ORIGINAL POETRY - PAGE 4

HIS RING

In the open doorway...with a heavy heart...
He paused one last time to stand,
Recalling the days that had long-since passed
When he was still her man.

Something went wrong in their perfect world,
They fought and she caused a scene,
In front of God, and all who were witness,
She handed back his ring.

All who were present on that fateful day
Pretended not to see,
The pain that was etched across his face,
The longing not to be free.

His mind suddenly full of memories
Of moments they had once shared,
And the countless times he still remembered
That she swore to him she cared.

His eyes grew cold, as was his heart,
Vowing never to love again;
But that traitorous heart was all too ready to forgive
So away from her he ran.

In all his short life, only eighteen years,
He'd never known such joy and such pain,
Nor did he believe, that though he live a thousand years,
Would he know such emotion again.

The thought which crossed his mind of late,
Was that their love had been a lie,
And though he prayed both long and hard
It was not his time to die.

He had been told in the past that time was the cure-all
To lessen the grief in his heart.
But how could they know that he had no intentions
Of making a brand new "fresh-start".

Things it seemed had come full circle,
She was on her way back to him,
Perhaps they were destined to live apart,
Perhaps their love was condemned.

For better or worse she made it back
And now he approached her again.
With all the love inside of him
He slipped the ring back onto her hand.

The onlookers watched from silent pews
And thought it no disgrace,
That as he said his "I love you's"
Silent teardrops trickled down his face.

He gazed longingly at the curls which framed her face
And the faintest of smiles her lips bore,
And he thought to himself that she'd never looked lovelier
Than in the gown of white that she wore.

He held her hand and closed his eyes
And for a moment allowed himself to dream,
Of the places they'd go of the people they'd see
It was perfect, or so it seemed.

Until reality opened the doors of the chapel
And the winter wind began to blow,
Chilling the souls of all who were present
As her coffin...was carried out...into the snow. (05-10-89)

HEART'S DOOR

Joy and sorrow, pain and strife
All these I would face and more,
To again feel myself in your warm embrace
And to again feel you open my heart's door. (8-20-2000/jmp)

EVERMORE

As the stars in the sky
And the sand on the shore
My love shines for you
And for you evermore. (8-20-2000/jmp)

REPLETE

Lover and friend, 'Husband' and god
You are all these and all in between.
You are all my eyes have e're longed for
And all my love has seen.
And though I live a thousand years
I could never be truly complete,
Until in death I behold you once more
And find my soul replete. (8-20-2000/mbh)

INTERTWINING SOULS

How I dream of the day that all is well
Within your world and mine.
How I dream of the time that our two souls can touch
And find bliss as they at last intertwine. (8-20-2000/jmp)

DREAM

I care not today what the morrow may bring
As long as I share it with you,
I care not this moment what I may endure
As long as our love remains true.
I long for the day that your arms enfold me
And we at last walk side by side,
I dream of a place where our love is a shrine
A place where at last we unite.
For you are my love, my light and my life
I dare breathe not but for you, my dear
And hold myself a sacred place
A storehouse for each song, each tear,
Each memory made along the path
Of this our lives now made one,
Sheltered in my heart's embrace
Until this our LIFE is done. (8-20-2000/mbh)

EVERY MOMENT

I love you beyond all our tomorrows,
Before all our yesterdays,
And every moment in between. (8-20-2000/jmp)

IN MY SHELL

Have you ever felt torn from that which you seem to desire most?
Like some cruel trick is being played on you?
Like that which you feel is your salvation is placed seemingly
within your grasp and then torn from you,
leaving you feeling broken apart, separated,
cut off from life?
Have you ever wanted something or someone
more that anything else
only to feel you could never deserve them?
Have you ever loved someone so much
you feel things even before they do
and you want desperately to protect them?
However, it ends up that sometimes to love them so
causes great pain;
greater than any pain known previously.
Sometimes, to lash out with that pain, turning it to anger,
is the only way to release it.
But I am incapable of doing that.
I don't have the strength that kind of emotion demands of me.
So I bury it deeper within myself,
each day hurting all the more,
growing consistently more nonexistent,
more emotionally invisible, to the world around me.
I simply wish to close myself off from the world which surrounds me,
like a clam closing his shell; protected.
I would wish only to seal myself in my own little world
...my own private tomb
...where there will never be any pain,
never any heartache, never sorrow, never loneliness
...never love. (10-26-87)

