-Most poems are untitled. Individual poems terminate with a  ” – “

Poems of My Ocean

You are an ocean

A girl whose depths I dive to

Down to the very bottom

If it costs me my life,

If it costs me my breaths

I continue to plunge

And feel my pulse from pressures

As the weight of the water

Collapses my lungs

With air in my chest

Like gold in sunken treasure

Falling fast and silent

Sinking calm and deep

–

In this ocean

Is there a bottom?

Where I can scatter

And settle with the sand

In this cool and quiet place

Forever down below

Away from land to be here

Comfortable and at peace

To call this place my home?

–

Your pale skin

Glows in the moonlight

A complexion

Soft and fair

Beautiful as you lie there

With open eyes inviting me

To an ocean you don’t know is there

And so I catch you unaware

As you grab me

Vulnerable and looking

Open hearted and wondering

Asking me why I stare

–
Machinegun Hands

 Touching bullets and triggers

Pulling metal tempered steel

With palms together

Clutching fingers

Swollen hands

Dry scraped and scarred

And smoothed back again true

They would rather be soft and un-callused

Warm and smooth

Since that is more honest.

Having gripped cold

With frost that flew

As lightning

Back to life

Without holding my breath

Wielding weapons

From arm to barrel gone

With the sun’s reflection

Off the metal gleam

And into my eyes

That is enough

Being better at love:

I’ll always prefer touching a woman

To touching a machine

–

Riding the Tempest of Inspiration

There are these moments

Where a feeling storms your being

And to write

Works through you.

It is a moment

Where conditions are perfect

(Don’t ask me the mystery of these conditions,

I don’t know their secrets).

These are the times

Where inspiration possesses

And expressing

Becomes the easiest thing,

One merely starts doing it

And something higher

Moves through you.

At these times

Give in and ride the storm

Express while your possessed

Otherwise it wont be the same

When you return to it later.

–

Open Break

What is a chance taking

Worth the life

For a love worth making

When of the heart

To be open

Can’t occur

Without it breaking?

–

The Integral

This is an integral

Step from nowhere

To the unknown

But into position

This condition of comfort

Sitting here alone

With my computer

Against my bed

Floor and window light

Presiding over

Me allowing myself

To put things in order

Out of random enjoyments

Pulling together

For tranquility

Mostly matters

In this state of relaxation

Letting go

Of reliability forever

Having sat here

Being what I feel

Knowing

Must be the answer

–

For a Girl

I have a desire

Involving more

Than you choosing me

Instead

Remain the girl you were

When we fell in love

It’s the girl I remember

The girl I still see

–

Your Inner Child

The inner child

Has a place

Set apart

Where far but close

And near the heart

Where joy is the source

But obligations confused

Forced to burden

And to lose spontaneity

Only to be found

And rescued set free

To go forth

For living again

Given permission

To play once more

Though this now involves life

Not losing a thing

–

When She Couldn’t Sleep

Up

At some point

In the middle of the night

To walk to your place

Down a path paved dark

Bathed in glow from rain and streetlight,

To be with you

And lie together til morning;

My legs to get there

Move ahead of me

To get to you quicker,

I notice my spirit

Leave my body

Such force of energy

With eyes lofted high

To the heavens

And sensation

Coursing my veins

Through me to the moon

Perplexed by my own smile

–

Love –

Make yourself vulnerable

Let go of fear

Give yourself fully

–

Never had things been

More at peace

When all the noise

Of day had ceased

And all the people

Were fast asleep

As I left the home

Of the girl to whom I love

The snow fell calmly

From above

As I was uncertain

Of what was to come

But the snow gave life

To trees that died

A sign of reason

While summer hides

And side to side

The lights shifted

Far down runways of white

And through the silence

Walked a lively spirit

And another

Who shined the night

–

You lie there asleep

Calm and at peace

With the semblance of someone resting far and away

In fields of grass and pasture;

Surrounded by flowers,

The scent of which

Create an aura,

Mixed with the spirit of things,

The essence of life,

And blue skies above –

There is peace in your soul

Though you’re not aware,

I’m quite certain I feel it

Whenever I sleep with you.

–

I went looking to stare

Into my eyes

Pause.

I could not see,

I became lost,

But I could notice

Something in the eyes of others:

If I saw light

I knew the hour

Of time within

And a power beautiful;

If the eyes seemed restless

I could tell they were searching

Not hopelessly,

But consciously for life;

If there were tears

Then fears were being confronted,

That the inner world was being watered

As the rising sun shone to dry it;

If the eyes were lowered

Then sensitivity weigh them down,

But only to the ground of birth

Where everything first grows.

I saw in the faces

Through reverberation looking in

That I could not see my own eyes for a reason

That there was nothing for me to view,

Not for anyone

That could not be seen

But by the soul through site of others

–

What is this desire

To feel things deeply

Call it greed

A kind of propulsion

Felt pushing

Appreciating what’s before

But wanting more

Not from dissatisfaction

But from appreciation

The beautiful things before me

Inviting me in

Can I go no deeper?

