The Blushing Groom

You do not come to this day without fear,

Without trepidation, without doubt or woe, but

You cannot imagine your future without her,

A chasm so deep that you don’t want to know.

 

Who is this siren whose song so enthralls?

Whose wiles have enslaved your resistance to naught?

How have you fallen to her bold enchantment?

Is this the world of perfection you’ve sought?

 

Questions come quickly while answers take flight,

Slaving your soul, an unquenchable quest.

But all doubt is squelched by the lilt of her laughter.

The answer is simple. The answer is yes.

 

She waits in the wing, demure in her beauty.

You stand at the ready, a bundle of nerves.

Trying to catch just a glimpse of her ankle,

Knowing she’s more than you’ll ever deserve.

 

Somewhere there’s music to coax in the background.

Everywhere smiles adorn faces with love.

You at attention, a blush on your cheek.

Waiting. Adoring. Blessed from above.

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Maggot in the Morning

Getting past this point is the

Hardest part of the night for some.

Those mealy-mouthed minions

Sucking away the resplendent nourishment

Given of sleep.

The rejuvenation of darkness,

The silence, the stillness

Recharging the senses to speak.

Waking falls hard when the maggot

Comes calling.

Consciousness fails although consequence knows

It’s responsibility waiting the morning.

The maggot keeps feeding, eating the darkness,

Filling its’ belly to the point of bursting,

Denying the light for as long as it can.

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Freeform

It sprawls without boundaries

Mixing and matching the matchless contortions

Maligning its meaning, the interlocking pieces

That just don’t fit. Turned upside down

So you can’t see the picture,

Can’t match the colors.

Where are the corners in this portrait puzzle?

Show me the borders. I’ll find the rest

As time permits and patience allows,

If patience enters the picture at all.

Who cares if it’s flawed, in need of perfection?

Who holds up the mirror expecting to find

Not a sign of a blemish, a scar, an enigma?

Let washed away tears stain all yesterday’s sorrows.

Tomorrow’s the promise,

The ultimate prize.

It comes without knowing, a constant

Companion. The only thing sure in this free-form existence,

This life, this cathedral.

Today is what brings us to hope for tomorrow.

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Off the Wall

Off the ceiling, off the road,

Off to the left or right.

Bounce a ball off a bald man’s head.

Try to start a fight.

Bleed the blood of a martyr’s cry

Tempt the siren’s beckoning call.

Keep the spirit if the fight

Comes flying off the wall.

 

Heed the cries, absorb the pain,

And let it drain to dry.

Scratch and claw back on the ride,

Unafraid to try.

Beat the odds when challenged to

Step up and take the fall.

Winners are survivors who

Come crashing off the wall.

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Bliss and the Butterfly

So much to love this time of year

When seasons recast and go

Changing their trousseau.

Happy to dwell on sweet harmony’s acre

Where latitudes give them

Permission to do so.

 

Soft meadows await, prepared for your ingress,

The gentle infusion of delicate wings

That flutter and flitter from

Flower to flower, blind to the power

your presence brings.

 

You light on my finger outstretched to the sun

And ponder a moment

Before moving on.

My memory captures the moment in rhyme

And prints a reflection to last for all time.

 

Time simply doesn’t exist in your world

And I would be filled with remorse and remiss

If ever my mind should be so inclined

As ever to lose this moment of bliss.

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Oh, Well

You say life has been giving you lemons.

Oh, well.

Even lemons give lessons to learn.

Recall the old adage about lemonade

And soften your cause for concern.

 

Hard times may haunt you

And taunt you to tears,

But brighter days follow the rain

To help with the healing and leave with the feeling

The payoff is worth all the pain.

 

The grass may seem greener on

The other side.

Oh, well.

Who is to say what is best?

Should I decry envy

And fold up my tent while

My neighbor stands pounding his chest?

 

So many grievances I could espouse

But instead, simply choose to dismiss.

I’ll not permit them to enter my house

Or allow them to steal my bliss.

Oh, well.

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In These Times

Difficult, to say the least,

To face the challenge of these days.

Molting, melting morals make

A mockery of modern ways.

 

Innocence has fallen to

An afterthought of sad cliché

That goes unheard except in words

Of sorrow and malaise.

 

Sorry. I’ll not listen to

This blatant negativity.

I simply can’t accept that this is life

The way it’s meant to be.

 

There is far too much kaleidoscopic

Fascination left to see.

And I’ll not seek the bleak or the morose

In times like these.

 

Head held high to search the sky

And taste the balmy breeze.

I savor just this moment

To feel safe in times like these.

