Table of Contents

PAGEYOUTH 2-5The LineBorn AgainThe ToyThe WaspAlmost Gone

THE UNKNOWN 5-6The Homeless Public TransportationThe Unknown RoadA Turned Back

DARKNESS 7-9The City of DysThe DarknessThe TigerOut in the ColdA Closed Cage

LOVE 10-1413 Haiku’s of BloomPremonitionA Change of SeasonDo You Miss Me?Say SomethingAfraid to LoseTime to GoTracking You

HOPE 15Awaited Gate

YOUTH

The LineWhen we’re walking down the lineIt seems a good old fashioned timeBut we might step on over to the wrong sideTo the right is good it seems and to the left is badIf that is the case I pray the lord my soul to takeBecause I will surely break.Let’s see what it is all about.Let’s see what it is all about.

Born AgainI was bornAnd was taughtI was born And then I foughtI was born againWhen I was eightWhen I made my first mistakeI was born againWhen I had my first kissWhen I learned that there’s more to life than thisI was bornAnd then I grewI was bornIf I only knew I was born again When I was eighteen When I never thought I could be meanI was born againWhen I bathed in the southern sunWhen I knew it was possible to love someone.

The ToyIt sat there motionless, although full of inanimate life What was done next with it was up to meAlthough this toy did not belong to me I wanted itI had many other toys, but this one, this one stood outI wanted it more than my other toysI knew it belonged to my cousin but that didn’t matterI grabbed it, quickly, with purpose and shoved it in my pocketWhen play time was over, I had lost the game at handBut I knew there was a greater war that was won As I walked up the staircase a wave of guilt overrode meI knew this was wrong, how badly did I want to win? I turned back, pretending to say goodbye one more timeAs quick as I picked up the toy I dropped it back downLuckily my efforts both times were unseen As I walked back up the stairs again I realized I was freeFree of the guilt, of the baggage, of the karma that would come my wayI realized that day, my guilt was not worth my victoryMy triumph was not worth the loss of someone I knewI look back years later realizing I have learned nothing.

The Wasp The sun set still searing the stone surroundingsThe pool glistened in the reflection of the club house windowsThe wasp laid as the focal point in the poolThe swimmers passed it by, ambivalentThe child noticed the bug The mother warned her of it “Momma,” the child said, “it’s dying.”“Don’t touch it,” the mother snapped, “It may sting you.”The child just wanted to help and never saw the dangers that come with it. Despite the mother’s wish, the child reached a hand out for the wasp.The wasp crawled upon the hand and flew away.It is the fear of getting hurt that stops us from loving,In a child’s mind we may learn such compassionA different view from common pushing and shoving Save each other from our mind that choses ration.

Almost GoneOn a family trip when I was youngWe sat in the warmth underneath the sunFar from my parents I stepped awayCrazy to think I was almost gone that dayLured to the shore by a man and a womenFunny to think I was something to themI feel as though they even knew my nameIf I would have gone I’d never be the sameSaved by a yelp from a mom or dadIf I would have gone I would have never hadA ripple in life that would have changed so muchCause by the splash of a strangers touch.

THE UNKNOWN

The HomelessThe wind blows the sand raising it just slightly in the air, shifting down the beach. Tiny grains rise and fall with each breeze. The wind flows so elegantly with the earth, then it pushes back, then it pulls you in, then it spits you out. The wind spirals here in the South of Florida and a tree shakes in Wyoming. When it blows everyone's hair floats in a different way, bends at a different crevice or twirls uncontrollably forcing change. Each strand affected. It’s not until the wind intertwines with humans that it becomes a problem. We're the problem. The ripple is uncontrollable; change is rarely embraced, even if it’s for the better.I look down the beach, touch the sand with my hand and I see more and more gamers, system-followers and real world adherents. They're busy minding their own sun tanning or volley ball game, wave splashing or boogey-boarding to worry about the ripple they cause. The ripple I’d leave on their life. They live in fear of guys like me, rules breakers, wanderers, livin’ on the edgers. Us guys, the ones out of the social norm. The ones who refuse to live in the glass house, the petty and proud, the homeless.

Public Transportation Do you ever sit there and wish a stranger well?Watch and wonder if they have a story to tell,

The train keeps rolling past a life you never knew,Little did you know, that stranger could be you.

The Unknown RoadWhere were you going when you looked at me?Eyes dark and deep with matter on your mindWhat do you want?A heart I’ll never know, your body a host for an unknown lifeWhat did you see when you looked at me?A frown from feeling cold or my hidden happinessWhat do you think?Was that the last time?How will you fair?

A Turned BackWhat do people say when I’m not around?Do I make them smile or nothing but frown?Do they understand the things that I have done?My selfish ways were never meant to hurt anyone.

THE DARKNESS

The City of Dys This city has anger in its sewers and acid in its rain. This city has fast highways and slow walkways, The faster you move the more you feel dissatisfied, disgruntled, disillusioned.This city has eyes that watch and wait for horror.Its buildings tall and dark, black, almost, from weathered storms that only the strongest survived,Only the sheltered have survived. This city has streets filled with ignorance, people fill the streets with dysfunctional thoughts.This city smells of deceit, dysfunction, and disagreement. Stench floods the city but no arc for saving is found. We are all animals in this city without a fighting chance, without a fin to swim, without a boat to float.Without a life that’s ours. This city dismantles it’s population by out casting the unique. This city is not alone.

