It was a hot summer Georgia morning.
The fresh smell of pine
The sounds of marching solders
Reveille played over the loud speakers

As cooks, we started our day early
Everything seemed normal
Normal for Army life, that is
Life that I got used to

I put on my uniform
Polished my boots
Walked over to the dining facility
Expecting to fail inspection, again

"Report to HHC Immediately!"
24th Infantry Division (mechanized)
"First to Fight"
This was serious

What was going on?
Confusion afoot
Kuwait was ambushed
Sadam must be stopped

We marched over to the gymnasium
There were stations set up
Line up for innoculations
Fill out your Last Will and Testament

March over to the barraks
Pack up your gear
Only what you can carry
Sneak in some comfort items

What about the rest of my stuff?
Someone will look after it
Don't worry, it's safe
Soldiers are a bunch of thieves

March over to the National Guard barraks
They look like the did in WWII
50 double bunks in a row
they smelled moldy

This was our new home
until further notice
I haven't slept
in 48 hours

No communication
to your family or firends
I snuck out
to the pay phone

Not sure what to say
other than don't worry
I love you
goodbye

I am one of
the first one hundred
soldiers to depart
Single, no close family

We board the ship
It is massive!
USNS Capella (T-AKR 293)
In the Savannah Harbour

Tanks, helecopters
Trucks, supplies
One hundred ARMY soldiers
Ready to disembark

We stand along port side
at parade rest
A tear rolls
Down my face

Thousands of civilians
Waving flags
Cheers of goodbyes
Crying children and wives

The ship leaves port
slowly pulls away
the cheers fade
into the ocean depths

First day afloat
The ship rocks slowly
Hard to get used to
Motion Sickness kicks in

I worked in the galley
T-Ration for breakfast
MRE for lunch
T-Ration for dinner

I ate with the Marines
A-Ration meals
Privilege of being
a Food Service Specialist

Trash accumulated
Throw it overboard
Alongside the bow
Death to the oceans

Many days pass
I read a book
Hyperion (Dan Simmons)
The only book I had

I sit on the deck
the sea in all directions
mystifies the soul
we are alone

I wake up to discover
Another ship next to us
USNS American Explorer
(T-AOT-165) Refueling ship

We reach the Suez Canal
Egypt looks beautiful
To the east: lush greenscape
to the west: barren wasteland

Egyptian Militants
watching intensely
along the shoreline
they saw my camera

Merchants come aboard
"Good deals for you,
American G. I."
I bought some batteries

I get to phone home
satellite communication
ten dollars a minute
worth every penny

We reach our destination
Twelve day journey ended
time to unload
organized chaos

All hands on deck
mechanized disembark
crash course
on driving a tank

Transported to my unit
in the tent city
they got there first
flown by commercial airliner

time to roll out
loaded my gear
WRONG TRUCK!
Ruck sack gone forever

Lost my walkman
lost my camera
lost my book
was in the ruck sack

to be continued.........

He takes your breath away, he steals the night before you, constricting your sight and your eyes, he lies, next to you but his mind is a seafare away, in fact his presence is valid only by the point you feel lost and dejected, hands rejected. He moves in your head, your head, he waltzes in slow motion, grasps at straws, gasps for air, because you drown in his heavy stare. A thing of beauty, you paint him a picture in your mind, he takes control, changes the colours of the mood, lost you find yourself to be.

Two feet on the ground, the stars collapse and combust under the pressure of his gaze. He holds your hand, your hand is not your own, it is fragile as glass, an extension of your heart, your head, your head. Can you move your feet? Step, two, three, four. I am lost in your smile, it steals my eyes, stings to the touch, cold as the ice I walk upon. Are you there, where is he, going? He laughs and dust settles, He laughs and you are mute, he laughs with her mouth wide open, he will steal your breath. He wears a novel in the brim of his hat, he wears a footprint on her hand, he walks, he talks, he moves, in a language unknown to me. You lie still, belie me, tread a little carefully, dance a slow jig to my music. Listen carefully for I will say this only once.

Do not hold my hand, my words are dissatisfied with the mark they make. A beauty unsurpassed, sur-passable by my standards. Do not make me a mirror, I have no vision left to see, my head that you walk in, is running away with time. Smile, you make me. Tear your gaze from mine, I lose you, you are somewhere else, not here, I am blind, dumb, deaf and numb. Forgive me, if I know not what to say, sometimes I can do nothing but think analytically. Your touch mystifies my soul, I lose all sense of control, with no reproach I start again at the beginning. Of time.