Beckoning me to talk

Can I speak any louder?

Asking me to be open

Can I get any closer?

–

I gave myself permission

To hurt and feel pain

It was a difficult task

Giving in

Since I thought it was weakness

To have emotions

Feeling wounded

The pangs of the world

Being stung.

But my body thanked me

And said it had been asking for acknowledgment

As a friend

To be there

Without being pushed aside

It said it was wondering

And thinking

Why it had to hide

Being a part of me

Like a lamp to a bedside

But now it’s there

And has a place

It breathes and lives

And comforts

And is

–

The mountains speak from behind clouds

But they hide their names

They show off

But act out in desperation

They play

Acting on instinct

Expressed out of frustration

They plead

The river runs its course

Flowing anxiously

Trying to dry up

And end up somewhere else

Cutting through the banks

Pressing for more control

To torrent

But smooth it goes

The trees bare the brunt

With wisdom in their limbs

Noble sages

Knowing the rich will go

Conscious of their lives hanging in the balance

Reassuring the mountains

They will outlast these people

The river is running away

Off to a new home

The mountains have stayed

And the trees chose here to sway

All three feel the presence

The aura that wealth brings

For the people living here

Materially grasping

And invested in themselves

Know what they think of nature

But don’t care what nature thinks of them

–

This morning was yesterday

Where I was under the spell of a few blues

In front of this crowd

Here we stand

Under the tree

Like a hand

We’re up so high

And we slip away

Will we find the time to jump?

To cross the river

Hesitate

And slip away

Wonder

But not worry

The lighter slips away

We walk

And it’s the possibility of not being true

Some things slip away

And someone isn’t here

–

The painful

And the absurd

The heartfelt

And the trying

Sorrow to see you

And the image elusive

To the end

Like a picture

That does nothing but burn

Since without touch

We’re just paper;

A book

With only pages to turn

–

I was there before I felt it

Aware before I knew it

Grabbed it before I touched it

And heard it before I could listen

Tantamount to crossing

An outburst heartfelt and mourning

Spoken to and left with

Abandonment and given

–

Can you feel the open meadow

Without seeing it

Know it lies

Feel it break out

In exultance

Without the use of eyes?

Do you have a sense

For the great expanse

That goes without a sound

Feet to earth not planted

In hovering

Still connected to the ground?

I have it not

For I have it still

The sky to field as cover

Peeling light

Burst and blue

To tear the clouds asunder

–

Caught in thought

Amidst happenings repose

Between the expected

And what actually occurred

One goes mad in reconcile

Overcome by woes

Attempting a within

To the heart of the past

That it both follows and abandons us

–

Can I remember taking that first step

To oblivion

On the path

Towards understanding

Where the look back

Means moving forward

With the anticipation of looking ahead

There is uncertainty

An attack of feeling

That truth is an idea absurd

A concept

No meaning

Is one to keep on walking

With despair

Having started

Aware of it all?

–

Once in a life

To be thankful

For being born

And the blessings it imparts

Looming over existence

Around it like stars

Not always seen

Amongst the day lit sky

Not always seen

Where the sky is vast

And the night outshines

–

One could spend

Their whole existence

By a waterfall

Listening to the cascade

Perpetually in motion

Without pause

And life,

Not a second wasted.

One could elapse

A set of breaths

By a rose

Staring for perfection

In stranded sight

Without cause

For life,

Nothing unaccomplished.

One could gather

A passion for memory

With the swell of loss

Regretting relationships

Left untouched

Without worth

And strife,

Something to be overcome.

One could hope

To the point of prevention

In anguish

Believing the fates

Forever with occupation

Against will

And choice,

Nothing to be chosen.

One could despair

At the ignorance of others

Watching in assurance

Their lives spent knowing

With certainty

Against symptoms

And voice,

Ever a muted song.

One could do nothing

Except think-

What that would assuredly mean?

To analyze

Instead of live

Yet with the countenance

That there is no ending,

Was not a presence,

Can’t be gained,

And proof?

Nothing to be believed.

–

Does light move about me

Star eyed?

Wondering?

Can I ask it why

If there is

What it’s not

How it can’t

And who it lost?

Were it to move,

Would it not die

And cry;

Cry as it thought

About passion

About love,

And breathe in gasping

Surrendering to response

With fortune cast off embracing?

Only tell me her name

As it to speak

Pray that it talks

And leave it be so

–

Sunrise

With a line of blue

Infinitely pulled

In temporary passing

Return again burnt

With new dawn caressing

Unwrapped

With the breeze in guide

Gently advancing

Through sultry persuasion

Fully abreast

Completely set forth

As the pleating rupture ensues

–

In sudden astonishment

Parts of our body

Become known

As raindrops fall

Welcoming storm

On the unexpected stroll

The unsuspecting narcissism

By nature

Not of soul

A man’s greatness

Is his possibility

To tread

Not lightly

Nor in step

Since probability

Is not his friend

But a competitor for his life