Decay

When darkness reigned at sunrise there,
Nor' gaily gleamed the lofty moon,
A seed, planted in earthy hole,
Is lulled to sleep by the crying loon

In a womb made of angry ashes
a germ grows from the mixing firth
Conferring life back, forth from ruin
in a tide pool of death and birth.

At lazy lilies, I do not wonder,
too picturesque a path they lay.
Yet, tears I shed in joy and marvel
when the same sad flowers decay

Hence when my rhythmic beating ceases,
'though the birds still sing their songs,
Lay me in the lake made basin
by the willow, green and long.

To Wait for Wine

He steals grapes from my vineyard,
A bird not the same color
Yet always the same.
Just when they've grown to ripeness,
Juicy and plump on the vine;
A violent purple absorbing sun,
The bird comes to snatch it away.

He guilts me with his hunger
As he tries to thieve my fruit.
So I question my resilience,
Perhaps he needs this more than I.
But it's not about survival
It his gluttony that drives
when he flies over my vineyard
So to red his beak with lust.

Yet this bird, he is persistent,
In his gathering of my crop.
He gorges while I wait
to turn the grapes to wine.
I'll ferment them in oak barrels
as they soak in patience and passion.
But I must pick before the frost.

A Walking Contradiction

I am here, but I am gone
I am weak, yet I am strong
I am smart, but I act dumb
I have feelings yet I'm numb

A walking contradiction
An oxymoron brought to life
Truth strange as fiction
Getting pleasure from strife

I am powerful, but helpless still
I scare easy, yet I live for the thrill
I am hopeful, but I've lost trust
I am innocence buried in lust

A walking contradiction
An oxymoron brought to life
Truth strange as fiction
Getting pleasure from strife

I change but stay the same
I am wild yet I am tame
I give advice that I don't take
I'm made of glass but I don't break.

The Edge of the World

I've found the edge of the world
Right in my backyard.
I have heard the journeys of others to its brink
And learned of their fall to the world beyond.

Yet I have often imagined this scene,
I never imagined I would find it here so soon.
Right where I live, I find it;
The sharp end of the world.

I haven't dared look over the rim.
I'm not afraid,

But I wouldn't go alone.

Monochrome

White innocence blankets the earth's green glory

Locking all in a monochromatic life
Beauty lies in colors;

Fresh flowers
Sunsets
Fallen Foliage

Save your purity pallid snow
I defy your neutral existence

For as long as I have vision,

I will use your blankness as a canvas for my dreams.
And when you slowly melt away

My dreams will lie below;

Fresh flowers
Sunsets
Fallen Foliage

A reverie made reality.
I will dance in my world of color
Until you wash the earth clean once more with white.

Then I begin again.

The Fall

Changing hues on dead branches,
Color me the leaves of the trees
As I paint the orange horizon.
These are changes he never sees.

The Sun has abandoned me
He pines too much for the Moon.
Now, I only have the memories
of the heat we felt in June.

Without the Sun, I'm failing.
The branches loosen their hold.
I'm carried on the autumn wind
in the brightest shade of gold.

The fall is a sickening spiral.
It's freedom, so why does it hurt?
I land among the other leaves
and together we form the dirt.

I'm whole with something once again.
We're death of love below.
I lay in our freezing sarcophagus
of heartache, ice and snow.

A Place in Your Heart

I've tried to work this out.
How you could love her,
When I'm right here
Waiting,
Loving with each breath.
She is who you chose,
The tie-breaker,
The heartbreaker.
I'm stuck with a red ribbon
But your favorite color is blue.
Where is she now?
Moved on to the next race,
Just another competition along the way.
I'm right here,
But where does this leave me?
I won't stay just because I'm here with you,
When she's not.
I was never meant for the gold in this event,
And I guess love just wasn't my sport.

Encore

Click, clop, click
Echo the shoes across the black wood floor...

Empty rows
Staggered, faded burgundy seats in open air...

Darkened stage
Between heavy, red curtain and curtain hang...

Dry atmosphere
Inhaled now as was with lights and costume...

Words linger
And reverberate between the walls and sky...

Light shines
Through the memory to make it real again...

