Letters Spell "'Friend" ... Ending with "e-n-d"

The “Get well soon” and “hope you feel betters’”
Welcome lifebuoys in waters of despair
Reassuring smiles…concern marked letters
All implying tomorrow…hopes you’ll be there
In times of malaise, good wishes islands
A drowning soul seeks sand, consoling
Whether urban bound or remote highland
The gift of uplift… a soul’s extolling
Yet, when nightfall knocks as it daily does
And clock’s ceaseless voyage surges in brain
Thoughts of the future oft’ turn to “I was”
And ship of fair tidings crashes in vain
I prepare farewells, I shall not postpone
For last battle fought…is one fought alone

Waning Words

The pink hued rose crumples ‘midst winters chill
Incandescent sun daily drops from sight
Motivation compels, yet, I lose will
Upon near horizon, looms long, long night
Spider’s summer’s web, glorious when done
Its last filaments, float in autumn’s wind
The lush green lawn, turned brown from lack of sun
All things in nature, flourish then rescind
Fore’er changing cosmos, I shan’t complain
Earth a repository, for the dead
Must drive away fears, to each life comes rain
Exalt each breath; keep that thought in mine head
Mine hair, skin, mine being…fated, shading
Once youth I now seek truth…FADING, fading…

Another Rendition ... of Perdition

Bare feet amidst thistle, ear on whistle
I wake each day manacled by fetters
Life’s tenderloin gone, I now chew gristle
Tormented mind composing last letters

“To soul mate and wife, the love of my life
Forgive early dark days, cause of your tears
I’m serving my penance, shrieking of fife
The shrill sound of hell I daily so hear”

“To daughters, two hearts, I wear upon sleeve
Jewels, twinkling orbs, in darkness I’m blessed
Upon my demise, I ask thee not grieve
Say, 'I love you Dad, you’ve so earned your rest'”

My dear Valerie, I endure for thee
Seek stars, sweet guitars…through your eyes I’ll see

14 by 16 Memories Ago

‘T is just a room, hath four walls and a door
Yet spirit resides in this smallish place
Of him, I do know well, “down to the core”
Visage now ‘fore me…in mirror…my face

‘T was once home, of music, much revelry
Budding faces, smiling faces, dancing sans cares
We lived for today, shunned eternity
The “bloom of the rose” compensated fares

Out of the many, alone, I remain
To “grow up” is to “show up” on new stage
The “cobwebs” and I, share an aching pain
To reread chapter, to turn back the page

Perhaps’t is just as well, now, we can rest
Crow’s feet leave path of last departing guest

Shadows Recaptured

Lengthening shadows of September
Carry me back to my days as a youth
We aled, regaled…I remember
And lived happy lie before the sad truth
Someone once said, “Youth is wasted on young”
There once was a day I could have cared less
Now aging, jaded, the toll bell has rung
How many more chimes is anyone’s guess
Yet, autumn’s sweet song it never lasts long
The onset of winter, coming of death
Once rambunctious, a most boisterous throng
We’ve crested the mountain, gasping for breath
Glorious, jubilant, my September
Skies and hair gray, awaiting December

Tree, Tree ... Sing to Me

This winter is much colder, colder yet
‘T is not temperature that of which I speak
The year has left me older, older set
Upon blue mountain top, a forlorn peak

With anguish calling solitude is best
The owl and the fox give me wary eye
Wind provides music, ‘t is here I shall rest
Away from maddened crowds, ponder and die

Summer’s song is now fading, fading so
To remain on craggy crest is mine goal
Broad Sierra pine, shading, shading low
Bones will not be blanched, nor eyes burned as coal

Mine spirit will be waiting, waiting for
The name on mine lips, she that I adore

Toiled Trumps Soiled

Morning’s when I dress to fulfill my job
The pay is meager…the labor most hard
I oft’ receive looks…”that man is a slob”
Green calloused hands beautifying some yard
The working man’s lot…regressed much of late
His presence a reminder to the elite
‘T was not pampered hands once made country great
“Wait here, my good man…please wipe your feet”
Nightfall arrives…I don snappy attire
Swells on the town, they do seem most impressed
Four syllable words…thrown on haughty pyre
My status that morning, they couldn’t have guessed
‘T is morning again, more ragged clothes
Shortsighted eye…travels length of the nose

