THE POETRY PAGE

The Wanderer

There in my foundation far aloft
Within the jagged mountains top
The harsh winds blow outside my door
And by and by it bothers me not
For there I sit in my fire-warmed haven
The oaken door protects and saves
My body from the cold it bore a year before
And bears still to this very day
The snows fly by the outside face
And the missing wood the ice does replace
A layer of sealing cold it stores
And fills all the nooks and space
Behind the door which me protects
Tales have been spun by architects
Of stories that never have been heard before
For who knows what they will say next.

Aye, I do remember though
In the time of the pelting snow
A stranger knocked upon my door
Stopped and asked for a place his body to stow
He stood up that night by the fire raging
The tongues lapped him as he stood facing
A fire like he'd seen one like it soon before
And slowly back and forth he started pacing
"The fire swallows of the wood in there
Each ember taking it's fair share
Of the fuel on the stoned floor
As though it doesn't even care.
But fire, I have once seen
Roar beyond my wildest dream
And engulf the boards upon the floor
And everything else that was in the scene
I stood as I saw the fire rise
The smokey fumes watered my eyes
And as I ran outside the door
The smoke carried the scent of demise.
I came upon a friends quaint house
I did not mean to wake or rouse
The hour was well past the break of morn
But the man looked like from bed he'd just tossed
I asked to enter in for a moment quick
And then I heard a woman speak
But her voice I had most certainly heard before
Less then ago a year, a month, a week,
My wife had left that previous day
For vacation a week she planned to stay
I did not know nor suspect that this very door
Housed the place where my wife stay
I burst into his house enraged
And stared into her shocked face
I pulled my pistol and on the floor
Were quickly my wife's remains
I asked him why it was my wife was here
He offered no response to hear
So I said I would even my wife's score
If the truth I did not hear
`I...' stammered he in spite
`I am an acquaintance of your wife
If that's the woman on the floor
I have known her almost all my life
It was not that long ago, dear man
I'll say before my body they plant,
That I was approached by the woman on the floor
I was enticed into a frightful scam
We loved that night like she said she had never
Partaken of life's richest endeavor
And on again into the morn
If that is what you emplore
But then I found the wedding band
She had removed from her hand
And hid it in a drawer
The drawer in my bedroom stand
But this morn when I awoke
And went to get myself a pipe to smoke,
The one I keep in that same drawer,
I saw an unfamiliar gleam upon the oak
I took it out and saw it was a wedding band
And wondered if it fit her hand
So in the early hours of the dawning morn
I took this ring and slid it on her sleeping hand
A perfect fit it was, it did not slide
It was not an inch to narrow, nor wide
And I cried as I threw my self upon the floor
The woman awoke to the sounds I made as I cried
`Harlot..' I screamed at her as consciousness she took
A glance of sheer surprise read her face as a book
`Darling, what do you mean by this retort'
`You are a wife of another, and your maiden hair I took'
`What do you mean,' stammered she not noticing her own ring
`The band you wear, it is not mine,' words shot like a sting
`Where did you find this,' said she glancing down unto the floor
I looked at her as bear to food in spring
`Out with you, dear Wench, I'll see you no longer.
You are someones wife, and do not belong here
Take what little things here with you out the door
For your love I no longer hunger'
It was then I heard the sounds of someone calling
I answered the door and next was the falling
As your wife tried to run out the door
I, not knowing of the news befalling
And there you stood, pistol loaded
And shot your wife and I you've scolded
Now several minutes for
All the story now I to you have told.'

I stood there and cocked my pistol hammer
Once again he tried to stammer
But I shot him as my wife before
Before he could make a clamor
And then I burned the house to the ground
And danced in the ashes I found
As I have you told before
And walked off, leaving the unhallowed ground"

My jaw dropped wide
As I was quite surprised
For my brother died three days before
Killed he and mistress by an arsoned fire
My murderous in-law now before me stands
Asking me to extend a hand
And keep him from the out-of-doors
After my brothers life he did suspend
I looked at him with my eyes on fire
And slowly rose my hand up higher
And pointed my finger out towards the door
"What, dear sir, do you inquire
That I do on this winters night?"
"Move yourself out of my sight," said I,
"Just as you came an hour 'fore
I care not if you're bitten by ice!
That was my dear brother you killed
That was my brother's blood you spilled
And now you stand upon my floor
To kill you now I fight my will!"
His jaw did drop to the ground
"It is amazing in our travels 'round
That we find someone we've never known before,
Yet our pasts are connected somehow"
He simply hung his head down low
And opened up the oaken door slow
Not even staring back through the door
Walked out, and it closed without sound or echo.

I've never seen this man again
Nor my brother whom he had slain
I hope he froze in those out-of-doors
And cursed this Earth with but a stain.



