"When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses, for art establishes the basic human truths which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment." - John F. Kennedy

Thanks for finding me. This is a fairly random sampling of my poetic rumblings beginning in the mid-70s to present day. Not definitive or complete, just things that struck me again for one reason or another on revisiting. There are a couple of previously published collections here which might be good places to start if you are diving in blind from the precipice.

Try the collections MEET THE BEATS or GLIMMERING RAY DUET (both archived in June 2008 in the menu below right) for starters if you are so inclined...

As of 2016, I will be publishing my song lyrics on a seperate page from the more poetic scribblings here. Pieces that first appeared here and then later were arranged for music will remain here in their original form but may appear edited on the lyric page. Check out the links section for the original song blog.
Showing posts with label distance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label distance. Show all posts

Saturday, May 14, 2016

WITHOUT A NET


Every morning I try to wash away my dreams of you
Before they turn my day to mush and turn my mind to goo
But, you pop into my sleep at times when I least expect you to

Every day, like a month
Every month, like a year
Every moment a lifetime
When you're not here

Every second, a minute
Every minute, a day
Every day lasts forever
Since you went away

Every face a reminder
Every laugh sounds insane
Every trace of our time
Just a fading refrain
             Come back to me just to see
             If all that was, was meant to be
             If all that pain was worth the risk
             If all those promises can just be kissed away
             with yesterday

"tear drops made of lead
like mercury from her strings"   
with a world so quiet and dead
she takes what the night brings

the shadows made of mist
the curtain soaking wet
given time to shake its fist
at a life without a net
  forget about you less each day
            forget about me, you would say
            life goes on, we live our own
            someone sits and waits beside a phone alone
            another day

closing eyes and see a face
familiar but so hard to place
mind plays tricks with inner space
hard to know what to replace

there was a time when tears came quick
and heartache burned and made you sick
it sometimes just forgot to tick
to beat, to feel, to pump, to click


- lyrics: 2/10-24/99
Two lines quoted above from  from C.P. Lee "Road to Free Trade Hall"  p.150} 

Friday, January 27, 2012

Compass Points

NORTH
Magnetic pull
Strong and silent
Comfort in the solace
Of changing seasons.
Ritual
Routine
Stalwart stoicism
Dimpled smile
In the face of daily rigor
Plowing ahead
No instruction
No procrastination
Action
Simplicity
Focus.

SOUTH
Saucy
Sultry moist heat
Pretending to embrace fully
Something guessed at
Yearned for
Glimpsed
Surface grin
Inner fear
Vibrant attachment
To flux
Boundaries fixed
Finagled
Reconfigured
To suit the moment's
Rationale
Exuberant nosedive
Bungee'd back to earth
Loose
Tension.
Dream
Nightmare
Passing eye's blink
Smile's coaxing turn.

EAST
Balanced
Tactile
In her moment
Reaching out
To bring together
Connect
The open space
Between us all
By being herself
Working at it
Living it
Courting it
Seducing self
For others
Now from then
Feeling her power
Deeply
Stirringly
Endearingly
Valiantly.

WEST
A magnificent wreck
of strength
Fortitude
Will
Focus
Motion.
She is not the moon
But the weight of its pull
On the tides.
Mysteriously
Forthright
Deliciously confused
And loving it.
Like me
A conundrum.
Answers not always
Self-applicable
But always
Searching
Seeking
Answers. 

~ written 10/3/06 and published the same day in my blog on MySpace.com/v32unes. Written for four important women in my life through the years. 

Monday, August 1, 2011

SOMETHING TINY

There is a tiny creature
I carry with me
Always
Just beneath my skin.

She moves through me
Of her own volition
Sometimes poised just below my eyebrow
Creating foggy moist heat
Blurring my vision
Pulling my line of sight
Away from whatever
Captured
My attention.

Occasionally, she burrows
Beneath my skin
On the back of my hand
Guiding my touch
Over softer moments
Or forcing action
From my palm
The slapping sound
Waking waves
Of warm ecstatic
Contact.

Knowing
What works.
Giving in
To the near
Stopping
Of time.

Then there are moments
When her magnificent weightlessness
All 97 pounds of her
Pulsates
Beneath my chest
And I want someone to reach
Deep inside of me
Pull her out
For all to see
As I carry her
Over my broad shoulder
To a safer place
Where tears
Embolden
Her freedom
And nourish
My racing spirit
As I kiss them
From her eyes.

~ for Tiny J, dark Tinkerbell ever flitting around my heart.
August 1, 2011, Big Bear City, C

FLIPPING THE HOURGLASS

Once I wrote,

‘Soul mates are a dime a dozen’

She thought I was being cute.

Now, I wait with 47 cents

On the table in front of me

Alone

The phone

Staring a hole in my discontent.

Three hundred pages

Of correspondence later

Pointed texts, endless letters,

Ribald transcriptions of phone sex

Chats

Exposure

Healing

Laughter

Angst

Learning

Shared perspective

Mystic longing

Gathering dust motes

Embellishing

The memory of

Yearning

With unneeded questions

The currency of unrequited

Co-existence.

Someday

Our story will be told

For now

I cling to it

With the fingers

Of a madman

Clawing at it’s radiant

Fuzziness

Desperate

For the sand

To not slip my grasp.

~ for Cami, August 1, 2011 - Big Bear City, 2 a.m.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

DAWN

Standing alone
In my window
The night’s cool condensation
Blurring half my view
My nakedness
In the purple pre-dawn
Reflected in the glass
As my skin
Takes on the morning’s
Tumescent glow
My hand slides
Across and down my belly
Reflecting my pleasure
And my thoughts
Of the next time
I look down upon your waiting form
Warmed like the morning sky
Awaiting
The excitement
Of the day’s unknown
Embrace.

And of them all
You are the person
I am most compelled to wrap my arms around
The exhibiting of love
Enough for you
The action
The act
Knowing that you fill my heart is enough
Though I may yearn for some acknowledgment
That will never come
Some declaration
Some ego stroke not truly needed
Instead luxuriating to see a glimmer
In your eyes
On our faces
Every time our eyes meet
And in the caring and daily compassion
Openness and honesty
We share.
Nonetheless
The showman in me
Dreams of shouting lusty howls
From rooftops…
For now
Let me whisper your name.

- Big Bear City, March 2010 at dawn, for Molly, my beloved EXP and Best Roomie Ever.
I wrote this as I went to bed as dawn broke over the mountain in front of my house. I forgot about it and three weeks later found it on a legal pad under my bed as I cleaned up to head East.