Depth

I know you're scared
And that the surface
Seems far far away
And that it feels
Like the sharks are circling
With the creatures
Of the depths
Holding tightly on
Refusing to let go
But there is light up here
In the world above
And I am here...
Reaching out...
Holding on too...
Hoping...
You will come up for air.

Quaero

Everyone
Is always searching
For that one thing
That makes them feel whole
And very often,
They search in vain

So much so
That it would seem
Practical to declare
Such a search
Futile

But I know
Now,
Even if a little late,
That that search is real
And that it's true

Because I found you.

Stellar Nurseries

In a world of dismal greys,
Sometimes you find
A bright blazing blue
Or a deep elven green
Or a sparkling red
That beats through veils of cosmic pall.

Sometimes a star
Sends out plumes of gas
And super-charged plasmic joy
That spin through the universe
Seeking out a home
And sometimes those evanescent vapours
Condense into what you'd call
A home.

Sanctuary

I would that I could hold you
And keep you in comfy warmth;
Wrap you safe and trance like
In my loving arms.
I would that I could hold you;
Hold your hand awhile,
Brush your lovely hair back,
And bath'd be in your smile
I would that I could hold you
And kiss your precious lips;
Hold you tight against me
And melt into your hips.
I would that I could hold you
And fill your heart with bliss
So nothing else could matter,
'Cause only we exist.

Wider Horizons

Stare trough the looking glass
And what do you see?
Fearful visions
And fodder for fearful dreams
But pull back a moment and you will find,
As your view expands
And your eyes start to see
The fearsomest things are tiny yet
When compared to the strength we have
And the strength we get
From loving to pieces
And peacefulness, too,
Each other,
Saying I love you..

Binary

See that unending flame,
See it burn
Not unlike the stars
That fill our brightened sky,
Hot and life giving,
Eternal,
And pure...

We are star-forged,
You and I.
We belong,
Hand in hand...
Together,
In the night's sky.

Sensorial

I melt into the walls
And am subsumed by the room
I'm locked in a surreal dream
With crepe curtains,
Walls with rugged, running spines
And talk that is neither here nor there,
Except I wonder where that might be...
Smoke curls around me
(The pipes are blowing hard tonight)
And I follow it -
The ups and downs of a life
Surrendered to the inevitable -
With an untrained mind
Struggling to remain in control
Of some sort or form.
I hope I find you again
I hope you find strength
I hope I do too,
Because it will take so much
To risk my soul again.

A Beat Escapes

I didn't see you,
In the real sense of seeing you,
Until you spoke
And in that moment -
The moment I first saw you -
I knew I'd seen you somewhere before.
I'd given you a name before the world was born.
You've tracked through my dreams all my life.
Every place I've gone,
I've looked,
Searching for you.
In books,
In stories,
In stony corridors,
Real and of the soul,
I've searched for you.

And when I found you,
Time stopped.


And then, with the softest beat,
After slowing my heart
For the longest second,
The clock ticked on again.

Vinculum

Two numbers sat together, two
One was me and one was you
A line was drawn to join us both
A tie of love, a sign of troth

A Ray of Hope

There's a ray of hope
Shining right here
There's a ray of light
For you
There's the possibility
Of true joy,
True joy,
'Cause there's a ray of hope
Shining in you.

Nothing matters more
Than you
Nothing makes my soul glow so
Nothing makes the world
Dazzle in so many colours
But you.

There's a ray of hope
Shining right here
There's a ray of light
For you
There's the possibility
Of true joy,
True joy,
'Cause there's a ray of love
Shining in you.

Smallie - The Earnest Bear

I want to reach out
And feel out your fingers
Show you this love is
The kind that lingers.
I want keep you
Warm and safe,
In a perilous world,
Create a happy place.
I want to show you
Whenever you're sad,
Whenever you're down,
That things won't be so bad.
I want to hold you
And keep at bay
All these worrisome fears
So I could just say,
Through all of these words,
Connecting the dots:
I hope you like me
'Cause I love you lots.

I Knew

From the time we met
And you turned my head,
And showed me
Something new
From the very first talk
When the hours went by
And your soul filled my eyes,
I knew...

From that first dance
That lasted barely a minute,
When we'd have done anything
Just to prolong it,
From the feel of your arms
And that tinkling soft giggle
And those bright shining eyes,
I knew...

From that first walk
Down the boardwalk
At bandstand,
When you tried to pretend
That that was all it was,
But let me hold your hand,
I knew...

From that first kiss
That made only our world exist
In every way that mattered,
I knew...

That you would be my friend,
My love
Always.

The Ocean of Deep Transcendent Love

Deep inside me,
Where only you have been,
There is an ocean
That is ours
And ours alone -
A place of peace
And rest,
Where weary bones
May sleep
Curled in each others' joints.

The water is calm and patient
A thing of many years
A wellspring
For the hope
That dispatches all our fears.
Lie here with me,
Upon this floating isle,
Lie with me a moment,
Rest here awhile.

