Ashes & Dust

Ashes & Dust
We are ashes & dust
Dust from the same bowl
Cut from the same mold
It's the same wind that blows
The same wind that throws
Us wherever we go

You land in the sun,
I, in shade,
I am cold, and you're warm
But my colors won't fade
and that's just for today.

Next morning I may catch
Fire and dance in the flame
As you fall to earth
miss the burn and the blaze,
But you'd be the one to remain

Some of the flakes fall together
Some snow drifts alone for a time
Why? And which flake am I?
I could reach out to you
but what good would that do?
If we all end soon - so soon!

And it's enough to drive one mad,
To lift my head in pride/crawl in shame
It's the same silly game
Being human.
I'm just human
Ashes and dust I see
And such I shall be

Ashes and dust
We are cold and rust
Doomed at beginning, we live but to end
The glory, jest, and riddle
Aye, the glory, jest, and riddle once again!

Room 101

Cold, cold
Waters swirl, surround me
Dark and deep.
Salty sea, it pounds me
Frozen in fright
All the darkest night
of my life
Ending now, as my grip
on the wreckage slips,
Finds me sinking,
Drifting down
into the mouth
of the Deep.

Sacrifice

Brave men aren't afraid to die
But if I fear death
Am I more human
Or less?
Should saving someone I don't know
Be greater
Than living to bless, in small ways
The lives of many I love?
Am I foolish to those
Who would give their lives for right
If I long to live?
Or wise?

Swings

"Push me higher, Daddy!"
I touch the sky with my toes
Fall back
Push
With his strong hands
I fly on the chained seat
Fall back
Push
"Higher!"

In Juliet's Boudoir

Ever art thou in my mind;
Parting's such sweet sorrow.
Shall we meet again, my love,
Today, tonight, tomorrow?
Should the love I bear thee
Ever fail to thrill me,
Or the love thou has for me
Should quit, the hurt would surely kill me!
Ever art thou in my heart;
Love, in my bosom, burns.
Darling, when we are apart,
For thee, my soul, it yearns!
'Tis sad to note I am alone
And have not thou with me.
I would that thou and I were one
And I at one with thee.

Rose

The rose
Once lived
Glistened with drops of crystal
Glowed with life
Then the rose,
wilted, dying
Brown, curling petals,
Softened thorns
Now the rose
dry and aging
Crackles at the lightest touch
Means the world to me
Means a memory of innocence
And a night I swirled
Across the floor
Dancing

Storm Break

For one moment
In the storm,
Clouds drifted apart
And the sun burst through!
Then the rain fell harder, deeper.
Day grew dark, turned into night
Thunder rumbled, threatened blackness.
Yet the thought remained
In my hidden soul
How for just one moment, in the storm
Shadows flew,
The sun's bright ray
Found me
And I found myself
Bathed in the light.

Duality

I versus She
She holds me back/I slumber
but sometimes
BAM!
In all my glory
I echo forth:
You cannot erase me, you
Cannot silence me forever!

More Haiku

This one pair of shoes
represents a world of past
Don't throw them away.

Ever so softly
Lightly tripping, dancing on,
The flames grow higher.

Dust and ashes, we
Lost among the rubble stones,
Finally humbled.

Laugh and play! Stay young!
If I could offer shelter
from the world, I would.

Clean and white paper
I write, I scribble it out.
The paper is soiled.

Right Again

I'm tired of being right all the time.
I knew that you would hurt me
I knew that you would lie
And someday you'd desert me.

It's not easy being right all the time.
If I had a magic wish, I would
Change my intuition, and be wrong:
Think I was strong
And believe you when you tell me that you love me.

I don't like being right all the time.
I knew that one day we'd say
our final goodbye, but I'm not ready.
I don't want to be right this time.

Be a Man!

Hey!
Did I make you?
Did I dip you in the mess you found?
Count to ten, or a million.
Hit me, or hit nothing;
I feel it the same, in your rage.
Be a man, or be human.
Be strong and brutal,
Or strong and in control.
Hit me or hit nothing.
Hit me and leave again.