The Physicist

He feels its weight upon him
Pulling stronger with passing day
Watching the red sphere meet horizon
As the sand is sifted away

The closer he gets to the gateway
The farther he gets from himself
Forgetting those things he memorized
From those faded texts on the shelf

The clear cut equations and order
Have fallen in the cracks of his mind
He never had time to look for
The things he'd been hoping to find

Physics is failing for him
Fading like his fallen fame
Slipping deeper into darkness
While fanning the dying flame

Now the apple is falling upwards
The planets crash into the sun
No tear sheds the cold mother
Nor comfort for her nameless son.

Pine Road

She sits where the street turns
On the grass by Pine Road.
She watches as the cars pass,
Counting
And hugging her knees to her chest.

Spring is dawning,
But Winter's bite still lingers
As nature blooms around her corner.
Changing
And growing when the weather permits

She waits for it to reach to her
From beyond this street
She is not allowed to cross.
Come
And pull up her driveway on Pine Road.

Invocation

If not this, then what?
If not now, then when?
If not you, then who?

A Blank Slate

What horrible things have my ancestors done?
I do not know for sure.
I am not sure I want to know at all.
It was not me,
But that blood runs through me
That same blood that flows through all
the children of the cradle of life;
Diluted by pigment.
White.
Is it absence or all of color?
Empty or clean?
Black.
Perfect or Dirty?
No word satisfies.
Humanity and I need a blank slate.
White or Black?

Understanding

I need more time to think.
Time to form these thoughts
That have been bubbling up from beneath
The surface of my soul for years.
Today I'm one step closer to understanding.
But I still need more time.
I still need an open mind,
Before I can free my soul.
It all makes sense, these bits
And pieces that I have put together,
But it's not finished. It probably never will.

Still, my soul feels lighter than before,
While my mind weighs in. Heavy.
Raised by the Earth; understanding Her,
Loving Her, is why.
How can any mere man tell
Me what He asks of me?
How can denial of the beauties He has given,
Being me closer to His side?
No building of man is the sole house of God.

My soul is on fire!
But not by sin, for fire is like all on Earth,
Inherently good.
It is when good things are taken as a right
Instead of a gift, that the the use of good things
becomes bad.
I understand, but I need time.
I know no mortal who can wield the power of God.
No human with the omnipotence of Him.
Instead all things are too be loved,
All things have an essence,
All things are equal,
But all things will never be understood.
Only God has that power,
For me to even feign it, is hypocrisy,
But I know you won't find it with that blindfold on,
Because the man that leads,
Is wearing one too.

January

Snow lies thin on the streets,
Don't know where snow ends
And ice begins.
Driving toward awkward conversations,
An icy stomach and hot cheeks.
I watch the streetlights;
Red, green, yellow
And red again,
More slowing us down than moving us forward.
The leather seat feels cold
As I try to warm my hands over the vent.
I move nearer to the destination
As our green SUV drives on.
With a sharp turn to the right,
A building bitter, but beautiful comes to view.
We park between a red minivan
And a yellow bug.
Wind changes to a grand room
Warmed by fire but chilled by sadness
Greeting friends with smiles is greeted by guilt
But it's not my fault.
I'm sorry still.
Idol chit-chat, meaningless
But with arctic undertones.
Walking through the line of mourners in black
To shake your hand.
I'm sorry, though it's not my fault.
Wordless as my turn draws near
I stare blankly at the green carpet
But it does not inspire.
"You're so much braver than I,
I'm here for you even though I've been gone.
I'm sorry." It's entirely my fault
That I can't say those words.
A nod and a hug,
Forgive my cold, red hands.

Time Bomb

I look behind me
And see the rubble.
Face forward
Can't see through the smoke
Of smoldering past:
Loved.
Forgotten.
Lost then missed.
Pushing forward past the ruins,
The wasted purity of the earth,
Stained by the bombs.
The ashes rain down on my hair,
While they burn my bridges
So close behind me,
Melting the rubber on my shoes.
Moving forward,
Must move beyond.
Can't escape,
The destruction follows behind.
So quick, I cannot linger.
Onward.
Though the smoke stings my eyes
And the burning tears fall.