After the quartet:

As one long note, bowed to thinning silence,

We politely held applause, watched these magicians

Who flout all laws of natural science,

And float above our quiet adulation.

We got home, drawn of emotion, that such

Profound things as these could be given

To a silence that filled an empty hall before,

Then put the radio on, in the want of more.

We listened to Chopin and the rain as ever

Poured, in this neck of wood, strummed, lapping

Ceaseless - almost, then came perceived calm,

After the quartet:

As one long note, bowed to thinning silence,

We politely held applause, watched these magicians

Who flout all laws of natural science,

And float above our quiet adulation.

We got home, drawn of emotion, that such

Profound things as these could be given

To a silence that filled an empty hall before,

Then put the radio on, in the want of more.

We listened to Chopin and the rain as ever

Poured, in this neck of wood, strummed, lapping

Ceaseless - almost, then came perceived calm,

I was so scared
to give you a piece of myself

I didn't know what you would do with it.

would you use it?
steal it?
hurt it?

would I be left hollow
and unfulfilled?

you took me by surprise

you cherished
cared for it
housed it
watered it

in the end,
you still kept it for yourself

but you filled the empty space inside me
with a piece of you

Oh, let this sonnet fall on deafened ears
for rarely do I reap the words I sow
I've wandered, squandered, many youthful years
I've barely learned the simple things I know

That I have learned has been a thing of chance
Enigmas rule my sureties in life
A sailing man in winds of changing dance
A wonder I have settled with a wife

Oh, sorrow never seems to follow me
When she is happy, so becomes my own
But she will never share the rolling sea
These times, I do prefer to sail alone

finds me (a doggone muttering Homo sapien)
to give pause for reminiscences
and to take stock (sh lock and barrel)
about mein kampf in general
and previous three hundred
and sixty five days in particular
assessing some laudable accomplishments,
where inside my mind I beam radiance
envisioning an imaginary hit parade
supporting my local mummers
and married poppers
trumpeting like Dumbo the elephant,
yours truly decked out
donning red zoot suit
proud heterosexual with pride
to sport gay apparel,

My river flows
through mountains
of warm winter whites
amid exalted grays

sometimes I rush downward
sometimes I spill over
sometimes I just drift along
chasing wandering ways

My river flows
through valleys
of springtime, alive
with lavender blue

some days I run wild
some days I am tranquil
some days I mirror the sky
letting heaven fall through

My river flows
through oceans
of summer's grand green
deep within its teal bed

Naming a mountain.
THERE was a time I came from the north
Slow through the thick wet world
On approach, would see
It’s great hunched shoulders, reared
Against the wind, as the ground below fell
And the world disappeared

There was my beacon, tipped with
A man made broadsword, perched
At the highest point, placed,
When I was small, far, abroad
A great beacon tower to cast
Out the word, to every listening
Wireless blood in the land

To the voice
That prods me
And makes me
A better poet.

For the words
That I add,
To improve
The poems that I write.

For the one
Who reminds me
To sustain
The rhyme
And rhythm
In my poems.

For the one
Who reads
My poems
On Neopoet.

My gratitude
To you.
And all the very best
For the New Year!

…. I will scratch these lines through limestone
in dry spells and torrents of acid rain. Shapes large,

shapes small will scratch in hunger
for one whispered letter. The drill bits, brutal and crooked,

will scratch out another bit of vowel, one more perch for the owls.
Your name; significance sandblasted by time. Your name--

Majestic is the royal rose,
and lovely is the lily.
The daisy's a delight that grows
upon the land so hilly.

A tulip field's a sunset gold,
poor poppies' hearts are bleeding.
The orchid is for luck, we're told.
A weed, no one is needing!

The lotus is the Buddha's bloom,
for love and peace is praying.
It thrives among the grime and gloom
in sacred breezes swaying.