When the grief comes back
I cannot just ignore it,
like I do with some things.
All I can do is try to stay out of its way.

I think of it as a train,
with brakes that don't care
if they stop the loaded cars
full of our dreams and the essence of you
we shared under the same stars.

The captive tracks
were laid out by you long ago,
a virtuoso of some note,
along the path of who you were.

You wrote that sentence you really should end
But there are more ideas that you need to defend
So instead of dotting a period onto the page
You put down a semicolon and continue to engage

Life is a lot like a book, an autobiography, if you will
Each chapter is filled with anger so strong you could kill
Or maybe every paragraph holds unimaginable pain
That shatters your tender heart and numbs your brain

Once a man of jovial heart,

Now a shadow of his former part,

His eyes devoid of any light,

A love unrequited, a constant blight

He wanders through the gloomy streets,

His heart weighed down by love's defeats,

The wind howls a mournful tune,

As he stumbles through the dark of noon

His mind is haunted by her face,

A beauty he cannot replace,

Her image burns within his soul,

A flame that flickers, never whole

He dreams of her with every breath,

A yearning deep, a love, a death,

There’s a sadness in this country, infecting all around,
There’s a sadness in this country high above the ground,
All empathy has flown the nest no longer holds us down
Depression invasion, and the death of our good renown

There’s great loss in this country, of mans humanity,
There’s great loss in this country, we drown migrants in the sea.
There’s an evil in this world, the evil of advice,
Always the wrong sort, meaningless it costs a heavy price.

Through over a year of painstaking work
Determination take the wheel
Songs spring forth and bristle
With energy alive and real
Collaborate with others
In person or remote
Let’s get right down to mixing tracks
In case we missed a note
Many miles on the tires
Hours on the road
But when we get that final mix
My senses will explode
A symphony of color
Emotions flood my being
To hear the culmination of
These visions I was seeing

A new hole appeared in my life today.
I said goodbye to my companion, Shadow.
This hole is where I played with her.
This hole is where I cared for her.
Now this hole is just an empty aching void.
I know, with time, the edges will creep
Slowly towards the center,
As the rest of my life slowly oozes in.
The ache will dull and fond memories return.
But for now, all I am is emptiness and pain.

In the darkness of the night,
I wander through the misty light,
A soul lost in the abyss,
Haunted by a forgotten kiss.

The shadows dance and sway,
As I wander through the fray,
A heart that beats with fear,
As I feel the presence near.

The raven calls out my name,
As I walk through the endless shame,
A heart that's broken and torn,
As I feel the chill of the storm.

Heavy memories
Elephants meandering
Through a grass less plain

Footprints fossilized
Impressions in mud and clay
Artifacts of pain

A
FAT
round
lazy
brown.spider.sitting
sitting
SITTING
indolently on my web
patiently
weaving
A
sticky thread
of
Cotton~Candy~Words

I did as well as I could.
Most of the time
I felt I might have done better.

But this well-known feeling,
my constant companion,
has always kept me
on the welcoming edge
of trying to grow
in an inward way.

Maybe with more practice I'll get there.
The journey, as they say,
is the important part.

So, like many I call family,
I'll continue to be
a traveler paying my dues,
and maybe pick up a few more
treasures along the way.