweet love and I can face the day

With your love in my heart, the world doesn’t stand a chance
The band is playing our sweet song, come on baby let’s dance
The world may go round and round, as life goes up and down
I can’t wait another day, for your love to come back around

The world will twist and turn its way, night to day again
It might put me down so low, I might not ever win
Holding you can stop the world and make me feel alright
You don’t have to stay too long, just get me through the night

When the sun comes up again, your love will be with me
You will be the song I sing; you will be the light I see
All day long I’ll think of you, your love shines so bright
When the daylight fades to dark, I will have you for the night
Take me for the night again, hold me in your arms
Keep me safe and warm, sooth me with your charms
You’re the one I sing about; you make it all come true
To the world I sing everything I love about you

I skipped a few pages, I’ll have to double back
Sort of got carried away and lost track
I’ll save some words to fill them later
Something that sounds a little greater
Maybe some nice lines, fresh in my mind
Just enough to show you I can be kind
Kind of, sort of, maybe I don’t know
Never can tell which way the words will go

Think about the hubba-hubba
Dancing on the sheets
Clean sheets lose grip
Quickly find my sock it to her cleats

Digging in, trying to reach the bottom
Only to just scruff up the sides
Even after all that pumping and *******
And the candy-apple moustache rides

My gun is old, it only shoots once
Foreplay is like my favorite thing
When it’s serious business, I like to play
I can do everything without getting in

I like it when we both finish strong
I did it all, like in my wildest dream
Hold on tight for one more minute
Oh, wait, I just creamed

P.S. this piece is still kind of raw
I should have used some slick words
That’s ok, it all turned up good
I got ***** and she chopped some wood

Sadness falls now that you are gone
I thought there would be one more song
Maybe written sometime back
Words: that don’t cut any slack
Life and love and how it ends
Family, flowers, tears and friends
There you are, I remember you
Song in my heart, that’s what I’ll do

Find me in the pages
No one ever read
Read me with heart and soul
Long after I’m dead

My words read like passion out loud
The words I wrote, words I never spoke
May I linger in your dreams
All the dreams you ever dreamed
How our love made me so proud

Sunshine on the waterline always seems to ease my mind
Gentle breeze and the drifting clouds, far away from any crowds
Sunshine warm on my face, I can’t think of a better place
Rolling waves and the sunset still are the only things I feel
Sunset brings out the nighttime sky, starlight shines as time goes by
Nighttime fades to the new sunrise, silence breaks with morning birds’ cry
Sunshine on the waterline always seems to ease my mind
Let sky stay blue and my heart be true, I want to spend my time with you
I don’t need anybody except what I’ve got, I just need a little, not a lot
Just give me sunshine on the waterline, set me free to ease my mind

Hum…. this page is blank
Wonder what I’m supposed to thank
No not thank you, what I’m thankin’ about
Thankin’ what makes me mad, makes me shout
Scrambled eggs and brains, that’s what people eat
No brains, I’ll guess I’ll put my point on repeat
I’m thankin’ hard, mind is charging double overtime
That’s a high price to pay for just a simple rhyme

I’m in a cynical mood
Time to write something rude
I don’t care what you think
It doesn’t matter, I won’t blink
For all of you who think you know it
Maybe it’s time for the cynical poet

I drink; therefore I write
I write, therefore I am

Words that can’t be spoken
Must be read with an open heart

My heart bleeds words
I am a poet at heart

My pen writes the truth
The truth comes with pain

The thousands of words I’ve written
Are only tears on the page

A hopeless romantic
Makes a good poet

Love is a teacher
I have failing grades

Only death is permanent
Life is just a temporary dream

Love is a fleeting sunset
I live for the night

Dreams are for the dreamers
Reality is for the wicked

Time is for everyone
No one has the time

I am a heartbeat
Skip to my Lou my darling

The past is a place to stay
The future has no vacancies

The winners take the prize
Second place is the first losers

We are all crazy here
It’s not a contest

In my mind I’m a hero
Time loves a hero

A lost soul is a disguise
Only a fool turns and runs

Life waits for no one
I’m already too far behind

If I only had a moment
I could tell you my heart

Tomorrow only brings today
Yesterdays are long gone

Darkness balances the light
Sorrow weighs the heart

Youth is a fleeting dream
Old age is hell

Mysteries are to wonder
Nature is to wander

I can only speak for me
A speech is for everyone

Sentimental values tax the heart
Letting go is the price

I can only write what I feel
Poetry shows my soul to all

I thank my muse
For making me write





I thank my fellow poets for being there. I know you pour out your hearts and bare your souls. I feel your pain and I respect your words.