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Meditation as Medication

Would you have me cry in anguish

Over strains and pains and deeds, or

Should I seek some magical elixir

To fulfil my needs?

I have traveled many a mile

With gritted teeth and painted smile

To find myself in need of balm

To rest my weary bones a while.

Sorry, stress, sorry, strain.

Time to place you on the shelf.

I’ve reserved this tranquil time

To ruminate all by myself.

 

Worries have been put on hold here.

Can’t be troubled by their weight.

Sunset eyes disguise all sorrow,

Softly comforted by faith.

Gentle music cradles every burden,

Warmed by empathy,

To breathe a wash of sweet repose

In dulcet strains of harmony.

Stillness teeter near the edge of

Endless possibilities, while

With the darkness comes the light

To heal the blight inside of me.

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Extraordinary Adventures

Waking to a brand-new day,

New adventures to survey,

Fearsome dragons yet to slay,

Armies to defeat. Riding tall upon my steed

Prepared to aid and intercede

To any I detect in need,

My loyalty complete.

 

Miracles are all around,

Treasures that were lost, now found

With providential ease.

And I, and you, and we and they

Are joyful in our work and play

From daylight til the end of day

Just doing what we please.

 

And when the sun has gone to bed

We cozy up to rest our heads.

We count our blessings as we pray

And reminisce about our day of

Extraordinary adventures.

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Unicorns are Real

Myths and fantasy linger through eons

Nourished by wishful imagination

As logic and reason flitter away

Til the seeming impossible

Comes to be real.

 

The legends of yesteryear

Reach beyond memory to

Who knows? Who cares?

Whats, wheres don’t matter.

Passed down.

Passed around 

With each generation.

Changing, expanding yet staying the same.

 

Founded in some far off

Far-fetched node of reality

Faded too much to reveal.

I believe destiny

Harbors the truth, my friend...

 

Unicorns are real.

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Holy Grail

Is it a rumor?

A myth?

A reality?

Did it, could it, does it exist?

Or is it a mind cloud 

Fashioned from fantasy?

Made up and meant to be

Shrewd propaganda.

 

I defer.

I capitulate.

I surrender to really not knowing.

Though I know it’s been sought after

Low these millennia,

None can bear witness

To prove it’s existence.

 

But hope abides limitless

For all true believers

As zealots waive banners 

And cheer with delight.

Doubt is the demon,

And faith is the hero as

The struggle continues

Between wrong and right.

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Pandemic of Hope

After a year

-Almost two- of

Unwelcomed despair over what or

Who might be next,

Haunted and vexed by the uncertainty

Of an Earth wide dilemma

That seems like a hex,

We watch as it wans

Like the sun going down

And survival feels nearer than near,

And faith lifts out hearts like

The phoenix reborn to

Assuage any anguish and fear.

 

After so much time in

A self-imposed lockdown

Tumbling this slippery slope,

It’s time for a positive change in direction.

Let’s start a pandemic of hope.

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Walking in the Woods

I amble along in silent repose

‘Neath this canopy of giants

So grand that their sheltering arms

Reach up to the sky to filter the sun

Into soft laser beams.

 

This chapel, this vestry,

Serene sanctuary to any who seek

The tranquility granted to all who aspire

To worship your grandeur,

To breathe the fresh morning,

Engaging your voice.

 

Your world becomes my world with every footfall

As seeds of enchantment fill every nook.

All are invited. All are made welcome to

Stay a while longer

To savor the bliss.

 

Peace, in this moment can

Never grow weary for

Time is a treasure

More precious than gold.

Deep in the wood let me seek

With full measure the

Prize and the pleasure

Of all that you hold. 

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Coffee Makes Me Happy

I wrote an ode to coffee once.

Oh, it was many years ago.

I loved it then.

I love it now.

Some things just don’t change.

 

We tease and flirt and pick and choose.

Infatuations come and go.

But coffee is my constant consort.

Our destiny seems prearranged.

 

Simple beans ground into a pulp

Release a fragrance so sublime,

Takes me to a special place

So mellow it should be a crime.

 

And when the water, hot and steamy

Filters and decants its measure

I defer to sweet surrender

Savoring my tasty treasure.

 

Yes, I know this trifling ditty

May seem silly, even sappy,

But it goes without rebuke that

Coffee always makes me happy.

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Ripples

Ripples in the water,

So obvious to the naked eye,

Yet, go unheard unless their waves

Land crashing, lapping on the shore.

Untold beauty in their silence,

And peace in their serenity.

I watch until they dissipate

With elegant tranquility.

 

Ripples in the wind that cause

The willows to sway to and fro,

Or fill the sails of vessels

Swiftly sweeping ‘cross the water’s berm.

