The Road Back to You

Though I should trek a million miles,

Gathering a million smiles

From strangers met along the way,

Still, I hunger for the day

 

When once again I touch your face

Clearing every fearful trace

Of doubt that I would soon be home

No matter how far I may roam.

 

You're the sunshine in my day

Chasing every cloud away and

Filling up my heart with glee,

Giving love so willingly.

 

Any wonder my heart sings

With joy for all the love you bring.

And so, with swiftness I pursue

To road that leads me back to you.

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Spring Reborn

The morning sun is warmer now.

It burns the chill of evening

Far more quickly to a level

That human flesh may tolerate,

Causing man to celebrate

The rebirth of his humble world

Rekindling the spirit that

For months lay cold and desolate.

 

Robins greet the morning dew

As daffodils reach for the sun.

Lilacs speak a fragrance

Unlike any other on this earth.

And I am left to ponder

All the wonders as I wander

Bearing witness to the miracle

Of newness, of rebirth.

 

Levels of emotion peak,

And love is in the springtime air as

Hope revives its' flourish

And anticipation grows.

Spring reborn inside our hearts

Is more than just a season.

Just where it may lead us,

No one knows.

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Diabolical

It must have been a demon who

Made up this game and named it love.

All the crafted twists and turns

As subtle innuendo burns

 

Life's incense slowing smoldering

And you're left standing, shouldering

The weight of the entire world,

Another lesson sadly learned.

 

The field is never level, without

Bevel or uncertainty,

And we are left to ponder

As we wander across open seas.

 

It's all so diabolical

Steeped in psychological

Mind games between physical

Opponents biological.

 

Crushing blows than weaken will,

Broken egos slow to heal,

As curtains open to reveal

Emotions we're not meant to feel.

 

Though obstacles block every mile

Still the journey is worthwhile.

And we make it willingly,

For that's the way it's meant to be.

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Balancing Act

Life's great see-saw…

Love commands the ups, the downs,

The turn arounds,

The outstretching hands with offerings,

The thrill that every new day brings.

The joy that every young heart sings,

Filled with wild imaginings

Of bold exhilaration as they

Blindly reach to grab the ring.

 

Foolish hearts secomb to pain

When disappointment causes rain to

Fall with vigor and disdain

And living becomes muddled.

Love can be a painful thing

When hearts insist on clinging to

A hopeless situation as

The mind becomes befuddled.

 

Seesaws tilt with ups and downs,

Counter-weights and balances.

Filled with promise,

Filled with thrills,

But also filled with challenges.

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Scream Softly

He makes you want to scream sometimes,

Doesn't he, girls?

Makes you want to place diminutive hands

Around his scraggy neck and squeeze

And shake some common sense into

That yard-thick concrete head.

 

No one ever said that it would

Always be so peachy keen.

That's why they sneak the ominous phrase

"For better or worse" into your vows.

And then they make you promise,

With the foresight of the ages,

To put up with his foolishness

Until one of you is dead.

 

But you took the vow so willingly,

And you mean to keep your pledge.  So,

Scream softly from the mountain's peak

As you approach the edge.

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The Four Seasons

In early spring when love is new

And hearts are light and troubles few,

We see the world in quick review

And dream of all we've yet to do.

 

The summertime is meant for play.

Sun and fun fill every day.

Worries can't get in the way

And rules are meant to disobey.

 

Autumn's harvest comes and goes.

Dawn to dusk the burden grows.

Where it may lead us, no one knows.

Still the labor is a rose.

 

A rose that stands the winter chill

To bloom defiantly until

The bitter winter winds are still

And peaks of snow dance on the hill.

 

Seasons come and seasons go

And who are we to think we know.

But love survives each bitter blow

From springtime bloom to winter snow.

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Blame the Creator

Breaking up, as they say, is hard.

No one has ever done it well.

No one has written a 'How To' book

About ending relationships once they are done.

 

No one's devised a scoring system to

Tell who's ahead and who didn't try.

Who was to blame for letting it happen?

Who's the big loser? Who won?