Fruitless

I am hollowed, lifeless, devoid of pride
An animated shell, lacking in mirth
Mine spirit forlorn, mine dreams hath all died
Yet I continue to walk upon Earth
Each day jagged peak that I must so climb
Night menacing shadow of days travails
The clock is my friend, its tick-tock a rhyme
Cryptic in nature, last breeze for mine sails
I hang on to crevice, for those who are dear
To fall into blackness, cowards retreat
Infirmities mount, how do I hide fear?
Mine enemies charge, I stave off defeat
The years they flow by as in tortured trance
I ponder Karma, and one “second” chance

Isle of Guile

I helm singular upon hellish seas
Poseidon’s stale breath doth wither and fail
Starry skies cum sun bear witness my pleas
Mine ship doth flounder no further I’ll sail
Night’s darkling hand leaves torrid, tingling skin
Sleep, oh blessed sleep, ‘t is mine only reprieve
Dawn, marches on, I wake to Dante’s din
Equinox to Equator, vortex grieve
Nighttide returns on purview fair maiden
Or hath mine eyes become chimerical
Freedom from angst, for too long am I laden
Land! Finite sand, Peace! ‘t is hysterical
I leap, I run, yon maiden’s hand, touch of cream
I wake, I weep, back to sea, searing dream

Heart Mending

She forever sees to all of my needs
Her complaints by weight are just mere feather
With spirit downcast, and heart that doth bleed
She stitches mine soul, holds it together
Graveyard would be home, had I not found her
The anchor to which I clutch for mine life
A sweet breeze upon flows her tinge of myrrh
My center of gravity…she my wife
Age appears to hath forgotten she’s here
A figure girlish with eyes that twinkle
Oft’ times in dark I reach out in mute fear
To gently touch ‘neath soft blanket wrinkle
Ashes to ashes, mine bones would be dust
Mine savior awaits, I go to her thus

A Last Blush

To be reincarnated as a rose
T’ is most fervent wish, longing desire
Delicate, exquisite, only leaves for clothes
Pink petals sunbathing I do so aspire
My stem shall be sturdy, adorned with thorns
Roots of the “mother” deep into the ground
A “smile” for lovers, I’ll frown for the scorns
Rain dropping, dew sopping, wind…only sound
Life will be short, briefly resplendent
In prime of my life, stem is divided
Life’s blood now gone, I become dependent
Yet fate long ago hath been decided
Cast across casket in freshly dug grave
Pink petals in mourning, on journey with Dave

Carnalverous

War is the whore so belonging to thee
She caters crass instincts…lacking remorse
We dine on her dime…perpetually
If fortune finds us upon her stout horse
Antediluvian…”charms” eternal
Man knowing not the path of resistance
Her “staying power” becomes fraternal
She plies her trade with adroit insistence
Measureless millennium…we succumb
Tears flow and blood knows thy place of its birth
Flesh rots and bones wane ‘til humanity’s numb
On cosmic necropolis…known as Earth
War is the strumpet…plays tune on the dawn
Her rue, baneful notes I fear shall play on

No Brakes ... on Mistakes

‘T is now the eighth year, that I stand so cursed
Have I found explanation…for such pain?
Long past accident I ne’er reimbursed
Doth fellow sufferer ride fateful train?
‘Neath the stars and gross liquor afflicted
Unlikely collision with destiny
That such an outcome could be predicted
Haze days…inebriant stupidity
Now every day ‘tis as I’m on fire
Is this compensation for hidden deed?
Doth reaper play tune upon blackened lyre?
Is soft ground awaiting…aberrant seed?
With God as judge I meant nobody harm
Evolving prophesy…or false alarm?