Hey!
Is it better now?
Did tearing the world make it new?
Take a step back, or a million.
Hurt me, or hurt nothing;
You're not going to change, not today.
Be a man, or be human.
Be wise and critical,
Or wise and carefully kind.
Hurt me or hurt nothing.
Hurt me and leave again.

Sweet Madness

Beyond all this
Are we too angry? Independent?
What's the world if it isn't failing?
Falling apart down twisted
Circling
I'm learning from the madness how
Just to be mad enough
to keep it burning
Keep on hurting
Beyond this universe is a will
do I want there to be?
Then there's a Way
A way to be, to know to end this farce:
everlastingness, dischordant harmony.
In all this madness,
is there really room for me?

Winter Eve

Spin
Whirl around
Lazy snowflakes
Drifting down
settling and calming
Dim yellow sky
Glow and warmth inside
the world knows peace
if just one night
All serene
this once chaotic scene
as frozen kisses softly dance
And fill my world with wonder
at a glance.

Haiku

Falling on the green
Of budding leaves in springtime
Hear the gentle rain

An arrow of light
meets a falcon, soaring high
Softly now, he falls

Drip. A dewdrop falls.
The air is heavy with mist
Scented with lilac

My Regret

I had a dream
I saw you there
You wanted me
I loved you then
I had that dream
It wasn't real
I've been so cruel
You can't love me
I had a dream
It made me see
I'm sorry I hurt you -
Should not have been mean
I had a dream
And now i'm ashamed
I ask your forgiveness
Because of the dream

In An Age of Wonder

Rich satin air
Slips over my skin
Lightly brushes
How is it your hands
Calloused, strong
Recall to me dusk wind
Gently flowing, softly blowing
Feather touch of desert
In falling night?

At the Edge

Clench
eyes, claws, all
Whipping tidal storm expands
Flying grasses, garbage, I
Heave through sandy sky
Blown back and sideways in
Bedraggling, bewildering white cold rage
Rip my raucous call away then
Plummet into ground
Entanglements of sea snake
Tangle, strangle, wings at bay
Snap tendrils of weed, and break them
Half-bury in driftwood shards
Remnants of fragility and feathers
Screams of arctic air embrace
Quicken, drive,
and spin away.

Dissolution

Click
The latch drops quiet
No tumult. Done.
Softly, now, an ending.
The way to that life, that door.
Closed.
An end to showy, shimmering
End of chapter, verse, and song
Ended – gone.
Fire, burned to embers, burned to ash.
Family that was
Hope – dashed.
Put to past that life. Door
Closed.
No more clamoring of boisterous, busy, boys
No more of what was.
No more.
Click
The latch drops quiet
Softly in the heartache, damns as it falls
Honeysuckle sweet the lack/Harder than maul
But the window…
Oh! The window!
Gently released
Wide.
Open.

Willow Road

Winding road
Stretches, lonely
Among thick briery thorns.
Glimpses of light send shocks of pain
Until I see tiny flowers
Hidden in the rough

Meadow wanders
Bright and beige
Hot sun begs cool shade
Then gentle fingers brush
Summer breezes by
Ripple rustling grasses
Into the sky

Rocky streambed
Trips and trickles
Stony, rough, and cold
Then rays pierce the gloom
Sunbeam glistens twinkle
on tiny crystal drops of mirrors
Willows bend over gentle banks
and seem to cry.

Spencerian Quatrameter Sonnet Pair

A rose, they say, would smell as sweet
If called a thistle or a thorn
A dewdrop, if 'twere called a beet
Would still, it seems, sweeten each morn.
A name, then, is of no import
And changes not a creature's worth.
Yet, be it bold, or bright, or short,
A name gives one a place on earth.
A rose would smell as sweet, 'tis true,
But 'twould no longer be a rose.
In similie, the morning dew
Would glisten, yet with different pose.
O, how a name gives life to things,
And such sweet harmony it brings

Where is the hope of faith forgot?
Where sleeps the charity of men?
Why do the weak remember not
That love will give them strength again?
The happiness of bygone years
Has faded with our modern ways.
Now pain, and loneliness, and tears
Become the norm, in these sad days.
Awake, o knight! Arouse thy steed!
And man and charger sally forth
To shake the bitterness and greed
That have so plagued our ravaged earth!
And so, with valor, win the day,
And chase despair and loss away!