Lonely Canyons and Other Journeys

LONELY CANYONS AND OTHER JOURNEYS

This is a personal journey that I began several years ago.
A walk down a new path.A walk with God down a road that I never wanted to travel
After 20 years together with my wife, I was faced with prospect having to go it alone. Or so I thought
The only way through this dark period was to examine my life and goals. To find the source of that light in the tunnel

This is my view of life and love in my own words, in my own poetry.
It reflects the ups, downs, sorrows and joys of my journey.

Most of us go to our grave with our music still inside of us.
I intend to find my voice and sing.

Lonely Canyons

Cold north winds swept
through the lonely canyons,
summer and its heat,
its passions now spent
lies forgotten

Once soft waters transformed
frozen hard and brittle,
Jeering laughter in the gust,
mock the fissure walls
and life slows down again.

Special light that once danced,
has dimmed in the solstice,
solitary shadows lengthening
its final season come
and consumed in the chill.

What cruel path and unmerciful fate
led me to this callous chasm?
I have succumbed into its folds,
trudging into the journey,
isolated in a lonely canyon home.

It

It began simply
Like a beggar; expectant
Like all joys; hopeful

It became circle
alive beginning and end
we grew inside it

Like a whirling ride
a compass that points only up
towards God and faith

A clean and fresh spot
to heal, find and allow it
and not restrain it

IT is our love

Again and Again

Again
It was again too soon for love.
As if we both knew and had lived it,
to know love is patient
and gentle.

It must procede like clouds over a bluemoon,
slowly and at its own time and place.
No pressure, no self gratification.
no moves from the past.

Fresh like a breeze stirring in the field,
easy like play on a spring day,
fragile and full in its design,
a time to recover, to enjoy.

We both have felt the pain in the sting,
hurt and fear had held us back,
Can we run and leap and take a chance?
Can trying be any worse than this?

The childhood memories and adult realities,
holding us locked into this dance.
Love hurts, hurts heal.
When will we begin again?

And yet, we both will know the time,
when our hearts can meet and join.
When we discover it and become aware,
When it is time and not too soon.

to gently go

to gently go upon a perfect body
to sway urgent as the ocean
to open up like a full sail
embark to find one's secret port

navigate o' deep brine pool
thrust out like a ship's prow
crashing through the foam
in frantic madness and joy

to feel you glide serpentine
riding below my decks
raging tortuous journey
abandon in its fullest

slide into and fro
ascend and crash
encompassed in you
taunting destruction

my deck fully trembling
the simultaneous ascent
your spray showers me
slowly drips my halyard

and the seas still whisper
stay with me and ride awhile
I will let you gently go
exhausted yet caressed

Possess You Not

To choose to love,
Is not a choice to own or imprison.
Nor to cling to one another,
it is separate not coupled.

It is to join or not,
to be alone or together.
Have ones own thoughts,
but cooperate in dreams.

Some are forever afraid of love,
Because its reality has all been
smothered thoughts and icy dependency
with no individual breath.

Are you a stranger to your self?
Forever locked into this cavort
where passions wither
destroying your genuine soul.

Love is only real,
when it passes like the clouds,
free in movement and direction,
in harmony with your own time.

So find in you that tender shoot,
and bless it in its joy
and wonder at its growth,
and share with me its affection.
And then you will possess it.

Dandelions

What forces you to rise above the cover?
To stand tall on that tender shoot
to face ridicule and our scourge
to be so misunderstood

What fate has betrayed you ?
A head of purlioned gold
To face the swift slingblade
or to be lashed for your rebellion

Which is truly God's best creation?
One whose fate is to be a weed
or the soul who rips
and a treads upon it.

Morning Thoughts

I awoke at the convergence,
a cleaving yet a partition.
Full of your souls fragrance
and again no corporal clue.

Animate in your quintessence
your sensuality spoke to me.
Seize that portion unhindered,
sustain your dawning rapture.

Tear off those binding threads,
tatters of those shackles there,
Yoked in serpentine ecstasy,
Until the hasten sun summons.

So stay and whet my musing
your revenant revelry kindles
an ardor of our minds quest,
Ablaze, alive and twain again.

This Is No World For You

There is no world for you,
amid the austere and dry,
with its truculent volume
set to explode the inner peace
You dream of clowns and clouds.

There is no world for you.
Amongst the howls of anguish,
with its ceaseless pounding
wash away your tender beach
You dream of coon cats at play.

There is no world for you,
no heart that knows what you feel,
no eyes to see the message in your face,
no ears to reassure you of what you said,
You dream of carousels and candy corn.

You were meant for another world,
where adults can be child like,
where the web hides no shadows,
where no loneliness or secrets exist
and only peace and love prevail

You were meant for another world.

In Virgin Sand

On sunnier shores then these, my love,
I inscribed your name in virgin sand.
Yet jealous waves forbade my mark,
As envy carried away each trace.

As stern waves washed onto dry land,
My heartfelt words were wrenched,
Carrying away my hidden treasure,
With each cold wave crashing.

Into oblivion the relentless tide flowed,
Each surge removing your identity.
Yet in my memory of this sunny shore,
Indelible is your name forever

Both Sides of the Bottle

I have stared out from inside,
and scowled from the external.
I have looked for the magic genie,
If I could just find the right one.

When I went inside my phial,
and look out through its amber visions,
life was observed and fear ruled,
and in its depths, I drown myself.

