If Only You Knew

Passing seconds erode
Lengthy rays scold
A naive smile
A juvenile laugh
Penetrates miles and miles
Why can’t it be enough?

Drawing from an empty well
Assuring it’s okay
When it’s not our day
If words could only tell
Impossible strength to gain
Upstream, a river of pain
A thankful and loving embrace
Can’t make the case

Meander in fun
Enjoyment, full numb
Wind carries many lessons
Continually preached
Yet, unable to overcome
Unable to press on

Weight of life pooling in your eyes
Beginning to mirror mine
What if it’s hereditary?
A thought too scary…
If I courageously fly to the sky
Everything will be fine

Drowning in mistakes
Sinking in heartache
A preserver carrying me forth
You always were
Each naive smile
Each juvenile laugh
An insurmountable debt incurred

Don’t dip that little chin
The greatest of kin
Don’t wander in wonder
On this day of thunder
Don’t cry for me
For now I am free

In Your Arms

You held me in your arms
The first night we met.
You held me in your arms
The last night I wept.
If love is war,
You retreated unscathed,
Caring less and less about my name.
A casualty, bleeding from the core,
Pondering what it was all for.

Driving from a past life,
Cityscape increasingly smeared.
You gripped the bloody knife,
Affirming my greatest fear.
What began in secret,
White-hot with passion,
Ended with affection less frequent-
A phoenix, incapable of rising from these ashes.

With a mind so wise,
How was I supposed to know
Grooves and Folds contained such lies.
Left in a tattered raft to row.
Pleading for a lifeline
to salvage what was broke.
Yet, everything would be fine
If, from this nightmare I awoke.
Free from harm,
To find myself in your arms.

Begin Again

‘Til death
Was the agreement
Yet, full of health
And now, my wealth
You’ve become independent

Empty rooms yearn
Hallways erode and hollow
What is there to learn
When there’s only sorrow
What can break the silence
To my heart, it is endless violence

Body refuses to eat
Mind refuses to sleep
Voices begin to slowly creep
I don’t think this is something I can beat
Conceal the tan-line
Don’t let yourself torture and pine

Forgive and forget
Advice for those who don’t fret
Get over by getting under
Advice that might help, I wonder?
Drink plenty of wine
A favorite of mine

One day, you entered the train
While I stepped off
First thought to enter my brain:
Our time wasn’t enough
Next thought:
I hope you’re happy
and found everything you sought

First Date

Meet at the Coffee Shop,
Read the text
I couldn’t make my heart stop!
What would come next?
Arriving first on that warm winter day
Impossible to keep the nerves at bay

When you turned the corner
And came into view
Right then and there, I just knew
My days of being a loner
Were bound for the rearview

Hours and hours we talked
Miles and miles we walked
A quick meet and greet
Transitioned into:
Want to get something to eat?

Wide-eyed smiles
That would rival the distance of the Nile
Shared laughter
From personal stories and banter
Sampling each other’s food
Sunsetting kind of mood

We ended up at your place
The night didn’t go to waste
Driving home In bliss
I endlessly reminisced
about that goodnight kiss

You entered my atmosphere
So happy, I could burst into tears
Twelve hours ago I had no clue
But right then and there, I just knew
As sure as the rise of the sun
This was going to be the one

Sour Hours

Dust collecting
Mind reflecting
Many unfound hours
Organic chemistry turning sour
Waiting for a single knock
Wish someone could hear me talk
A bad batch
Or wrong mixture, maybe
Who will take care of the baby

Shrieking night cries
So young, yet so wise
Let them hear
Let them near
Grow and yearn
Fail and learn
Standout from the crowd
Make mama proud

More golden rays
How many days
All quiet and still
Nothing left to kill
Not one curious knock
Or jiggle of the lock
A baby’s laugh
From the other studio’s half
Brings involuntary smiles
A reunion so vile.

Pride

What is it to see
When you don’t believe.
In a world of touch and feel
It is difficult to conceal.
Love is pure
To all God’s creatures,
Except the insecure.
For a month, we are featured
The rest of the time
Just remember not to say
those three letters of sin: g a y 

Hide your kids!
Hide your wife!
How can we rid?
How can we fix
This way of life?
Ban unnatural books!
Censor pics and flicks!
Look at what they took!
Preserve normality!
What even is marriage equality?