THE THUMB-SUCKER'S THUMB

O, the thumb-sucker’s thumb
May look wrinkled and wet
And withered and white as snow.
But the taste of the thrum
Is the sweetest nectar yet,
As only we thumb-sucker’s know.

MUSIC OF HEART AND MIND

There is a place where I can experience
Sounds both old and new,
Glory in the thoughts
And feelings which they evoke
And live in days
Of ancient past or
Distant future.
This place is never far,
However, most people find it difficult
To make the transitional journey
From the outside world
To the quite of the "inner man".
For me,
Music is a release of tension,
Emotion and dramatic expression.
It is a method of expelling
My personal thoughts and feelings.
The more complicated my music
The deeper-rooted
And more passionate my feelings.
Music allows me to retreat
From the binding reigns of reality,
And provides a means of escape
Into a world
Which I can truly call my own. (9-15-87)

THE STUMP

The Master went searching through the forest primaeval,
For the perfect materials to form,
The one that would fill my heart and shatter
Any darkness that He knew would come.

He passed over rocks and streams and saplings
He passed over meadows and glens,
He searched til He saw the perfect companion
For me til my life should end.

The other objects in the forest primaeval
Could scarce believe their eyes,
As the Master past over them all and proclaimed
An old tree stump His long searched for prize.

The stump was weathered and beaten with age
Its center hollowed with time,
Its bark was rough and scattered about
From abuses it had taken in kind.

But the Master knew it was of good stock,
From a tree felled eons ago,
A hardy oak that once stood strong and proud,
So He brought it along in tow.

From this gnarled old stump He fashioned a soul
Tried and tested by time,
This soul He knew would be true to the one
Who would give all back to the soul in kind.

From the stump came the strength of the ragged old tree,
Soothed by the Master’s touch,
Then He added sweet mosses to smooth the rough edges
Of time that had battered so much.

Tears of gentleness, kindness and truth
From the Master’s own eyes did rain,
The Master’s own breath then given to the soul
Brought life and with it came...

The beauty of spirit and form I now see
With strength and perfection true,
Each day I am blessed by the Master’s gift
Of love that I found in you. (2-14-2000/kk)

TOGETHER

In my dreams you come to me,
Like a minstrel or bard of old,
Singing tales of love to me
Like the sun chasing 'way the cold.

I hear your voice in my head each day
I see your face in my mind's eye,
I feel the need so deep within me
To be near you lest surely I die.

Your love enfolds me nightly
As I like awake in my bed,
Aching for the touch I've never known
Reliving the words that you've said.

Knowing that you are my last waking thought
As I slip from waking to sleep,
Knowing that as I awaken on the morn
Your name will be the first word I speak.

To feel your hands on my body,
The heat of your warm embrace,
The intensity of your love for me,
E're shining on your face.

To know your body as well
As I have come to know your heart,
To know that though we are not together
We shall never again be apart.

To feel in person at last
The union of your soul to mine,
To watch this love we have created
Blossom fully over time.

To have you and all you encompass
I could never want for more,
Your love is all I desire
Like nothing I've desired before.

So my precious one that owns my heart
Never think you are e'er out of mine.
For I could never have need of another heart
When you have so generously given of thine.

Your heart I hold more dear than my own
My own life I give to your pleasure,
For you are all that matters to me
You are my heart's greatest treasure.

I would wait a thousand lifetimes
To finally become one with your heart,
To finally feel my soul realize
That we will ne'er again have to part.

But until the day that I am so blessed
To remain by your side forever,
I will live out my life in the dreams of the night
Where we shall always be together. (8-21-2000/mbh)