All Written Poems
Sorted Chronologically
The Orb
Written February 2020 You crash ashore on a distant beach
The great voyage that tossed you here is unknown
Wet and afraid you cling to the warmth of the sand
Maybe somewhere within you can find the courage to stand
Fret not, you needn’t look far for inspiration
A mysterious figure and a radiant orb lie betwixt the palm trees
“Looking for guidance?”
You think
You are desperate
A head nods
A hand turns
The ball of white brilliance flows into an abyss
“Follow”
You don’t see the orb
Yet still, you dive
Sunglasses
Written February 2020 A man sets up camp in a strange desert
Despite the great myths he was fed, the land sat barren
Day after day the sand bleached his boots
All that drove him forward was hope and the advance of the setting sun
“One more day” he says
Or is that what they said?
Teenage Wanderer
Written February 2020 A crisp burning scent singes your nostrils
You laugh and say to pass it forward
Calm
Mysticism
Curiosity
The fragmented souls that scatter the room become one
Like opulent metals to a bartering table
You cling to the worn couch
A barrel of smiles clicks a TV remote
A mellow heart adds music
Wondrous soundwaves
An engrossing video
The barrage of sensations flows through you like a wave into the beach’s sands
In this moment, we are platinum
Dust & Ash
Written February 2020 Who are you to stand before me?
You decry freedom and broken shackles
You refuse to accept my will
You saunter up the stairs while your peers cruise in an elevator
Are you a madman?
Do you think yourself a masochist?
In this encompassing ruin you are but dust
Accept your place
Join the pillar that enslaves ones such as you
Trail
Written February 2020 Choked and exhausted I leisurely step into nature
Behold refreshment & repair no man can replicate
Ash clouds made of words, stresses, and fears slowly wither
They die and ignite passion, hope
A seasoned sprint begins in no particular direction towards a focused goal of a tender smile
A sigh of reprieve
I glance to the old oaks that have seen life and death, victory, rebirth, pain
How lucky am I now to stand among them
The running shoes glide past the goal post
Weightless
Garden of Warmth
Written March 2020 Oh darling
Oh darling
My sunflower with brilliant petals
You sit planted in a garden of wilted flowers
Dead trees
Yet still, you sway in the wind
How you will be cherished by the world
When you transform all around you into a garden of warmth
Stardust
Written March 2020 Beneath the sparkling starlight that has witnessed all, I was reborn
Baptized in waters of life
Shipped down river to a settlement of foreign nature
My soul collapsing under the weight of intrigue
My journey, void of tempest
All that embarked were conjoined
My comrades of experience moved alongside me
Through the fields of many colors
Past the animals that inhabit this place
Our guide kept us safe, led us to the great crackling fire
Distrust rose until I shared a piece of nature in communion
Light envelopes us even in darkness
Even as the soundwaves sink into the soil
Alone, I found myself soaring through a sacred temple
Infinite
Warrior
Written April 2020 Sword, serrated steel
Warriors clashing endlessly
There are no victors, no victims
A battlefield upon the plain of one’s mind
They never rest
Even while the world around them lie at peace
The struggle to overcome oneself consumes all
And vanquishes
Unmasked
Written April 2020 Cold
Crisp nothingness in the air
Sunlight is dulled
The world’s exterior is acid washed, its interior rotten
A walk to the shore becomes a test of fortitude
Wonder
Wonder where all the color has gone
Wonder if you can outrun your mind
Ask if this is it
No reply
Silk Shore
Written May 2020 Soft sand on the shore
Warmth and glow to all who walk the beach
Billboards and shoreline that stretch past the sun
Deep blue waves cradle evening swimmers
Neon lights shimmer and coalesce with nature
May I wander life’s lands for eternity
Verdant with intrigue
Growing Down
Written May 2020 You are 8 years old
Soaring high into the air, bouncing on a new trampoline your dad set up last weekend
You remember a golden sun and your smile glistening
Your knee hurts
You fell off the trampoline
You’re crying now
Mom and Dad are fighting on the porch by the pool
This makes you sad
You wish you were 5 again
When dad still hugged mom
When you all had picnics together on the porch
When the math tests weren’t so hard
How rotten it is that you’re robbed of your fun
You wish you were younger
You are 17 years old
It's your senior year of high school
You’re saying goodbye to all your friends
Graduation day
“Is this the last time I’ll see them?”
“Where do I go from here?”
“Will my new friends be just as great?”
“Will I make new friends?”
You hated school
But yet, you don’t want to leave
You think back
Back to when you fucked around in class
Back to when you all smoked weed in your pal’s basement
Back to when you had your first kiss by the pier on that summer night
How sickening it is to leave your whole world behind, you just built it
You wish you were younger
You wish you appreciated all of those things before they slipped from your grasp
You are 85 years old
Bedridden
Your family envelopes you
Kids & Grandkids
Your loving wife of 50 years
The doctors said that you’ll pass tonight
Everyone’s faces are soaked with tears
Your eldest son asks you with a wispy voice
“Do you regret anything? Do you wish you could go back?”