An introduction to me is to be made. He is a thief by only the most awesome standards. Your muscles contract as his words, her mouth moves to yours. The taste of air, is sweet on your palate, shapes are made by candlelight, his scent is of positive delight, he feels like the night. Dark, endless, fulfilled by the moon. Delighted by the sun, you go on the run, not looking back but you drag your fingers behind you, longing to let go. Ready for the show, you undress with minimalist perfection; you take all but his direction, and watch for his musical face. Nothing is something, when it is not even there, because you can feel it, and you don’t even need to see what I mean to understand. By my second hand, I unwind.

I am not here, I am not there, I am not, anywhere. He seeks me out, I hear him call. I hear him shout. Each movement is a ripple, I feel him like a butterfly in my hair. Turns my head, makes me cry, makes me wonder why. Each breath tells a story, each kiss is a new chapter. He will write you a novel in a night-time of passion without a desperate loaded ending. He will whisper your name so that it no longer sounds like air through his pursed mouth. Blondie plays in the background and the candles dance in tune to the beat of the song. You move your fingers like they need to grasp his words. And nothing comes to your touch. Drowning in happily ever afters, forevers and forget-me-nots, love becomes a thunderstorm in a teacup....

The clouds today were wispy and soft
And a little like cotton candy.

The grass today was cool and green
And felt good underneath my toes.

The sky today was bright and blue
And like nothing I've ever seen.

The trees today were tall and strong
And swayed gracefully in the wind.

One blanket, one friend, one Frisbee,
Two sandwiches, two smiles, four bare feet;

Two souls enjoying nature,
One nature so beautiful it mystifies;

One summer day
Preserved forever in verse.

Watch as the words are left to savor
Listen as the room mystifies
Smell as until it can be felt
Taste as it lingers in the silence
Feel as the aroma wafts around you.

A fallen leaf in water,
                 is quite her;
pulled to all directions
simultaneously
by fickle currents,
and her steadfast
resistance,
this twisting and turning
vigorous and nervous
mystifies all,
and it is mistaken as
choreographed moves.

when I write to you to tell you
of my deepest emotions
you respond with 'calm down'
as if you picture me in histrionics
wailing and pulling out my hair
which mystifies me
for I was calm all along

You’re something I can’t believe  
Hey there angel, no please go on
I’m so blind I should’ve known
You’d take away all my loneliness
And this is something I can’t help but to confess

My brain melts whenever you’re around
So much to say but I can’t make a sound
You’re my addiction, my only vice
I can’t believe what I see

I can’t believe you’re real
Brighter than the sun
Make my heart skip a beat
I’ve waited for so long

It runs through my head repeatedly
The idea of you just wanting me
And have someone I can call mine
I can’t keep this feeling inside

I never had this feeling before
A girl of such great candor
Your utter being mystifies
You know I just can’t believe
I can’t believe you’re real
Brighter than the sun
Make my heart skip a beat
I’ve waited for so long

Shake my world
Please be my girl

I never had this feeling before
A girl of such great candor
Your utter being mystifies
You know I just can’t believe

I can’t believe you’re real
Brighter than the sun
Make my heart skip a beat
I’ve waited for so long

I’ve known you for quite some time
Who could have known?
I had no idea you be mine
I always hoped

I can’t believe you’re real
Brighter than the sun
Make my heart skip a beat
I’ve waited for so long

His awesome silence
Allays the soul

His beautiful silence
Blesses our spirit

His calm silence
Comforts our heart

His deafening silence
Dramatises His presence

His eloquent silence
Eludes all words

His frequent silence
Finalizes all questions

His glorious presence
Gratifies the senses

His Holy silence
Hushes our being

His incredible silence
Illuminates our minds

His judicious silence
Judges all matters

His kingly silence
Kindles a flame

His long silence
Lingers all night

His mysterious silence
Mystifies His aura

His necessary silence
Negates all doubts

His outstanding silence
Outdoes our interference

His peaceful silence
Precedes all victories

His quick silence
Questions our motives

His royal silence
Restores the poor

His sudden silence
Surprises the proud

His tangible silence
Touches the searching

His unique silence
Unravels all misconceptions

His voiceless silence
Visits the hasty

His wonderful silence
Washes all fears

His X-ray silence
X-irradiates our consciences

His yuletide silence
Yields to reflection

His zesty silence
Zooms into prosperity

let me tell you the story
of the girl who laced cigarettes
with the taste of coffee
the girl who stained tissue napkins with sappy phonetics
and the guy who knew nothing of the sort