There's a fire burning in me -
A fire you ignite.
There's a fire burning in you -
The flame of our love's light.
The sky at the ocean's end
Glows gloriously
And pushes her black veil back
To show
The flame of our love,
Sparks scattering across the sky,
Filling the heavens with stars -
Just to tell
Of this meeting
Of two incandescent souls
That have set the world aflame.

A single candle burns,
As the wind blows its flame to sea,
The wind that calls to us
And puts us at ease.
Our souls are filled with light
As we melt into each other,
Like two oceans flowing together,
Under a starlit canopy.

You have turned me
Into a seeker
Not only after you
But of the universe -
I will scour the heavens
In search of beautiful things
To bring back to you
To experience your joy
In them,
In me.

There is a serenity
That radiates
From within our conversations -
A peace that comes,
From our two souls,
An electrifying spark arising at the contact -
That spreads out into the world
Changing space and time
And the future.

This time-line is confused
And wraps itself
Around itself
As our love folds it
And twists it
Bending the universe -
This sea of electric impulses -
To its unchanging will.

Conspiratorial whispers
Flit about on the wind
As it blows through the world
And our souls,
Calling you and me
Into a future that is ours.

Outside the Cave

Sometimes, a cave within your head
Will suck you in
And steal you from the world.
And even I can't get in
That door is magic
And shut to me.
But don't you worry,
Even if I cannot
Find a way through
To get my love to you,
When it opens, as it always does,
I will be waiting
Outside the cave,
With a warm jacket and warmer hug
And a candle, orange scented with love
And a flower and my sword
And a kiss you could only dream of,
And all the love in the world..

The Unknown

We cast off...
Surrender ourselves to the winds,
Hoping to find a way home
Or at least to safer shores
And, maybe, a storm will catch us,
And upset this flimsy raft...
But, maybe, that chance must be taken.

I hope I find you
When the wind dies down,
Rather than sleep in a watery grave,
Dead and unloved
For lack of you

And until that day,
When hope comes answered,
Look for me in the sea,
The wind will whisper you my love.

Whispers at the Precipice

If a whisper shivers down your spine

While your fingers trace the edges

Of a precipice in your soul

And mine,

While you find yourself longing

To just take the plunge

Into this light,

And if that whisper is warm

Like a hand full of stardust

Or one pressed against your back

Or arching feet

Or both,

Pay heed

Dear love

That voice is love's.

Let Me Be The One

Let me be the light that shines in you

Let me fill your eyes

Let me the one that lives for you

Love me into life.

Love me like the ocean swells with peace

Love me without pause

Love me whether winds blow or cease

Let me be the one

Let me be the one that holds your hand

Let me be your guide

Let me show you the promised land

Come into my life.

Come and be the one that shines for me

Come and be my love

Come and let me live in ecstasy

Let me be the one.

This Star Won't Die

If you look carefully,
The shadows will fade away
And the phantasms
That force you
To lock your love away
On hidden cloistered shelves -
The ghostly premonitory feelings
That exist only in darkness
And occupy your mind,
Will release their hold,
Their incorporeal selves.
And this is good
Because, if you look
Through their pall,
While suffocating
Under the shroud of fear,
You may (mistakenly!) assume
That the light is too bright
To be real
And even if it is,
Real and alive and whole,
Even if it's bright and strong and near,
You know the brightest flames
Die fastest...
But do they really?
If you think about it?
If that were true,
If that was it,
Do you really think
That this love would exist?
One occurrence
Of tremendous ignition
Set this universe aflame
It set jewels in the sky at night
(In the day-sky too!)
And stars don't die...
Not quickly, nor easily,
Not in a hundred years,
Not in a lifetime
Like yours or mine.

When I See You

When I see you
I see the god in you
And the god in me sees you too
When I see you
I see beauty
I see life
I see myself
Reflected in an image
That is part me
Part something more -
The parts of you
That do not reflect me,
That add to me,
The most beautiful.
When I see you
I forget
Whether I am looking on
Another person
Or an extension of myself
When I see you
I see love.

I Know You

Sometimes you scare yourself
And think
That this couldn't possibly be true
It's too big
Something must be amiss
(Even if the truth is,
The only thing wrong
Is thinking that it must be)
But if you sit and think
With your heart open
From within,
You'll feel a surge inside you
As the memories tumble out
And you'll see,
The way I see it,
That no one has ever gone
As deep within you
As I have
Or you have
Within me
So stare those fears
In the face
And remember
No matter what the fears may tell you
I know you
And I love you

Hailing

A whisper,
A cry
And an endless
Empty sky
Chills the soul
And melts the borders
A hopeful dream
A wish
A sweet longing
To just exist
Beckons slowly
Across the waters

You wouldn't exist
If words did not
Even in action
Not least in thought
Another lost soul
Among the drifters

Seaweed
And whirling gulls
Painted shores
And painted hulls
As pictures go,
Perfect…
Reminders.