Lift the Artic tern from pole to pole

In lusty majesty

And gently lull the Autumn air

To send us off to sleep.

 

Ripples in my ravished life,

The ups,

The downs,

The back and forth.

From epicenter to the fringe

I surf the waves in pursuit of bliss.

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I’d Rather Be

I’d rather be making sweet harmony with

Hallie, Scarlet or lovely Charleze.

Unfortunately,

They’re all out of my league

Without any promise of hope or relief.

 

I’d rather be walking through

Fresh autumn woods,

The canopy over me vibrant and deep,

Emblazoned with colors that

Only the seasons can wake

From their sleep.

 

I’d rather be wealthy,

All wishes replete without

Worry of paucity coming my way.

To be benefactor to all those in need

And bring sunshine to

Skies that are gray.

 

I’d rather be happy than any of these.

Though happy exists (to a point)

In each one.

I’d rather be…

Rather be…

Rather “just” be in the moment

With nowhere to run. 

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One Breath at a Time

Life is lived one breath at a time,

First to last,

In and out,

Yin and yang,

Dust to dust.

 

No way to explain the miracle of origin

Except through theory

Or conjecture,

All involving faith and trust.

We just are

And it just is

To thrive throughout the galaxies,

And it all hinges on one breath

From great blue whales

To honeybees.

 

Life is given.

Life is taken.

Life ignoble or sublime.

Life can only be enjoyed

One breath at a time.

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Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid

Believe what you believe to be

Believable and true.

Never let the unbelievers

Foist their fears on you.

You’ve done your own due diligence and

Really thought it through. So,

There’s no need to drink the Kool-Aid

Or accept their point of view.

 

Always an alternative.

Nothing carved in stone.

Choices live and breathe and call

For you and you alone.

And though the consequences often

Cut right to the bone,

Better still to stand up tall

And make the choice your own.

 

You can find true happiness if

You simply think it through.

No need to look to someone else.

It all begins with you.

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Diamonds

A hundred million millennia ‘neath

A trillion tons of force and friction

Just to build your imperfect profusion

To be shaped and shorn by the gem cutter’s sword.

 

You, with your fancy-filled facetted starlight,

You, with your shimmer, your sparkle, your glint,

Maker of dreams with chimerical vision,

Praised for your beauty

And deeply adored.

 

Wrinkle and sprinkle my eyes

With your brilliance.

Wake the desire of this unworthy pawn.

Dazzle the sun with your unspoken luster,

The ultimate case of a true paragon.

 

Leaping the bounds of this world’s vast continuum,

Lost in a distance that no one can see.

Touching the limits we know as eternal,

Never disposed to hyperbole.

Beauty, thy name.

So easy to see.

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My Sweet Catherine

No longer do you walk beside me,

Save for in my memory.

The decades that we shared as one

Live constant in my silent soul.

The margins of this page called life

Are filled with images of you

More precious than my feeble words can

Fancy, render or cajole.

 

Time has claimed the bitter tears

That blinded eyes for days on end

Drifting on an endless sea

Without a rudder or a sail.

Thoughts of normal seem to dwell

Upon some strange and distant shore

As lifelines tossed were brushed and lost

And struggles came to no avail.

 

Now those hardened memories

Are softened by the healer, time,

As in my mind, your hand in mine,

We stroll these pathways yet a while.

I feel the warmth of your embrace,

The sweetness of your gentle kiss,

And in every trinket that you touched

I see your loving smile.

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Colors

All the pigments of the rainbow…

Autumn’s splendor in her leaves…

Radiant wonder of the cosmos

With her painted galaxies.

Dancing dots on crystal waters

Bait a prism from the skies,

And I behold the miracle

Reflecting to my waiting eyes.

 

Miracle of miracles,

The colors I’m allowed to see,

Wonderous iridescence of

Their glorious luminosity

Washed across the spectrum

Braced by gentle undertones

To say, “don’t fear, my precious.

You will never be alone.”

 

So, wield your crayons boldly,

Choose the brightest hues you know

As you face the day with kindness

And you let your colors glow.

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Sharing Happiness

Hugs are harbors

For happiness,

A celebration of

You and me.

The unvarnished proof of

Two caring hearts,

And best of all

They’re free.

 

Spontaneous affection may

Give pause to many souls,

But we who dwell in joy

Are not afraid to lose control.

 

With bliss we kiss a cheery cheek,

We laugh lightheartedly.

We drink a toast with gusto

Dancing with vivacity.

 

Happy rides a river

That can never be impaired,

And joy grows exponentially

Whenever it is shared.

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