I reminisce, the love;
That was never really my own

The memories of the one
With whom I never roamed

Her arms around my neck,
And the sweet smell of her cologne

Her voice of love that fuels
The desire to be nevermore alone

Her warm breath against my face
That defrosts my heart that’s frozen

That one gentle kiss
To cherish till the day I’ll be gone

Her remembrance in the most adverse of times
Which gives me hopes and feels safe as home

How is it that I miss these things;
The ones that I never have known?

The bud said to the flower,
I have the freshness of promise,
dawn in my colors, dew in my folds;
wind, sky, rain as food and play.
I dream of my beauty and fragrance
seeping into the universe
like the love of the wind, sky, rain and sun
like the love of the dew of dawn.

The wild flower blazed redly in the waxing sun,
upright, even as it wilted in the heat
witnessing the sun’s waxing and waning,
bearing the slashing whips of cold and rain,
bearing the wayward claps of wind and storm;
Its beauty and fragrance seeping into the universe unnoticed.
It replied: innocence is of no consequence;
Ripeness is.

I admit I do not understand
People staring at their hands

A tiny screen controls their eyes
Electronic lows and highs

Folks all wander to and fro
Directed by Pokémon Go

One's free will is all but dead
With Nintendo now deep in your head

It's great to be out in the sun
But, can you really call this fun

The best part though, I think to me
Is the collisions between man and tree

When I first met her
God put a speaking trumpet
straight up against my ear
and stated
very slowly
in that Godly voice
that is a mix of
the ocean's roar
and the singing of
Barry White

"This is the one
you've been looking for."

The stars were in on it
bubbling like champagne
in the night sky
singing a sweet accompaniment
a singular poem
of one word:
Yes.

What would you do?

I took the only possible path:
Surrender.

Gave up my wandering ways
quit my womanizing
got hitched straight away
tied the knot
didn't know a thing
about knot tying
but the **** thing held.

And here we are.
Poet number one
that would be her.

Poet number two-and-a-half
me

Marriage solved nothing
brought more questions
than answers
more unfinished business
than completed tasks

Yet at this late stage
a sense that against all odds
against the evidence
of my hands
against every argument
presented by the priest
who reluctantly married us

Something has gone
wonderfully right.

The stars,
dear friends,
truly know their business.

I was once asked
"where is home,
if not your house?"
My heart wanted to say
"wherever there is love,
and trust, brother."
My brain urged otherwise,
and so my response was only
"wherever you lay your head,
that night"

To watch a man,
attempt the washing of blood
long since spilled,
upon his hands.
Is to watch an agony I cannot describe.
How do you see yourself
when in the mirror,
there is a monster?
When in the shine of your children's eyes,
you see only reflected
a murderer?
Where do you find joy,
in life?
When you wish perhaps,
you'd been not so "lucky."