When I inspect this same world,
Unsheltered, unable to hide,
I find familiar friends about.
Fear and dread, twins of the same father.

Why can't I tell you what I feel,
of what I am thinking about.
I am stuck frozen like a label
found on my little brown bottle.

Missing You

As all the fears of my lifetime,
and yours.
Crowd in on us and pull us apart.
yet I will be there.

I will try to remind you of the wonders,
the joy that you bring.
And when there is nothing left to say,
I will hold you.

Because you are my friend,
I wont desert you.
Even a gnarled tree like me,
loves the spring flowers.

God has given me eyes to see your beauty,
ears to hear your story,
hands to hold you.
I am missing you.

I Hear it in Your Breath

I hear it in your breath,
a last lost love,
climaxed in its conclusion,
snip the wings
forbidding further flight.

I must stop.
In order to begin again.
Happiness, its race has run,
no joy. no sun.
Pain like thunder rolls in furtive sighs.

Banished to the attic,
to rooms of long ago remembered.
Chests of letters spoiled
by a dry rot of disaffection.
I hear it in your breath.

A Bell Awakened

A particular day became a presence to me;
there it was, brazen, disturbing--a sky, air, light:
a being. And before it happened to tumble down
from the height of noon, it leaned over
and struck my shoulder as if with
the flat of a sword, granting me
honor and a task, The day's blow
rang out, metallic--or it was I, a bell awakened,
and what I heard was my whole self
saying and singing what it knew: I can.

Triptych

On the table a Fra Angelico,
A triptych of life, and passion
Of saints and Madonna
Of visitations, and annunciations
And mixed with torsos
And fragments
of the past and ancient.
A woman sits
quietly
Contemplating.
Gaze
a sublime repose
Find the compositions texture
search for the spirit of the artists soul
seek the path to discover the picture
it is a figure smiling
looking into
Your heart
and
eyes

It is me
It is you

a dream on two good-sized feet

I looked up and there you were,
All my imaginings and some I never knew of.
Standing on what appeared to be two good-sized feet,

Boy, I never got past your face.
As a smile jump started the twinkle in your eyes,
And I was suddenly swept up in your aura.

I wanted to immediately declare all my past sins
Those of omission and fanciful neglect,
Counsel you that I am a boy who only looks like a man,

Feel my rough hands craving to be gentle.
Only a murmur to tell you how I feel,
I can not speak to your loveliness.

A Woman Named Woe

Patiently waiting
for a sign from heaven,
No longer expecting
But believing.
It can happen again
encounter my lips,
I tremble inside
at such affection.

Exploring the spring
whose headwaters
commence in your gentle heart.
How do I start to tell you
how the softness
of your touch
dissolves the hardness
in my faÃ§ade.

Your faith
beauty and joy
Are the antidote
To this inflexible world
To grow, to flower
To rise, to rest
Fragile,
yet firmly rooted

A Kiss to Remember

Patiently waiting
for a sign from heaven,
No longer expecting
But believing.
It can happen again
encounter my lips,
I tremble inside
at such affection.

Exploring the spring
whose headwaters
commence in your gentle heart.
How do I start to tell you
how the softness
of your touch
dissolves the hardness
in my façade.

Your faith
beauty and joy
Are the antidote
To this inflexible world
To grow, to flower
To rise, to rest
Fragile,
yet firmly rooted

Today

Today the sun has a robe of light,
The clouds are decked by its gratitude.
The artist is the lover of nature,
and becomes both her slave
and her master.

Are you my stray bird of summer come,
And then quickly gone.
Or will you be the fall leaf,
Alive, then fluttering by,
Or steadfast and resolute

Every child holds the message
That God has not discouraged of man.
How can I be less awed?
To hear you laugh
Joy conquers all

Today is enough for me

About Face

I see a stranger every morning,
Who is that strange countenance?
Whose face is older and grayer?

Yet a faint smile creases his lips.
When he was cheerless and dim
Just a few months ago, now finds peace.

Be Faithful

Be faithful to your partners’ dreams,
You are in them too
Be tender with any reproach
They are winds that always return

Be watchful being a devils advocate,
Advocates become supporters
Mean spirits are callous,
And never feel the warmth

Seek delight in each other
Dance until dawn
Hug until exhaustion
Believe as one

Remembering a friend…..

We are all walking today with a rock in our shoe.
Our friend left us with his time now complete
Reminding us that it’s not the mountain that wears us out
But that grain of sand in the shoe.

It will always be those small things
That remembrance shines through.
Those brief solitary moments and glimpses
into another’s soul and purpose.

By three methods we may learn wisdom:
First, by reflection, this is noblest;
To act with his loving kindness,
To mirror his patient caring.

Second, by imitation, this is easiest;
And when he was here for us to tag along,
We realized that he was a humble spirit
Genuine and real, riding along with us

Third by experience, this is bitterest
And he would share his insight.
To save us from lifes spills
And approaching dangers.

So now we feel that grain of time passing,
And know its an occasion for fond reminiscence
Close your eyes to see his eyes twinkle,
Laugh with his straightforward story.

Seek to remember that voice giving his wisdom,
Asking for so little from us in return,
Just a few passing, sharing moments
Always seeking a common groud.

A great rider will have no fixed plans,
and is not intent on arriving
His purpose was always
in the magnificence of the trip

Page Two

Feel free to drop me a line, your comments and suggestions are always read and appriciated.

Happiness comes through doors you didn't even know you left open.

This free script provided by
JavaScript Kit

Counter