Engulfed by the sense of you
Gasping for each new breath
While my heart hastens
Towards the unknown
Engulfed by the scent of you
The essence of my euphoria
You are the culmination
Of my wildest imaginations
Engulfed by the vision of you
Spellbound by the spectacle of you
Astonished by my prosperity
You share your life with me
Engulfed by your love
That sweet, salubrious sentiment
Which you surround me with
In every moment of my day
Ethereal, a shadow I become
Floating through sun and shade
A choir of pines serenades my senses
The breeze echoing each ghostly note
Every step seems an eternity
Now is the perfect place to be
Time reveals…the illusion it is
A solitary moment engulfs this lifetime
Am I a boy of six
Or a man of sixty
Who can say – certainly not I
I am timeless, just a memory
What will I have left behind
When I leave this mortal plane
That means a thing or two
To anyone – old or new
Images on photographs
That captured moments of my life
Now found in picture frames
That earns an occasional glance
Perhaps a smile on my children’s faces
A word or two on yellowed pages
Friendships that are not forgotten
That can bring a laugh over a beer or two
But most importantly I leave behind
My heart-with the one I have loved forever
So one day she may find
Her way back home to me
Placed upon a dusty shelf, there to lie
Hidden behind the mask of age
Forgotten in their steel bar cage
Schemes of children fade away
As we grow older day-to-day
Pursuing lofty heights of money and fame
While losing the point
Of playing the game
A child’s love, so simple and pure
God’s greatest gift, a miracle cure
A simple point of view you see
Matters not if you’re one or seventy
So be silly and laugh, forget what you know
Make room for all your love to grow
Dust off your shelves, awaken those dreams
Start living all those childhood schemes
It could be anytime, anywhere
When I hold your hand, I disappear
Into your world, into your world
Into your perfect world of love
Spinning, twirling, whirling by
All the moments of my life flying by
Until I hold your hand and time seems to stand still
In your perfect world of love
So many days, in so many ways
I feel lost and it’s you I’m calling
And when I hold your hand, I find myself freely falling
Into your perfect world of love
Wafting, wandering through the house
Vapors caressing, swirling about
Searching for and finding perch
Within my nose, my smile, my smirch
She brews a stew
With a sorcerer’s charm
Blending a beguiling brisket of beef
She steals my soul, like a culinary thief
At times I nod off
For just a little while
To awaken from savory scents
That brings a smile
Each recipe contains
A pinch of this, a pinch of that
But her unique recipes possess a peculiar potion
Filled with her blend of love and devotion
I find myself orphaned on this deserted island
A returned prodigal
My only inspiration an occasional
Sliver of blue
I was an appetent victim of your coquetry
I drank from your Circe elixir
You are a siren, a piece de resistance
An arabesque of womanhood
All your gracious beauty
Your infallible reflection
Disguised so adequately
A heart of callosity
Hollow is my heart
I dwell in somber perpetuity
The price I pay
For courageous credulity
As feathers, the flakes fall
Backlit by a crescent moon
They melt
On my tongue
As I lie in cold wetness
I am teased
Seized, by the moment
Held captive by its spectacle
The singular sound I hear
Must be my shallow breathing
Involuntarily I sense
I trespass on this stage
It’s time to take my leave
Allow my blood to flow
Below the crunching underfoot
Are footsteps soon to be extinct
Sailing the ocean in your eyes
On a blue and balmy breeze
Striking out for an eternity
On your seven seas
And in the shade of your hair
I can’t help but stare
Deep within the secrets
You so gladly share
And I can feel my soul slipping away
Searching for the simple way
To delay setting ashore
Forevermore
Written in 1972
Laying in a meadow painted with heather
Back to the ground
Chewing on a blade of grass
Feeling feckless, fancy-free
Playing games with the clouds
Laughing out loud
For no particular reason
But for the fun of it
Been so many years
I’d forgotten these feelings
Of being just a boy
On a lazy summer’s day
An epiphany of epic proportions
That a lifetime of events
Fades in the grass
With a hardy laugh