a summer night alone.

The air around me is a dusty haze
of purple and blue
And the sky is smeared with the sun's ink
as it is pierced by the sharp horizon
while the oozing sun slides under the water's edge.

Distant whitecaps are barely visible breaking against
the faint glow of a waning dusk.
Knees at my chest I am perched on the beach
as the surf crawls up and flirts with my toes.

Hearing only the gentle pulse of the melodic tide
The world promises to keep my dearest thoughts a secret.
As the darkness cloaks about me and the salt wind kisses my cheek
The stars puncture their dark canvas and offer me a dream.

Charade

Looking for the red in white
Falsity and impropriety concealed
in alabaster innocence.
Like spilled sugar on smooth tables,
the mess eludes itself in sweetness.
Culpability assumes a facade of naiveté
Veracity becomes something pretentious and discarded.
Erratic earth, absurd man
Integrity is obsolete and lost
in florid shades of white.

The Call

I cannot fashion my own sunlight

I cannot grasp the wind with my hands

or hold the finger of my shadow

But light beams carry God,

the sky cradles God, and the trees bend for God.

I cannot feel the moon move the tide

I cannot see the thunder

But the skies cry for God, the ground thirsts for God,

and the waves break for God.

I cannot trace the lines in God's palm with my fingers

I cannot feel the gates of Heaven

But God's love is my life, God's will is that I live it,

and I am the Call of God.

ashtray lies

ashtrays and empty promises
dictate your means,
and your ends sprawl in piles of ash and rueful thoughts.

gunshot words and a knife sharp tongue,
you can't help stoking your own fire
with apathetic shrugs and whiskey caps.

the smoke on your breath gives atmosphere
to your crooked demeanor, and your
glassy eyes lie behind a filmy ashtray green.

because you said you love me

falling. sinking. crashing.
I'm colliding with my own thoughts.
spilling. gushing. racing.
I cannot escape their finesse; their subtle ability to overtake me.
weaving. shooting. pouring.
Your face and your words feed my overwhelmed head
without consent of its appetite.
Slopes, curves, and tangents all lead to the same indefinite end
and my heart might explode with all the twists and turns.
My feet are sinking into the concrete beneath me
and your words seep into my every pore.
What I want to say words cannot concoct and
your every word pushes me further into my comatose reality.
I am helpless, wordless, and absolutely euphoric
because you said you love me.

Inevitably

Words and faces
drip and melt
into your pool of memory that
festers in uncertainty of character.

Foundations of trust are broken with lies
And unkempt corridors in the dusty corners of your mind
resent the residence of true things.
Your mind twists with familiar grudges and
comforting hate.

But where will your unsteady feet walk you
what will your ceaseless judgments give you
when you realize
The truth lies in deep springs seen from polished window panes.

Without You

Walking this pier at dusk
I long for some sweet comfort.
My eyes search the wide sea but it yields no sign of you.

A bitter gust holds a promise of winter in its whisper
and I must be without you.
The tide's surge pushing up the sands
tries to soothe my soul.

The rocky cliffs under the lighthouse
break the rhythm of the tide and calms the sea's fury.
The sea birds seem to cry with me yet I am loath to
depart this lonely, beautiful place

The grey blue dusk of late autumn blends in with the slate sea
as distant whitecaps are cold against the sky.
The salty air and wet wind slap my cheek and blow through my hair
And you're not here.

A barge, rusty and silent, cuts through the waves and makes its path
to where I wish I could go-
Anywhere to escape my own thoughts.
I'm desperate to leave, yet I cannot tear myself away from this place.

Worn with salt spray and sun, this pier is old and wise.
It will hold me as I stand,
waiting.

I Heard You

When the quiet was deafening I heard you.
When the sky broke with rain
I heard you.

When the calm water was a mirror to my soul I heard you.
When hurricanes filled my head
I heard you.

When my world lay under fine dry snow I heard you.
When the snow revealed puddles and slush
I still heard you.

When I had nothing to hide but smiles, I heard you.
When fear held me and temptation enveloped me
I heard you the most.

But was I listening?

Hold your mistakes in your hand, suffocate them in your grip.
Strip your eyes naked and open wide your stubborn ears-
Regret won't come unless you call it.