 

Truth is, in break-ups, everyone loses.

It's been that way since time began.

Blame the creator for making us different,

For drawing the line between woman and man.

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Lonesome Souls

Sing yet another mournful song for

The lonesome souls in search of love.

Lift up your voices to make them feel

A little less naked and alone.

 

Be their redemption, a warm consolation,

Although a poor substitute for the real thing.

Moments of respite from cold desolation

Whispering softly a warm breath of spring.

 

Pity the plight of the lonesome souls,

Roaming this world never knowing the joy

Of sharing a heart, of building a dream,

Of being the light of the one you adore.

 

They never know the exhilaration

The sheer ecstasy of a love that is new.

High as a kite flying over the rainbow,

Reaching with gusto to open the door.

 

Sing them your song to make them feel better,

Although reality taunts and cajoles.

All of us dwell just a heartbeat away

From living the lives of the lonesome souls.

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Walk Away Tall

Now that it's over,

As you say it's over,

Little is left to say or do.

Watching a dream disappear

In an instant,

Hope is a distant reminder of you.

There was a time when

I felt deep inside that

We were forever, you and I.

But no one can see how

The future evolves

Or know with assurance love will survive.

Only one thing is

Left for the doing,

The unwanted kiss of goodbye.

I'll walk away tall without

Looking back so you won't see

The tear in my eye.

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Bait and Switch

You drew me in, tempted and teased me

To think that our passion

Would be just one night.

I was impressed, as the evening grew longer.

You clung to virtue

As I held you tight.

Nothing, I thought would have given me pleasure

More than to be with you

Flesh unto skin.

But you had a different mission that evening,

Mountains of conquest,

Battles to win.

Men on the prowl are blinded by passion

Thinking the ladies will

Fall for their pitch.

But don't underestimate the wiles of a woman

In playing the old game of

Bait and switch.

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Crossing Continents

I'm coming home after so long away from you,

Back to your arms and the love they enfold.

So far away has my sojourning taken me,

Far beyond continents searching for gold.

 

God creates fools just as surely as geniuses,

Watches them dance as he pulls on the strings.

Then one day you wake to the sounds of reality,

Breaking with clarity as your heart grows wings.

 

It's not too late for our love to survive

Nourished in sunlight, bathed in its glow.

You are the wisdom for which I've been searching,

Much more than I ever needed to know.

 

Distance apart isn't distance away from you.

You're in my heart and you know that it's true.

Nothing on earth can keep me away.

I would cross continents to get back to you.

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Row 23, Window Seat

Five miles up, above the clouds,

The world has a different perspective as I

Swiftly ride on a cushion of balmy air

Over mountains and rivers, valleys and fields.

 

Rushing back to your waiting arms,

Your ruby lips, your honey hair,

My thoughts adrift roll the minutes to

Hours as countryside hurriedly passes below.

 

Someone engages polite conversation

Attempting to speed up the passage of time,

But I prove to be quite inept as a listener

Lost in a mindset of home and you.

 

Constantly seeking your face in the clouds,

Watching for shapes that remind me of you,

Placing my trust in a guardian angel to

Bring me back swiftly and safely home.

 

Fate is the keeper of many a secret

And trust is a champion who knows no defeat.

I travel safe on the wings of your love

In row twenty-three, window seat.

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Who Knew?

Who knew…

          That you would be the one,

          The only one to steal my heart away.

          Breaking every rule established

          By polite society.

It's true…

          That I was waiting for

          A miracle to come along

          And sweep me off my feet,

          To carry me to ecstasy.

Adieu…

          To old memories of

          What love was supposed to be.

          No clue is what I possess

          As you confess your soul.

All new…

          Are these feelings that you

          Stir in me with every breath.

          The sudden, certain knowledge that

          Your love is my true goal.

Who Knew?

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The Art of Dating

No one really knows the

Art of dating anymore.  It was

Lost sometime back in the 60's

Between doo-wop and the Rolling Stones.

 

The free-love movement desecrated

All regard for proper form,

Tearing down the barriers and

Clearing out restrictive zones.

