The Rights of Another

We agree to disagree, silently
And that should be enough
But the lines constrict
These opposing beliefs in war
With the idea of freedom
And if I have a right to be me
Surely you have a right to be
But where we intersect
Where the road isn't paved
And the vision gets blurry...
Right and wrong cease to exist
Just our personal conflict--
How these ideas integrate and converge
How they clash and clang,
The sound of battle echoes
In the actions we make known
While we wait for a truce,
A glimpse of peace that may never come.

Birth of Imagination

Imagination brews
Unlikely places, unlikely creatures
All a beautiful concept
Waiting to be fleshed out
Waiting to be something
More than just a dream
More than just an idea...
Waiting on an expression
Waiting on life.

Children Go Where I Send Thee

Do you ever wonder where you'll go
     Where your legs will take you,
          Where your heart doesn't want to follow
Or where the world will push you?

Forgotten and destroyed,
The world has no interest
No mind for with to reason--
And you will go where you are told
For fear of ending up somewhere else,
     Somewhere dark and unpleasant
          Somewhere no one wishes to be...
Or somewhere you really need to see.

Will you take a chance,
Experience pain to understand joy
     Experience hate to revel in love
Or experience the end, to watch the beginning?

Skill

SKILL

Power

Potential

An unusual--

Chance opportunity,

Out of the ordinary

"there's more to them than meets the eye..."

"And though we are worlds apart, like us, there's more to them than meets the eye" -Optimus Prime

Forgotten Prince

A forgotten castle in ruins lies on the hill,
Its windows dark from abandoned kings
The faint glow of precious gems--
     faded with the passing of time...
The story of its glory lost in defeat
     faded in the memory of lost citizens.
I gaze upon it in curious awe
Wondering at a forgotten power
Not knowing I once called it home.

Belly of the Beast

Within the belly of a
Beast wrought with guilt from fueling mankind's fears
Hidden deep in shadows cold
Awaits his peace.

This poem was written for a Poets of G+ prompt of the week.

The Perfect Octave

The song begins slow and steady in perfect time
Notes leaping and dancing on perfect pitch
Echoing soft like the ringing of the chime
Beauty builds in the swaying steps that bewitch
Higher and higher; never faltering as they climb
Notes dancing--up and down, they move and switch
Lost in the tango of this perfectly written tune
The song begins to blossom as they croon.

How lovely the notes fall gently on my ears
I wait anxiously for the next note to sound
Knowing the song gives voice to my tears,
As if to the music my mind and soul are bound,
And a thought I never knew I knew appears--
The words from the notes formed to astound,
Amaze and astonish in a blinking eye
Overwhelming, but them I cannot deny.

Lovely notes, dancing--lingering in the air
So much they know about my inner thoughts
Like a clone of me, so suave and debonair
She knows the path created between the dots
A version of me in which I cannot compare
A version of me not lost in tangled knots.
Poetic and uncomplicated knowledge she states
And I marvel at this, these notes she creates

25 to Life

26 years later, changes subtle to me--

The creeping of age on the body and mind

While lessons of life play out continually...

Although I can't always feel the effect of time

I feel wisdom grow like branches of a tree

Twisting from the detours to which I'm inclined.

Perhaps I'll live to see 26 more

Touching the skies from the branches I explore.

The Color of Joy

Warm 

Glowing

Like the fire

Dancing slowly

Bright and bold, it shines

Something strange yet beautiful:

Unmistakable--it stands out

A great vision painted in the sky

Flashes in my eyes all day and all night.

Moments We Share

We come here,
Wishing, hoping, dreaming
And its all about reaching a goal,
But somewhere along the way
Mixed up in those detours
    off the beaten path
         down a different hallway,
We find each other.
That same orange echoing
Missions left to complete
And we find ourselves,
Here together.

Disconnected

The wires are gone

     The signal lost

And all that's left is static--

The silent crackling over the air

Empty and unfamiliar...

Modern culture forbade this,

The unplugging of society

The disappearence of an individual

When wires become disconnected

And the world goes silent--

      The voice of all others is lost.

An individual--left to fend for self
In the wake of static.

Stronger Than You Think

I'm stronger than you think I am--
Gotten myself out of a few jambs
And the longer I live, I see
I can move mountains when I try
Lift them from valleys to the sky
Because in me I can believe
When I find this strength I never knew,
This change in me from whence I grew--
And with this strength, I fight to be.

The Gift Time Stole

Can I be still for a moment--

Listening to the sound of the wind

How it passes gently through the trees...

Can I be still--just this one moment

Silence: the sound of the passing breeze

How it flutters around me with such ease

And I--helplessly falling to my knees...

A slave bound to time

Unable to be still

For the world will not stop

Work to survive--

     to just get by

But I'm looking for something beautiful

Something I know is right.

What is this stillness?

This quiet moment overwhelms--

Peace, like a lily 

     heavy in the morning dew

Peace, like the dream that always comes true

And I--still in this moment waiting--

Starring out at the horizon, blue

Waiting for the clarity I accrue...

Let go of time

Let it stand still

And when you stop

For moment passing by

The world is beautiful

The world feels right.

