Ode To The Fairest

This poem is from my "Love Bites" comes, 16 years ago. I guess I was talking about flirting really comes from a lack of self-esteem. I think the "Ode" thing in the title was just an attempt to pay homage to past poets.

Ode To The Fairest

Please do not expose
me to you uncertainties.
My sanity requires a
degree of stability.

Being unsure of your
own love, does not
give you the right to
coax it from me.

Your beauty is without
question, you do not need
to validate it with my attention.
I will not be your confirmation.

Vanity is insulting no matter
what mirror one looks in.
At best all we can see
are empty reflections.

LIMITATIONS BY EXLUSION

Another one from "Works In Progress" back in 1996. This e mail newsletter lasted about a year and a half. So somewhere out there in cyberspace there are over one hundred other poems floating out there. I had followers from New Zealand to Austria.

I think what I am trying to say here is that the appearance of beauty is not beauty itself.



LIMITATIONS BY EXCLUSION

Protected by thorns,
the enjoyment of
a rose is limited
by its nature.

Beauty must be
experienced at
a distance and
partially.

Never able to fully
give if itself
the flower remains
incomplete.

BAPTISM

This appeared 14 years ago in WIP. It's hard to believe I was that spiritual at that time of my life. Basically I think I saying is that we learn from all our experiences.



BAPTISM

Washing away
sadness or
moistening the
seal of joy.

The water that
flows from our
eyes christens
personal experiences.

Life's moisture
can quench a
dry, parched
soul.

OUT OF THE CAGE

Being a parent is never easy!


OUT OF THE CAGE


Can you hear
me scream? My
pride falls on
deaf ears.

Must I act out
to get your
attention? Sadly
I must live

with the consequences
of your silence.

LOVE BITES

This is the title poem from my second book. It was written (the book) during Memorial Day weekend of 1994, the last year I lived in West Virginia. Composed after my second divorce, oobviously the bites weren't fatal because I got married two more times. I guess I was looking for the prize.



LOVE BITES

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

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.

STATISTICS OF SHADOWS

I was inspired to write this poem after listening to some specialist telling this teacher hat to teach in order to get her student's higher standardized scores.


STATISTICS OF SHADOWS

Education by
complication leads
to failure that
masks itself

as achievement.
Graduation becomes
the cultivation
of inadequacy.

Manipulation of
documentation only
provides illusions of
standards met.

COACHING FALSE IMPPRESSIONS

You can't teach a test.


COACHING FALSE IMPRESSIONS

Education by the
numbers is learning
that equals faulty
reasoning.

Knowledge is zeroed
out through the
operations of administration.