 

Nowadays the dating game

Is played upon a different court.

Rules relaxed down to the point

Where no rules need apply.

 

Sleazy, darkened, noise-filled clubs

Replacing Mother's parlor.

Rooms where desperation dwells

And morals go to die.

 

Tricks devised to bed, not wed,

Are etched on bathroom walls,

As lurkers, losers, louts and creeps

Stalk freely through the halls.

 

And no one really knows the rules.

They're made up as they go along.

The art of dating gone for good,

A dirge it's dying song.

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Full Court Pressure

Brace yourself, for here it comes.

Time for a little one on one.

A crazy quilt of random pattern

Meant to fool, create diversion,

 

Quickly sneaking past defenses,

Testing all reflex reactions

Leaping high into the air to

Crash the nets and score the goal.

 

Persisting with tenacity,

Boldly questioning endurance,

Trying hard to wear your will

Down to a point where I can win

 

Your favor in the game of love.

You taunt and tease and fan the flame,

As I keep up the full court pressure

Hoping you will do the same.

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Sometimes a Good Thing

Martha Stewart, eat your heart out,

Always telling me about the simple,

Finer things in life that make it

Just a little more enjoyable,

 

A little less deplorable and

Self-fulfilling if my mind and

Hands are willing to find the

Slightest bit of creativity employable.

 

No more waiting in the wings

To be a players' understudy,

No more watching QVC to

Order someone else's craft,

 

I am out to make my own,

Claim my prize in a lover's game,

Striking out like Tom and Huck to

Float down stream on a hand-made raft.

 

What bold adventure, this journey called love,

To fly up to Heaven on gossamer wings.

Martha, my dear, you can't build love by hand,

But sometimes it truly is a good thing.

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A Constant Vigil

Always watching, standing guard

Against the common criminal

Whose goal it is to pilfer hearts

And use them for a time,

Then run away with disillusioned

Disappointment when they find

Your true love lingers for another

As you fall victim to their crime.

Looking out beyond the gates

With eyes alert and jaw set tight,

I stay my keep and search horizons

From my station high above

Making every effort in

The maelstrom of living

To keep a constant vigil

From the watchtower of love.

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Where Earth Ends and Heaven Begins

We met on a Saturday,

A chilled November evening

When the heat inside was

Magnified by bodies jumping,

 

Dancing to the rhythm from

A jukebox playing in the corner of the hall,

Lively jaunting melodies

Kept filling up the air.

 

You were sad when first we met,

Looking for a shoulder you could

Lean upon, needing someone

To restore your faith in love.

 

I was wide-eyed, filled with

Expectation, just a bumpkin

From the country with an

Empty open heart to fill.

 

We had just one dance that night;

Threw all caution to the winds.

I held you in forever…

Where earth ends and Heaven begins.

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Forever

How long does forever last?

I know what I believe is true.

It started on the day we met,

The day I started loving you.

It lingers in the evening breeze,

Reflected in your smiling face,

Like the interlocking pattern

Woven into finest lace.

It casts an evening shadow

But the darkness never falls.

It waits a final passage

But the reaper never calls.

Forever…you and I together

Till poems forget to rhyme.

Forever lies within your eyes.

It is no measurement of time.

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Chambers in the Heart

We are probing, you and I

In an unfamiliar land

Where wishes tumble to the ground

As listless falling autumn leaves,

Where hope runs highest early on

And expectation generates

A spectrum of emotions

That a thriving foolish heart believes

 

We are children playing hard

To understand a grownup game,

Hidden in a land so strange,

Too often seeming worlds apart.

Seeking wisdom with comparison,

Hoping love will find our waiting

Empty cornucopia

To fill our chambers in the heart.

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Just Once…

Just once…

          If I could see your face again

          Feel your warm embrace and then

          Never let you go I know,

          It could be like it was when

You held me in your loving heart,

Vowed that we would never part

As we pledged our love to grow,

But I wasn't very smart.

Just once…

          You were true as true could be

          Saved your love for only me.

