All I want to be Is the first thing you see As you open your eyes When you can't disguise That feeling inside As a smile creeps into your eyes As if somehow you're surprised Of a new romance and I've just appeared by happenstance Each day finds a new way You hold the world at bay As I lay in your arms Kidnapped by your charms
This poem’s just to let you know
How much my love grows
Everyday I’m with you
Every day I look in your eyes
I see the sunrise
Where does the time go
Slips away, never shows its face
Around our place
But the smiles last awhile
Anyway-any day
All the questions
In the caverns of your mind
Some day you will find
That love is the answer
To your dreams
To all your crazy schemes
That you tell me in the morning
That you sell me in the evening
With your kiss…with your kiss
what answers unfold in your haphazard flight
if you could speak to me what mysteries might
you solve, how many perches must we alight
to splash in the Sound and the Light
fickle though your flight seems
it’s an inquiry of sorts, it learns to be
a means to seek a simpler path
a way home, home at last
here you dodge and here you dart
like an arrow shot from Cupid’s bow
meant to pierce each wayward heart
a weathervane to let us know
that love is haphazard at best
that the spirit within us never rests
that we must trust in this adventurous flight
to take us home to the Sound and Light
When we meet We shall touch the stars The little children will laugh at us And to each we shall teach love And we’ll float on the soft summer breeze I’ll carve our initials in the clouds And in a fleeting moment That which not tangible shall succumb And our love will become inimitable We’ll explore the silver sum And search for the silver man And will mix the colors on the palette And paint the world Then we’ll say our good-byes And no regrets will there be Only happy memories we share And our initials in the clouds
Inhale, Slowly, Deeply
Feel Your Chest Expand
Exhale, Mouth Wide
Upon Life’s Windowpane
Create New, A Canvas
Born From Within
Touch, Fingertip, Moist
Cold Upon The Glass
Begin, Search, For Colors
Of Your Soul’s Palette
Paint Life, Love, Encompass All
Reach, Expand, Your Consciousness
If all the holes are round
Why did God make square pegs?
If we were all meant to conform
Why are there two genders and five races?
Some square pegs, to name a few…
Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed
DaVinci, Rembrandt, Picasso
Columbus, Newton, Einstein
The Founding Fathers of America
Beethoven, Bach, The Beatle’s Queen Elizabeth I, Susan B, Anthony, Rosa Parks
So as a parent, will you encourage your child to conform?
Or challenge conformity?
Mom and Dad, there are so many things
I never thought to ask
I was busy then trying to answer who am I
Not wondering about the past
Now I find myself in my twilight years
Wishing once again you were still here
Just to come back to the feeling of home
That I’ve missed now for so many years
Time and space seem meaningless in moments
So clear to me now upon reflection
It’s not just your wisdom I yearn for again
It’s your hugs and kisses I shared so many times with you
Dad, I would ask if you were still here with me
What got you through each day while away
In World War II, never having met your newborn boy yet
And how badly you missed mom, the love of your life
And how you managed to glide through life
No matter what came along the way
With an easy grace and a smile on your face
Handshakes and hugs that lit the way
And Mom, I would ask of you
How you got through each day
With dad so far and in harm’s way
While raising your baby boy alone
These and so many things
I never thought to ask
I was busy then creating a life
Not wondering about the past
Both of you set the stage
For me to be the star in a life filled with love
For this my gratitude is limitless
Forever will you be in my heart
I understand that the two you
Were the building blocks that formed
Just who I am, the man I’ve become
It won’t be long now before we meet again
the perfect place
escapes
without a trace
a moment past
a moment fast
fleeting as it were
a gasp…and it’s gone
hiding just behind
the mind’s eye
allowing just
a sneaky peek
a peck on the cheek
a reminder to dwell
occasionally
in a perfect place
momentarily
Published in “The Best Poets and Poems of 2002”
The first time set the stage
Before I had an age
When the doctor placed me in my mother’s arms
And she took my hands to count my fingers
The countless times my mom and dad
Held my hand to keep me safe
The countless times I reached out
For their hand to feel safe
Oh that first love, that set my heart aflutter
That nervous, anxious reach, praying she reaches in return
That galactic collision when hand touches hand
A great awakening by such a simple act
And through my life, I have been so fortunate
To have met true friends with whom a handshake is no simple gesture
It’s heartfelt, with deep intentions
Saying I’m always here for you
Oh that true love, the “I do” love
When her every breath breathes life into me
When every step, though they may be apart
Finds me holding her hand for dear life
And with each birth of my children, the cycle expands
Allowing me a greater comprehension and burning desire
To create, with just the touch of my hand
A world safe and bursting with love for them
I was so fortunate to be with my dad
When he chose to leave this earthly plane
When I sat beside him and held his hand to the end
Just to return the favor
And now I have come to understand
That my hands are not just tools
To play guitar, fix the faucet, write this poem
What I have come to realize, finally
With open eyes and open heart
That all my life I have lived in a world
Created by the simple act
Of holding hands
Humans, in our conceit
Concern ourselves over our lives’ legacies
In hopes of what we leave behind
Matters for prosperity’s sake
I think, like all things temporary
I will fade away in time
Become a picture on a hallway wall
That is viewed occasionally
Like a song that fades from memory
Or a poem that marks a moment in time
Like the autumn leaves that blow away
In the wind, thus I will become
Only love creeps through the halls
Of time and space
Reflecting my love that never fades
Just a shadow that haunts those I’ve touched
A legacy, I think not
Just a whisper in the dark
A cool breeze on a warm day
Perhaps a teary eye, and a smile
These I leave behind
Treasures with no measure
Their worth decided by
Those still open to my love