You think for a moment
Mustering your scarce energy
“No son, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
Cigarette
Written June 2020 The bar lights dim and the room begins to clear
Its late
Closing time
“See ya Jim!” the bartender chimes
“Yeah” Jim mumbles, exiting into the city streets
Just as he has every night before
A cigarette is pulled from his right pocket
A lighter from his left
The smoke wraps around
Shrouds him
Blocking this foreign world
He hides
It is all that he can do
Memories and dreams long lost cross the trodden pathways of his mind
He entertains all the possibilities
What might have been
These daydreams wound
But they also comfort
The virtue of imagination is a stretched hand
One he cannot let go of
Not another living soul is observed
There are no hearts around to feel him
No ears to hear him
Not a sound
Save the deafening cacophony of the mind
The smoke has faded
The light is out
Jim stands at the entrance to his apartment complex
Resigned to be an alien
Hoping to be human again
Peace Forever
Written June 2020 Lush grass & ruby poppies stretch on
Seemingly endless
No inch unknown upon first viewing
The sky is a crystal sheet of glass
The sun beams with glowing rays
Projecting no heat
The delicate scent of morning dew grass would grace you
If you could smell anything at all
A perfect wooden ranch house rests upon a hilltop
Thousands of voices breeze toward
Glancing across your delicate skin
Walking up over the slope, everything melts away
All worries
All doubts
All fears
Elation is the only emotion resulting from sight
This is where they had all gone
This is where we all go
You think for a moment
Perhaps it was never so complicated
You embrace exactly who you had been waiting to see
Finally
Peace forever
Still Going
Written July 2020 Three unlikely wanderers blaze forward
The heart, the smiles, and the observer
The curse of circumstance binds them no longer
Summer heat rips through the tree line like a knife to butter
Bringing life to nature
Blessing the emerald grass with vibrant color
Everything halts as a new dawn is reached
Entering the mouth of the trail
They meld into the Earth’s palette
Once In a Lifetime
Written July 2020 High Tops touch the stone walkways
Passing cheap thrill games
Water guns
Clowns
Lights strung up blinking along the path
Flurries of blurry red, blue, green
The young couple enters a train car
Soaring high into the air
They feel the wind hit their face
Their hands clasp the cold guard rail, brushing against each other
Full stop
Just like that
The ride ends
As they look into each other's eyes they know
The attraction is just beginning
Order
Written August 2020 Intrigue sparks a fire impossible to quell
Soon everything you know is engulfed in blaze
Questioning is chaos
Who will bring the order?
The young activists longing for change
The silver can sipping everyman who couldn't care less
The CEOs on the hunt for virtuous green
Sifting through the slideshow, you find nothing acceptable
Evangelicals
Atheists
TV puppets and their string fiddlers
Rockstars
Protesters
Scientists
Visionaries
Success stories
Suit & ties
Hippies
Legends
Icons of the week
Poets & Authors
Everyone has the answer
Until the clock strikes 13
Seagulls
Written September 2020 The golden sky beams upon the sand where I stand
Ocean water faintly grazing my tired ankles
I take a rest to bask in the sensation
But it does not seep beyond my skin
The sunlight does not shine its warm glow to my heart
The wind fails to stir my wonder
& No matter how encompassing,
The sea cannot reach my soul
I am bound to the ground
Planted in this world
I sit & watch the seagulls
As they glide and dive
Free as grains in the breeze
For a fleeting moment
I wish I was among them
Evenings
Written September 2020 When the sun hangs down,
The sky turns orange,
Lights flicker on,
And workers go home,
I watch the cars pass me by
They fade down the street
I peer through the picture window
Standing at ground level with all the rest
I touch my hands to the glass and hope for a better tomorrow
Maybe someday I will know what I’m wishing for
Italian Towns & Cobblestone Streets
Written September 2020 The rain clouds have parted
Like a road splits in two
Down the highway, through and through
He’s just about done being blue
His hands reach far above his head
To touch the soft, warm hue
Long after hours, he walks back home
Far, far away from the streets of Rome
Splashing color along the way
He’s grabbed a piece of the sky today
And he’ll hold onto it
long after his world fades back to grey
Good Morning Gloria
Written September 2020 You’re my world,
My Earth,
My stars,
My Moon,
When the dawn breaks you bring me drops of June
So fair,
So kind,
Our hearts combined,
Woven like a warm winter sweater,
Fixed upon my mind
Domino
Written October 2020 A tape is distorted each time it plays
Like a phase of dreary days
Same old things
In the same old ways
A chuckle for the gods
They shine down rays for our domino game
I watch them fall to the ground
With a sickening sound,
Taunting musicality
When it's thought to be over
