Many Lives

As I sink back in time, as my spirit takes flight,
I see things that are strange, things at first don't seem right.
I see things as they were, back in time; back to Rome..
it is strange, yet so safe, because my soul's not alone.

I see Egypt in pieces, I see water and gold;
I feel someone is with me, and that soul's very old.
As I 'dream', I see water; liquid gold, tinted blue...
I feel sadness, and heartache, yet there's happiness, too.

The moon shines so clearly, glowing, burning each night;
stars that cover the ages, stars that shine with the light.
I see farmland, and pastures, I know work, I know pain...
I'm so close now, to nature, I connect with the rain.

As the decades slip by, as the centuries turn,
as I learn through this life, is it the past that I yearn?
Why the words come so swiftly, I only can guess...
along, somewhere, in time, as a poet I was blessed.

I sense animal presence very strong, and so true...
like a cloak, in the winter, covering all that I do.
The creatures stay with me, I feel one with them, too...
we are melded forever with compassion renewed.

The pictures move quickly, as they race through my mind...
if I linger too long somewhere, the next scene's left behind.
I must follow them quickly, I see horses and dust...
I've known weighty decisions, I've known hate and mistrust.

Now I see with a clearness, fire's flames licking high...
I've known a total devotion that won't be denied.
Pictures, feelings, emotions, flashing past, then they flee;
like the tides racing in, they gently flow out to sea.

I see dolphins around me, with the moon shining soft.
as I gaze at the stars, my soul's taken aloft.
I can see golden flowers, daisies laden with dew;
earthen pots holding potions, many cats live there,too.

I've known water, and fire, I've known pleasure and strife;
but the art of compassion is what I learn in this life.
As I drift through the ages, I feel people I know...
their bodies are different, but you can't hide the soul.

We all go through the paces of learning in life;
what changes is perception, and how we handle strife.
Soon the pictures start fading, soon I 'see' nothing more...
but it won't be too long when I again, go through that door.

The bars of a prison leave a lasting impression;
as the pictures all fade, there ends my regression.

Tears

I come
from deep within your soul
I come
with tidings again
I'm not the joy
you've known before
I'm not relief
upon your features
but I'm here
again
with you.

I come
to taunt you once again
I come
with furrowed confusion
I am that crease
upon your brow
and I am here
again
with you.

I come
to play upon your heart
I come
to sing my song
I am that melody
around quivering lips
and I am here
again
with you.

I come
with bitter flames that sear
I come
with consuming intentions
I am the inferno
incinerating you
and I am here
again
with you.

Child Of Pain

Hoping that she doesn't find
that speck of dust, a dirty spoon;
praying that with every strike,
she'll get too weary, and tire soon.

Your heart jumps every time she wakes,
every painful day has higher stakes.
Walking into traffic's way...
not wanting to live another day.

The shame, the pain, the lame excuses...
the tongue, the hand have many uses.
In the dark, the tears fall cold...
they match your heart, they choke your soul.

No self-esteem, no hope, no joy...
broken, and stifled, you've become her toy.
You're told you're worthless, you're made to crawl
scared, bruised, and empty, your back to the wall.

One day, you escape, and for once, you can breathe,
but still you feel your tortured heart seethe.
You find a man who seems so kind,
then, too late, you realize, he's not such a find.

Harsh words, cruel hands; again, you ask why...
he doesn't stop until you cry.
Again the words you hate to hear;
"I love you" always strikes such fear.

You try to leave, the punishment follows...
death and flames would be easier to swallow.
Years upon years, an agonizing stream...
you lose yourself, and forget how to scream.

A kick in the temple, a slap to the face;
such humiliation is hard to erase.
Another man takes from you, whatever he wishes,
and the man that you're with, barely twitches.

One day, you sit down, and the tears fall like rain...
for days you weep with guilt, shame, and pain.
No one to help you, nobody there...
death doesn't matter, because you don't care.

The deep, hollow nothing that makes up your soul
is just the beginning of what they all stole.
Abused, raped, berated, my head hung low,
I went to the nothing that I called my soul.

Somewhere, a spark, like a tiny ember, glowed...
desperately I fanned that spark, to make a fire grow.
Today, tears still fall, it takes so long to heal...
a lifetime to amend what so many steal.

The pain never leaves, the memories flare...
truly trusting another is so hard to share.
I'd like to pretend that none of it's real,
but that would mean I'd again cease to feel
.
I know what it's like to pray for demise...
to end all the 'torture', to just close your eyes.
But then, I found someone who cared how I felt....
someone who refused to allow me to melt;

I found, deep inside, a strength and a will...
hand in hand with myself, I tackled that hill.
When I see it happen around me, today,
I step in, and stop it, anytime, anyway.

No one deserves to have themselves stolen away...
for this, dear Lord, I pray everyday.

Creepers

Creeping out to greet me
when I don't want their company
I don't want their burdens
or their angry red burnings

I don't like those things
from the wormholes of memories
where they fester and writhe
where they reach for my throat

whirling past scarred ashes
I used to call my senses
beside peeled, broken crayons
that once were heartlongings

Ashen corroded peepholes
slinking past my soul
seeking, leaking lovefest
lost in hellish desires

Taking wholeness making holes
careening, swirling depths
go away, o tangled webs
release my bleeding heartlife

The Tigress

I gazed upon the vast, blue sky
the rugged growth, brown and green;
I strained to hear her raging cry,
a mystery so rarely seen.

The muscles ripple powerfully,
the fire flashing from her eyes;
her restless pacing, endlessly,
I can only sympathize.

Her cubs, long lost to man's own hand,
would have been immortality;
Alone, now, she longingly roams the land,
crying out so beseechingly.

