Nine and nine
The verses stand
Proud in line
Looking grand
From my mind
A heart made gift
Of the kind
Your soul to lift
This tome now holds
Five times score
What next unfolds?
How many more?
All life is change
From our first breath to our last we are on a journey of alteration
An eternal evolution of the physical and mental self
Each thought, each action, each moment effects and changes who we are
Each hurt hardens the shell that protects us
Each act of love softens the heart
They are not mutually exclusive however
It is the sum of all we have done, what we have seen that makes us who we are
The mad complexity of life forges each of us as unique one-off pieces
Never to be repeated
And constantly tinkered with by the hammer of hurt, the flame of love
Until its culmination
The final unveiling of a finished life.
Do not mourn me when I’m gone
For I have had time enough on this Earth.
More than enough, loves and losses
Playing fates game for more years than I can remember.
*
Unlike the young I see life more for what it is
The cynicism of youth chipped away by the knife of experience
Not rose-tinted, I have seen too much for that
But rather solemn acceptance of what life is.
*
Through my long years, I have lost many friends, family, lovers
Yet know that my life has been better for their time with me
All life is impermanent, passing like leaves in the wind
I earned this truth through payment of many decades.
*
Do not mourn me when I am gone
For gain and loss go hand in hand
That is the way of the world, how it should be
And I have gained much through knowing you.
Why am I here?
At your door at three in the morning
The cold and rain beating down on my head
Just so that I can say what I must
*
Why do you wear that perfume?
A scent so alluring that my whole body craves to breath it in
That lingers for hours after you have gone
An unsubtle ghost reminding me what I am missing.
*
Why do your eyes look at me so?
The deep brown windows into you soul
That tear open mine
That makes my heart skip a beat at every glance.
*
Why do you not love me?
All my life is shadowed by your rejection
Each thought of you brings pain
Yet I cannot get you from my mind.
*
Why do I love you?
You have given me nothing but grief
The pain of rejection a constant ache on my heart
But I cannot help it
To love you is all I know
There is no other in my life but you.
*
The mountain stands tall before me on the ground
Yet from the summit of its neighbour, its grandeur seems diminished
From the South, its flanks are alive with greenery
From North, a barren wilderness of scree and bare rock
In winter it is blinding white with virgin snow
Summer fades with the grey-beige of granite
Over the ages it is at time lifted by the tectonic heave of the earth
Or ravaged by the forces of erosion
The mountain can be seen from an infinity of eyes, each with their own view
All correct
But each failing to grasp the mountains multi-dimensional reality.
Strong of frame
Hard of head
He had small fame
No bad word said.
*
To all he knew
He was a friend
Their love, it grew
When near his end
*
Sometimes in life
Though fate deals blows
In deepest strife
Our love still grows
*
The crescent moon hangs majestically in the sky
A thin arc of pale white light that still manages to outshine all but the brightest stars
But that is not all
There is more visible
The arc envelops a circle of deep dark
Flecked with red, the pale ghost-like Earthlight
Its presence adds substance to the moonlight
A constant reminder of the physical facts of the cosmos
That above our heads is a whole world
As solid and as real as the very ground below our feet.
The city spreads into the distance
Dirty, cold and anonymous
Blatantly ignoring the trials of those living in it
You can walk for hours with nothing but soul-crushing monotony
Street after street sapping what joy in live you can possess
But then
You turn a corner and find a haven from oppression
A park, a gallery, a bar filled with laughter
Protected from sameness they thrive
Promoting diversity, life under the heart of the beast
A collection of hidden gems
Free for all who know where to look
Do not count me out
If my size is less than yours
Best to consider quality rather than quantity
My diminutive size belies a deep well of fiery passion
My small body a hidden bastion of strength
For my stature has taken on the world its whole life
Constant battle to just live has left me strong of jaw and fast of fist
Sure I am small
But I am still here
Come get me if you dare
Loneliness
Isolated in a crowd
Seeing but not looking
Listening but not hearing
Acting but not taking part
Because everything is the same
They all have the same dull monotony
Each face, every voice, all deeds
All not worth noting
All I see are what they are not
Loneliness
Since the day you left
joe2poetry 