Tag: love

Ring Of Fire

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Paul In The Buff

Under the blanket of white
The Earth reclaims her right
As the feet turn to inches
Slowly before their eyes
The heat and fury
From deep below
Stretch and yaw
The fingers of the woman
Buried alive
Claw and dig and scratch
From underneath
Consuming her prison walls

High above
The hero of the day
Fights valiantly
Behind the colossus of the sky
To reach his fair maiden
Strands of golden curls
Drape the frozen towers
Her sentence
His quest

A word spoken
Like the sweetest honey
From her desirable lips
A word for his sake
A word for her hope

“Faith”

With the word
Fresh on the vibrations
Off her tongue
Echoes through the millennia
Giving rise to his heart
Buoyed from the stratosphere
Filling the salty oceans with tears
And love
And hope
And the fears of eternity

And the words spoken
From the lips of another
The fruits of his soul
And the passion once long lost

“I believe”

With those words
His taught muscles strained
Lifting this galaxy of weight
Deftly and agile
But seemingly insurmountable
Tired and weary
Crossing the light years
To drench her skin
To warm her fields
And ignite her flame

The steely silver blades
Threaten in his way
His time is short
To win his battle
To save his mistress
From the slumber of eternity

The dagger blades
Drive toward his heart
The time passes
And days go by
And still she lies
Under snowflakes that cover
Her glistening flesh
Soft and supple
Waiting for decay
Or her hero of the day

Beneath this ring of fire
In the winter freeze
Ice and snow
Shift to tiny daggers
Pointing to reach the flame
But with each passing moment
They creep farther away

Tell Me…

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Paul In The Buff

Come speak to me in that lilt voice
With breathy words that tease my ear,
Tell me again all the good that you see
Curling a finger with a come hither stare,
Speak in the way that cures this ill
That illuminates the night
Calming the fears
And absorbing the fright,
That drowns out the demons
That play so loud in my head
And warm that empty space
Too often existing in my bed.
Tell me again how good it feels
After how broken you've been
To be touched by hands that can heal
And carve your name into my skin.
So speak to me in a voice that can sing
A song only for me
As heard in my head
When it ceases to be

Tell me why
And again I can ask
When I will be able
To stop wearing this mask

To Never Be

Posted on December 1, 2014December 1, 2014 by Paul In The Buff

December 2009

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Speaking as a matter of fact
He presses hard against his chest
Feeling the heart that beats within
Slowing to a pace more normal for him
“This change has come about,” he states,
“and I realize it combines our fates.
But less we hasten to a conclusion,
For together we can find a solution.”

He could do nothing as she parted
The unwinding of his threads had started
Without his knowing, just a hint
Although he knew it was merely a stint
Not life renown to be his own
Only a step for her as he were a stone
A support; a crutch to a future more great
And deep in his heart he knew this was fate

With fond memories of what never would be
And a thought of what she couldn’t see
He stood with a tear rolling down his cheek
And wondering how he could be so meek
To let all of this slip away

But then he remembered…

The memory returned…

And he recalled that fateful day
Many years before they had met
A day no others would remember, I bet
The day he learned of this awful fact
Given in a lesson lacking of tact:

Unlovable,
Unwanted,
And easily forgotten

“Oh yeah,” he thought, “I guess I should let you go.
There is no way I could keep a girl like you
Such beauty; an angel on Earth you see
And me, just a dog groveling to be
Something more special to someone, a dream
But this, us, this thing was never meant to be.
I wonder what you ever did see in me.
Something more than a forgettable wretch,
Forgettable and meaningless wouldn't be a stretch.
A provider perhaps, someone to care
When you were in a worse place than here
But now you’re on your way to better things
And I would only dampen your wings
So we will move on and you’ll be on your way
But, honestly, if I have to see you every day
I’ll probably go crazy, too crazy to discuss
Because my heart will never give up on us.”