A desperate call,
A forgotten word
A curling wind
That blows seaward
Evanescent,
Just vapours.
As never before
And never again
Like the passing of
April’s rain
The thought blinks once
And disappears.

I Will Seek You Where The Lost Can Be Found

An angel-gargoyle poem... to be read as three poems - "Where The Lost Can Be Found" (right of midpoint), then "I Will Seek You" (left of midpoint) and lastly, "I Will Seek You Where The Lost Can Be Found" (whole lines).

If you get lost,	Lost in the void,
I will seek you -	In the darkness,
Pull you back from that place	Where fear and anger fester,
Even if it means	I wander alone -
Long, tough, tired days	With nothing to show for it
I am hopeful of	The future,
Our future,	A bright light
Which shines	Through the fog,
With a glory to awaken all that	Is dead, a dying husk with no hope
You are	And I am too
A seeker after joy, of	The truth of all things:
Life and existence	Leaves you with questions
And a lightness of being	In the strangest of places
That can never be taken away

Mystery Isle

The sea swings
To a soft, steady beat.
A calm, exploring wave
Licks the sandy shoreline.

I stand upon the cliff
And stare out to the horizon
And hope,
That my message, at last,
Finds it way to you -
My soul enclosed,
As my heart beats in me.

In the absence of you
I sit and wonder,
What would it be
To hold your hand,
To look into those eyes
And lose myself
In the sea of your thoughts.

I see you as I saw you first
Those few days ago -
The ocean rests
In jewels upon your delicate neck
And behind those black eyes,
Silent in their splendour.
Fires burn in the depths of you
A place of hidden beauty,
Locked away and kept silent,
A secret part of your heart.

I know not what it is
That draws my heart to you
Only that is so strong -
A force I cannot resist.

Read Between the Numbers

Floor by floor
Year by year
A magic lantern
Plays here

3
You disappeared. I
Don't know where
There are people,
People are everywhere
None are you

7
The stage is empty, the theatre too
You're beside me,
Both of you, protective, loving
But you cannot protect me
From myself, or my mind
Or shadows that creep through you
Without your notice.

15
Act out
You don't fit in
So go break everything
It isn't worth having, is it?
You fool

22
Such joy
It cannot be
Such beauty as this is
Not possible, one would wonder
It is

23
Emptiness found itself
On a barren plain
And looked over its shoulder
To find nothing there
But air
And dead skies
Please stay

35
Death tried
To claim my soul
And steal it all away
But I still have you to live for
My elf

Is it enough to say
I told you so?
I love you.

50
From here
It came to this
From then and forever
Two hearts that have beat in tandem
Years pass

100
Is it this already?
It seems so soon.
Have we reached?
Where?
There was no destination?
Oh.
Well the journey was nice, no...
Together?

A Future And A Present

Sipping quietly
You look out to sea
As the sun dips below the horizon
Clouds pass through your mind and heart
Like a swarm of locusts
I miss you
And the fear
It was so different
So unfamiliar
I'm not scared
Not of you
Not in any way that means anything
I am a cloud lost on your breath
Waiting for you to blow me on
Suck me in
Breathe me deep
Never let go
And there's nowhere
I'd rather go
Than deep inside of you
To the forest hidden
In the folds in your eyes
See that tower
See the walls
See that moat
Obstacles?
They're nothing
Empty verse has slung itself across the stars
In search of meaning
And never found a resting place but here
Vaporous
But golden
Silent
But full
You are whole
Though you don't yet know it
The world has taken it from you
But it was never theirs
They cannot have it
This soul is mine
And I am hers
The ocean rises to meet
Your parted lips
The hint of a smile
A crinkled eye
Lost in time
It's been years
And still it stands
No ice upon this water
No desert either
Full and vibrant and beautiful
Your hair is gray now
Mine too
And I still long to touch it,
Hold it
Breathe it in
I long for you
Like I did before
Dragons perched upon clifftop
Aware of what they are
Who they are
And who they've been
Who they might become
We are whole
And wholesome
You are
Don't stop
Don't hold back
There's life in here
Somewhere
Yours
And so we flow
Like endless currents
Returning ever
To the point where this began
While stars collide and die out
Music stirs
The strings in me
Pulling at the edges of my heart
Wrapping it
Like a little present
To be given freely
To the one I love
You
There's no snow upon the tree
But Christmas came early this year
And never left.

These Ties That Bind

This string is a tie
That binds
Two beating hearts
Across no distance
But fearful minds.
It's a reminder
That the frailest of things
Can mean something
Can even be broken
And survive
With a little love and care.
This string is weak
And could be broke
With one tough yank.
(Though, isn't that true,
Of most everything?)
This string could be strengthened
By chording around another
And each is stronger for the other.
This string is pink
And this is blue
Like midnight over a sleepy ocean.
It's a reminder:
There is a tie that binds us
That isn't even physical
And cannot really be broken
Even if we try.

