BACKTRACKING

This poem comes from my book LOVE BITES written Memorial Day weekend 1994 and after my SECOND divorce. I don't remember exactly but I think I was cautioning about rushing to judgement because history can never be the same twice.



BACKTRACKING

If what you have for
me is love, why do you
cry for someone else
first?

No doubt you have pain
but so do I. Now
I must carry my memories
in a U-Haul that always
travels away from home.

To say you want to
return sounds easy. I
might welcome you with
open arms but my
hands are tied.

My wrists are covered
with rope burns left from
your departure.

ETERNAL DEBT

Everybody has some good to give. LOVE and a life that truly lives is only additive. This is from my first book, BEHIND THE VEIL.


ETERNAL DEBT

I have examined my life
and must question its worth.
Should my lips meet
the bitter taste of hemlock?

The true value of a life
should always be determined by others.
We are necessarily blind to
the importance of ourselves.

Suicide can only be
charged as a theft
for which society
pays the penalty.

HARRY'S WAR

This poem is from my blog, THE HIGHLANDS WATCH. I wrote  to honor the memory of my good friend and fellow HIGHLANDS COALITION board member. who passed  away too soon.

HARRY'S WAR

Mother country had
a son of liberty
who was a child of history
that grew into a man of science

Battles waged against
faceless warriors insured
probable defeat despite hopes
of small victories. Fighting

until the last man standing
could stand no more. Memories
become legacies after
the lessons are learned.

LIFE'S LENS

This was just put in my HEAVEN'S WATCH blog. Every task is important to someone. Life needs you to be a TEAM player.

 

LIFE'S LENS

Only from a distance
can we see
the smallest part,
minute but vital.

Big or little,
the picture does
not change.
Everything matter

VISION QUEST

This is from my bog, THE POET'S WATCH. I am including it hear too because of the story behind it. I first wrote it on a napkin while drinking McDonald's coffee at the mall, Am I going to owe Micky D's royalties?

VISION QUEST

Just a poor, disabled poet
but more than often
I see pretty clearly
the way things truly be.

To what do I owe
this gift? Does it
come from some
well earned advanced degree?

Forget all that, I'll
tell you now. The
price of poverty
has set me free.

INVERSE EGO

I wrote this poem way back for my book, "Love Bites". My wife put it on a coffee mug for this Father's Day. I asked her, "Wow, I actually wrote that!". Love builds.

INVERSE EGO

Love is additive,
not a replacement.
A relationship builds
from its presence

A commonality exists
throughout a plurality.
No matter what
degree there is
no me.

EMOTIONAL CLASSICS

This poem came from my book, LOVE BITES. The same feeling can come from different places.

Emotional Classics

In my youth
my heart bled
white but the
volume was the same.

What I lacked
in experience
I made up for with ignorance.

Older now my
heart bleeds red.
Purity was replaced
by traditions. Pain
is color-blind.

THE MAKING OF GENIUS

Everything seems defined by agreement.

THE MAKING OF GENIUS

It has no bar code
and often hard to
recognize but with
realization comes

liberation. Freedom of
expression transforms
isolation into respect.
Respect easily morphs

into fear through
intimidation. Moving out
of this cycle of self-perpetuation
is the only way to
exerciseacceptance.

BREATHING IN A VACUUM

Written over twenty years ago for my book, "Behind The Veil", I guess I was expressing my frustration at how people never want to look below the surface. Twenty plus years later, things haven't changed,

BREATHING IN A VACUUM

I scream in silence
frustrated by an audience
that only hears
with their eyes.

My heart suffers
from cold, senseless
rejection. Slowly my spirit
sublimes to vapor.

I wonder if
my time has already
been and might
never be again.

Somehow I must
continue my fight
for a promise of
an ultimate reward.

GRAMMAR SCHOOL LESSONS

This poem is from is from my book, Love Bites, in 1994. I guess you learn early that love has to be expressed to be realized.

GRAMMAR SCHOOL LESSONS

Waiting for a love
that never comes.
I remain alone.
mistakes in tense.

One must be active
because the passive
is too weak.

The subject becomes
the object. Emotions
unclear, love must remain
unconjugated,

Lesson's Learned

We have a lot to learn from history, life's history.

