J-Rock, that poem was very touching.  Thank you  

Lies will get you nowhere.
Deception will reap no rewards.
Trouble will always catch up with you,
No matter how much you try to hide.

I always have a smile on my face
While you are always looking over your shoulder.
So many lies told, you can't keep them straight.
You cannot even trust yourself.

If you want to obtain
That which you truly desire.
Humble yourself to this simple fact,
The truth is much greater than the lie.

Quoted Text Forgotten now as I remember one duffel down when found grown old the rumpled duffel wearer lay sprawled upon the ground. *

mcornetto, you so remind me of Wallace Stevens. If you have not read his work (though it sounds like you have) take a gander at it. If you do not like it then I offer you this quote from him himself.

"Let be be finale of seem, the only emperor is the emperor of ice cream."

We love to build up, only to tear down.
The vicious cycle of American celebrity,
Paris Hilton in jail, then out of jail,
Then back in jail, then out of jail again.
And we watch endless coverage.
News networks, Entertainment Tonight,
Late night shows, we can't get enough.

Everything from Britney Spears' shaved head
To Lindsay Lohan's hijinks,
Every celebrity story told has its audience.
Not enough of us are tired of this,
Sad to say, but for as long as there is TV,
There will be celebrities in the news
And I will be screaming from the mountain top,
"Don't we have better things to do!"

Heaven, at Night


It was upon my first glimpse of her,
That I knew...
I stood dumbfounded, yet keenly aware
How precious a woman she truly was

Night, to me, had always been a time of chaos
When specters would come to lurk and haunt
Random doubt may gain meaning without hope
And so hidden, I stayed, to protect my heart

But as my eyes met her lovely countenance,
I was enraptured...
The unexplainable, now defined, I'd fallen deep
A light beyond brightness had come to find me
Shimmer beyond sheen, I came to be

Let it all go

Time can't heal all wounds,
But we learn to live with those pains.
Scars on our hearts and our souls,
Whether it be from a terrible mistake
Or the regret of saying too little or saying too much.
Everyone carries their past in their present
With not enough focus on the future.

The little things that clutter our minds
And linger in the corners of our heart.
The regrets you feel deep inside.
Turning right when left was the right direction.
Wanting to ask the pretty girl out on a date,
But too nervous to make the brave, bold move.
Picking the wrong college or the wrong major.
Going to work instead of attending graduate school.
Every little regret thrust atop another regret,
Which has more small regrets beneath it,
Soon, it consumes you like a forest fire
And if left alone, it can destroy your joy.

Sometimes, it is better to forget.
The past cannot be changed.
All it can do is teach valuable lessons.
Forget about the girl you didn't ask out
And be sure to ask out the next pretty girl you like.

Headstones

She done let her hair down, unbuttoned her blouse,
as their eyes shifted in the darkened house.
The rope tightened and their breaths got short,
chantin' "The Lord that grants a kill ain't got room for remorse."

And she held back her tears as the dead passed her by,
above the bastards' headstones 'cross their blood-clotted sky
In the hollow words they murmered over his bed beneath the ground,
she felt the earth tremble when she heard their voices drown.

Love ain't done no good, if it don't remember none
girls cross their hearts and boys just for fun.
It lives in the ink that bleeds the nib
it spills across the paper, and floods our eyes and lids.

So she whispers sweetly her name with immortal cool,
and clutches her heart, of all things; "bury the blade, bury the fool."
And then love is a death.
Love is a god damn sweet death.

One Candle Left


A single light lit the dark, open room
Scarce to the eye, it almost hid
It glowed with a resilience I had never seen
A holy circumstance that I happened upon

The room was dank, so far away
And a sorrow lived within its bosom
The night began from this very place
As morning wished its way inside

The room was strange, and yet unique
A sour black surrounds the sweet
A cold breeze blew and with a gasp
The candle leapt but stayed intact

A bit slow-paced though walking straight
I approached this light that stared serene
A shallow glimpse, it was alive!
A hollow glance, was it a dream?

I stop to think, and with a hunch
I look again and understand
The life I see shall always be
Those eyes I love just next to me

And what is it my heart wants from you?
When you slowly dance its tender beat -
your soul touches mine - as a whisper -
it brightens my spirit - light and sweet.

And how does it answer my question?
By increasing the beat of its song -
a symphony rumbling inside me -
melody clear and harmony strong.  

And when will the orchestra finish?
In a life span - or throughout all time -
infinitely loving you always -
captured for a moment in rhyme.

