it’s incomprehensible. All alone

Even as those in my life nearby fear

The dreadful future humans face. Unknown

Is what lies ahead. I cannot appear

Racked with anxiety for those I love,

Vulnerable and young, not yet equipped

To deal with such horrors. It’s mine to prove

An inner strength a resolve, with tight-lipped

Determination not to fall prey to

The vagaries of the uninformed mind

That would poison the tough, courageous few

Who soldier on in the face of the blind,

The ignorant, for whom turning away

Is how they cope, what gets them through the day.

We sit, alone together, passing time,

When what we’d rather do, me and my wife:

Go out, spend time with friends, find hills to climb,

Go play, get drunk, make love, get on with life.

The things we take for granted give us pause

And help us to appreciate the things

That, in those better times we seek, because

The need for acquisition never rings

The alarm bell that reason ought to sound

When we forget what values mean. To think

About what’s real and what’s not brings us round

Again to what we want or need. The blink

Of an eye can alter our perspective, 

Can turn us round to assess how we live.

Her majesty is everywhere we turn,

From grand expanse of azure going red

Above our head at day’s end, to the burn

Of her blazing, white-hot light on the dead

And endless fields of parched western deserts.

The miracle of nature’s vast control

Of what feckless human endeavor hurts

With its destructive ways reveals the soul

Of a force greater than what we can kill

With mindless greed. Her strength is time. She can

Outplay, outwit, outlast, exert a will

Far greater than the dreadful, mortal man.

The majesty will survive. We may not.

We acquiesce, or die, as it grows hot.

It’s not another number, but a state
Of mind. You get older if you allow
Yourself to do that evil thing, but wait–
You’re really getting better. Only now
You have the wisdom youth can never know.
And beauty? It’s a transitory thing,
Perceived as a treasure by those who go
To awful lengths to seek the golden ring
Of artificial youth. But I, who live
A wondrous life, a gift from one who sees
What lies beneath, know true beauty. I give
To you a peaceful respite beneath trees
That worship longevity. May this prove
I treasure not your beauty, but your love.

Two hearts that came together, beat as one,

Created bonds more powerful than all

The forces in the universe. Though none

Know what went on inside these hearts, the call

Of destiny lit fires that won’t be tamed

Down the years; they grow ever more intense

As hardship and success entwined are framed

As learning, growing, life’s experience.

They only make these two stronger. Two hearts

Are the foundation of a gem-hard spire

That stretches up and up—a tower that parts

The heavens. No obstacle dims those fires.

Two hearts, forever knitted, daily strove

For the greatest prize—an ever-growing love.

I walk the empty halls at night alone
In search of ghosts that haunt my restless sleep.
Ten thousand nights, ten thousand walks, but none
Bring peaceful rest. So late at night I creep
Around the house, and search for words to write
Into verses. It’s years now, as my brain
Goes round in circles looking for the light
Ahead that isn’t an onrushing train.
It ever seems that all the good things flee
As quickly as they come–no way to live.
It’s hard to explain–no one else can see
The pressure pushing out. I daily give
The best of me; it’s all that I can do,
Though every day’s a struggle to get through.

Silken waves of corn, fertile land gives back

The sustenance the rest take for granted.

America’s heartland, this place keeps track

Of values lost in places where slanted

Minds obfuscate reality, for their

Own agenda. Out here where daily bread

Is at once a way of life and a prayer,

A hardscrabble existence isn’t dread,

But rather the way things are, ought to be.

They work the land, they consume what they make,

And never want for everything they see;

They share with others, rather give than take.

No hurry there, no good to move too fast,

Hardworking folk, a culture built to last.

Of all the wondrous things we daily find

In travels through our lives, the eyes behold

A miracle of beautiful design,

The shape, the human form of woman. Told

In liturgy that God created this,

The mind reels at the possibility

That nature set forward, that tender kiss

Could boil the blood of men. What vision be

More titillating than the beauty of

The female shape unto the eye of man?

And more often confusing lust with love,

He lies, or lays, or fondles when he can,

Unmindful of his object’s true desire.

His mission concerns only his own fire.

Leaving home is a painful time, they say.

Been here so long this place is in my blood

Like too much alcohol. This sun-drenched day

Is melancholy, as fond memories flood

My consciousness: a love, a hate, a time

When many disparate parts converged to make

A moment, lingering sweet and sublime.

Among the chattel I must try to break

Away from, and move on to other things,

My life’s collection. Time to take a chance,

Find a new adventure, see what life brings

In a new place, imagine now a dance

To different music, different beat. No rain

On new parades. A loss becomes a gain.

These sunrise walks at water’s edge will end

Much sooner than originally planned.

This vast, flat ocean has become my friend,

My confidant, as footprints in the sand

Trail behind, witness to thoughts that only

The water, the seagulls, and I can share.

That still, small voice that echoes the lonely

Child inside is safe here, while everywhere

Else it hides, obedient to a fear

Of exposure. But in this peaceful place

Where no one can get close enough to hear,

It shouts. The days are easier to face.

The man has found his daily precious walk.

There must be a place where the boy can talk.