she carved heartbreak on the surface of her wrists
and broke silence with unessential questions
she wore her wounds in a tight braid
and carried her worries on the pages of a paper-back book
she described her mind as retired
from all the wars she has won and lost
she exclaims sighs of relief
and stands by the neutrality of her hopeless idealism

on the other side of the universe, however

there exists
the personification of oblivion
he betrays his race with an unrecognized voice
and words misunderstood by his own kind
he returns to his world for temporary release
of what
he is still unsure of
and yet
he is certain of the presence of sadness
he masks his isolation with a facade of self-accompaniment
and satisfies his inner desires with empty seats
he covers up his chapters with bottles of prohibition
and mystifies the tables with ashes of past regret
he sings about tomorrow as if it holds a promise
a promise of better days to come
he has gone from mountain to mountain
in hopes of a brighter view of the sun
but amidst all his travels,
he is yet to be blinded by the brightest of flames

and so,
he appears to be void
of reason
of worth
of a sense of purpose
of plans of the future

and maybe this is where the story ends.

with both their hands shaking from an overdose
with momentary glances of unread excerpts of themselves
with the unspoken truths
and with held-back melodies of lyrics still unknown
with curses of similarities
and vows of their difference
with her,
believing she already knows too much
and with him,
thinking she is yet to know more

or maybe I was wrong.

because maybe,
just maybe,

this is where the story begins.

Thinking how beauty
completely mystifies
everything you're about
The way your eyes
seem to sooth me
and rid me of my doubt
Your lips sing sweetly
A caress between
aggressive lust and
passionate screams
A place to meet me
where we become us.
092203~7.33p

Places where I go to conjure still mystifies me because when
engulfed in smoke and whirling mist, time slows and stops then moves again.

Some small strand of self slithers out and looks about then returns with small inspiration
Some morsel or crumb.

An otherly finger pokes in.
It plants a seed then stealthily recedes

The road lurches slowly then smoothly , tilting this  way then that way.
Questing, cohesion. A bolus of inspiration.
With sticky tendrils gently unfurled

This thing makes made odd.
My wife looks at me as if,as if, as if.
Always been a bit odd.

Oblique. after all.
Weird. Round peg in a square hole.
**** it.




.

Sometimes, I cannot help but sigh
and wonder--
wonder deep inside of me
whether I could ever be like you.

I riffle through the pages of my soul
and find a lot of them empty
Unlike yours, which seem to be bursting, blinding,
bursting, and still continuing to burst with brilliance...

So much so,
that your soul's light
has spread far and wide,
very much like sunlight's fingers
opening the morning sky curtains,
touching and warming
those who need it.

Tanglaw
each step that you take,
each breath that you exhale,
each prayer that you whisper,
each beat of your heart
Tanglaw

I receive a smile,
and chat
with that man
who you've helped change...
Because of you,
the silent man now speaks, smiles.

You sit down to rest,
I see you talking to someone,
and I am almost fooled,
since you seem like old friends.
Because of you,
the lonely strangers become kindred.

It mystifies me sometimes,
of how you never seem to get tired.
It seems like I am the one who gets tired for you,
who gets worried for your own strength...
Then I see that glow from all around,
and I am reminded how you glean from this glow.

I see you as this beautiful ball of energy--
Never static,
bouncing from soul to soul,
illuminating parts of themselves
that even they never knew existed.

It is so amazing seeing this at work,
since the next thing I know,
the place is lit up,
Alive.
...and it is all because of you.

It makes me feel unworthy at times,
but oh how it also makes me feel so proud,
that I am a part of you,
and you are a part of me.

I have a lot of catching up to do,
since it seems I am lightyears from where you are

But I will try.
I will catch the tail end of your light,
clutch to it with my life, winding it around me,
let it embrace me--tight, so tight.
And I will never let it go. Never.
Until I also begin to glow.
Until I too, become that ball of light.

Hopefully when someone
riffles through the pages of my soul,
they will not find it blank,
but filled with gilt pages of light.