With passion and heart; **

Grandpa said watch out for that she devil
He said you go on out there and be a rebel
Here I am, straight shooting son of a six gun
A halfcocked momma and a six-shooting daddy
I was shot in the back seat of a ’56 Caddy

Later in life I learned how to drive
I learned how it felt to be alive
I partied on like a restless soul
Can’t replace the time I stole

Now I’m older, I guess Grandpa was right
You’ll be married Sunday, if you find love Saturday night
Who’s to blame when it’s all said and done
Grandpa said those she devils sure can be fun

When we were young we loved so much
The plans we made and the time we lost
Together we learned to face our fears
It was just another time of years

We lived, we loved and we tried so hard
We watched our children grow
We made our place and we cried our tears
It was just another time of years

Now it’s time we are looking back
We both know where we’ve been
We stood strong beside all our piers
It’s just another time of years

We were flying like Hell down a one-track line
Pressing our luck and holding back time
Like a naked freight train running all downhill
We rode with our Hearts that we couldn’t keep still
Uncle Charlie said don’t worry son, I’ve got your back
There ain’t but one train from Hell and its right on track
He gave me a wink and let that whistle blow
He said when we get there we’ll be on the go
We roared and we rumbled on a dead man’s run
I was so scared of it all I was having fun
All through the night we rolled, and we rolled
Hoping to God that those rails would hold
I said Uncle Charlie you’re quite the engineer
You make it look easy, you don’t even steer
He smiled and said you just follow the tracks
And read the burn from those old smokestacks
You shovel the coal like you’re feeding Hell’s fire
You follow your dreams with passion, heart and desire

Finally some cardboard, where I feel at home
I can write the words I’m proud to own
The other pages, they were OK I guess
A few good rhymes arranged in a mess
I like the cardboard, it treats me so well
It’s the last of the stories I tried to tell
My new pad is clean, it’s going to be great
As for the cardboard, I’ll just have to wait

What kind of man does what men do
Cheat and steal, then lie to me and you
What kind of man starts a war with his pen
Knowing it will cause the death of many men

What kind of man can change the world we’re in
What kind of man can change other men
Where is the man that can lead us to love
Where are the men guided from above

What man has done for his fellow man
That only true men will do what they can
What kind of man stands tall against men
What kind of man can save us from sin

Riding this rock, that just won’t stop spinning
Fighting a battle, nobody will be winning
No need to worry, we don’t fight alone
There’s about a zillion of us, calling it home
We fight each other, while our nations fight more
It’s all over the news, with the blood and the gore
This place is getting warmer, no matter what we do
Soon it’s going to be hot, too hot for me and you
There will be nowhere to go, no place to hide
We can’t make it stop, we’re all on this ride
We can’t get off, at least not without dying
We try to save ourselves; let nature do the crying
Rivers run dry, they flow yellow, green, and black
When this rock is over, so is time, and that’s a fact

I’ve got 1200 poems, all shapes and sizes
Some in verse, others in reprises
I mostly rhyme, 99 percent of the time
I beat up the world and then I whine
A poet’s lament, I ***** about this and that
I post some online, try to start a chat
Sometimes I write them just for fun
Proud of myself when I finish another one
I’m all in, heart, soul and mind
Writing down every word I can find
I try not to go too far, I don’t know when to stop
I just keep going until my pen says drop

My whiskey bottle is crying, it’s empty for the night
Guess I’ll just sleep it off until the morning light
Tomorrow will be better, my bottle will be full
I can take the cap off and have another full pull
My whiskey keeps me sober; it helps to hide the pain
It holds back the sorrows that seem to pour like rain
Now it’s the afternoon and my bottle’s working fine
I feel better as the whiskey clouds my mind
My whiskey bottle is sleeping, dreaming of tomorrow
Thinking about drowning all that pain and sorrow
Wash away the troubles; rinse away the blues
Soaking down the problems that always come in two’s
Now I’ve got my cap off; tilted with the bubbles running free
Keep them going; keep it flowing, till I can’t see

Quiet Moon snowfall

snowflakes whisper snow falling

silence in beauty

You’re wrestling the devil, fighting to be “the man”
When you wrestle the devil, its catch-as-catch can
It’s no holds barred, anything goes, a regular street fight
The world is watching the main event on Saturday night
It’s a death match; the winner takes it all
The match is scheduled for TV time, or one fall

The devil is tricky, he’s got friends outside the ring
Whips, chains, tables and chairs, that’s what they bring
Sorrows got you in the corner, headlock squeezing tight
Best do something quick, even if you have to bite
Pains have got you down, in the center of the mat
He’s got you trapped, like a big city rat
You need to break free, get out of his hold
If you don’t, you’ll be stuck, like the cheese and the mold
You’ve got to keep moving, you better have a plan
When you wrestle the devil, its catch-as-catch can

The crowd is roaring; it’s time to bust out your moves
Careful now, watch him Jim, look out for those hooves
You got him on the ropes, with help from some fan
When you wrestle the devil, it’s catch-as-catch can

Now it’s time the show is over, they called it a draw
He would have had you, except for that one little flaw
He didn’t know you had faith and truth on your side
When he came up against that, all his threats died
You wrestled the devil, now he knows you’re “the man”
When you wrestle the devil, its catch-as-catch can

I like to write in the graveyard, I know people there
It’s nice and quiet, city sounds fill the air
A peaceful feeling comes over my mind
All of the memories my heart can find
I don’t see any ghost walking, I only hear voices
Some trying to say make better choices

I like writing in front of my grandfather’s stone
He makes me feel like I’m not alone
I look up, I see more stones of granite
All those names and dates, with no faces
Their memories are there, just in different places
When I finish and it’s time to leave
I’ll dry my eyes, stand quietly and grieve