We’ll continue to fight
For a simple human right.
Love is our guiding light.
Stifled in the dark,
Volatile when kept inside.
This is our journey to embark.
This is why we take pride.

Climb On

Could it ever be?
Maybe climbing ladders
Wasn’t meant for people like me.
The only thing sadder
than a life riddled in repeat,
Is one depleted of dreams.
So, climb on and on and on…
Climb until your fingers bleed!
If you fall, let it be.
Get up and grip each rung.
Higher and higher and higher…
Until you can reach the sun
Or look at the face of failure
And laugh at those who made fun.
A life worth dreaming
Is a life worth living.
So, climb on.

American Dream

Tired eyes
Unrelenting baby cries
A future worth a fight
Ever so bright
The night is long
For reasons of the wrong

Aching head
Separate beds
Absence of passion
A dwindling ration
The night is long
Our new love song

Insurmountable expenses
Build fences
Impossible to escape
Economic rape
The night is long
At the bottom rung 

Aging out of existence
with little resistance
Desperate for interaction
In this social faction
The night is long
When you don’t belong

Tired eyes
Will anyone cry
Nothing to fear
The end is near
The night is long
But not long enough

Unfinished

I’m not done…
Rot can spread,
Rot can kill.
Biological warfare has begun…
Everything, I can feel.
Body is tired.
Muscles weak,
Bones on fire.
Yet, mind is sharp.
How can this be?
Eyes have plenty to see,
More food to eat,
More souls to meet.
I’m not done…

Plenty to see,
More souls to meet.
I’m not done!
I’m not done!
I’m not done!

A trade, perhaps?
Grams of bone,
Locks of hair?
Please don’t let me die alone.
How is that fair?
I’m not done!

Desperately want sleep.
Can’t eat.
What else is there to feel
When there’s nothing left to kill?
In the last round
Maybe it’s time to lie down.

This light I will keep…
More Souls to meet.
More souls to meet…
This light I will keep.

I’m ready now.

Just Follow Your Nose (Basset-Hound-Themed Children's Poem)

Just follow your nose,
You’ll never know where it goes!
It may capture fragrant roses
Or gag at smelly, crusty toes!

Just follow your nose,
But beware, It may get you
covered in flour!
Or discovering discarded goodies
in the midnight hour!

Just follow your nose!
Even when you dream,
Chasing magical unicorns
And guarding the fairest
Of Kings and Queens!

Just follow your nose,
You’ll never know where it goes!
It may take you far, far
Away from home!
To mountains, snowy and high,
And deserts, far and wide!
Maybe even a French-made Statue
Or a French-made Tower!

Just follow your nose,
And oh what a life
This can be!
You may arrest criminals and foes
Or go to school
and earn a film or medical degree!

Just follow your nose,
And always know
Even if you can’t see
Or hear your friends
and family.
Their love they always send,
whether with pictures and words
Or cake and ice cream!

If you find yourself stuck
Or down on your luck,
Always remember:
Just follow your nose!
You’ll never know where it goes!

Sunrise, Sunset

Today the sun rose,
And the sun set.
Bed cold,
Eyes wet.
Who could've foretold?
Who could've bet?
Days apart
Could drain
The heart.

Today the sun rose,
And the sun set.
You're still the handsomest man
I've ever met.
From your nose
To your toes.
A tender heart,
A shining soul.
That smile,
I'll never forget.

Today the sun rose,
And the sun set.
I found an old shirt
That held your scent.
Not long ago
We met in flirt.
Now, who can stitch and sew
Away this hurt?

Today the sun rose,
And the sun set.
Counting the light
In the canvas night.
Even though far,
Even though wide,
I could see your star.
I could feel you fly.

Today the sun rose.
Cold, and in a froze,
I did not.
Taking flight,
Only one thought;
Only one whom I sought…
The smile I never forgot.

Today the sun did not set.
It shined,
And shined.
For again, we met.
Never to part.
Forever in flight.
Forever entwined.
Once more,
Everything was right.

Silhouette

Emulation in the finest form.
On the worst days (most days),
the one and only true friend.
Until it follows the sun’s rays,
disappearing once again.