Just like yours.
Bursting and brilliant just like yours.

Dear Poet:

Your poetry
throbs
amuses
delights
irritates
stimulates
sometimes incites

Mystifies
startles
unnerves
and excites

Perfectly lofty
exquisitely right
dynamic
thrilling
burning bright
brilliant
heartwarming
whimsy in flight

Provocative
magical
forever true
magnificent
moving
engaging too

So now I'll close my letter
with a plea:

Keep writing.
Take care.

Sincerely,

Me

Where I am is somewhere sacred
Where I am is somewhere familiar
Where I am is a place hidden
behind so many recognizable traps
and unmistakable signs
It's a place so predictable
A feeling so sour
So rotten
So old
And I know I'll remember it forever
because I'll always feel the pull

Words are spoken
that are meant to change the course.
Acts reenacted
over sentiments enforced

If love were all to life
then life is mine no more

If wisdom came with age
There'd be nothing left to *****

Offered is a body, emptied
of everything it felt,
Playing one final game
with the meager cards it has been dealt.

A pattern is forming wherein nothing lasts
a hole is growing and consuming all within its path
Whatever I was before
I feel slowly molded anew
Whatever I once hoped for
my dreams now are few
spinning around one desire
one shining, brief embrace -
that lead me to believe in something
that can never be replaced.

All I am is hate.
All I give is pain.
My heart is used to grieving
over nothing
ventured or gained

whatever words i speak
whatever emotions flood my soul
it's nothingness that fills the ears
and mystifies the goal

you won't understand
whoever you are
these words aren't for you
or anyone at all
these words are simply full
of an empty, futile wish
i want to know there's meaning
i want to know there's life
beyond all the pointlessness
beyond the sharpest knife

so say what you will
say nothing at all
say you saw it coming
say you know it all
say you never loved me
say you never will
so that i can let go
and find peace in growing still

there was love, at once
true and false
there was happiness
that belied any loss

The part of me that hopes
The part of me that dies
The part disgusted by my treachery
and pathetic, selfish lies
The part of me that's hurt
The part of me that grows
Won't be satisfied by words alone
Nor his impassioned throes

It's a choice I alone must make
to sever bitter bonds
that hold me to a life so
ignorant, and memories long gone.

The change I could make today
So simple, so I've heard,
requires only mindfulness
and breaking from the herd

To become a ripple in the pond
a leaf
upon the fruited tree
so that when last breath I draw
the farthest thought will be of "me".

Love is the blond on the corner of the street
Love is the brunette you never thought youd meet
Love is the Red head living down the rode
Love is her green eyes that make you explode
Love is the radiant blue in her eyes that makes you melt
That  hazel color that mystifies is love

That feeling when your weary head raises from bed in the pit of an already churning stomach is love

A momentary loss of conciseness when she steels your breath away is love

Love is the reason you get up in the morning because you feel rite
Love is that little blind fool in the back of your mind that has you doing something you wouldnt otherwise do
Love is the whisper on the rain
Love is the shadow of the wind Love is the light in the sail that keeps you aloft, love is the sail
Love is the time you spent thinking about what you would do when yo got out
Love is the reason you were in there in first place
The reason the insane become again sane is love
The reason you go to the grocer at three in the morning and went back because you got the wrong flavor ice-cream is love

If you reading this right now and laughing and shaking your head because you understand this thats love
Not for me the paltry author of this simple poem or for the words contained herein but for the fact that youve been thinking about love and the one you love since you started reading this, thats love

Love conkers all things if you give it a chance to
Love crosses all boundaries if yo let it
Yet for all of this love is easily bound if you dont nurture it, if you dont feed it, if you dont take care of it, if you dont let it grow
If you dont do any of these things love dies like all things

A coy but quirky little thing
Wrapping him around her finger
Kisses to his mouth
Her dewy taste to linger.

A devious but ginger little creature
Coiling around her heart
Adding tongue to the kisses
His taste not bitter, but ****.

The Fairy and the Serpent
A love so delicious it should be forbidden
Both having fiery passion
Makes them not so different.

They're sneaky and wise
But calm and collected
And when staring at each other
They see parts of themselves reflected.

He shields her with his hardened scales
And protects her with his venomous bite
She mystifies him with her glitter lust
And guides him with her magic light.

