Hmm, heart of steel that one... Hope you at least got a hug or something.  I see a lot of thought put into that.

And no, never sympathy poetry.  Thanks.  Guess I am too used to writing for and about other people and things anyway.  Keeps the mind active.

"Remembering"

I miss you more now
Than ever before.  Not
A moment pass by when
You're not on my mind,
Invading my thoughts and
Overwhelming me with grief.

I broke a promise I
Swore to keep.  I swore
To you that I could
Make life worth living.
I held your hand tight
And assured you
That I can make all
Your pain disappear.

I let you down, I
Broke my oath and
Because of that, I
Failed you terribly.
Everyone tells me
I did all I could do.
The more I try to
Believe them, I can't.
I am here and you
Are not.  I told you
That times will get
Better and you trusted
My every word.

Looking in the mirror
Pains me at times.  I
Wonder what else I
Should've done.  How
I could have kept my
Word and show you how
Happy you can be.  Show
You life is not all bad.

I can't change the past,
Nor can I bring you
Back.  All I have left
Are my memories of you
And those will never
Go away.  You're still
Living in the hearts and
Minds of those who
Knew you and loved you.

Rob, I can see why you went back to writing poetry.  You have a unique talent, a unique ability to play with my emotions.  Wow...simply amazing.

Oh man, Rob, does that one ever cut like a knife... That one holds a special place with me particularly.  That's incredible.

Thanks for the compliments.  I will try to write a happy one next time.

gosh, i hope i haven't put this one on yet....but even if i have, which i again apologize for if i have, this is the completed version that is longer and better...

...ironically for another girl...ha ha


The Walker Requiem

One day when I was waiting for the dawn
Thinking of all the things I'd do and say,
The sunny orb that we are all so fond
Did not this morning rise in light ballet

Instead beneath the heavens arches tall
A greater being came to meet the world,
Who most looks like the mighty mistral ball,
Whose sapphire bodice 'gainst the sky does furl

A second sun that meets the morn's approach
Whose least smile banishes the dusky dark
And purges sorrows kiss that tries encroach
With the sweet weapon of your faces arc

If such a smile might alter all that is
That I've seen upon your painted likeness
'Twould likely be a fairy symphony
To cure the world with a magic brightness

Do you who tread with angels know your worth?
Who with a wake of bliss unleashes joy,
Turning frowns to smiles on this place called Earth
The glorious maiden from this realm deployed

To make the lowliest worm felt welcome
And embrace the throngs of hapless souls
To be the multifoliate blossom
And from us only, love was all you stole

As Spirits know the treasures underneath
The dark, foreboding chasms of the sea,
So that I know what shining gem is wreathed
In burning merriment  that stands before me




That you should see my loneliness so banned
Forever chased away by your design
That blazes from the fingertips of hands
So innocent and yet more wise in mind

The sparkling star that keeps us from astray
That breathes the winds of Fortune always blest
To guide us from despair that would betray
And in this you shall never bear molest

As rocks know time, or streams know of its flight
So shall such beauty of your person know no grave
Thou wast not born for death, immortal sprite
For time to come shall never make you slave

The deathless martyr blazoned on that throne
Who quells the temperaments that honor war
And binds the wounds of grief that we have sown
By crumbling to crackling dust our swords

Should infinite compassion of your words
Be compared to seas of envious hue
Branching against the grassy knolls where birds
Tune their melody to this handsome ruse

And find no fences, borders, mountain shores
With endless ventures on these vaulting plains,
Sailing with the stallion squalls of lore
On hinds of a dozen nebulous manes

Should perpetual grace be cast like leaves
Whose deadened shapes gasp on the deadened air
Painted in the glaze that a dead man bleeds
To be entombed in quondam's feinting snare

Or in Springs eye to be eternal green
And yield none thy youthful dappled petals
For blooms of dignity if never seen
Waste their sweetness and transformed are nettles

Perfection from most artful purity
So drawn from every soul a single drop
That coalesced by pious clarity
Amounts divine that which shall adopt

Through some insanity my gambit played
To win affection of the matriarch
What madness of the blood has henceforth made
Me risk the consequence of endless dark?

