The Punch Line

(Dedicated to Danny Cotton, written in the ink of my tears. Find peace brother)

 

Life so short,

you were a gift

to the world

partially opened, only

somewhat unwrapped.

A Gandhi waiting

for the mic to turn on

you were heard

in the amplifiers of human heart,

felt in the vibration

of friendship.

A tidal wave of reality, shifted

by your presence,

by your loss.

Candles will burn

in your memory, causes will glow

new life, your legacy

a long beam of light.

 

Today, we will hold

our friends, hug

our moms, gaze

deep into the wizened eyes

of our fathers,

contemplate the deeper meaning

of liberty, democracy, and truth,

of life and passion, of laughter.

Your lifeblood

is life force for a whole

new cause. I am awakened

by your sudden sleep, I am listening

now more than ever

to your silent voice. I will dedicate

this poem, to your memory

write the next poem

to your legacy, as I try to do you some honor

carrying your banner, lighting myself

in your laughing true passion,

walking into the darkness.

 

The joy of God,

it is said, is a life

truly lived in

passion. Your life is God’s joy.

Smile, wherever you are,

yours is the best punch line

delivered. You made a joke

of death, by a life

well lived.

 

 

What is Love?

What is love?
I know not, I know not
I know only the pain it has brought
And the joy
In the moments between the pain
The joy

The smiling face and angel eyes
The happy laughter
And in love making
The sweetest song of bedroom sighs
I have tasted deep this thing called love
And have felt its hellish flame
Whether it be a heaven thing
Or a nightmare wasteland
I know not, I…I simply know not
I have loved
I have
But it has been taken from me
In her parting my company
And now my cracked heart
The bleeding is starting
And some gentle hand I long for
Soothe me
Heal me
With some kinder Love’s healing salve
Won’t you?
Where are you?
Come my dear and love me
Back to life
Take from me
This jagged pain, this loveless knife
Ran deep in between my ribs, piercing my heart
Oh dear heavens ever watchful
And blistering hell, always hungry
Now, the blood, the bleeding out,
My life was only at the start
And from me, she as cold as cold can be, has taken
And from one love to another love, and onward still, I must depart
I am not my pain
I am more
I am love waiting
On some distant shore
Waiting for new love
Waiting for love and more

The Graveyard in my Soul

I take a single white rose

To the graveyard in my soul

Where all her memories are buried

Dead but not forgotten

All this pain and misery she has brought

I push them aside, and look forward

To the graves littered about

I open my mouth to give a shout

But out comes only a whisper

Do you hear me?

Do you care?

The rose falls to the ground

I mean to turn my back, to turn around

But I stand statue still

Letting the truth sink in, letting it be real

The graveyard in my soul

Burns, hurts, bites, grabs, won’t let go

I look across its bone ridden mass

I curse and spit and flip the bird to my past

And then I wake from my nightmare, I turn, I walk away

Today is a new day

But no matter how far I go

There remains a graveyard in my soul