So soon the June has faded away
To a winter with skies of icy cold gray
Summer gives way to the cold with haste
After days were whiled away to waste
In the long grasses of fields so warm
Too calm to imagine the coming storm
And while there we dreamt of better days
Our best days past along the way
Spent fruitlessly dreaming instead of becoming
Content to listen to the low, distant humming
Of promises made by lips so sweet
Only to see those promise retreat
Leaving hearts bleeding in love’s distress
But… then again, I digress…

For this is not about love or hearts
But life itself and the sum of its parts
And how we spend our time in this life
Loving and laughing, or disaster and strife
To appreciate that which blesses our days
To embrace those who help along our way…

…and I’ve tried to rhyme days with way twice, now
Which is strange if you consider how
They don’t really rhyme when one is singular
The plural is misplaced and, what rhymes with singular?
I can sigh over the trouble I have when
I’m deep in thought and the words don’t come, then
I lose my place, so distracted by
Everything swirling around inside
My mind feeling tormented by thoughts so heavy
What rhymes with heavy? Bevy? Levee? Chevy?

This is becoming more pointless as I write
Rather typical for most poems I keep out of sight
And don’t care to share, not even once
With anyone, for they’d think I was dunce
To write something so shoddy, a horrible prose
So keeping them to myself is what I have chose

Now, where was I? Oh yes! How we spend our days
And spend them so carelessly in such wasteful ways
Considering not that which improves our world
But looking forward toward a halo curled
And worrying over this and that
Or if Jennifer and Brad had another spat
And so many things that don’t at all affect us
Or things simply not worthy of any fuss
Meanwhile, hearts that can give so much
Nary considered for their loving touch
Here and now there is so much to treasure
Yet, we miss so much, and not even for pleasure
Or enjoyment of the people and for the passion
That can fill our lives without any ration
If we can only open our hearts, eyes and minds
And give our love willingly to all that we find
No judgment based only on what we see…

…yet another wasteful dream, toward a world that will never be…

Worlds Of Pain

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Paul In The Buff

Take away a piece of me
This is just a reality
That doesn’t have to be
Tear at my flesh with your bared teeth
Drink in my blood sucking like a leech
There is nothing here that I can teach
No lesson learned from your incivility
Just another scar on the face of humanity
Another reality
That doesn’t have to be
Another misplaced want born from an illusion
Another prize from crying eyes
Another uninformed conclusion
A severed hand just for revenge
Another wrist under a razor’s edge
In the name of this destructive contribution

Love Song

Posted on November 29, 2014 by Paul In The Buff

Slice away each layer
Make the next cut thin
Take what you want of me
It’s only skin
After all
It’s only skin

This Is a Poem

Posted on November 28, 2014 by Paul In The Buff

Poems are a reflection on life.
Sometimes a poem
Is also too long, lacking rhyme, and pointless.

Letting Go

Posted on November 24, 2014 by Paul In The Buff

October 14, 2008

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Within my hazy sight
A young man was I
On the shore of a pond
Blissfully surrounded
By cottonwood seeds
Drifting lazy on the breeze
In the springtime air
The willows wind-chime leaves
Sang their ancient song
And the cicadas call
From everywhere

An old rope swings
From a mighty branch
In a cottonwood
Over time
Reaching out to the pond
To the water that beckons
To the trees and birds
And the dragonflies hunting
Skimming over the water
Dancing with the sun light
On the reflecting water
Broken only by the
Bullfrog’s wake

And in the heat of the day
My ears rang with the songs
Of the pond
And on the breeze I could hear
Your voice
Calling

“Come dance with me
Take my hand
Swing with me to the water
Escape this heat
And the mosquito’s stinging bite
In the cool water
You will find me
Waiting
With the pleasure of our youth”

And before me I see
Your hand extending
A finger curling
Come hither
Seducing
Take this rope
Take this leap
To the golden water
Before you