Lesson's Learned

Being a parent
is a full time
job and your
best training comes

from your own.
Books can provide
ideas but examples
establish realities.

Silent Sonata

This poem was written 16 years ago for my book "Love Bites". It was all about the emotions of losing a step-daughter in a divorce.

Silent Sonata

Once a father, I loved
to hear my daughter
hate me. At four there
is no difference.

To know she's gone
brings a tear. Stains on
my carpet are all that
is left of her history.

Her disappearance is
no mystery. She is
away with her mother
all safe and sound.

To my sorrow I
am not around. Maybe
today I'll go to the
park and cry. Maybe I'll
just tell the swingsets good-bye.

PRIVATE ARCHITECTURE

Sticking to your core values can leave one in lonely place.

PRIVATE ARCHITECTURE


Sitting alone in
a room without walls,
the ceiling supported by
pillars of difference.

The room allows
in the rain but
forbids the sunlight.

I can see
the world outside but
there are no doors
to allow entrance.

Kindred Reality

 To me poetry serves to bring together people, ideas, and souls in a deep, spiritual way that defies definition. Limitations are practical. difficulties probable, but realities are substantial.


Kindred Reality


Seldom together but
never apart. Souls
united by a poetry
of uninterrupted prayer.

Recognition of a personal
and private communication
with a creator who always
creates a divine communion.

So precious the recognition
of this celestial gift that
the transcendence of
the spiritual remains unadulterated.

Stroke Of Luck

Medication is not always the only means of prevention. Often times, all that is required is recognition.

Stroke Of Luck

Blood pressure rising,
vessels pulsating
for a midnight
date.

The consequences
of this secret
rendezvous are
permanent and

debilitating.Emotions
must be regulated
to avoid disruption.

Regulated Chances

Everyone believes in a plan. Even "no plan"  is a  plan to do nothing. The same logic can be applied to all belief systems or religions.


Regulated Chances


The most beautiful
dance has every step
choreographed to show
every minute nuance.

Lots are cast in
life to give the
illusion of random
chance. Variety is

a mirage put forth
by unbelievers to
stifle curiosity. No
accidents of faith.

STATE OF GRACE

This poem comes from my second book, "Love Bites" It's probably my favorite poem of the book. The central theme is to question who is responsible for one's actions


STATE OF GRACE

As I walk
through the garden,
forbidden fruit
cries for my touch.

The temptation
is overpowering
at times.

Whose responsibility
is it to stand
guard--the fruit's,
the serpent's or mine?

WORD TRANSFUSIONS

This poem came from my first book, "Behind The Veil ". Remember my philosophy of no accidents. And like they say, "It is what it is".

WORD TRANSFUSIONS

The blood flowing
from my wounds
changes colors depending
on the pen I
choose to use.

Always,
I wonder
where the words
come from.

Did they come from
creative cosmos
or my battered brain?
I guess it really
doesn't matter.

LOVE BITES

This was the title poem to my second book. With four marriages, I guess I'm an expert on love and pain.


LOVE BITES

Nibbling at the heart,
it causes damage even while
providing pleasure. To love
is to suffer. It is unavoidable.

Bleeding comes from the
pressure of proximity, not
intention. Bandages provide
only temporary assistance.

Separation is always
inevitable. Desire plays
no role in the outcome. We
are prisoners of the finite.

Despite the prognosis
there are plenty of crusaders
ready to start the journey. The risk
of injury forgotten for a
chance at the prize.

NEW STATION, SAME NATION

This came to me today when I went to McDonald's for coffee. I believe nothing in life happens without a reason. Perhaps mine is to sharpen my perception and continue writing.


NEW STATION, SAME NATION
 
My eyes are
adjusting quickly
to my new
welfare glasses.

I am learning
quickly that seeing
is not the same
as being seen.

My welfare denist
found twelve cavities and
I need a canal to
get to the root of my problems.

I guess my
teeth have decayed
from eating
all that humble pie.

The new pains in my
previously crippled body
help me remember the
reason for my past struggles.

The same pains
have sharpened my
perceptions of an
unequal, unjust reality.