I Want a House

I want a house that's free and simple
Unbound by any thing
An open expanse of peacefulness
That floats through everything

I want a house filled with hope
With flags of love unfurled
Where sunbeams glide upon the air -
A refuge from the world

I want a house
Whose walls are porous
Where our spirits are free
To all thoughts that call on us.
I want a house in which
Your soul is free, unbound
A soft serenity -
The safest place you've found.

I want a house
The wind blows through
That takes you to sea
And oceans back to you.

I want a house
That's painted in fire
A reflection of a love
Filled with soft-hard desire.

I want a house, yes,
That bit is true,
But most of all, I want...
I want a home with you

Divinity

A dream dropped down from clouds above
And whisper'd soft into my ear
She held me close and tight with love
And kissed my lips and held me near.
A song sang through this world of mine
And sung my heart into the sky
She wrapped my soul with bits of twine
And held me close till morn was nigh
A strain upon the wind was heard -
A joyous lilting melody
And soft it spoke her blessed words
That held me close - divinity.
And so I lost my soul to this
The sweetest taste, an angel's kiss.

I'm Yours (In different forms)

Haiku
Wind blows by water
Playing, ruffling your hair
My heart is yours now

Cinquain
You are
A song that sings
My heart to higher planes
Then lay me down in peaceful love
I'm yours

For you, my love

Each of these
Thirty
They're for you
Because of you
Some even
About you
Each poem
Each word
Each thought contained
In your honour
For your love
Expressing my own

Let Me List The Ways (Part II)

I love the way you nuzzle into my neck
Like you'd melt into me
If that were physically possible -
The way you lose yourself
In watching me
Trace the landscape of our hearts
Upon a piece of paper
That is so much more
Than just that.

I love your hands in my hair
As you stare longingly into my eyes
And at my face,
Like you're drinking it in.

I love how it feels like home
Lost in the ocean
In your eyes
And safe in your smile
And there's nowhere I'd rather go
Than deeper into your soul.

I love how pain and fear
And hurt and bitterness
Fall by the wayside
Like silly distractions
(Which they are,
If we're honest) -
How this love endures
And conquers,
Reaching out into the world
Making it dance
To a deeper tune.

I love how we find a sheltered cove
Overlooking a quiet bay
And cannot stare out
To the horizon,
Beautiful though the view is,
So caught up we are
In each other.

I love how the secret places
Where I'd never take anyone
Except one special person,
Seem made for you
And us
And our love.

I love the love-filled messages
You send me
After a night in which
You've set my heart aglow,
And how they'll steal away
My concentration,
So I get lost
In the beauty of your soul,
Your feelings,
Your words.

I love how you'll walk
And brave blisters,
Which always seem to dog us
(Like that horrid Akon song)
To enjoy a romantic stroll
I love how those hurts
Make something melt inside me
So I have to shower you
With kisses and caresses
And the abundant love
That keeps welling up in me.

I love how vulnerable I feel
When you look deep into my soul
And how I feel comfortable
To let myself be that way -
Naked before you.

I love singing to you
And hearing you sing back -
That sweet silky voice
That starts as a hum,
Hidden in your throat
And quietly, softly
Breaks out,
Moving quickly into my heart
And taking its place
Where it belongs.

I love how simple things
Like an innocuous menthol sweet
Or even just breathing
Can become so much more,
An object or an act
Of beauty
That we just seem to create
In the world around us
So that each becomes
An exultation
In you,
In us,
In our existence
As we breathe
You into my soul
And me into yours
And lose ourselves
In that moment
When we're so connected,
We're even breathing the same air.

I love how everything
Takes on a deeper meaning
How words like starlit
Become more than just an adjective
And how only we know
What they really mean.

I love how our conversations
Seep into the world
Changing existence in subtle ways,
Nudging stubborn maybes
Towards something brighter
And bigger
And whole.

I love that every so often,
A new name comes to my lips,
Like a tender kiss
Waiting to alight upon your own,
Because you mean so much,
That no one name is enough
To even come close to
Describing the beauty in you.

I love how you get lost
Even after you decided
To hold me at bay,
How we both find it's not half as easy
As it had seemed,
How this love of ours
Finds a way
To make its presence felt.

I love even the moments
When you hold back,
And how you always come back,
Like you just needed to wind down,
Your heart's been racing so,
And that even in those moments,
Although I can't be with you
And hold you
And kiss you
And melt into your arms,
Your voice says so clearly,
That you love me
Even if you can't act on it right now.

I love how it feels
Like the natural order of things
That I give everything I can to you,
That I need to pamper you and spoil you
And baby you -
Showering you with kisses
And hugs and foot rubs
And more -
Because that is what you are..
My Baby.

I love that even after seeing
The worst of each other,
We can look deep in each others' eyes
And see mirrored,
What each is feeling,
And say in simple words
That mean so much:
I love you.

Are You Scared?

