Late afternoon

Sunlight falling gently
on my ivory coverlet
Stirring the dust motes into action
helping me to forget

The stillness broken only
But the persistent little sound
Of a young voice calling to me
Asking for a moment to be crowned

Young Goodman Brown

My bird you sang again tonight
And my heart is now in soaring flight
But dark and troubled was your song
Of whether hearts are safe from wrong
Are you exploring your own inner mind
Wondering what there you are to find?
Or is this a test of what you see
Of human weakness and frailty?
Whatever the source of your newest verse
May this blessing shield you from any curse

Dandy Andy

Dandy Andy was all the rage
Dandy Andy claimed his age
Now Dandy Andy's dead and gone
But his works still live on

Dandy Andy looked around
And made master works with objects found
Dandy Andy made hearts faint
With what he did with pix and paint

From within his gilded cage
Dandy Andy set stage
Despite the years long since past
He made his15 minutes last

No Regrets

Not often do I wish that I chose a different path
But sometimes if I let myself I see where I might have gone
It's a painful, silly exercise that leads nowhere except great pain
So, I shut that side of my mind to keep safe and sane

Green with Flashing Lights

My beautiful green and clueless elf
Nothing more enchanting than yourself
Those sincere and pleading eyes
Elicit languorous, longing sighs
While your dulcet, warming tones
Send shivers through my bones
 

Looking back

I fear that I've forgotten
How bold and brave I was
Back when I was just a youth
Following my very own laws

Now I look back and I see
A cautious, retiring frame
Someone more preoccupied
With living a life most tame

Is it that time marched on,
Leaving me wiser now?
Or is it the younger faces,
Cowing me by showing me how?

Red Sigh

Although I long to touch your face
That smooth yet rugged brow
I know that we're forbidden
Each held back by a sacred vow

You're heart-felt song calls to me
And answer you I must
Despite the danger to my soul
And the shaking of my trust

I cannot look for too long
For fear that I might drown
As in your eyes I see such depth
Those pools of deepest brown

So, my dear I write this ode
To your beauty and your grace
Resigned that only in my mind
Will I ever touch your face

Back once more

I've been away too long
From this never-ending song

I'd left my voice behind
Leaving others to seek and find

Now I'm back again to grace
The pages of this space

And to leave my mark once more
With words of hope galore

Songbird coo

Let me open up the door
To that pulsing golden core
Where music and love combine
Into melodies enchanting and sublime
Let me take you to that place
Where entwined we reach a state of grace
Under mesmerizing stars
We'll know the night as well and truly ours

Buried treasure

I watched the river flow
Around my naked feet
I felt my toes get cold
While enjoying the summer heat

Soon a ripple from the past
Emerged before our eyes
In a rainbow of shining brilliance
Very much to our surprise

A kaleidoscope of color
Brought haphazardly to the fore
A millennial trove of treasure
Of creatures from before

We filled our meager coffers
With all that we could find
And returned then to the river
Leaving happy thoughts behind