          I went sowing one last seed

          While you were waiting patiently.

          How could I have been so cruel?

          Set to break a lover's rule

          With a hurtful wicked deed.

          Now I feel like such a fool

          I never meant to make you cry,

          Can't present an alibi

          Can we give it one more try?

Just once…

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Bliss

Bliss,

This.

You,

Me.

We

Be

Heart

Free

To agree

Or disagree to

A degree on

All we see.

Lovingly

Tenderly

Knowingly

You hold the key.

Thankfully on

Bended knee,

I share with you,

You give to me

This

Bliss.

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Promises Made/Promises Kept

We stood before the altar and

Made promises to one another,

Vowed our love would always be,

A pledge made before everyone.

You and me forever in an

Ever-changing mixed-up world,

Looking forward to the future,

Looking back on how we've grown.

Reveling in times of plenty

When our voices laughed out loud,

Comforting each other,

Sharing shoulders as we sadly wept.

Healing one another with

A comfort only lovers share

Making good on promises we made

With promises we've kept.

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Heart Song

Lifting my eyes to you,

Knowing your heart is true,

Finding a world so new

There in your heart.

See how the time has shown

How much our love has grown.

You'll never be alone.

We'll never be apart.

 

The heavens above declared

Their desire for you.

Blinding your eyes

So you couldn't see.

But fate took your hand

And gave you a shining star

To carry you safe

And bring you to me.

You've kindled my desires

Setting a world of fires.

You're all my heart requires

Right from the start.

Say that you want me too,

And that your love is true.

Home holds a place for you

Here in my heart.

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Walk With Me

Walk with me as all the trials

Of this weathered world beat down

Upon our naked supple flesh to test

The strength of our resolve.

 

Help me see the light as we

Stroll hand in hand along the sandy

Beaches watching sunrise/sunset,

Silent as the world revolves.

 

Stay with me.  Be my passion.

Be my heaven here on earth.

Sharing joy as well as sorrow

Just the way love's meant to be.

Cherishing our time together,

Locking treasures in our hearts,

From forever 'til forever

Take my hand and walk with me.

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Tearing Down the Wall

I spent a lifetime building up a wall,

Reinforcing, so afraid to fall into

The endless chasm filled with life's temptations,

Then you thrilled me with anticipation

And the walls came down.

The walls came down.

 

All the hurt I felt before this moment

All the pain, the anguish and the torment

Disappeared the minute that I met you

Now I know I never will regret

That the walls came down.

The walls came down.

You must believe that I'm

Ready to answer your call

You've never needed a hammer

To break down this wall.

Cheek to cheek we're dancing in the clearing.

I can't believe all the music that we're hearing.

All the stones are lying at our feet now

Passion's senses turning up the heat

Since the walls came down.

The walls came down.

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Nothing Ever Dies

The taking always the painful part,

The tugging and tearing pulls at the heart

Like a large bull elephant straining at chains

'Til he gains his freedom from torture and pain.

 

But 'Packy' has secrets unable to share,

He runs straight away without e'er looking back.

For as surely as one door closes in time,

Another one opens ahead and on track.

 

As the train races forward with uncanny ease,

Watchful and hopeful and eager to please,

The wind sweeping oceans of air beneath wings

'Til the uplifting current tickles and teases

 

The lifeblood to stir in another dimension.

Craving the fresh fettle of a new start.

Boundless emotions, too many to mention,

Falling like autumn leaves, filling the heart.

 

Waking in Neverland, fresh as the daisies

Free from the yolk of unburdensome lies.

New to a world and awake with unknowing,

Safe and assured

Nothing ever dies.

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Weep for Love

Have you the strength to admit that it's over?

Have you the fortitude to say goodbye

When the day is done with no battles won?

Raking your sleeve across tearful eyes,

Cursing the devil who brought you to here

And made you the fool with that silly chapeau,

Stood you before God and everyone else,

Showing the world just how little you know.

 

Everyone is made the fool one time or another,

It's the rule, or maybe merely happenstance,

The clearly crazy consequence for those who

Listen to the muse as they dash onto

The floor to dance.