A mighty figure, proud and rare,
the strength, the high intensity;
She fixes you with her steady stare,
you have the urge to turn and flee.

Man's own hand, so swift a judge,
has placed her on the phase-out plan;
but true to form, she holds no grudge,
she only wants to hold her land.

Her home grows smaller every day,
her territory dies;
the awesome tigress will fade away
with one last angry, lonely cry.

And man, the one who plays the God,
will blossom day by day;
and all our creatures, with barely a nod,
will slowly slip away.

Just A Cat?

Cats, in these eyes, are amusing, mystical,
powerful, intuitive....
felines; fur-trimmed commas,
question marks, exclamation points.

Guardians, hunters, friends, listeners...
affectionate, mischievous flashes of light
cavorting with paper,
with foil, with life.

Painful potential, yet paws so gentle;
like a feather, a dancer,
a bubble in flight.
A miniature lion, a cheetah, a cub...
regal in repose, intensity in motion.

A cat, curled around your feet at night,
becomes a silent thief of stress.
Eyes so expressive...
emeralds, sapphires, topaz, quartz;
sparkling, searching, imparting, sharing

Mutual respect.
A cat just a cat? I think not!

The Love That's You

How does one describe your allure?
How do I make you see?
What can I say or do to explain
what you mean to me?

It's not the outer one who draws
though that itself is appealing;
it's the one who resides within
and induces my emotional healing.

Graying hair, that is true,
the debate of hazel eyes...
your incredible, sexy, timbered voice
will always get my rise.

But all of those are exterior being,
as I gaze deep into your eyes;
the passion, hope, and depths within
and the intensity it implies.

You claimed to be a simple man
in an attempt to pretend no connection...
a good technique, I must admit,
but useless despite harmless intentions.

In your eyes I see the fires
restrained and contained all these years...
then suddenly confronted with mine,
I see the stirring and subsequent fears.

You know we connect, just as I do,
and the possibles fill you with need.
However your person is also thus filled
with the vows that you feel you must heed.

I see a surrender as you allow caring to grow,
confusion, frustration run high;
What to do on the field of us now is wondered
convincing your heart it's a lie.

It all being bogus would suit your heart well,
since then it would not have to doubt...
but you know deep inside, I am truthful with you
and you do not want to live, now, without.

If the doubts that you foster when we are apart
were honestly what you did feel,
returning to me time and again
would never be part of this deal.

The sands of time, measured in days
each passing one it grows stronger;
the bonds and the ties and attachments all hold
time spent together gets longer.

Tentative kisses become, over weeks,
bolder, impassioned displays....
Hesitant touches turn to knowing embraces
changing to civility in the light of day.

Whispered confessions, undercover exchanges,
hours and hours spent together;
it's still not enough, though the flesh is sated,
the soul always reaches to endeavor.

Connections of flesh, connections of emotions,
they spark all around between us;
connections of minds, connections of souls
fighting the connection is useless.

Skeletons pulled from their secret, dark closets
rattle but cannot divide us;
deadened emotions rising like phoenixes
only serve to strengthen our trusts.

I told you all this, months ago
I knew there was something between us...
Drawn to you magnetically, and the way we both are
it was certain to be far more than lust.

You got here shortly after dawn,
leaving now, it's turning to dusk...
nothing was eaten, nothing to drink,
the taking of so many risks.

Gentle, loving, slow carresses,
sweet and easy kisses;
fevered, urgent, bodies pressing,
sudden changes, heartbeat misses.

So much covered, so much said,
so many whispered confessions...
different backrounds, different people
but doesn't even feel like concessions.

Wanting to be part of you
drawn into your being...
Needing you to be part of me
the same vision we are seeing.

MindMeld

Feeling you inside my mind
treading lightly, softly,
gently nudging at my memories
carefully peeking at my soul
whisperlight wingtouches
as you seefeel my quivering heart

Tendrils of your essence
curling 'round my own,
carressing affectionately
entreating honestly
whispering caringly
as you meander through

Reaching out towards your soul
climbing into you
gently nudging at your memories
carefully peeking with your permission
as I surround your heart
looking for handholds

Raptly listening,
hearingfeeling your needs
wrapping my essence 'round yours
mingling, intertwining
stroking, soothing your fears
as I tiptoe through you

(for the love of my life, you know who you are)

Twin Wonders

I watch you sleeping side by side
and shake my head in wondrous awe
what miracle brought you to us
what void you filled
when I knew of no void

The circumstances creating you
could never have been guessed
anticipated, or believed
No one, me least of all
would have thought you two
were exactly what we needed

The fascination of opposite twins
the way you know me
laughing and kicking
trying to get me to see you
as if to say, hey I'm here mom
trying to get me to hold you
and hug you close
and talk to you

But I started loving you long before
you ever laid eyes on this world
how could I help it?
How could I not talk to you
and hug you close
and hold you
and love my twin sons?

One so fair, blue eyes so wide
dimples and smiles
overtaking your face
One so mysterious,
bronzed with beautiful
long-lashed brown eyes
both so joyous
so happy
so wonderfully miraculous
so perfect

Never failing to amaze me
babies so tiny
so fragile
so dependant on me
Needing me for so many years
then leaving my side
to have babies
of your own

Is your brother really ten already?
Another decade
and I'll be right here
where I am now
again

Some call me brave
I say you caught me
in your twin web of love
reaching for me
first with your cries
then with your eyes
now with your hands
soon with your arms
Eventually retreating
reaching for another woman
and asking her to love you too

But today I watch you sleeping
trying to catch snatches of nap
so I can keep up with you
when you are up at night
wanting me to feed and play...
then the sun slips away
and tonight replaces today
just as tears will someday
replace your smiles, my loves

I wish I could forever protect
but I cannot
and so I love....