The DarknessIt surrounds me and my hands shakeMy body cannot fight what my eyes cannot seeThis pain and emotion that grows inside meBlinded by truths and misguiding youthsThat keep me in pitch back when I simply need to get backTo the light of yesterdayBut this darkness wants me to pay Afraid of what my eyes cannot seeOf all that which comes at meWhen the darkness blackens my heartI should have seen it, I should have seen it from the start.

The TigerThey say a tiger can’t change his stripes,

Well baby these ain’t stripesThey’re deeper than thatI can’t take them back

Golden mistakesAlong the way

So I’ve been told,They’re scars of gold.

Out In the ColdI’ve weathered my winter wallowsMy cool, crisp loneness I’ve hibernated from a path I’ve hatedAnd thank God that the wrath has faded Only too well I’ve known despair That seeped through my walls, and everywhere. Took my pen out of my pocketLike a loaded gun Smothered that empty page With all my unspoken rage Times are tough out on the street,But they don’t really have to beNo they don’t really have to be.

A Closed CageWhen a bird flies in a closed cage it can only be freed from the outside.Though it lingers and thumps into my ribs and flutters my stomach lining. I do not know the face of this bird or its purpose, anger or disgust I am not sure. I need to free this bird but I am within, too far within I cannot see out into an answer that is surely there. I need to let go.Hear the struggle of the bird and the vigor of its wings flap, can I free it? If it dies in me I will still feel it, it must go. What is it?

LOVE

Haikus of Bloom

When the wind blows roundMy cold hand begins to shakeThe world keeps spinning

I open my eyes To look back at yesterdayIt has already passed

Close my eyes againBecause if I wake its overThe days roll by

There’s a sudden changeThe future looks bright aheadThe sun shines through the clouds

The rain has stopped And now I feel the warmthBrighter days have come

T see clear skies todayI know I am on my wayTo a new found life

Green-blue eyes saved meI am so sure of thisA calm sea, I know

Earth and sea collide Concrete and fluid in tandem

Body and mind,She is both

She is a mixture Of everything that I know

Love and gentle touch

Both emotional And physical in us

We connect together

Like a branch and leaf What is one without the other

Life left to uncover

It is easy to seeShe is the one for meNatural beauty

It was by chance we metIt is by love I will never let her goLike a name I aim to keep, In that, without her there is no me.

It’s In the WantingI really do not know what I wantBut I think that’s okay.Because maybe what I want the most I already have,And what else is there to want, to need, but her.

PremonitionI had a dream of me and you

If I tell it may never come true, So I keep it in and I pretend

Like it’s not all I’ve ever wanted.

A Change of SeasonI look up at the moon and I dream of you

Do you have the same view? Do you want me to? It’s a chance I’m willing to take, a fall I cannot fakeThe leaves begin to shake, as the branch starts to breakAnd we should just hold on.

Do You Miss Me?Do you miss me like I miss you?

Are there other things that you would rather do?Than sit around and wait for me

Near you is where I’d like to be All these things I do not know

Like a boat that rocks as the wind may blowWhen we’re apart please keep the notion

You are the only ship in my ocean.

Say somethingYour lips do not move Your breathe is heavy with satisfactionWe waitNo words just embrace, love took its ride up and down the mountains of our bodies in a youthful dance of give and takeAnd splashed us with the thrill of success at the end of our waterfall drop. From peak to valley my happiness will never dip by youA celebration of what was and how we got here.We wait, there's nothing left to do but Say something or this was all for not,I love you. 

Afraid To LoseI’m afraid to lose her because she is all I’ve gainedIn this battle that is life there is rarely progressTo plain for change, too timid for triumph There is an urge for greatness when the thought of her arisesBecause if I’m not great will she have me?What am I if I’m not?I choose to be more than the leader of the middle of the packAnd I pray that doesn’t make me a followerIf I am not great I will lose herShe is destined for greatness and this is as known as my own breath.

Time to GoYour silver necklace sways as you move into me

Bouncing off your chest like a heartbeatYour lip quivers as you think of what to say

Your cheek, down soft on mine as a tear rolls down separating the two,

It is time to go,It is time.

Tracking YouWhat happens after the picture? When our bodies no longer touch?When everything that was once still now starts to move, when the moment of clarity isn't so clear?Movement wakes

The train of life and it's on to the next stop.Will we be together at this station too?

Time will tell what a picture cannot.I'll wait for you at the next gate, that is if you want me to, that is if the train does not derail, that is if you do not scamper ahead, that is if you still love me so.The train beckons but waits for nothing. Fate can be late but then with another name, disappointment and sorrow. The angst within me allows me nothing but my love for you, allows me nothing but to say, all aboard.

HOPE

Awaited GateHope and faith are as real as love and hateLike waiting at heaven’s gate for fate that’s often late

Knock once, knock twice then decide not to stayYou’ll never know what could have beenIf you always walk away.Trust and courage are rare for your age,But open eyes are the first to see,

grey skies will part, undoubtedly.And so it seems fear and cheer are all we want them to be.From the Golden Gate see what you may,Should you stay, it hinges both ways,

and has its bad days.But be persistent and keep hoping,In a moments time, it will surely open.What’s on the other side is for you to decide,a mild tide or thrilling ride.Will you walk through without knowing?Are you staying or are you going?