� 1998 Mach B

the other side


fly with me
let us make love to chaos
this tepid storm, engulfing
grayness, all around
hold on tight...
and let us find the other side

there are those who will try to break our spirits
but these are not the makers of dreams
there are those who will even root for our failure
yet they cannot comprehend our reign of courage

fly with me, believer
so we may find our grace once more

Remnants


So long, at sea
Making sense of the waves
The turmoil… of reflection

Time passes, life happens
Truths turn skeptical
Seeds of doubt, born

With each year, each passing moment
The quest for meaning turns desperate
We lose sight of our goal

Through this, and despite all this, we persevere
Hanging onto the remnants… of childhood
So full of promise

Fighting the decay, the angst
Doing everything to not succumb
To what so many already have
In the sheer hope that one day
We will rise ourselves up from this sadness
Overcome each thing that serves to hold us back
Overcoming ourselves

And in the aftermath of a world gone awry
We shall reach out for that one trinket, that one shattered piece
That reminds us how it all started
Who we were, when everything still mattered

Yoda and the Pizza Guy

Deliver or deliver not,
There is no pickup.
Pepperoni I want it to have,
Mushrooms too I want.

Pizza you brought to me now,
But the force you do not have.
Cash you want me to give you now.
That, I cannot.
Money I have none.
Give me the pizza you must.
Free I want it to be.
On the porch leave the
Hot and ready pizza
And leave you must.
Return to Pizza Hut you will.
Eat the pizza I will.

It's been awhile since I posted an emotional poem like some of those in the first poetry thread.  This is one that has been floating around in my head all day and I had to write it.  After I wrote it, I had to post it here.  So, read and enjoy.


Everyday, you are in my thoughts.
In those moments we are apart,
My mind pictures your smiling face,
Delighting in the fantasy that we are together,
But this dream seems far from real.
I reach out to touch your skin,
But you are out of my reach.
My fingertips are inches away
From stroking your beautiful hair.
Yet, you are so far away from me,
It seems I can barely see you at all.

Every goodbye and friendly hug
Tortures me beyond description
And tears my heart to pieces.
All I am to you is a sponge.
I absorb your problems, your worries,
Your dreams and your innermost desires,
While I long to be much more
Than your buddy and friend.

I've listened to your every word,
I've even memorized the list of qualities
You seek in your future significant other,
And I am everything you describe you want,
But you don't notice this.
We are a great fit together.
It may not be perfect, we have our differences,
But we share so much similarities,
I'm sure we would be happy together.

Friendship means the same to me as it does to you.
Kindness, gentleness, humor,
We are one and the same.
We are searching for a soulmate
To spend the rest of our lives with.
Even our idea of the perfect dinner date is the same,
Great pasta at the Italian place across from the mall.
Every single movie you like, I like also.
Every one you hate, I hate as well.
You laugh at every single one of my jokes,
No one else does that.
However, you fail to look in my direction
When you're looking for the guy
You would want to spend your life with
And I can't help but believe
You will never look at me
In the same way I look at you.

Why does fate tease me like this?
Am I destined to be alone
While almost everyday,
I see the girl of my dreams in daylight?
I cannot settle for somebody else
When you are the one and only for me.
The longer you stay out of reach,
Just far enough away from me
That I cannot caress your soft cheek,
The more my soul dies inside
And my heart descends to nothingness.
All I ask of you is to take the chance,
Not only to save me from this pain,
But discover that which you are seeking.
Only one chance is all I need.
Only one chance is all I desire.
Only one chance, it seems to me
Is too much to ask for.

Friendship

A true friend, it seems, is the rarest of all gems.
Trust alone is difficult to give and receive,
So difficult, many of us do not bother
To take the time to nurture it.

Kindness is an easy gift to give
During holiday seasons,
But is not given
When there is no wrapping paper.

Promises given, often not kept,
Words spoken in confidence
Become rumor and innuendo
That spreads like wildfire.

Love is absent from the heart of the other.
Resentment and conflict fills its void
When it has no place in friendship,
It even does not belong in the world.

Why must friendship be so hard to find?
Why do so many take it for granted?
The world would be much better place
If we all worked to be good friends.

Quoted from Death Monkey Headstones She done let her hair down, unbuttoned her blouse, as their eyes shifted in the darkened house. The rope tightened and their breaths got short, chantin' "The Lord that grants a kill ain't got room for remorse." And she held back her tears as the dead passed her by, above the bastards' headstones 'cross their blood-clotted sky In the hollow words they murmered over his bed beneath the ground, she felt the earth tremble when she heard their voices drown. Love ain't done no good, if it don't remember none girls cross their hearts and boys just for fun. It lives in the ink that bleeds the nib it spills across the paper, and floods our eyes and lids. So she whispers sweetly her name with immortal cool, and clutches her heart, of all things; "bury the blade, bury the fool." And then love is a death. Love is a god damn sweet death.

That's really good, I like that one a lot.  (And this is a little bit off the subject, but thanks for the reminder of the word 'nib', too.  It's going to come in handy as a great Boggle word.)