Are you scared?
Because I am
(Even if I try to hide it).
Will you be brave?
Because I will,
I'll try my hardest.
Because I know
This is what I want
And always will.
This is the fire I want
Burning in my soul
These are the words
I want pouring from my mind
And yours is the heart
I want them pouring into.

There's So Much

There's so much beauty between us.
There are so many layers
To every single interaction
And sometimes, for days on end,
I could pick apart things we've done,

And things we have,
And find more underneath.
This feels infinite.

There's so much beauty between us.
There are sparks that fly
In directions
We've never had cause
To think of before -
Making my hair stand
And my skin tingle
And my eyes light up
As my brain overloads with joy.
This feels exquisite.

There's so much beauty between us
There are words,
That trickle through my consciousness
Like a slow
But relentless flood,
Tied to emotion
But not bound to its fate -
Expressions of everything
We'd like to be,
Expressions of everything
We long to have,
Expressions of everything
That we could
And are meant to
Be.
This feels special.

This feels unique.

This feels like love.

Affirmation

Without pause
Without limit
Without boundary
In any form
With every single beat
That makes my heart quiver
With joy to know you
To experience you,
To live in a world where you exist,
With every electric spark
That ignites in my brain
With every breath
That fills these lungs of mine
(And, sometimes, yours as well
And then returns to me)
With every action
On my part
With anything,
Everything
I could do
To build you up,
I will affirm only one thing -
I love you.

If I Could Choose

If I could choose
One thing about you
That I, and I alone,
Could have,
I'd choose your eyes -
Those windows to your soul
That light up when we talk,
That fill my world
When they're aflame.
Oh how I long
To stare into them endlessly!
No...
I'd want your smile -
That cutesy half gurgly giggle
That tells me you're happy,
That I bring you joy,
That the stupid shit I say
And do,
Makes your heart lift.
No...
I'd want your fingers
And the urgency in their tips
As you stroke my arm,
My face, my back,
My entire being,
Or run them through my hair.
No...
I'd choose your voice -
That nuanced song
That's always, without fail,
Sung my heart into a trance -
A bringer of rhapsody,
A whirlwind that lifts me up,
Carries me to stranger parts
And brings me back,
Stronger, braver and whole.
No...
I'd choose your mind -
The force that defines you,
Of which, the rest
Are but artifacts -
That electric consciousness
That plugs right into my own
Sending impulses roaring through my nerves
Tripping circuits everywhere.
No...
I don't think, I can make a choice -
I'd always,
Always,
Choose you.

Enchantment

You're an incantation
That changed the structure
Of the universe around me,
When you were sung into existence,
In my world,
So the stars shone brighter
And the void between them
Grew so much smaller...
And when you went,
Even if only for a while,
Creation became
A colder place,
A dull and empty ache...
And when you return
And your song plays
For a soul
As lucky as my own,
There is only light
And soft breezes,
That blow from lung to lung,
Unsure which is which,
Or who is who,
And unconcerned
By trivial distinctions
Like those...
Zephyrs blow
And pick us up
Carrying us
To places we've gone before
But haven't been,
For so long.

Need

A song needs a tune
Or it aches along
Devoid of melody.
A poem needs words
Or it drifts along
In emptiness.
The wind needs air
Or it wafts along
Aimlessly.
The ocean needs water
Or it ceases to exist
As anything more
Than an empty hole
That once held something...
And I need you
Or I cease to be
In any way
That means anything.

My Little Scared One

She lives in the moment
And for it,
Telling herself it's because
The future is a scary place
Full of possible hurts and aches.
She's beautiful and wonderful
And lovely
But won't believe you
If you told her.
And you can't help but
Love her with all your heart.

The Closed Off Box of Nothing

Where grief lies in wait,
There is a holding of the breath,
A stagnation in the air.
There is a door that will not open,
Part of the walls that hold it in -
A closed off box of nothing,
From which nothing escapes.

Takotsubo

The trap is closed now,
The octopus caught,
Gutted and tenderized -
A pretty sounding word,
A stick,
Beating the pulp out of you,
Nonetheless.

Fill the pan with salted water -
The kind you rub in
To old wounds -
And bathe your grief
And it heats up fast.

Remove the senses,
Take out the eyes
Pry that beak off
And rip it apart.
Make the cut,
Make it quick,
Make it deep,
Make it stick.

Now prepare your table
And gather your food,
Put it together for
The one who'll come.
A meal for two,
You hope she'll love,
A meal for two,
But she doesn't show.
So tossed in the freezer
Like yesterday's leftovers,
You lie in wait
And die in silence,
Wondering if she came but left,
If she wanted to, but changed her mind,
If she ever wanted to at all...

Hope wilts away
In the morning's glare
With the spoils of your heart
In her upturned fist
The heart she'd once
Loved and valued and kissed -
Lies now, paralyzed:
A fragment of a future
Broken asunder,
A frozen reminder,
Of a formalized lack of union.

