Music, when soft voices die,
Vibrates in the memory—
Odours, when sweet violets sicken,
Live within the sense they quicken.

Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,
Are heaped for the beloved’s bed;
And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone,
Love itself shall slumber on.

The fountains mingle with the river
And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of Heaven mix for ever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single,
All things by a law divine
In one spirit meet and mingle—
Why not I with thine?

See the mountains kiss high Heaven
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister-flower would be forgiven
If it disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea—
What are all these kissings worth
If thou kiss not me?

When he ran
it was fire that followed.
An orphan with a family.
Remembering all the wrongs in the world.
These false pretenses
will be the death of him.
Forget what the past says,
and just keep running.
Through fire and wind,
change will occur.
Only when it is least needed.
These lies are eating up the insides.
They are making for a dark future.
Regret.
Regret nothing.
Just look for the wrong answers and
find the truth hidden in
this scorched Earth.
When he ran
it was fire that followed.
It was fire that extinguished
the truth.

he was an unswept floor
she was unsolved rubik's cube

he taught her to write poetry
she taught him to love

she said that love was a butterfly
he'd never even been in a cocoon

he said that words were twelve story buildings
she was afraid of heights

he was a creaky old cabin
she was an unfinished jigsaw puzzle

but he had the missing piece, lost in the dust behind his rickety counters
and she was a fixer upper, looking for a renovation

they were red stripes with orange plaid
they were mismatched socks

both so different
both so lost

Which way are you going?
What will you become?
Am I doing right by you?
Are you the right one?
Is there life beyond where we
Live and laugh and love?
Will you still be here for me
when pushing turns to shove?

Life's questions all need answers
And the answers can be found
You have to do some searching though
they come with out a sound
I've looked in spots
And found just what
I was searching for
The answers to life's questions
Are just beyond the door

Will I? Should I? Could I?
Is this just what I should do?
What would my life be?
If I wasn't here with you
Questions all around the place
Some answered, some are not
you might find some more answers
Once you've lost what you have got

I've looked in half filled bottles
The answers aren't in there
I thought they were when I dove in
But, the bottle didn't care
The answers to the questions posed
Are out there, just go look
Life is for the living
The answers won't be in a book
Life is for the living
Now ....get out there and look

Two kids
watching life go by
while learning
how to live it
moving slow
but learning fast
blink and
you will miss it

same two kids
ten years on now
still learning
and advancing
less watching
life as it moves on
but, a little
more romancing

holding hands out on the porch
drinking sweet tea too
knowing eyes are watching us
and everything we do
always must be proper
on the swing with you at night
they're watching us hold hands with one
while the other's out of sight

married now
and it's twenty years
since we
first sat out here
still watching life
and time pass by
holding hands
tea switched for beer

we've two kids
the house
is ours
thirty years
since we first sat
we're now the age
our parents were
sitting exactly
where we're at

holding hands out on the porch
drinking sweet tea too
knowing eyes are watching us
and everything we do
always must be proper
on the swing with you at night
they're watching us hold hands with one
while the other's out of sight


we've been married
forty years
we still sit
watching time pass
funny how
the simple things
stay a constant
from the past

fifty years now
we're still here
and just like it
used to be
we're still sitting
holding hands
still being watched
by grandkids three

holding hands out on the porch
drinking sweet tea too
knowing eyes are watching us
and everything we do
always must be proper
on the swing with you at night
they're watching us hold hands with one
while the other's out of sight


nothing changes
still the same
being watched
just like before
the house is now
our daughters
and the grandkids
number four

some days
we're still the
same two kids
moving slow
and learning fast
we don't watch
time go by no more
we close our eyes
and watch the past


still.....holding hands out on the porch
drinking sweet tea too
knowing eyes are watching us
and everything we do
always must be proper
on the swing with you at night
they're watching us hold hands with one
while the other's out of sight

I waited,
at times I debated,
feeling like a teenager aboot to go on their first date,
I had work the next day but didn't care if I had to stay up late,
it was going to be the first time I saw you,
and nothing was going to stop me,
it was an electricity that I couldn't put down ,
and my breath was gone as if there any need for air,
I saw you
and I couldn't help but stare,
the night was slow but gone to fast,
like trying to remember a face from your past,
I need you is all I could muster to say,
and I won't call tomorrow a day,
how could I when I won't be able to see your smile
brighter than the sun,
so I will keep tonight inside my heart but never oot of sight,
I'll say that I still have walls, but that is a lie,
Like headlines written in the night sky,
of my life,
you have become permanent.

Dear my small world,
It's early and teenagers are walking to school,
the sun is warm and cool,
my eyes are closing as I pass them by going the other way,
my old friend creeps on me and reminds me of a spring mountain day,
being those kids walking slow,
not knowing the episode,
but enjoying the show,
their mountains are just a brighter green,
my old friend gets in my stomach and the top he tends to lean,
the smells of anxiety and the fear of uncompleted homework,
make me smile,
I pass by swings and see my world become night,
and two kids in Florida are in my sight,
talking aboot nonsense but still returning to smile and laugh,
it becomes funny and two drunk kids in Reno take their place,
I can tell who they were but I couldn't see a face,
my old friend creeps to my mouth and my past I can taste,
I suddenly am on the swings holding my hand in front,
staring at a star,
reaching out with one eye closed I feel like I can grab it,
my eyes open and I almost take oot some teenager,
something's die hard I say,
and they look the other way,
and say, "ok crazy",
the past maybe getting hazy,
but the feelings never die.

Here I am, looking up causes for headaches
at 1 am
when I know it will always come back to you.
My hands found the bottom of the ocean
as I cleaned old movie tickets out of my car today.
I can see your honesty from here.
It took my composure on its way out the door.
I’m not bitter anymore.
I’m just tired.
And I’m tired of being so tired.
I’m sorry you didn’t stay.
I’m sorry that I apologize
for all the times you didn’t.
I keep forgetting these things
are not one-sided,
and so,
I’m sorry I gave you everything
for nothing in return.
You tasted like love,
and I was parched.
Still am.