Nashville

My roots are in Nashville
Those Tennessee hills —
Was born and was bred there
No tassels or frills.
Some come to visit
And stay for a day
But for me this is home
And I'll keep it that way.

Luna

Please throw me a rope
So I can climb to your heights.
You can help me to cope.
You can help set things right.
For life is all snarl
And cacophony.
You'd be doing a favor
To poor lonely me.
For you are a God
Just to be on that tier—
I'd love to unload
If you’d lend me your ear.
Perhaps you could tell me
Which way I should turn.
I know I am mortal
There's much I can learn.
Teach me your patience.
Your omnipotent poise —
I try hard to mime you
There’s far too much noise.
I have to stay busy.
My mind occupied —
I can’t waste a moment.
We get but one ride.
I promise to leave you
Just as you are now.
Just teach me your manners
I'll stop that damn cow.

Sol

He goes by many names
And when he shows up,
He brightens the day.
Helios, Apollo, Ra, Sol.
All these names belong to him.
He greets you early in the morning
With the brightest smile
And a promise for a glorious day.
But do not try
To look upon his face
It cannot be seen
By the naked eye.
And when it is covered
The world turns out to see it.
The sky darkens.
A halo appears in its place.
The Earth grows completely silent.

And everyone suddenly remembers 

Why we used to think it was a god.

What is Love?

What is Love
To someone who has had it
Then lost it?
Is it something to strive for?
Or something to avoid like the plague?
To me, love is a fleeting feeling suspended in time.
It is that feeling you get when you care
About someone more than yourself for however long it lasts.
Relationships are challenging.
That's a plus for me.
But giving up on the challenge was
Not in the cards
For me.
It takes two to feel that way though.
To mean that vow.
If not,
Then was it ever love?

Fate

The fates have never smiled upon my life

The time I’ve spent in love fills up a page.

Instead, I’ve dealt with countless pain and strife

And lived the life a man would twice my age.

If love were meant for me it would be found

But all I’ve ever found were empty chests.

And if I couldn’t swim I would have drowned

In seas of tears I’ve cried since you have left.

I’ve always thought like magic she’d appear

A bolt of lightning lighting up my world—

Someone who’d make the road so crystal clear.

A smart, witty, beautiful, perfect girl —

As years go by that fate seems ever far

And deeper into chaos my life tilts.

I wish upon the wildest, furthest star

For youth and life to be restored, rebuilt.

A Soul

A soul is a precious thing
You cannot touch or see
You cannot reach out and grab it
But you can nurture it and keep it pure
A soul can be comforted
A soul can be calmed
Sometimes a soul can even be shared

Tonight

go away with me
tonight
we'll dance all-day
And night
over the moon
so bright
if you leave with me
tonight

To be a Cloud

I am a cloud high in the sky.
I watch the world and life go by.
You cannot catch me if you try.
This is the life — I cannot lie.

Scrub!

They tell us we must isolate ourselves
A deadly virus crawls its way through us
In each of us is where it wants to dwell
Staying home and staying safe’s a must
We’re all a little scared a little pained
We all have high-risk people who we love
The hope is that we can disrupt the chain
So give your hands a twenty-second scrub.

A Foe

It seems we face an insurmountable challenge
A foe that can't be seen
Except on the faces of the anguished
Breathless and vulnerable —
To defeat this foe we must break with norms.
We must change the way we greet
And our expressions of love.
But we shall overcome this foe

Ring

Is love worth it often I ask myself?
For love, for me, has been a fleeting thing.
I wrestle often with the thoughts themselves.
I bought and lost my only wedding ring.

a bug

once I was a bug
a simple flying thing
I flew around the heads of some
Prepare to lose a sting
A flower, thought I
A shirt with every color
Confused, I hovered by
And landed on the collar
He swatted, I stung
And lost the one they gave me
Away I flew among
The field of daisies

Warm Embrace

There's something in the air tonight, my love.
A feeling of a wondrous type of love.
If you would only take my lonely hand.
And press your lips to mine one time again.

A full bright moon beneath the willow trees.
A warm embrace between just you and me.

Time

The common man
Doesn't understand
The nature of time.
Time is not the same
In any two places
And if you were to climb
A mountain top
And check your clock
You would find, lo
Your clock is not
The same as that
Of the clocks below.