Smouldering and All Burnt Out

The fire burns dim
Inside my soul
Nothingness, is a cloud
Of ash and smoke...
Emptiness is like that.
I've lost my love
And all will to live
Or eke out survival,
That's all it is now.
The embers glow hot,
Reminiscent of lost potential.
Smoke pours out;
Acrid, pungent,
Inducing teary eyes.
I lie -
They were wet enough already.
I see the world
Through a veil of water
And the shapes blur
Into each other -
Confused emotions,
Drives and destinies.
How entwined are we
That I should feel this way?
But then,
How entwined could we be,
If you hide yourself away?

A Wish

I wish I was perfect.
I wish I could be everything
You ever want or need,
Not just enough
To make you happy,
I wish I could only bring you
Unadulterated bliss
And nothing less.
I wish I could never hurt you
Or have it in me to cause you pain
Because you deserve so much more
Than anything less than
All my love,
All of me,
Everything I could give to you,
Every last bit of my soul.
I know that nothing
Is ever perfect
And I know that expecting it to be
Is unreasonable,
But I hope it counts for something
That I really wish it was.

I'd Follow You

You exhale soft puffs of moist air,
Gravel crunches under soft soles,
As you breathe me in
And I breathe you.
I'd follow you,
Can't you see -
It doesn't matter where
As long as you're with me.
I'd follow you into the void,
Into the cold dark emptiness of space
Just to get you back, you know,
To where it's warm and safe.
I'd follow you into the darkest mood -
The hopelessness and unending gloom
And a light a candle for our love,
Watch its flame build and bloom,
Plant a little garden of candles,
Little love lights -
Orange scents and more.
And then leave it to spread
Out into the world
As it did before.
And I'll keep an eye out
To the distant horizon
Hoping, wishing forever
That we'll find this again,
That we'll lose ourselves
In each other.

The Straits of Stability

Upon this pristine shore
Walks an elven maiden
With long strides but slow -
There is no time in heaven.
And beside her perfect form
Walks her love, a man,
With stride matched for stride,
Just a different span.

As one follows the lines,
The other goes between
And the moon shines 'pon water
That fades before the sheen
Of smiles and radiant glow
That lights their holy night
One of many, come and gone,
Part of futures bright;
Of love burning in earnest,
A rare and true gift
A mark of the thing
That makes heart and soul lift.

A starlit night glistens
And shimmers out in space
As the waters flow between us
Making heart and soul race
Two stars are caught up
In the vortex of love so warm
And the universe expands
In a way unlike its norm.

We walk through cobblestone lanes
And to the sea shore
We walk down starlit avenues
And then, walk some more.
My hand is locked in yours,
The place where it belongs,
Held behind your back
As we walk along.

We kiss
Though we planned not to
We kiss
Because we know we ought to
Hold each other close,
Drinking in each others' smile
Breathing in so deeply,
Staying still awhile.

And the skies
They whirl above us,
As the winds
Blow down to greet us
Lifting our souls up
To a purple-black canopy
As if they needed lifting,
So buoyant are we.

So we go ahead,
And make our way
To a quiet little cove -
A cafe held above the grime
Of a city of old.
We stare out across the bay -
Lovers lost in their view,
Sipping coffee
That's neither too sweet nor bitter,
Just like us two.

Your eyes shine as you look to me,
As way back then, they shone,
And your lips glisten as they part
And press against my own.

Secrets Don't Die

When I love you now,
I'll love you in secret,
In hidden verse
And treasured rhyme.
I'll hold it in
And keep it quiet
So you can't know
How much I pine -
For you, and me
And us as one
For all we had,
All that's gone.
Maybe some day
You'll realize,
As you look at me
And in my eyes
(If you so choose,
For choose you must,
Someday, before
We turn to dust),
That love though silent
Ne'er went away
Though you did,
Along your way.

These Words Are Broken

These words are broken
And will not write
Themselves into beautiful lines
Of elegant verse.
These lines are crooked
And sound so off
Everything's wrong
With all of this song.
These letters are dancing,
But it's no parade -
Maybe a march,
A funereal one -
An elegiac dance
Mourning a battered hope.
These words are broken
Or maybe, it's just me.

The Dreaded Gulf of Fearfulness

Alone I stand upon a precipice
And look upon the rocks
That litter the landscape
That's been my life.
Alone I stand, as do you
Upon facing cliffs
Across a wide ocean
That you dare not cross
For fear of who-knows-what.
You see me,
But you look away,
As I stare out towards you.
I know you've seen me,
I see your eyes.
But do you know I see?
You want to turn
And look again,
But you don't.
Why? You can't? You won't?
Why? Is it fear?
Is it not enough?
Is it too much?
You look at me
But avoid my eyes,
Windows to this soul of mine.
Are you afraid to see me as I am -
Just a man who loves you,
Enough to change time and space,
Though flawed he is
And always will be?
Or are they mirrors
That reflect only your uncertainty
And doubt, and fear,
And who-knows-what?
Look at me across this sea
As I look to you,
Look to me.
Look into these eyes, and see
Look, please look...
Trust me.

