[size=150]Striding by an ancient sea
I imitate the surf at play
And leave with every careless step
An image of my passing way.
Every here and every there
I stop and kneel over the sand
And build high walls to fight the tide
With sweaty brow and steady hands.
When twilight comes before the night
I turn to gaze on where I’ve been
On all the things I touched and built
And all the things I thought I’d seen.
There before my straining eyes
In the final nightfall’s sweet delight
The evening tide and churning waves
Erase all traces of my passing way.[/size]
[size=59]CA 2003-12-11[/size]
[size=150]
Do you think of me now that you are lost in the labyrinth?
Do you remember how I offered you a life in the light?
But you turned from me laughing at the mere suggestion
And you dove into the darkness of that subterranean world
Thinking it was a way to the sun
I have remained vigilant, I have listened at the door; waiting
But no sound of you has reached me; you are truly lost.[/size]
[size=59] CA [1999][/size]
[size=150]There is no tomorrow
There is only today
So leave back your longing
And come out to play
The spring is wild blooming
The grass is all lush
And your body is yearning
For something to say
See the sun shinning
The day is still young
So forget about hiding
Embrace all that may
The earth is a playground
The world is a stage
The truth is still forming
In your hands
…It is clay.[/size]
[size=59]2003-09-30[/size]
[size=150]Storm the bastions with steel and fire
Let blood flow to quench desire
Turn green fields into red
That you were weak,
Let it never be said.
Stand up straight upon your feet
Dispel the chill with inner heat
Raise your voice against the night
Shatter the silence
Scream and fight.
Ascend the steeple upon the spire
Cast your gaze to what is higher
Hate the lies you’ve been fed
Awaken your soul,
From its restful bed.
Breech the walls and silence the choir
Cast all idols into the fire
Take the world into your head
Learn to live
Before you’re dead.[/size]
[size=59] CA[/size]
[size=150]Weeping willow share your sorrow
Add your shadow to my night
So when I wake upon the morrow
I do not dread the noonday light
Weeping willow share your mourning
Cleans me with your leafy tears
Wash away my tired sorrows
Wipe away my many fears[/size]
[size=59] CA [2002][/size]
[size=150]That which I think,
I am
That which I believe,
I see
Beneath shaded wood I walk
Believing I am free
Sounds of hope within my head
My words are not enough
I’ve pained and gasped and bled
And collected worthless stuff[/size]
[size=59] June 2001[/size]
[size=150]Forgive my incessant rush;
My gait has gathered a sense of urgency
From the pathways I once strolled through,
With unfazed gaiety
And the beating of my heart
Echoes like a timepiece within my chest.
Life rests beyond the rigidity of my skin
And time flows within my veins.
Forgive my incessant doubt;
My thought has constructed a sense of certainty
From the perceptions I once indulged in,
With unyielding curiosity
And the musings of my mind
Reverberate like a drum within my skull.
Reality rests beyond the edges of my gaze
And reason flows within my veins.
Forgive my incessant reach;
My need has grasped a sense of hunger
From the ideals I once held so dearly,
With unruffled gravity
And the crying of my soul
Rings like a bell within my stomach.
Power rests beyond the weakness of my hand
And blood flows within my veins. [/size]
[size=59]2004-09-28[/size]
[size=150]I am not a child of a “lesser godâ€; I am not a condemned infidel destined to pay for his unbelieving insolence by grovelling at the feet of faith; I am a symbol of my creators need, a humble soldier in a holy army, a hopeful incarnation of sacred secret dreams.
Here I stand weak but unyielding, imperfect but proud, scared but brave.
It is my ideal that makes me so; it is my hopes and dreams that make me more.
My gods have earned their peak; they’ve proven themselves in battles against Titans and they do not just hold dominion over the creations in their own imaginings.
I am not a child of a “lesser godâ€; my gods do not promise me summits, if I were to just lie down and die in the mud. I must earn my heights, I must pay for my ascension with blood, sweat and tears, and I must prove myself as a worthy receiver for their kindness.
Until then it is their scorn that I feel. They fling lightning against me and laugh as I scramble to escape. Their cruelty washes over me like a flame that burns away excess fat and unwanted prejudices; I am burned hard by their indifference as I climb towards them.
These Olympian slopes speak of my recompense; they bear witness to my struggle.
These rocks are soiled with my flesh; one can chart my course using the blood trail I leave behind me.
I am tempted to sit and surrender to my body’s need; every molecule within me screams for comfort, for rest, for an end to this climb but I will not allow myself to give in to fear and discomfort as most others have. I will not sit and excuse myself using childish illusions and adult delusions; I will be man.
