Tomorrow
Felt love die today
Kicked hard in my heart
For a while I hoped
My heart would stop
Take away the pain
I want to quit loving
Feeling writing
I don’t want to sing
I’m numb lost and weak
Heavy and tired
I want to be chained to you
Chain that fails
I want out of this crypt
Quicksand that steals
In spirit
If I came to you
Would you know me
A flicker or a breeze?
Would you turn away?
Tomorrow I’ll be ok
How many this time
Weeks or months
Until tomorrow?
I look forward
To tomorrow
For now
Your silhouette
Haunts me
A2001-2003
Emotional driftwood
I once was beautiful
Vibrant and strong
With style to my grain
And hope in my song
My will could break iron
My love could mend space
Now I’ve washed up ashore
In this estranged place
Eroded and smooth
Like an old bar of soap
Affixed to my side
An old tattered rope
Affixed to the rope
Is a rusty old chain
Tied to past streaked
With memories stained
Things seem so different
I don’t seem to care
Faded existence
A burden to bear
My gaze is so distant
My challenge is lost
I reached out for Heaven
At a heavenly cost
Emotional driftwood
Bleached by the sea
The rain and the sun
Washed up by the tide
I scarcely remember
The day that I died
Vacant and empty
With nothing to share
Don’t waste your time looking
There’s nobody there
A2002-2003
Deer in headlights
Two seconds into the lights
He falters and coughs
Gasps and falls
Jumps to his feet
And runs again
Back and forth
First one way then back
With each gasp
Blood
Running from pain
One of the meadow’s angels
Touched by civilization
A brief frantic moment
Grieved by witnesses
The horn
Never made a sound
He’ll probably die
You can’t catch him
He runs to never
And forever
Yeah
Sometimes
I feel like that
A2003-2003
Pardon
Beg pardon
If I startled you
And stepping back
Extend this gift
Keep what I’ve given
With my blessing
May you find happiness
By your definition
My love’s an ocean
Fill a flask
And take with you
To open if you need
And if you come back
Don’t be surprised
If it’s like you never left
My love went with you
So you wouldn’t be alone
A2004-2003
Because I love you
My hurt’s grown silent
It fills my soul
Passion washed my flesh away
Leaving me bony and absent
Death won’t welcome me
Your presence reminds
I sense you and turn away
Run fast as I can
Not because I hate you
Though I do
But because I love you
And I can’t
A2005-2003
Head-on
Pull my heart
From the wreckage
Of you and I
That’s the problem
With a slow speed head-on
Almost always survivors
Almost surviving
A2006-2003
Passionate challenge
Let love flow
Like honey from my pen
Bite you soft and sweet
Tease forbidden surrender
Watch your resistance melt
Tremble naked in flame
Cry before Venus
And thank God
For life
A2007-2003
A new leaf
I’ll stop
Allowing selfish dreams
To hurt those around me
I feel their pain
As they watch me die
At times they hate me
Mourn my absence
But I don’t
I briefly tasted life
Though memory fades
Only word is left
And pain remains
I learned life
Is worth dying for
I knew I knew why once
Today a flower
Opened before me
Helped me recall
I’ll return to you, life
Emerge from ashes
Find a new leaf
It’ll help me look up
And prepare to soar
It’s time
A2008-2003
Mere gander
Nay but for
An angry flock of geese go I
With a Winston jib
And a Thomas tuffle
Wayne on jab sheets
Fracas sigh
With calm approach
On distant shore
A2009-2003
Since
Since I met you
I’ve learned to hate phones
They don’t ring
Seen no reflection
Staring back at me
In the mirror
Scold myself
For being so stupid
Learned to let go
In desperate face of want
And let my wounds
Begin to heal
They’re good wounds
A2010-2003
Go then
If you can walk away
Then go
The love I seek
Won’t have that choice
It’ll seem like
We’ve always been
Commitment
Life and song
Natural as breath
Euphoric and insane
Ungrounded
We’ll create from it
Or I’ll walk alone
If I were
Getting this from you
I couldn’t say
Just please go
So just please go
A2011-2003
Grown up
Children
Must be perfect
Grandchildren
Don’t need to be
That’s because
By the time
They have grandchildren
Mom and dad
Have grown up
A2012-2003
The river
To the river to swim
First upstream
Against the shore
Current’s softer
Out to center stream
Sometimes it’s violent
It’s always swift
Swim or float
The river takes me
I’m not responsible
For where it goes
Only how far I go
I think God
Isn’t responsible
For the flow of a river
Or direction of mankind
Only their existence
Which makes us responsible
For where that leads
A2013-2003
As you are
I love you as you are
Change only
What you want
Surrender nothing
I’ll steal it
Your smile
Your laugh
Your affection
Your eyes
Say I love you
Steal from me
What you want
It’s only fair
I love you exactly
As you are
A2014-2003
Afterward
You win
I’ll love you
But promise
You’ll kill me
Afterward
A2015-2003
Crystal peace and beautiful
The forest out my window
Is heavy with fresh snow
The sky behind is perfect blue
Clouds and snow share white
There’s a hint of magic
As sun smiles on the branches
Just before the snow drops
Crystal peace and beautiful
I wish I could give it to you
A2016-2003
Angels of mercy
Death lashed fierce in me
Infectious claws danced fire
It raced from within
Angels of St Joseph
And Mount Carmel came
They surrounded me
Stood down death for me
They lifted me up
With God’s love
As I stand today
I walk with the memory
Of grace and strength
And love of my angels
Thank you God
For them
A2017-2003
Nothing is important
What you don’t say
Means so much
What you won’t share
Finds me lost
What you didn’t do
Kept me waiting
And where you won’t go
Leaves me alone
A2018-2003
Love that stays
Once someone’s
Really really really hurt
Fear shock and numb sets in
It’s impossible to trust
Or speak about
Or share
Until the grieving’s gone
You can hide in busy
But the only thing
That will help
Is love
Love left unanswered
Love that won’t leave
Ever
Love that knows
It takes many licks
To mend wounds so deep
Licks make a wound sore
Love that’s not afraid
Of being bitten
Love that stays
And cares
A2019-2003
Broken people
Scattered shores
Some people get hit
With tragic loss
That leaves them
With shattered lives
Love seeks to find itself
Find its place
As broken people
Try to mend
When shattered people
Come together
There are gaps
Pieces missing
Parts that won’t fit
Boundaries
Where they converge
Form a scattered shore
Bring me to
Your scattered shore
Let your breath
Fall on my chest
Hold me close
Through tears of loss
Dull the pain
Begin to rest
We’re broken
But we can heal
A2020-2003
You ask why
Can’t I just say
Don’t want to
Or don’t feel like it
Isn’t that enough?
Million emotions at once
Running frantically open
Without destination
Don’t ask me to rationalize
Don’t expect reason
It’s so unfair
And I can’t be that
For you right now
Just love me
And stop
Or not
A2021-2004
Empty shelves
You meet someone
And everything’s alive
And exciting
You love them
And tell them
And they tell you
You rearrange your soul
To make room for them
Closet space for their things
But they don’t show up
So you wait for awhile
And then days
After a time
It’s apparent
Those shelves
Will always be empty
Without a letter or call
No reason why
A2022-2004
Reckless love
People will get hurt
Maybe they need to
To breathe again
Tears wash silence
Dowse fire
New life begins
Hands torn
All that’s left
Stagnant existence
Beneath fingernails
Grow now
Don’t stop living
Just for me
A2023-2004