A Secret Part of My Heart

In a secret part of my heart
Where awe and reverence mingle
Where gods could exist,
Or fairies and elves even,
A whisper sometimes stirs
The hairs upon my neck
And raises armies of goosebumps
On my arms and flesh.

In a chamber locked away,
Where the world can't get at it
(Nor the idle hordes
Hold their sway
Against the beauty of this),
A wind sometimes blows,
Where the world is no longer flat,
Through the undulations and the folds
Over your skin
And through your hair
And over the ocean
Inside of your eyes.

In a secret part of my heart
Where only you have been,
And only you belong,
A light shines on forever,
A light that never dims.

Something Heavenly

I used to retreat
To a cave -
My own private growlery,
Full of the stuff
That loses it's sheen,
That goes to dust.
And verse and word
And poetry
Were but means
To free from me
The demons and pains
That clutched my soul,
The things that broke,
The empty holes.
But then you came
And word and verse
And musical lyrical rhapsody
Became the norm -
An ecstasy
Of words and their ocean,
For my soul to be -
Calm and drifting,
Ne'er at sea.
So I'll lose the cave
And it's misery,
And wrap myself,
Instead,
In your mystery
To elevate these words,
These feelings, these thoughts
To something more,
Something heavenly.

The Sea of Ignited Passion

We start off quiet,
We always do,
With looks and words
And minds in tune.
We drift off quickly
Upon the swell,
Lost in each others' hair,
Each others' smell.
I am lost
In the taste of your kiss -
A half-chewed apple piece
Mashed 'tween lovers' lips.
And I whisper to you:
The velvety words
That make your hair
Stand on end,
The quiet, urgent words
That make your pulse go quick,
The soft, stroking, longing words
That languorously swim about you,
Swimming you into rapturous ecstasy.

I want to crawl inside of you
To get inside your bones
To melt into your skin
To be a part of every fibre of you.
So the wind rushes by,
As the world's breathing quickens
And, in little gasps and bursts,
Teases our ears.
And your nails dig into my back
As we dig deeper into each other,
As we ignite as one -
Two golden dragons
Leaping from a mountain top,
As the seas boil and bubble
Trying to keep up
In our rolling wake.
Churning, heaving,
The seas move with us
Ebbing and flowing
To a heavenly beat.
We feel ravenous,
Surrendered to desire
Though this be more than that.
And I feel my soul,
As I melt away,
Dripping out of my skin
And into yours.

Set in Stone

I know that it is scary
And that the world is hard.
I know that things don't work out
Even when you do your part
And I know some things
Just aren't
The way we wish they were
But some things,
Like us,
Are beautiful.
So remember,
When you think
That things won't change for the better,
That nothing is set in stone,
That no relationship is static,
That love is a movement,
And that we have moved
And will move
Together -
Two swimmers in tandem.

That's How They Know

Eyes brighten,
Heads move together,
Smiles widen
And lips glisten.
The talk is fast
And easy
And we're lost
In a breeze of conversation.
A whisper is spoken -
A flirtatious something,
A secret
They cannot know;
Or nothing,
Though they assume
It's not -
Our eyes light up so.
Our hearts are pounding,
To a common rhythm.
Our knees are weak
With the lightness in our feet
The world spins, in our heads,
Restlessness in our hands,
And fingers, and minds,
Every time we meet.

The Cliffs of Longing

Upon a rocky shoreline
Above the surf's foaming
Whispers,
Where the world seems a distant nothing
Stretching on forever,
I came across a maiden,
An elven beauty, pure,
Whose presence
In the world
Blessed that rocky shore.

One glimpse,
One look,
One word,
And I am possessed -
A siren call
Upon ocean winds,
Who bear
Her sweet caress.

How I long
To talk those eyes to life,
To lose myself
In those black pools, those gems
Silent in their splendour,
To burn in adoring flame
If only to mirror the light in them.

But night arrived
And darkness took you away.
The shore seems empty,
The rocks forbidding,
The night's gone cold,
The moon has gone astray.

What is this thing
That ties me to you?
The meal is dreary
And takes forever.
I wish I'd stayed at home,
If only to have heard from you
To know where you were
And that you wanted me
So I could come to you.

How much worse is it,
That this vision,
This elven princess
With bright pixie eyes
And a mischievous,
Thoughtful twinkle,
Should not be here today.

And all I can think of
All I can speak of,
Is one thing,
One thought
One pretty pixie's smile.
The dinner is over,
And still no sign of her.
The talk upon the table
Is wasted 'pon my ears.

Ever since I saw you,
I've longed for your smile
Your eyes alight and dancing
As you hold my hand awhile.

Three days have past
And another chance was lost
And now I can wait no longer
So a message in a bottle
I send forth in hope:
That though oblique,
My aim be right and true
No matter the obstacles;
That it find its way to you.

And so I wait
And hope
That tomorrow will come
And you with it.

