A Proposed Refusal

Circles of darkness under my teardrops
Form a new sadness inside of my heart
The pain of this all consuming fear stops
My lips from forming words but then you start
To play with my mind by freezing your soul
Rejecting my warmth and squeezing my kiss
Into slime: sarcasm spilled from your bowl
Under wires too thin --what a tangled mess!
My voice carries blended air to your ears
While your finger taps the destruction key
Futile attempts to compensate lost years
Lay wrapped in your selfish consistency
Buried in my sleeve I wipe hope away;
You refused to let me need you today

Carry, Softly

My soft hands
                        gliding over
                        your tired soul
                        tenderly and carefully lifting it to sleep
                        I will carry it for you, my love
                        Smoothing away
                        the unruly wrinkles of sorrow
                        and new wounds that have left
                        their reputable bloody disdain
                        I will wash it again, my love
                        Breathing in the cool late night air
                        kissing your warm skin
                        with a silence only given
                        bringing your strength in…
                        I will hold you, my love
                        Listening to your pain and promise
                        from too many miles away
                        without you…
                        near you…                        I will love you forever, my love

Whispers and Ghosts

Release this bird upon the missing snow
He'll take my tears beyond an Eastern light
And dreams of icy, cold and frosted plow
Can't comfort me past midnight's darkened sight
Old whispers from your tongue --thieves of my dreams
Like ghosts they taunt and haunt me to my grave
Though you would say your life was not serene
I see a different portrait of those days
Where dance and romance lead the way for two
Where lovers felt the warmth of spring and fall
Where I was not a vision, hope or view
When you had everything before you saw
That everything could disappear, and love
Can fade to nothing by a slow dissolve

MS Explorer

Fate cuts her ice into this sailing ship
Surreal but sincere moments loom at hand
Passengers with lives are losing their grip
Upon Nature and God's revealing plan
Waters drown the numbness of their souls
Surrendered fear within some rescued heart
Live now so this great story can be told
Of courage and futility; like art
Sinking, drowning to her final demise
Destruction and submission caught on tape
An altered sense of dread before our eyes
As life becomes no more than fading shapes
If ships are made of steel, but can go down
What chance do we all have before we drown?

Frustration

I shake my head at images of you
My heart rejects those words once meant for me
I shake my head at all I thought I knew
And cry the tears that you will never see
I read the poems never meant for us
And weep past all the precious memories
Words raise my interest when you mention lust
Then slow my breathing down to reverie
My heartache needs a break from slanted hope
I take a walk along the darkened street
Feeling a lump growing inside my throat
I wander contemplating my defeat
Now back inside a lonely home past ten
Climbing the stairs, I shake my head again

Sickness

I'll wipe away the fever from your head
Pull up the blanket closer to your chin
I'll let the blinds bring sunlight to your bed
Quiet all sounds around so you can mend
I'll watch you toss and turn within your sleep
And hush a restful calm into your ears
Rush out to soothe the baby when he weeps
So you will not be woken by his tears
I'll wipe away the illness from your heart
So you can breathe and feel like you again
It's possible to feel while we're apart
A healing touch from me upon your skin
But when the illness in your soul takes flight
I'm still sick from the memories of our fight

Tenderness Lost

Sing my broken heart
Faded memories find me
Return to cold nights