I run
Over the dusty path
The easy path
Beaten down by the feet
Of the many who sought
Your comfort
Your companionship
The solution to this mystery
As all the others
I run this same path
Not the mossy ground
Full of roots and vines
Waiting to slow my way
And trip me before
I can reach you
And your blessings
In the water
Where I know
You will be my savior

I leap
Arms extended
And hands wide open
Grasping for your hand
To take mine
The rope that swings
Gripping it tight
Feeling the wind rush
Through my hair
Over my ears
Drowning the sounds of the day
With the hum of this motion
But not your voice
Your voice rings clear

“Let go…”

You say it again

“It’s time to let go…”

And I believe
I want to believe
That you will catch me
Softly in the cool water
As the rope slows
And the travel of my swing ends
I hear your voice again

“Let go…”

I close my eyes
And push the rope away
My flight confirmed
The point of no return
I open my eyes
And hear your voice again

“Let go… I must let go…”

And the pond is not there

A stony ground waits below

And I see you
Standing on the bluff
Watching my fall
As I reach in vain
Extending my arms in a desperate plea
“Catch me!” I call to you

But you turn and walk away

I close my eyes
One last time
Knowing
There will never be
Another pond
As sweet as this one was

And now
Only now I realize
Between the real
And the imaginary
And the reality
And the fantasy
The only thing left for me
Is letting go

On A Quiet Evening

Posted on November 16, 2014November 16, 2014 by Paul In The Buff

August 23, 2009

Quiet evening… fresh bread, hummus and red a good cabernet… listening to good music and letting the stress of the day melt away…

So much happens every day it seems; too much to even keep track of. Hours awake grow longer, trying to pack more and more into each day… sleep lessens and the need for it wanes… those pesky wrinkles on the backs of my hands grow more defined..

I took my kids for a swim this evening, which is never good for my skin, but if I had a soul, it would be good for it. The night air is so crisp and the sky so clear. As we walked back to their house tonight my oldest son looked up at the sky and said, “Oh, there’s the big dipper!” just in time for all of us to look up at this famous constellation and catch a shooting star streaking across the night sky.

There is something magical about that.

To make that wish. To live in the shoes of a child, for just a second more.

But thoughts have pervaded in my mind all day… too many bad thoughts. Too much for me some days… too much.

Sometimes, they have to be exposed….

You wear hope like yesterday’s fashions
And the fads that come to pass
With the arrival of tomorrow
Fighting against your static possessions
And embellishing all these things that you call love

These misgivings you deem tragic
An affront to the person you see yourself as
In your fun-house mirror life
Straightening the jagged edges
That you’ve worked so hard to hide

Pearl white shoes don your feet
Resisting the mud slung up
By the dance of avoidance
On your imaginary yellow-brick road
Your path to the salvation of normalcy

And with the simplicity of a click of your heels
Everything will be alright again

But the warmth of your heart
Suffers beneath the cold of your skin
And the burning heat you claim to own
Is smoldering ashes that never touched a flame

No other shoes will fit your feet
And your rose colored glasses
Cloud your vision
Keeping you from seeing
The smoke from the disasters you leave behind

While this brass holds cold to my hand
I am aching to move away from it
To step away
To find my way
Away

But this tether
The web you spin
Seemingly from nothingness
Offering unconditional support
“It’s alright, I will catch you.”
You call from the past
“I will catch you, you’ll see.”

But a hapless fly could not see
What you offered
Suffocation
As all you ensnare
Twists in the wind

And a single flake falls back to your skin
Disguised as the ember
You pronounce as your awakening
From a fire remaining
In a winter’s slumber

Cherished as this daily ring of gold
Is replaced by a nightly handle of brass
Offering a distance
Beyond the quiet drum beats
And hypnotizing highway lights
Beyond a clear night sky
Shinning like the fake glass jewels
You hold dearer than love

And I breathe

Free me of these shackles of ice
And lift me from the crushing smoke and smolder

I can breathe

And still you cry
While I seek the lights
Until I die