Sometimes (Things Are More Than They Seem)

Sometimes,
If you go quiet
And listen
And maybe,
Just maybe,
If you're lucky,
You might hear a soul
Rustle quietly
As it slithers up your arm
And nestles against your neck,
Whispering quietly,
Breathing
Sweetly in your ear,
That you are loved
And cherished
More than you ever have been,
More than you ever thought
You would or could be,
More than you dared to hope.
Sometimes
A shimmer is more than a star,
A mirage isn't quite a dream,
That would disappear into the morning
Or the sandy, joyless desert,
And if you look carefully,
You might see
The shimmer was only a sign,
Not a thing, itself,
Of beauty;
Like this,
Like you.

Treacly

People trudge on
Living their lives,
Trains shudder past
Carrying more,
To other destinations.
Congress grass in tattered clumps,
White-washed walls and creeping ivy,
Two steel grey rails
That seek to guide me
Slide on by
In gooey motion.
A fan turns slowly
Through treacle-like air
And it washes by me
Like a viscous dream
All because you kissed me last night.

Bits of my Soul

This word,
Yes,
This one,
The others too -
They're little
Bitsofme...
Bitsforyou.

I hope
You like them...
I know you do...
These bits of me
That all love you.

Existence is Yours

In a time when I existed as just a thought inside your head,
An ephemeral phantom with no existence,
I thought that life was beautiful...

And then I lived it -

A swishysquishy
Soft, worn thing,
An achybreachy
Lovelorn thing,
An ecstasy
Of light and fire,
A troubled dream
Of faith's desire.

In a time when I existed
As more than a thought
(Though perhaps not yet
In your head,
Lost among your tresses),
I thought life was beautiful

As I lived it -

A dripping wetness
That beat you down
A smug heckle
That's tossed around
A door locked
To hide your fears
A child lost
In forgotten years..

And now I exist
As thought and flesh and more
I exist as me, your love,
Just yours
And life is beautiful...

I don't just think it anymore.

Oceans of Peace

We found a giant shell once,
Of a coconut hollowed out.
So we dragged it to the water
And pushed off in it together.
We smiled,
Lay back,
Legs entwined,
In that little brown bowl upon the sea
And if we bothered to look out,
Which we did,
Though not too often,
We'd see a blue expanse of peace
Reaching the horizon
And flowing on beyond it,
Stretching from Mystery Isle,
Unto the Cliffs of Longing,
And down past the Dreaded Gulf of Fearfulness,
Right till the Cape of Abundant Hope,
And past, on, to the Straits of Stability,
Which joins the Ocean of Deep, Transcendent Love
To the Sea of Ignited Passion.
And so, our gaze would drift along,
Flying upon the breeze,
And swimming with the tides so strong,
Cross the seven seas -
One, each, for a day,
That marks the passing week,
One, each, for a way,
In which our joy we'd seek:

Sunday's peaceful slumber
In your arms so warm and loving,
A home formed deep within us,
Two hearts together, beating.
Monday's holding back,
Because we know, somehow,
Within you and within me,
That the week will catch us up,
Buoyed upon its breakers,
Thrust together we'll be.
Then Tuesday will come
And, our strength worn thin,
Eyes locked
In heartfelt conversation -
To longing
We'll surrender
And to love
And one another.
Wednesday'll come and we'll go,
Lost in each others' swoon,
The oceans heaving and sighing,
As we pass the brightened moon.
Thursday will come and we'll try,
A battle never won -
To pull back and swim against
The currents' egging on.
But again we'll fail,
No matter how we try,
And be swept along like seaweed
Towards the eastern sky.
Friday will dawn
And we'll smile our
Smile of happy lovers, lost
In the glow of who they are.
By Saturday, our love
Will need its own expression
In energetic release
Of more than conversation
And, like a thunderous
Wild, mad storm,
We'll rock this makeshift dinghy
And be drifting along - Suspended,
Hanging, in the air -
Floating, almost
Upon the love we've shared.

Numbers

Some numbers mean a lot
And some mean nothing much
And others merely represent
Abstract things and thoughts.

Some numbers are sweet
Like the two of us
Or the three servings of sauce
Or the eleven o'clock deadline
That keeps getting extended
Or the 6.30 - 7 a.m. wake up call
Or a single pink candle
Two days past its due date
For a new year, all our own.

Some numbers are hopeful
Like a hundred years
Of a beautiful love
That is and was and always will be
Meant to be.

Some numbers are cruel,
Like the ones that stop you from eating
Or the limits imposed upon us
To keep our hearts from beating.

Some numbers are fearful,
Like the hundred years
Until a future,
Although that's come down
To ninety-seven or maybe even ninety, now.

Some numbers are powerful
While others seek to control you
And these should be avoided
Or we'll lose you to forty two.

But all numbers -
Whether big or beautiful,
Whether small or scary
Whether high or hip of hairy -

All numbers are meaningless alone -
A set of squiggles without real form -
(As am I, if we're honest)
Without meaning and you