Traveling Circus

I stare at the life that's in my hand
And think "I'm doing this because I can"

The fumes of gas flow into my lungs
I love to breathe it in
Inhabitants are unaware
The show shall now begin

I look around one more time to see
This thing of subtle beauty

I drop the spark and run out the door
Into the green front yard
At the first sign my job is done
I step into my car

In one big blur there's a house no more
I look at my artwork and love it more
I feel the heatwave hit my face
Through my open window
I start the car and drive away
Pensive on my next show



The Apocalypse

The day of judgement handed down
As our life-blood sun grows cold
Jupiter's fury now unbound
To midnight has the clock been rolled
The day is here, we all are dead
Our planet pays the price
Of the poisons we force fed
Genocide by our own device
We killed ourselves and now we pay
As fire from an Earthen kiln
Burns with heat and power great
Prometheus does grace us nil
With lightning crashing all around
Adding to the melting ground
We like the egos that we are
Try to hide and don't get far
Do we see that we did this?
We carved our own tombstones
The gods take their revenge on us
Our funeral bells have toned

Part II

The day when hell has finally left
The wind blows across a barren plain
With nothing in it's way except
The mounds of men who have been slain
Chaos isn't presnt here
As it was the day before
No one lives, no one hears
The Earth is empty once more
All is gone, no trees nor beasts
Are living on this barren face
The water has boiled out of the seas
Dead, the Earth moves through space
Stopping not, it keeps it course
As the stench from the corpses
Fills a decaying atmosphere
The Earth lets out a saddened tear

Part III

Then slowly, the rains come down
The oceans fill, And water flows
As the clouds become unbound
And in the arctic, freezing snow
The sun shines through upon the Earth
Olympics see the planet's paid
"It is time for their rebirth
Let them live" King Jupiter said
And so they did.



Dream of Christmas

The fog rises off the running river
A young man shows a tiny shiver

He calls for his dog to come back home
She does and he enters his abode

He goes to the stove and stokes up the ashes
He dusts off a log with some snow-covered patches

Turns up the stairs and opens a door
He looks upon a woman, asleep no more

"Good Morning, My Dear" the man does say
"Come down stairs on this Christmas Day.

"Enjoy the fire for you I have made
Come, listen to the Christmas music play."



Mother's Prediction

Why does her name ring through my skull
Like a thousand bells on high?
Why do I think of nobody else
Please, mother, will you tell why?

Nobody knows why love comes and goes
But, my son, know of this
Beware of your heart for should your love and you part
'Twill drown this feeling of bliss

Mother, no, for we shan't ever
For an obsession in each other we share
I do not know what I would do
If my Love were not ever there

My son, my son she does have your heart
But like the Red Sea, you also shall part.
Mark my words. Before Harvest Moon
She will leave you to roast in the noon.



Take two of these...

Oh my, how times have changed
I laugh to see how I once thought
At the time though life brought me no joy
Perhaps I've gained all I have sought
I think of everything I have
I think of all the things I've done
I think of all that I have gained
Wine, Woman, and song
Some of these to me mean more
Then others in that list
But I've no anger nor ignorance
They've risen like a mist
Or maybe it's just I can handle it now
Annoyances no longer disturb
I can honestly say I'm on my right path
I've gained my fair share of nerve
There will be those who do not me like
And those for whom I'd care less
I'm doing what I feel is right for me
I'm no longer depressed



To my Freinds

Ah, my how the tides have turned
I can remember all I've learned
I owe myself to all my freinds
Those who stayed with me until the end

These wonderous people helped me know
That on in life I will go
My selfishness to end it all
When really my problems were small

I realize that long after the fact
They were right, twas I without tact
I just went on feeling sorry for myself
Expecting others as well, what the hell

So to those who stuck it out
While I whined, and through the pouts
Saving me, you didn't have to do
And without you, I wouldn't have come through

I could never thank you enough for it all
I give all I ever do to you
Without you I would not be here
My lease on life renewed



Boredom

Melancholy, I sit in the moonlight
And ponder those things which have left me
It seems as though everything around has changed
Everything's changed but me.

I sit with the phone, silently sitting
While I sit, thinking silently
I wish to call a freind of mine
But who would that freind be?

Who should I call on my lonely eve?
What would I say to that line?
What could I do to break my montony?
What will pass the time?

And while I think, alone I sit
And an inside voice says, "This is it..."



The Four Seasons

I: Spring

As the sun on a gemed lake shines
Through embudded elms divine
Bathing all with vernal signs
And gentle breezing, boughs entwined

A cobble-stoned country road
Through a grove with green aglow
Horses trotting down unslowed
Past a growing field, unmowed

A crimson sunset shining bright
As the sun falls out of sight
Passing through a cool March night
Shedding the final winters light

As the baton of winter passes to spring
The vernal equinox begins
And unseen birds new melodies sing
With April breezes 'neathe their wings

The wind and rain are sure to come
Perhaps the 'morrow with an arbor hum
And branches together, nature's drums
This evening splendour, springs new run

II: Summer

Swarming heat is all around
Rain for months has ne'er been found
Just drying dirt upon the ground
As a summer sun is steadily bound
On it's course encircling.
Dried now are the rains of spring
And buds on trees are now a-leaving.
Heat and sun on faces receiving.
On country porches in rocking chairs
And dusking light showing the stars
With Children playing on the stairs.
Into the distance a mother stares
Waiting for frolicking sons.
Now that summer has begun
No school tomorrow, midnight fun
Out until a dawning sun.
Heated, Humid, buggy nights
As later now we open lights
And far-off sunset mountain sights
'Tis the season of swimming and kites.
Of songbird songs throughout the air.
Of summer breezes blowing hair.
Barely creaking rocking chairs
While summer settles there

III: Autumn

Green leaves lose their emerald
And lie on the ground like water spilled
All the fields have now been tilled,
And the air carries a foreign chill

As jackets out of closets come
And summer melts into autumn
Parents sigh, school has begun
The end of laughing, full-day fun

As if an artists palette dropped
The leaves the drying grass have topped
Off to market are the crops
Daylights growing time has stopped

For time's a-passing life is still
AS dried leaves wander off a window sill
Over green a and grassy hills
On a wind with a wintry chill