I saw truth It was in the #chaos of your face I tried to touch you Could only reach The low hanging #fruit Easy answers Packaged & perfectly sliced Dad's apartment Truth sliding slowly Into couch cushions Fun house mirror reflections Answers tantalizing Never in the place I’d keep my heart #vss365

You'd tend the gardens Never to my words You'd tend to friend requests Never to my hearts desires You needed to tend To the currents That steered me away You'd tend only to The rocks along the shore I'd tend to cry Beside you in the dark You would never Pretended to understand #vss365 #tend

Born in stillness Nature’s grace Single sprout Crown of #creation Raise your head See that you are not alone Root deep To share the message Spread your arms So we as one May shade the others Shiver in winds Anticipation of rain Life dripping down Earth to be filled With sisters and brothers #vss365

The path not taken Still a temptation Overgrown now It once was paved I pass it every day One my way To the mundane Plants flourish In the cracks Possible medicines To soothe my soul Earth beside it Falls away Sliding into shadow Cascading into memory #vss365 #temptation #poetry

We steady you As you #descend into arms of babes It’s important they remember you this way You fit a piece of the puzzle One of 50 It's a lot to you and them The children giggle Playfully fight over the rest You laugh too Encourage and aid We watch knowing The picture will be complete soon #vss365

I thought my soul would #ascend But what the Maker needed Were spare parts Supply chains were down Thanks to the war My eyes Which broke your heart Stare from the face Of a lost child Feet which couldn't dance Stumble in broken land Hands that wrote my words Light a fire needed to survive #vss365

Energy sapped Trying to recover love we had Too weak to leave Too stubborn to admit I was wrong If I give in at all You’ll double down and so will I I #shift the art on the wall You still haunt me From the pictures you're not in I never asked to be served I’m sorry you've had to wait so long #vss365

Journey Someone else built the road Scripted Guard rails I can't remove Directed by a god Who's moved on to a different show No sequel When pavement breaks down Gravel and weeds retake it all I wish to be An episode that stands alone In a tale born Already having beginning middle end #vss365 #road

No reflection in the cat’s eyes He’ll share his warmth But nothing of his soul I let him roam Taking wisdoms journey Never looking back to say goodbye When I despair Missing his purr He turns up at the door Ready to share his prey Eyes even darker Than they were before #vss365 #turn

Wipe me clean I will build by beliefs At the buffet of feelings & dreams Find a perfect balance A salad of many colors Variety to spur wonder Main course of protein & fiber To bind it all together Desserts to top me off Voice in my head saying You must treat yourself So eat the rich #vss365 #balance

You worry about me See a stare into the distance Am I losing my mind As my mother did? You find my slightly tilted smile A sign of madness Call my gaze vacant When in fact My thoughts are full Memories frolicing Across fields where grows All that was All that will never be #vss365 #frolic

Slow to warm Patience rewards Coming in hot We’d have burned No missed heart beats Faint or swoon Just steady rhythm Swelling growing Love discovered Emotional crescendo Heart released By words spoken #vss365 #swoon

Guttural sound Lost snarl Goth retro-pop Foreign language Blank stare Used canvas Filled with desire Reflected image Tattooed raven hair Stunning love Lustful anger Autumn meeting Frozen winter Understanding Spring shedding Summer rebirth Sweated out Left behind #vss365 #stunning

#Apprehension in your eyes I carried the smell of the recently divorced Hint of fear mixed with scent of loss Eyes glancing about in case she walked in It was a small town after all Your #appraisal surely told you I was damaged goods She hadn’t wanted me anymore How could I be a good man #vss365

I build a beach around my heart Slow raging ocean waves Each #grain lost I replace Some Are love I have to give that no one takes Dreams worn down I still remember Desires embers that were once fire No retreat From the full moons forces Over crashing I still hear My voice as it used to sing #vss365

Some flee the rain Laughing as they escape Pull off their wet clothes Grabbing for a warm dry towel A brief glance at the exposed body Of the friend for whom they hide their desire I stand in the rain Embrace the tears of God Running gently across me As the hands of a lover #vss365 #pull

You ask for a Cetera All I have is a Kath Once that was enough You'd #lurch along To a rocking beat Before life slowed down Lights out at 10 A ballad to bring on sleep If you leave me now I wont reinvent myself You can sway into the sunset I’ll stay up all night Write some words at 6 to 4 #vss365

System reset needed Batch load updates Fresh code for old mainframe Undo original programming Improve resolution A new algorithm Take the data coming in Change the vision No AI Organic solstice regrowth Software to process A deeper understanding #vss365 #batch #undo

You #clench the book in your hands A #novel full of bitterness Rage Trauma you cannot release Now your identity You are protagonist martyr saint Oozing anger where once There was naivete and love I share a picture of a cat You smile Distracted Cleansed for a moment I know will not last #vss365

I laughed when you called me a #fiend My head filled with images Of a mustache twirling villain But you laughed too Asked if I remembered Perils of Pauline The poor girl tied to the tracks Ready to be ravaged by the train I said I did and you smiled As I realized that was what you were into #vss365

Another of my poems has found it's way into the world with the publication of New York, Great Cities Vol. 3 by Pure Slush. This is the second of their anthologies I have been in as I also had a poem in Vol. 1, Paris. Now If they do one for Boston I can hit the trifecta. #poems #NewYork #poetry

Some poems to make you smile. Some that could produce tears. More Than A Whisper is available on Amazon from Keeping the Flame Alive Press. #poems #poetry #love #loss #humor

I'd sit on the grass Lean on a log Never thinking about the truth That it once was alive I couldn’t identify the birds But still soaked up their song Those memories grow distant The breeze they ride upon still Crickets drowned out by heartbeats Nature lost to love no longer felt #vss365 #distant

When did you first see this in the theater? For me it was winter of 80/81, Boston Massachusetts. At midnight of course. A friends mother used to say nothing good ever happens after midnight. Perhaps, but sometimes that is the point. There's a light in the darkness of everybody's life.

Love when not asked Consume all the feels Zombie at the buffet A Walt Whitmans Sampler Finish what others started Desire only visions Touch what you imagine Release the jaded handle Be kind of cute A glossy AI image Haunt a silky dream Splash paint on torn screens #vss365 #consuming

Held not taken Closer than desire Further than a wave that sings A mirror with a tether Afloat in midnight wine Goblet gold trim Patina on a hymn Sing a dirge Brush by on the wind Never did I dream You only hummed a tune Tide swept glass frozen Moment in time #forbidden A smile unforgiving #vss365

I see what you hold dear Shining beyond the #deadfall That's laid before me You say work hard Fashion a tool Take it down in increments Well fuck you I am no fool I know what I want Is not what you say I need I’ll build my fire Watch your smile turn to a frown As it all goes up in flames #vss365

The light cut off as the door shut Mother smiled and waved I wanted what she offered I craved what she did not give Let loose into the universe I hoped I'd stumble upon father’s grave Saw mother’s dress hanging in the discount shop For just $14.99 I could be her for the day #vss365 #mother

There are no pictures of me in a #cradle Behind the bars of a pen I’m always in motion Ready to eat dirt No grownup in sight Though sometimes a cat Giving side eye to the #horror That has invaded his space I was not a feral child I had been let loose upon the world To learn how to be free #vss365

I'm thrilled to have two of my poems published in issue 39 of Door is a Jar @doorisajarmag.bsky.social Thanks to @maxwellbauman.bsky.social for including me. #poems #poetry