Crystal bowls prism

translucent rose pedestals

kissing with color

trail of whispery kisses

sparkles of scattered sunbeams.

Light plays on her hands

She touches rose to her lips

squeezing drops of love

bands of blush across cheeks

lingering crescents of him.

My wife is fading,

losing herself to raise kids.

No time for her own,

just school, homework, and housework.

No thanks, no recognition.

Little ones know Mom.

Cooker, cleaner, nagger, Mom.

I know Angela.

Dreamer, lover, partner, friend.

Will they ever know her, too? 

Behold the night sky

The moon kissing the mountain

A secret so known

Love’s clandestine meet

Yet stars witness their embrace.

Moon spreads its fingers

Unaware of prying eyes

Tears flow like river

As the mountain yields to love

Behold tonight forever …

We stand at the door,

the entrance to our first house.

Before we step in 

I take you by the hand, squeeze.

Together we enter, home.

The fire crackles,

the dishwasher cycles through,

evening settles in,

Mitzi is under the bed,

I'm on the couch next to you.

Tears stream down his cheeks

As he remembers the day

He signed up for war

No understanding but dreams

Of the pride and the glory

Now stark black and white

Reality hits him deep

Sought goals disappear

Along with the blood that seeps

From other young men who dreamed

The top-hatted man,

Pencil-thin mustache twitching,

Points to the tent flap,

Says, "Come in for a small fee;

No, true magic isn't free.

Surely you won't miss

The small matter of your soul."

I think a moment

And in order to respond,

I step through to the beyond.

Nineteen Eighty Two

Softly sang my song to you

Smiling, our secret

Eyes glitter in bonfire light

Young and alive, futures bright

2 came round too soon

Driving you home singing that tune

Summertime, mid-June

Too many beers, winding road

A deer in headlights, I froze

there was a darkness

i dipped my head in starlight

molten-white sunspots

a blinking milky way crown

a head on fire til it's not --

the blaze will not last

it is quickly snuffed, i guess

there is no slow fade

just a quiet, flashing waltz

of weight then lightness then weight

I cannot admit

That I am often overtaken

That the sea loves me

And that I can not love it

For it killed my hopefulness.

The sea rides my back

So that I cannot escape

Yet I struggle through

And overtime I pull it off

To be taken over once more.

I nurtured her well

Still, to keep her safe I've failed

Bullied at her school

So, this girl must pay the price

For my inadequacy 

Yet, I could burn her

My daughter's bully, alive

Arson justified?

Turn the other cheek, I teach

While I grab the match, strike, light