Old Begets New

As the stars disintegrate
Into a fiery cloud of particles and elements
They give birth to new stars
Like a mother who gives her life for her children—
Our solar system
Indeed, all we can see,
Born from the remains
Of stars gone before
This is the way of life
Old begets new

like a mother

before the red sun shutters
and passes beyond the sky
i'll take the hand of my lover
and breathe a soulful sigh

if all we have is each other
in this cruel world of fear
i'll love you like a mother
and wipe away your tears

The Bond

They lay in the bed
Mother and child
Affixed at the nipple
A bond that seems temporary
But has as much permanence
As the sun rising in the East.

Perfect Moment

She's sent to rescue me
From loneliness
From the existential dread of dying alone
I can feel her breath as she breathes down my neck
I can smell her scent wafting through the gentle breeze
She's close enough to touch
But I dare not
I shall not spoil this perfect moment

Assless

I lost my ass
When you handed it to me
I threw it away
You said it was showing
Now assless I wander
Can't show it no more
Don't really care to
Who would listen to an
Assless man?

Tomorrow's Promise

Tomorrow's promise
Is another day
Of us staying busy
And keeping away
From this malcontent virus
So that we may spare
Our neighbors and laborers
Because we must care.

Jupiter's Bright Red Spot

A storm so large and violent
That nothing is left in its wake.
Larger than the state of Texas—
It's been going since before the US was a country.
Some suggested it was slowing
Or weakening but nay,
They were wrong.
It defines the planet Jupiter
With a bright red spot.

A Paradox of Fear, A Sonnet

If there’s one thing I fear about this life
It’s growing old and having no one close.
No friends to count among thee and no wife —
No one with which to share the highs and lows.

The fear, it drives me daily to engage
In doing simply nothing to amend
These issues that fill me with fear and rage.
Though one fear drives me more than I intend.

That fear that keeps my soul from being shared
Is borne from giving someone else the key
And having hopes of ever after snared
Then dashed upon the rocks by Solemn’s Sea.

Therefore, I am a paradox of fear.
Des’prate but afraid to hold one near.

In My Country

In my country:
Almost 2,000 more people died today.
(That’s ⅔ the total death toll of 9/11.)
The president lied today.

Which just means it is a day that ends in ‘y’.

He’s becoming ever more dangerous.
He shut down all immigration into the country today.
As if
People were clamoring to get in.
Still, many will be affected by this rash decision.

The governor announced he would reopen the state today.
There were over 300 new cases of the disease in this state today.
The cases haven’t even peaked yet.
The deaths haven’t even peaked yet.
Elections have life or death consequences
I have learned.

No one knows what normal is any more.
Isolation is our new normal.
People are pining for the old normal—
Unaware that it is gone forever
Never to return.

We will get through this and it will require the one thing
That is all we seem to have in plenty:
Time.

A King Without a Clue

Upon a lifeless chair, I sit.
Upon my head, a lifeless crown.
With no intentions or a clue
I'm told to rule this realm.
This is not what I signed up for.
This is all too much.
They come to me and beg for things
Like food and cash and stuff.
But I'm not able — capable of
Delivering what they need.
I asked for this unknowingly
For want of coin and greed.
I am just a figurehead —
A King without a clue.
My subjects ask for many things
I know not what to do.

A Love Sonnet

Love is such a simple thing to conjure.
Whenever I’m in need of it she rings.
Still, I’m left here waiting ever longer—
Forever for the one whose heart has strings.

But another has complete control of
The strings of one I love forevermore.
Someone tell me this is just pretend love,
And that I can forget my heart could soar.

If my heart should wander I’d be lost.
And lost in love is nowhere to be found.
I love while I pretend there's not a cost.
On this, my heart, I’ve tied up, sold, and bound

Love is such a complicated feeling
I am in love and wow, my heart is reeling

Love is Complicated

Love is such a simple thing to conjure
Whenever I’m in need of it she rings
Still, I’m left here waiting ever longer
For the love of one whose heart has strings

But another has complete control of
Heartstrings of the one I love so dearly
Someone tell me this just isn’t real love
That minds are clouded and not seeing clearly

If ever I should wander I’d be lost
And lost in love is nowhere to be found
I love without knowing the taxing cost
On this, my heart, I’ve tied up, sold, and bound

Love is such a complicated feeling
I am in love and wow, my heart is reeling

Lady in Nashville

it was quiet in the bay
on the blanket where we lay
the evening sun was slipping past
horizons yesterday.
but tomorrow comes a flood
they'll be looking for new blood
and if i can get to Nashville
there's a lady there to love.

Conscious

a bohemian beauty
like ne'er before seen
in love and penniless
but her conscious was clean
they said we were peerless
both me and my dream
we danced like the movies
a consciousness stream —