Poems--Page 1
That Fragile Life .
Lost .
Winter's Majesty .
When Into The Peaceful Woods I Flew
Dancing .
The Plaza Frontenac .
Driving in Love .
Fear .
Headlights .
In a Flash
That Fragile Life
She held her life in her own hands,
as if it were made of glass,
and looked at it quizzically,
turning it over, and over again,
deciding.
Had she brought that razor down
that fragile life would have fallen
onto the ground, shattering,
sending her shards into me,
piercing me with her remains.
Instead she placed the razor aside,
and hung her existence on the wall
on display, for me,
so it could slowly gain substance.
Lost
I finally say what needs to be said.
When done, a mist forms around you.
It begins to stretch its smoky arms
and rolls after me.
I run and run and run
to get away,
and suddenly I reach a point
where it stops and rescinds.
I turn back again to you
and realize
what it is that I have left behind.
I try to go back
but something stops me.
The smoke has returned.
It engulfs me and flows around.
Waving my arms, I try
to disperse it all,
but when it fades
I look and look for you.
But you have disappeared.
Winter’s Majesty
Oh! Winter,
in her divine beauty,
clothes the trees in white,
makes the hills chaste once again,
purifies the land
by letting snow fall all around,
thus restoring the earth
to the virgin state that it was in
before man’s arrival.
The ground is covered in brightness
that brings to mind thoughts of youthful play:
snowmen that seemed to be twelve feet tall;
constructing forts and waging war,
pelting the neighbors with
(and being pelted by)
perfectly packed balls of snow;
sledding down a monstrous hill,
feeling the air swish past
and getting an extreme rush,
then crashing
and just lying on the ground,
the cold snow seeping into your clothes.
Even the chilled temperature
is like a piece of heaven on earth.
The nip at the nose,
the chill down the spine,
the bundling up in hat and scarf,
all brought extreme joy.
Seeing the countryside that way now
brings back some of the innocence
of those bygone days.
And reliving the moment by actually going out
and making a snow angel
reaps the happiness tenfold.
Oh! that every day were like this!
It would be a miracle on a grandiose scale.
But the passage of time
between each winter
makes the season that much sweeter.
So it is with much reluctance
that spring is allowed to come
but it is worth it when you know
that winter in all its majesty
will return very soon.
When Into the Peaceful Woods I Flew
When into the peaceful woods I flew,
All was quiet amongst the trees,
And still, I stood there, dreaming of you.
The sky was a dark, dark shade of blue.
I thought of what we had, just you and me,
When into the peaceful woods I flew.
As I watched, the grass slowly gathered dew,
The forest was as tranquil as could be,
And still, I stood there, dreaming of you.
I pondered the times that seemed so few
In which we saw all that we could see
When into the peaceful woods I flew.
I can only hope and wish to guess who
or what caused you so quickly to flee,
And still, I stood there, dreaming of you.
I finally realized that you never knew
That to my heart your love was the key
When into the peaceful woods I flew,
And still, I stood there, dreaming of you.
Dancing
A man stands
and watches from afar
as a woman
who shared love with him
once
dances to a tune
heard only in her head.
A part of him wishes
to join again in her waltz...
but another
is glad to be distanced.
The latter's will is strong
and so he simply stands
and watches...
until he falls
and looks up to him,
an arm out-stretched,
asking for help with sad eyes.
He hesitates
then turns
and runs fast as he can
away...
afraid of his compassion
and what it might make him do.
The Plaza Frontenac
Alone
in the parking lot of a mall
on a holiday,
my car and me.
Security guard on patrol
glides by in his souped-up golf cart
with flashing yellow light,
eyeing me wearily
(ME?)
as I stroll forward.
No problem here, officer
(if I can stretch that term
enough to include you).
Just a guy walking to his car
after viewing two movies back-to-back,
artsy ones at that.
He won’t give you any trouble, officer.
He sat in that theater
alone
for four hours,
surrounded by people, strange
old rich folk talking about their country clubs
loudly before the hush of dimming lights.
This is a theater
that serves espresso at the snack bar,
but not Goobers or Raisinets, that sits
next to Saks Fifth Avenue, trying
to fit in but still
alone,
an “arthouse” surrounded by giants of commerce.
This guy will be no hassle, officer.
He was the only one in the theater
wearing blue jeans,
under forty,
making less than forty (thou),
alone.
He won’t give you any lip.
I reach my car, fumbling
for keys, smiling
as the overweight, youngish
high-falutin’ mall cop passes.
You don’t fit in here either;
they give you a uniform with gold
trim to make you feel special, but you’re
just the hired help, a glorified butler.
I send these thoughts to him
while pulling out of the parking garage.
Alone,
he thinks back at me accusingly.
I laugh, driving
to Ben Folds.
Alone
isn’t a dirty word
when there’s someone to come home to.
Driving in Love
He is driving fast at night
toward his home,
and all the while he loves her.
A car passes him
headed the other direction.
He tenses up.
Why?
She is not in that car
but still the tension.
Why?
(Because she is not
in his car either.)
He wishes she was
as he drives home
and loves her.
Fear
He stood in her doorway,
watching her
as if from miles away,
wanting
to place his fingers
delicately to her lips,
to place his kises
delicately there soon after,
but fear forced him to merely
study her as
she stood miles away,
knowing he was watching,
wanting
him to run to her from a distance,
wanting to pull him in herself,
to shout at him at the top of her voice,
"LOVE ME!!!"
but fear silenced her
and she simply turned,
and turned
face to face, their eyes met
and for only a moment
he made a motion...
but hesitated
and stopped.
What had been mirrored in their eyes
was hidden again.
Headlights
My headlights cutting
through a fog of death,
I blind their bright shine
and sail over pavement
by the dark of the moon.
Smoke slides through the night sky
to swallow me
yet my eyes are empty and unafraid.
Drawing strength from blindness,
my ghost shall sail on
homeward bound.
At journey's end
my soul shall rest,
haunting her corridors forever.
In a Flash
In that beautiful moment
I saw two friends
hold hands for the first time.
And in a flash I recalled.
She and I on a boat.
Moving closer
and closer still.
And finally that first touch.
So natural.
And in a flash
I was in love.
Forever
and always.
Moving with the waves
toward togetherness.
In the flash
of seeing my two friends
find each other
for the first time,
I missed her
and our first time
and all our times.
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