Something unknown
Plucked anew from the toy chest they call reality
Something gained
Or something lost
I cannot assure
Only that curiosity is poised to replace azure
Tenderness
Written October 2020 Somewhere at the edge of what is & what was
We sit fixed on a knife's edge
Clinging onto each other
Petrified to fall off the ledge
Our arms get tired,
Knees grow weak
But no, I won't let go
Not while the faint light still glows
Not while my heart still beats
Vanilla Milkshake
Written November 2020 A cherry red car pulls off the highway
I sip my empty milkshake in soft envy
The waitress’s aviators slip down her nose
Vibrant colors move us, citrus fashion, flashy clothes
Sun bright Chevy, only costs a penny
Just one thought, and I can start a new day
Now I’m back to the asphalt
Radio pops on, a loud rock tune
I look behind me as it fades so fast
I’ll drive ahead, grab the future while it lasts
I’ll keep on smiling, it's sunny in June
Nothing ties me down, I leave behind Earth’s salt
Seasons Of The Mind
Written November 2020 Exhaust and ache,
With this song and dance,
they pull me in,
push me away,
I yearn to leave,
Yet cling to stay,
Fires of circumstance harden my clay,
Maybe on a sunny day, far away,
I’ll chip the layer with chimes of may
Seasons Of The Mind II
Written November 2020 Wanting for nothing but success and a smile,
Always saying, doing, being the wrong things,
Never achieving now, never trying later,
Faint heat that melts the ice around my hands, put on your coat and stay for awhile,
Why must I kill an angel to find my wings?
A Cambrian Evening
Written November 2020 I can see you there,
your sky pale face,
your silky auburn hair gently waving in the breeze,
The tall oak draping us in shade as I step out of the sun’s gaze,
The college lawn & the faint scent of falling night draws me back to a simpler time,
stammering,
I struggle to find my words,
You calmly grasp me wrist with a sweet smile,
“Get your pen, write before the thought is gone”
Eyes Like Dreams
Written November 2020 Peer through this glass I’m peering through,
There is many a sight to see, but all I see is you,
Wonder how much of my vision is true,
The curiosity in my heart is tangible & bright,
Let our souls conjoin & fill me with delight
Stream’s Edge
Written December 2020 The river in which I swam so merrily has ran itself dry
Whether it be the weather or the flow’s direction
Even the shadows have fled its hollow projection
Dried dirt and grainy winds block out the sky
Sun falters to shine in the day time
Night’s whispering glow mocking movement, like a mime
Residents of the valley could hardly care
Gawking for but a moment, then back to their fare
Feasts of Saccharin & Lime, eaten upon marble stair
For in their pale fantasy
Their ignorant prance
All there is left to do in a house of the damned
Is dance
Tandy’s Song
Written January 2021 Tandy the trumpeter sits on the boardwalk,
Orange Sun burning low,
He makes his trumpet cry as the daylight fades to nighttime,
The kids stride back and forth under cheap neon lights,
Gracing their ears with his subtle warmth and his jazzy hue,
Nobody stops,
His tone fades to the weather,
His horn bleeds into the wind,
In days long past he was the #1 act,
Even got some girls as a matter of fact,
But the past is sand through our hands,
And he was just another grain trying to battle the marching breeze,
Now he's on a small town coast,
Somewhere acquainted with the palm trees,
His feelings are so hard to express,
So far from the city he once called his home,
Now he's just stuck where the other's roam,
Shades of blue on his broken throne,
The folks, locals, and passers-by don't mind him much,
They say he adds to the small town charm,
But he rejects this background label,
Because he is a human being,
Not an evening alarm,
Through his soft suites,
He mutters about a world that has forgotten him,
He wonders about the old clubs, The big hair, dive bars, and those fancy cars,
How long's it been since he's seen a fancy car?
The sun’s going down and there’s pastel in the sky
Tandy’s packing up and a boy passes by
He says “I love your playing mister! You make my day and night, you raise up my soul, You mellow out my fright,
I’m a huge fan of yours,
you just don’t see,
the passionate fire you’ve lit inside of me,
I’ve got the rhythm in me now
And that rhythm makes me feel so free!”
The trumpeter tears up,
Silent for a moment in that revealing, howling moonlight,
Tandy pats the teen on his shoulder,
They can feel the beat between them
and that’s a strong connection,
Good Ol’ T turns the other direction,
“Thank you for your joy, it's been so long since I’ve seen a real smile,
You seem like a bright young man,
I hope you stick around this town awhile.”
As he walks away, he tries not to look back,
Lest he reconnect with his youth, buried beneath that foreign ash,
Tandy faintly hopes to play again tomorrow,
But his enthusiasm is long gone,
He can hear his friend’s big band playing symphonies up in the sky now,
And he knows it won’t be long
Til’ he pours out his last swan song
More to be written soon