 

Brave souls eager for the chance to gain the prize

Of happiness, not too proud to second guess,

Far too quick to issue tests as

Choices slip from bad to worse and

Settling becomes the quest.

True love is a gift of fate which

Fits the hand like a silken glove.

Once discovered and secured

One need never weep for love.

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As Long as You're Alright

I'll be fine.  It makes no matter

The pinpricks a suffering heart may conceal.

Going down slowly, first once, then

Twice, but never thrice as the waters congeal

To hold up this form, though the spirit may wan

Like a lingering sunset o'er ocean's expanse.

There are not villains in this final episode,

Simply the irony of circumstance.

 

We held such hope in our humble beginning,

Seemed that forever was so far away.

But who could have known, who would have guessed

That forever would be little more than a day.

 

We were both victims of folly's desire

Holding our candles aloft in the night.

And I shall be counted among the survivors

As long as I know that you are all right.

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Taking on the Beast

It crawls through the night of the great

Forest floor hiding its colors

So none can reveal,

Blending its shade in the

Evergreen folds 'til the shadows

Conceal every cavernous crease.

Veiled as it is in its labyrinth

Secrecy, void of all consciousness

Eager to steal

Every fiber of decency left to

The mortal soul, filling its fable,

Becoming the beast.

 

I follow down to the pitch

Of its battlefield, eager to

Conquer your favor to win.

Knowing that victory helps to

Secure a seat at your table,

A taste of your feast.

The battle unending is worth

All its suffering knowing

The bounty which waits at its pause,

And I struggle freely with

You as my treasure. Gladly lamenting

To take on the beast.

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The Face of a Child

Heartstrings grow longer,

Emotions run stronger,

Passing along every Saturday smile.

Feeding the hunger,

Singing a song or a

Nursery rhyme pulled from a forgotten file.

Gender's no matter,

Nor thinner, nor fatter,

The clatter and chattering need not make sense.

The needed response in the

Wide-eyes of wonder contain

All the joy of required recompense.

The innocence born to

The nature of humans,

The sweet gentle creed

Of the meek and the mild,

The awe and the wonder

Of worlds undiscovered,

Uniquely in place

In the face of a child.

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The Blessed

If they who have suffered are truly blessed,

Then mine is lifetime beyond all reproach.

The circus calliope mocks its refrain

Attempting in vain to cover the hoax born in

Happier times before you went away,

Before all the skies became brooding and gray,

Before life became such a trivial wisp

Of smoke knowing nothing of night and day.

 

Yes, it's true my lament has a sadness avoid

Of all gladness the sane world holds dearly in store.

But hope is my neighbor, my roommate, companion

And guide who searches behind every door.

And though I am skeptical, slow to

Accept my litmus example put to the test,

I can't play the martyr or run the risk

Of missing the chance to be truly blessed.

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Early One Morning

Early one morning,

Awake before dawning,

I rise with a knowing

Of missing you.

Broken, downhearted,

Meager reflection of me

Since we parted

And started anew.

 

You are my universe,

Not just the center,

But every galaxy

Spinning in space

From corner to corner

With lines infinitum

Unable to capture

The joy in your face.

 

I have no choice.

My motive is driven.

The imminent fate

Of my faithful return

Is written in stone

On the mountains of time,

Wiser and older,

And eager to learn.

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The Big Thrill

I recall that special feeling

Of recoiled anticipation,

Sitting poised and ready

High atop the snow-capped hill.

The rush of spilled adrenaline,

The gush of gusting wind which

Hurried past as I went flying

To the bottom.  What a thrill

It gave a young and foolish heart

To know a danger quickly born

Of pure delight, turned by flight to

Pure uncensored ecstasy.

Knowing at that moment that

No matter what the future held,

Nothing could be better.  It's as

Good as life was meant to be.

 

Oh!  The joy of being wrong.  For

Of all the memories I recall,

To know the sweetness of your touch

Is the greatest thrill of all.

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