Alone to fend
The relentless demons (who always stay)
burrowing deeper
And deeper inside.
Some nights
There’s nowhere to hide.
Some nights
Miraculously transition to light.

Oh, one and only true friend,
What will this night bring?
Will you ever be seen again?
As the birds and trees sing?

Oh, one and only true friend
Don’t let this be the end.

Chrysalis

The absence of light.
Curled and entombed,
You battle a frigid fight.
Full of wonder.
Full of fright.
When will it end?
Soon.

A thousand gashes.
A million burns.
As each night turns,
Winter’s frost
Chisels away and rations
Deep-seated passion.
Revealing the loss.
Revealing the cost.
When will it end?
Soon.

Lack of hydration,
Rich in frustration
And increasing suffocation.
Unable to stretch,
A pinhole of light
Taunts and tickles…
What a sight!
A desire to hatch.
A desire to take flight.
When will it end?
Soon.

Creaking and cracking…
The sound of final demise?
Or maybe a calling…
A warn from ancestors before-
Audible pleas and cries,
To carry on their lore.
To carry on their song.
When will it end?
Soon.

A deafening snap!
Violent incoherence…
Welcoming rays on endless tap.
Deciphered inference…
Standing tall,
Full of color.
Full of resolve.
When will it begin?
With the spread of your wings…
Now.

1,460 Days (And Counting...)

One thousand Four Hundred and Sixty Days.
Exactly one-eighth of my life,
You’ve been away.

What else is there to say?
I’m left here turned over on my side
With nothing to do but curse and cry.

I try to stand and fight
For each happy ray of light.
But without you
It appears only imminent darkness is in sight.

For this life
Has lost meaning.
It’s keeps me up at night.
Wondering if there is more.
Wondering what horrors are still in store.

Then I see your beautiful face,
Even through all the pain and suffering,
A smile, somehow, is left gleaming.

It’s a necessary reminder,
That with a little courage,
We can face anything.
Even through the most difficult trials
Or in times of crippling self-doubt.

It is just another wary bout
We must overcome.
For life is beautiful and full of love
If we choose to be strong
And strive to become
Who we are truly meant to be.

You are the constant reminder,
Day in and day out,
That life does amount.
And I will continue to fight.
Take in every ray of light,
With unrelenting joy,
As I continue to make you proud
And count the days until I get to see you and recite:
Mother, you were right.
You were right.

The Hound that Found Me

I found this Hound!
I always bellowed
With exceptional sound,
Yet no louder
than the howl that quickly followed.

With extraordinary ears
Flopping under her paws,
She possessed a stealthiness
That everyone could hear.
You were the cutest puppy
My lonely, aching eyes ever saw.

I found this hound!
Was persistently told
To each and everyone around.
With previous owners so cold,
How fortunate you were
That you were sold.

Watch out!
Because the tables turn
Oh so quickly!
So fast,
It almost made me sickly!

For this Hound I found,
Who howled every time
I came home
And whimpered each time
I left her alone,
Grew older and older.

She grew strong and wise
And somehow always knew
When and how to console my cries.
With her long, colorful body
She became the world’s best
Cuddle buddy
And, despite my flaws,
My best friend too.

It took many years
With you by my side
To overcome the fears
Chaining me inside.
Deep down,
I always knew
With each droopy-eyed stare
And every slobbery kiss
I was the fortunate one.

Now it’s my time to be strong
While you take your final sleep.
I must admit I was wrong.
You were never the hound I found.

You were the hound that found me.

The Night Sky

The night sky is vast, daunting and devoid of light.

Upon ascension, you shine with an effulgence bright enough to cast away any worries or fears. For you are still here. That much I can decipher with each somber gaze upon the night sky.

Your strength carried you far and carries you even further, still. Now let it guide those who look upon the night sky.

Let it be a guide in times of sadness. Times of grief. Times of wonder. And in times of uncertainty. Let it be a beacon of light during the darkest of hours, for your presence forever glimmers in the night sky.

The night sky may remain ever vast until we reunite. However, it is daunting and devoid of light, no more. And how could it? With your strength. With your light.

For this night and each one thereafter will be brighter than before, because it is you, now, providing the light.

The light in the night sky.