Dream Myself to Sleep

The curly white wool of sheep
     gracefully twirling about sparkling stars--
Black eyes twinkling far away
Softly sinking in white clouds
Spinning farther and father away
     wistfully dancing me to sleep.

Beautiful and quiet fields of sheep
     slowly moving across the sky;
Black eyes focused on a different reality
Gently stepping to the music in time--
Waltzing in and out of reality
     peacefully dancing in my sleep

Packing

Boxes stacked high
Overwhelming they loom near
Taunting me

Craft of the Day

Sometimes I just have the urge to create,

To let my hands and fingers get dirty--

And I sit around thinking what image

Can serve at least one purpose...

Should I create something for beauty

Or perhaps something more practical...

Something for the world to use

Or just something for me.

Weeks pass, days come and go

But this urge to create never leaves--

So every once in awhile, I succumb

Forget everything I have to do

Discard obligation for joy

And create something--

Anything.

Daddy's Girl

Oh, I see social media's at it again
Pictures of fathers no one has ever spoken to
Clips of memories, no one remembers
But the world is full of remembrance--
Full of praise and acceptance...

Oh, but I see something beyond an image
And I remember days upon days
Trailing behind those huge footsteps
Sunken in the squishy brown mud,
Across fields and yards--across time.

Oh, there need not be words of expression
No photos or evidence of this one event--
24 hours simply isn't enough
To recall or display the many ways
A real father is defined to a daddy's girl.

I'm Wondering...

The world is full of people

Who make logical sense

Of illogical thoughts and events

And I watch them in confusion.

I'm wondering...

About these contradictions I see

Crowds of people, like sheep herds

Unable to see the insanity of pretty words

Painted pictures and untold lies...

I'm wondering...

Are they actually blind

Dubious to there course of aim

Or merely playing some complex game--

Following some illogical rules

I was not privy to view?

I'm wondering...

If it's really that simple,

If they're really that dense

Or is it me that doesn't make sense,

Is it me who's not thinking straight

Image from Real Life Comic Strips for Designers.

.

A Little Star

Little star burning

dashing through the dark sky--

watch over me awhile.

Joy Comes in the Morning

Pray now--

Yesterday dies

With the troubles it brought me

And new hopes spring from ashes

Fallen dreams

Revived again

To live.

So pray

Today comes

Wrought with its unknown cost to me

And though the world bends low

Change comes

Problems rise

Morale falls...

Look forward--

Tomorrow brings

New joys, new sorrows, new plans

He's already worked out for me--

One decision

Leads success,

Leads victory.

Rolling Hills

Rolling hills of purple flowers
Orange skies hung high above
Blooming trees spanning the horizon
In which the birds sing with love.
I sit there in my window staring out
Amazed at the skyline in my sight

Echos of Leather Meant to Shock

Echoes of leather, dribbling slow
On polished wood floors all a-glow,
And the breathing of players steady
Running, blocking, always ready
Fast hands--quick in the paint--move light as a feather
As fans listen close to these echoes of leather

Setting the Mood

mood = function( successes, failures, interactions, day)
     if ( successes > failures )
            mood = rainbows & unicorns;
     else
            mood = dungeons & dragons;

     for each +interaction
            mood = mood + joy;

     for each -interaction
           mood = mood - joy;

     switch ( day )
           case Monday:
                 mood = mood - all_good_things;
                 break;

The Perils of Negative Thoughts

Angry words of modern men fall flat
The weight of adverse thoughts plague empty minds
While the joys of life slip away from that...

Time is wasted, whittled and undefined--
Leaves trouble to brew in unattended gaps,
Devours and defines the rot of mankind.

Something about this emotion unwraps
From inside minds unstable and impure--
Takes over the soul of whom it entraps.

Carried Away

Crash into waves
Crash hard into the bough
Drift out to sea
Let yourself get
Carried away...

Weak

WEAK

Tired

Exhausted

long days blur--hazy

hot and humid--weigh down

into the coming twilight stars

"on the verge of giving up dreams"

When Change Comes

We change

We grow

And change is all we have

All we ever learn or accept

Sometimes--

We understand

We think.

On the Track

The sound of

Revving, heavy engines 

Anxiously waiting for lights green

To ignite engines crafted powerful and clean...

Muffled chatter of a victory

Subdued by the sound of

Motors still.

Joy

When life is filled so much with joy

I cease count of hours passing by
Enjoy each sight catching my eye
When joy spills out naturally...

Crystal clear happiness and cheer--
Artistically drawn beauty
Speechless, I watch with humble pride.

When life is filled so much with joy.

A Sweet and Delicious Treat

Sweet like honey flowing

Golden yellow inside and

Running warm like a river...

Classic delicious

Settles on a hungry tongue

Swept away in utter joy.

Far Off Places

So many sights in the world to see

Activities to try, adventures to find--

I hope I get the time to stop and be...

Sailing in the ocean deep and free

Swim in its waves with dolphin-kind,

So many sights in the world to see.

Travel mountains high, unwind by ski

Speed across snow poised and aligned,

I hope I get the time to stop and be.