Should mine failure in this task make complete
Then my dreams dashed ever after
Be slaughtered with a single fatal feat
Knowing that my presence disregarded

Could I the courage of ten thousand take
Then I might say the things I never dared
For mine own death hath lessened fear and sake
Than this one single uttering I've shared

Of my mortal state contending with a  
Culminating bolt of bottomless despair,
So that by mortal providence my flaw
Detracts from you the pain that I might spare

The felicity of thine burning brow
Should never touch the homely hand of I,
Who seeking truth infallible somehow
Would pollute with loneliness your solemn eyes

The culminating clench of hopelessness
Will never....not through me.....embrace you sweet
So that should be my destiny unselfish
To deliver you from Darkness snow and sleet

Am I the Angel now, the brightest flare
Of all ecstasy's intrepid Seraphim?
Perhaps my gift and curse are written there
Upon the painted sky, where comets skim

Farewell, farewell, for those who grasp my wisdom
Knowing that enlightenment will tingle
On the mind that suffers the most of emotions prisms,
Or is the Shadow Boy reserved for a single?

"My Sweet Angel"

The day I met you, my life
Changed course.  From the
Moment I first laid my
Eyes upon you, I felt a
Connection between us.  We
Were chosen to be together.

I came to realize, through
The strength of our bond,
That I found my better half,
A soul mate who completes
Me.  The emptiness I felt
Inside was filled for all time.

You are the best thing to
Ever happen to me.  I owe
Everything to you.  All the
Joy and happiness that
Fills my heart is from you and
The effect you have on me.

The universe gave me the best
Gift I could ever ask for when
It brought the two of us
Together.  When I'm with you,
I feel like I am in heaven, in
The presence of pure love.

Every time I feel down and
Overwhelmed by the blows life
Dishes out, you pick me up with
Your nice smile and soft kiss.
You never fail to take my
Troubles and send them away.

I remember and cherish our
Every embrace, every kiss
We share, and all the caring
Words we say to each other.
Thank you for being here with
Me and thank you for loving me.

Shaman, fantastic work.  I enjoy your poems a lot.  Rob, that one belongs on a Hallmark card.

That's what my wife said when I read it to her.

Rob, *sniffle, sniffle* That's very sweet and innocent.
Shaman, wow.  I think you and Shakespeare are linked somehow...do you go into, like, a trance when you write?  

"Should perpetual grace be cast like leaves
Whose deadened shapes gasp on the deadened air
Painted in the glaze that a dead man bleeds
To be entombed in quondam's feinting snare"

I mean...wow...dang....

"Night Road"

A dark kind of gloom hangs past a
Night horizon with bright blue skies
Nowhere in sight and the sun
Seems to have gone away on me.

My long plight which has no end
Down a road I despise to travel
All alone with no companion
Dreaming of detours that won't come.

Can't turn around no matter my will
Want to go back in time, but
My strength is weak and
My heart is too broken already.

I would sell my soul for a ray
Of light or to see the mighty sun
Shine bright on this long night,
But my hope is slowly dying.

The map which laid out the life
I sought to live, got me lost
Down this wretched path and
Tore apart what used to be me.

What am I now other than
Another lost being finding his
Place down this lonely road of
Life I am now forced to traverse.

Keeping my head high and my
Hope alive takes all the power
I have inside, but the tole on
Me is too heavy to bear.

I dream of wonderful days ahead
An end to all that binds me here,
But the reality is grim, you see,
This road has no end ahead.

How am I supposed to top that?  Tremendous stuff, Rob.  Much talent you have.  Here's one of mine.

Sky

Soaring in the clouds
Amongst all the stars,
Where the sun shines
And the moon glistens.

Now more than ever
My spirit flies high,
As does all my hopes
And childish dreams.

Everything looks better
From way up here,
In a place where my
Troubles don't exist.

I think if those poems were people, they should be instantly together.  I loved them both.  I think they match up so seamlessly.  Where did that one come from, Rob?  

Andrea, I'm thrilled to be reading something of yours.  Tremendous talent.  Great work.

Kudos to Andrea for coming up with a perfect poem to compliment mine.  Short and sweet, I liked it a lot.

Where did 'Night Road' come from?  Me, of course.
Seriously though, it kinda wrote itself in a way.  I was channelling some negative emotions and sad memories.  It is about the same person 'Forgiveness Out of Reach' is about, the "friend" I referred to.

We gotta hype up this section more.  I love reading poetry.  And I'd love to see some from people who think they don't have the talent and end up amazing themselves...or who have disappeared (marshall-->talking to you)...

"I would sell my soul for a ray
Of light or to see the mighty sun
Shine bright on this long night,
But my hope is slowly dying."

Rob, this stanza really called out to me.