Intense loneliness
personifies itself
before inanimate walls

With a variety of
empathetic characters
to populate the room

Weaving and performing
an anxious dance
of justifications

For never permitting
vulnerability
to be exposed.



- fr

At dusk I hang up
a worn blue work
shirt that smells
strongly of love
of dirt of the earth
melancholy, sweat
yesterday's brews
the blues, regret
twenty cigarettes
black breath
of the bone moth
old blood, moon dust
spring pollen, summer
grass, Autumnal ****
winter's cold blast
sea salt and pine needles
mountain laurel, desert air
my dog's hair, I swear
I can't bear the thought
of washing or throwing away
all the stains, the growing pains
the laughter, the sorrows
these history lessons I need
to get me through tomorrow.

do you hear me now,
my beautiful beating heart?

I have sought
so erroneous before
so please-
tell me how we start?

oh sweet
transcendent love
my nameless
faceless
beauty,
hear me sky above
because to find you is my duty,

you are the fibre of my life
the reason I am here
the stitching through the strife
I so want to hold you near

oh my pulse
how it now quickens
at the thought of your sweet touch
an how every breath I take
I am loving you so much

you are the meaning
in my death
an so the reason for my birth
you are the draw
of every breath
and in what my life is finally worth

I couldn't see you before now
I was lost
within the dark
but you are the light within
the light,
I so need your lovely spark

you are my inner poet- bard
my poet laureate
an as we get ourselves in touch
we shall know our glory yet

you are the incentive to the stars
why I look above -my sky
where I circle
harmonized
in hopes to hear your cry

an I will love you always
until the day I die,

you are the heart that matches mine
an the calm within the storm,
in the center of the "eye"
where together we'll transform

into divine potential
realized,
that we were always meant to be
an thankful forevermore
for this gift of being set so free.

Ma Cherie © 2017

Little dreams
Tiny wants
And simple pleasures
Often get me through
The dark days of life

Life’s journey is made
Up of so many steps
And I dance through the day
When life is drenched with
Possibilities

But, it is
That soothing cup of Earl Grey
That feeling of clean
Or the desire to learn something new
Those little pleasures, wants, and dreams
That restart my engine
When it stalls
And I’m caught in the pouring rain

It is those little things
That allow me to
See beyond “lost gods and howling dogs”
To brighter climes
With endless skies
Of hopes and dreams
Realized

Kelly Rose
© July 27, 2017
“lost gods and howling dogs” from Phil Roberts’ ‘In My Mind’

There's a quiet murmuration
Of figments of my imagination
Dreams and broken notions
Feelings and emotions
Swirling and rearranging
Into ever-changing shapes in my mind

There are absent gods and howling dogs
And the broken backs of the poor
While jugglers perform tricks with wealth
As nobody seems to care anymore
Amidst marching boots as children shoot
And hope lies dead on the floor

There seems to be a ghost somewhere
Wandering high in purple mountains
And low in deep green valleys
And this roaming soul may well be
A kind of long lost truth
Inside my hidden mind

                               By Phil Roberts

Pull in the sheets,
trim the tiller,
shifting to the other rail,
light airs prevail, the
sails they luff.

Seeking the wind,
Cat's paws to Starboard
Hard-a-lee tacking to Port,
the breeze she comes,
boom shifts, helm heels
over, sails crack and fill.
Reef in the Jib, slack off the main.
She digs in, laying her rail
into the water, riding on the
seas thin knifes edge again,
the keel rises, steadies her passage.
We fly!

Ah, fair winds, sailors delight,
pleasant sailing, safe harbor ahead.
No greater joy than to sail and muck
about in boats on blue water.

Freedom achieved, intensely felt.

He ducks and dives
All across the sky
He flies
Yes, he flies
And this is a life form
This is a means to an end
And this is the name
The name is "Dealer"

And "Dealer" says
"You got-ta
Sor-ta
Think in cartoons
You know
It makes it easier"
And this is only possible
Because of need

So he bobs and weaves
And gladly deceives
He lies
Yes, he lies
Because, in the end
It's a living
That's all

                          By Phil Roberts

See through
Tall under the sun
Crawling beneath stars
In night-time skull
Thoughts behind eyes
Behind dreams
Under darkness
And above light

See through
Pretended truths
Without words or form
Shadow shapes
Lay like death
Choreographed corpses
Meaningless memories
Damaged dreams
Piled upon writhing hopes

See through
Tender tragedy
Daily despair
Grasping at lies like air
And in the stillness of dawn
The cold of morning light
Water drips
Or maybe blood
Tapping through silence

                                     By Phil Roberts