Heroes and Villains

Stay with me a while
Tell me stories
of heroes and villains
damsels in distress
and all the things that youth had taught you
the ways of Love
the battles you had waged and won
Tell me what you were before this
Before the war took its toll
Before the madness started
Before you succumbed to those who have no name
Remind me now of how beautiful you were
and how deeply you once loved me

The Invitation

The invitation is always welcome
The door that leads to brand new worlds
Worlds where anything can happen
And anyone can be
Magicians, princes, unicorns,
Wizards, demons, goblins
Anticipation to a world unknown
To a world that fills us with awe
and fear
To the thousand things that could have been
but won’t be until we make the final walk
To what knows us better than ourselves
Our secret hopes and aspirations
Our fears
and all the things that keep us in the dark.

Canaries

Canaries live and die in cages
They live to please their masters
With vague memories of life outside
Scared by thoughts of leaving
the life they’ve come to live
Daily rations of seeds and water
Still the adventure of being alive
calls them in ways they don’t understand
What’s in their blood
will pulsate and come to be
If they could only remember that it’s real
There was life before the numbness
Life that longs to live

Sit with Me

Sit with me tonight
On the verge of life and death
Where night meets day
Along our horizon
Sit with me
and give blessings
for what has yet to come

Beauty

There are those who give up
They will never get there
There are those who aspire to be
They will come and go
There are those who learn along the way
They might be remembered
All of these are nothing compared to images of you

Words Without Rhythm

These men I see
All around me
Living their lives
Moving to their own tunes
Blindly following what they cannot feel
In words rehearsed
never authentic
never soulful
I ask you now
Where is my song
Where is my rhythm
my melody
my crescendo
Words without rhythm
are empty still

When I Die

40 years have come and gone
And all that’s left of me is this
These poems
These letters
These thirsts
that have left me parched
They say you’re really not here
That these letters are a waste of my time
But when I die, they’ll be all the world has left of me

An Ode to Dragons

“Life itself bewilders me”
The witch said as she brewed
The fiery flame
The stench of toads and gnats and dragon’s tails
“How one life begins
as another ends”
Stirring the pot
she whispered words of gibberish
“You killed them all”
cried the girl
“The toad, the gnat, the dragon, all to do your deed.”
“No,” witch cried.
“They come to me, each in turn.
When it’s their time, they come.
To be turned to something greater than themselves.”

Many Hats

The many hats I wear
Sit patiently at my door
Waiting for me to pick one for the day
They wait in eagerness and anticipation
Quietly competing with one another
I pick one everyday
It’s been years now
To tell the truth
no one remembers my hair color
I’ve been hiding it so long
even I’ve forgotten what I truly look like
Call us what you will
Chameleons, shapeshifters, actors
We were human once
until we learned the art of changing form
Now we get to be the creatures we create

Cries of an Invisible Moon

The moon came to me last night
and asked if anyone still saw her
“Men,” she said, “don’t bother to look up anymore.
Busy with their lives, their money, their problems.”
“They don’t need to see you to know you’re there,” said I.
“Without you, my dear, who would light their way in the darkness?”