The summit calls to me.
Those beneath me, dance unknowingly at the foothills; they cast insults and mock me in my insolence, to have even considered such an ambition, they build armour with their insecurities and weapons with their sense of inferiority and seek to entice me back down to their meaningless merriment, in order to justify their own inability to even attempt such a climb.
They do not comprehend my descriptions of the views from up here. How could they?
For them the world is flat and the horizons distant and hazy; mountains obstacles to be levelled into dust and used to build temples to their submission.
But I see panoramas that lift my soul. I breathe winds that cleanse my lungs. I feel sunlight upon my face and the rapture of being in my chest.
Limits are not flames to be avoided. Limits are destinations to be reached for.
I will not exist in the middle of my ability and search for the easy route that does not challenge my strengths.
It is in search of whom I am that I climb towards and this can only be judged by reaching my limits and wanting to go beyond them, above them; to stretch them into new positions, to redefine myself and give nobility to the human spirit.
I am not a child of a ‘lesser god’; I am a human being. [/size]
[size=59]CA 2003[/size]
[size=150]Did you see me there,
Walking amongst the remnants of my past?
New occupants desecrate the places I called mine, now
And with their incessant talk
They drown-out the echoes of an old song.
Did you hear me there,
Reminiscing about the heroes that were lost?
New younger upstarts wear their clothes, now
And with their acts
They mock deeds they do not comprehend.
To become a guest in ones own home
Is the fate of all men that hold on to
Their history. [/size]
[size=59]2004-09-15 [/size]
[size=150]Bolstered by the wings of chance
I soar, once more, into the heavens
Reaching for the blue sky
But doubt shatters the illusion
And guided by past experiences
I hesitate.
No sunlight has warmed my face
No apple has fallen upon my lap
No illusive mermaid has smiled upon me
Without the accompanying sweat
And pain of struggle
The distracting clatter of disappointment
Fills my head with memories
And my heart with doubt.
But instead of sadness, fury wells up inside me
And as I ready myself
To spit, once more, into the face of chance
And scream against fate,
Deep inside, in secret
A single, feeble voice whispers a word,
A quiet hopeful plea
Leniency….leniency. [/size]
[size=59]CA, December 14, 2003[/size]
[size=150]Clever words escape your mouth
Shaping images I know not about
Shining stars and bittersweet wine
Inviting worlds that are not mine.
You pull me in and cast me out
With a soft whisper and a shout
You offer-up and then…give in
Always protecting the girl within.
But how can I ever hope to be
The one you want to see?
When all I am is simply mine
Shining stars and bittersweet wine.[/size]
[size=59]April 3, 2004 [/size]
[size=150]Paper boats I’ve built and sent
Down the river, that always went
Streaming through the ways that bent
And never came again.
Paper notes that thought they would
Break the flow, if they should
Risk the tasks that somehow could
Ever become again.
Paper cuts on tender fingers
Writing words, hoping to reach her
Pains that ebb and forever linger
Wanting once again. [/size]
[size=59]CA[/size]
[size=150]There is no creature on Earth I fear
All beasts I’ll meet with a sarcastic sneer
There are no ghosts, no gods or the un-dead
That can fill my heart with any dread.
There is no probable future or secret past
There is no pain that can ever last
I will face misfortune and bad luck
And smile as I’m driven through the muck
There is no greater horror for me, it is clear
Than the coming end that is drawing near.[/size]
[size=59][1999][/size]
Weeping willow share your sorrow
Add your shadow to my night
So when I wake upon the morrow
I do not dread the noonday light
Weeping willow share your mourning
Cleanse me with your leafy tears
Wash away my tired sorrows
Wipe away my many fears
I really like that one.
You should submit it to poetry.com, I’m sure you would probably win something with that poem.
I did.
I’m a semi-finalist.
[b]How does one say goodbye…
When the sun settles, like a weight, on the horizon
And the mind stirs the past
Caressing the senses with memories that were
And never will be again.
When reluctant partings take their toll
And the body longs for slumber
As the mind strains, again, to save the moment
And make it last, forever more.
…how does one say goodbye…
When words flutter, like wings, in the emptiness
And the spirit fails to take flight
Between the comforting distances of separateness
And the chasms of interpretation
When they still are but are no more
And their image lingers, still
Forcing thoughts, back, to where regret began
And the tongue was stayed, silent.
…how does one say goodbye…
When gestures linger, like hope, in the heart
And every tender touch
Sends tears to cleans their inevitable absence
And abate the sorrow
When faith finds an end in the world
And all that remains, out there,
Is sound shaped into final partings.
And all that’s left to ask is:
…How does one say goodbye? [/b]