Blue Rue

To cry for lost soul, to grieve for stray kitten
Is now deemed crime, current state of affairs
To feel…relate…charitably smitten
No worries, I’ve mine who cares about theirs
Surgery hath been performed on the heart
Patient oft’ unaware until too late
Callous and cold, insensitive from start
A nation of stones, passing from iron gate
I cannot, I will not become mere rock
Devoid of mercy, to bask in the sun
A good Shepherd sees to the needs of flock
To die with clear conscience, is work well done
Each hungry belly and tear laden eye
To help those in need, for that’s who am I

Penmandrip

Tears make poor ink they blotch upon paper
Flowing from the eye, besmirching the lines
Swordsmen cries not brandishing rapier
He grieves not in fray, refusing to pine
Mine pen taps the well…unceasing sorrow
Drawn up from the heart, the words appear smeared
Warrior I’m not, mere wordsmith on morrow
Shortcomings many, when soul has been seared
Lamenting am I, the sickness of friend
The wish to affix cure, lone desire
If only weeping, were means to an end
Drops from mine eyes would extinguish ill fire
The ink well runs dry, yet never the tears
Lugubrious pen, scribbling my fears

Ardor Harbor

Can love be seen, can love be heard, I wonder?
Surely love’s taste stays sweet upon the lips
Oft’ expressing love, I err’, I blunder
Shan’t I ever learn, curing verbal slips?
To her I deem soul mate, I ask forgive
Tongue an instrument with mind of its own
‘T is you precious darling, cause for which I live
Allow my lone rose, at base of your throne
Mine failings are many, please, do not count
Tally would be great, ‘ere halved in two
The sole defense, I feel compelled to mount
Is heart on torn sleeve, bleeding…I love you
Love is mine anchor, amidst stormy seas
A word ‘oft synonymous…with please

Baneful Ballast

Winds of change blowing, ripples from the sea
Waves arising recede as perished day
Sails go slack, I await fate in the lee
Faith is depleted… no one whom to pray
Pain and angst my traveling companions
We greet each sunrise, and sup together
Alliance hath been forged…can’t abandon
Through spring, summer fair…inclement weather
I drift on aimless current…sky is black
My comrades diligent, voyage not dull
Trembling finger tests wind, no breeze at back
Water seeps through aging seals of my hull
Looming horizon, earth abruptly ends
Into eternity I sail with my “friends”

Circulating Despair

The heart doth not cleft cleanly down middle
Peels off by fragment, a chunk here, piece there
As single string snaps off fiddler’s fiddle
Tune of the soul hath taken on error
How to right this malady eludes me
Gentle kisses mend, old songs often rend
Anguish is duplicitous, cunning, shady
It hath no compassion, just path to end
Heart so split in two, how long can one live?
The harp of the angel, louder each day
Crux of my being, pittance left to give
I stand alone and this I have to say
Tears exemplify the tremendous cost
When hope vanishes and heart bears the loss

Musings of a Jester

Does true beauty ever die or live on?
Her picture in my mind defies the ages
I think of her now as I do new dawn
Yet rose long ago decayed ‘tween pages
We once pressed lips…once became forever
The hand I longed to hold out of my reach
I dreamt of that kiss, the years would sever
No getting lost in her eyes, walks on beach
I age quickly now, those dreams lost in mist
Some other boy, other girl, play the game
One starlit summer night, we touched, we kissed
Later fires have now, concealed the flame
You shall never know, ode I’ve wrote for you
And we’ll go to our graves, ne’er one but two

All Wound Up ... No Place to Go

Time flies, it stands still…metaphysical
Extensions, Disruptions tick tock, tick tock
Abstract, precise, so…symmetrical
“Hands” of eternity…perpetual…clock
Seconds, Minutes, Hours…one millennium
Sun dials, shadows…chronological
Equinox pox…space time continuum
Big bang, birth pang…ever predictable
Awake, asleep, progression marches on
Tomorrow, yesterday, rhythmic pair
Today is the day soon to be bygone
Consumed by cosmos, in time’s secret lair
Long for days minutes transpired sublime
Tried turning back hands, fails every time