Here in their Nirvana Paradise
They've come upon a common ground
Their love is unrestrained and powerful
And a soul mate they have found.

My mother always told me to salute you,
With a brisk striking motion with my hand from the head,
The first time I ever saw you,
You lowered your head and bowed to me.

You have been despised for years I told,
For hanging around battlefields and gallows long ago,
Disturbing people with your chattering call,
When from a distance heard is unmistakable.

One morning you perched on my garden fence,
The eye in the sky shone buoyant and bright,
I was surprised you didn’t shoot off,
When the patio door slid open.

But elegant you perched on my garden fence,
I tiptoed towards you tentative and slow
And stopped and looked into your brown eyes,
I never thought I would get so close.

I stroke your velvet textured head,
My long finger tickles your oily white bust,
Your two tone colour mystifies me,
A cross between a crow and a dove.

My mother always told me you symbolise,
Bad nuns, bad priests made visible again.
You shoot off and my superstition dies –
No need to salute Magic Bird, chatter-pie.

Melancholy roots deep in me
Falsehood mystifies thee

I do not trust her
For she is cloaked in deceit

I am cautious in my journey
It may lead me to insecurity

The universe breathes inward through the first breath of every newborn
It exhales through an elder's last
It lights up the dark with our speech and imaginations
It arranges the stars to reflect our hopes and dreams
It mystifies itself to sharpen us
It expands itself to humble us
It welcomes us to breathe
It beckons us to believe
in universal love

A rumble of laughter not from an LOL in an SMS
but a sound from a breathless child
running in a field
not scrolling through a feed

two friends sharing secrets
in a hide out only known by two
not hiding behind a barricade
clear yet mystifies the truth

I see you smiling in front of me
As you share old stories
And dreams of what’s to come
I don’t face a pixelated picture
As I try to communicate
Face to face?
Or face to screen
Or share winky faces
As you tease me
while sitting in a room two doors down

What happened to the times when
We were connected by the strokes of the words on paper
Or the moments captured by film
And not destroyed by a single glitch of a cellular phone

There’s a ring to my name as you call
A melody in your voice
But now
since when have IM ever been better than calling a name
with your voice
we know people more by the click of a finger
than a stroke of a hand
and from 140 words
in an app
expected to chirp our secrets like songs of birds
sung to everyone

We see connection
As the strength of the wifi at the corner of our screens
Dreams are shared with every retweet and reblog
Shared to strangers
Who care about you?
Or care about the amount of followers or likes you get
Of a picture you do not own
Of an experience you have never done
Or maybe yet to do

life is not as beautiful through a screen
it is not about those minutes you spend
clicking that play button
you cannot fast forward or rewind the wasted time
sitting and waiting
as the video loads
just so
YOU
Can live their life

I sit in front of a camp fire
Hearing laughters from every side
Smiles brightening in the dark
What happened to these nights out?
the fun nights where the stars and moon were the only light source
and not the screen of the 3G phone
or when beauty was only experienced and not captured

i barely know you
i know more about nap experiences than i know about you
i know you have a brain
i know eyelids carry all the gravity in the world sometimes
i know everyone has body parts that have been in places they should not have been
i know everyone has forgotten about time for a while
i know you the way i know about time
i know it lingers in the back of your mind while it waits for you to think of it
i know about ironic sunshine
how it stings those days you can barely open your eyes
i know this isn't the right way to live but
i know that it isn't wrong either
i know it's uncomfortable to remember things you aren't sure whether the other person remembers
i know there were moments you felt closeness without having verbal confirmation of it even though the avoidance of your eyes deeply
mystifies me

The beautiful blue eyed
doll lying emotionless
can not talk to me
and you are not
that doll .
yet
every time I see her
extinguished memory fragments
glow again and tears appear magically
flowing endlessly within me
I am a cry baby
aren't I?
Every night in the moon
I see
a brown mare leap
to high five the stars
like those glances of yours
which still mystifies me
Now
I am at loss of words
In a trance, under the spell
So
Is this love's monologue?
A deep slumber
I shall never wake up from
completely fallen deep into
the eternal pool of love
placing my trust on you
what spell must I chant
to break through
to you
The perfect thing
that would bloom
the bud in you
riding blindly in the
vehicle of hope
in circles in search of
that one expression
which will catch you and
me unaware braced by instincts
into eternity but
for now
its only silence

Tranquility upon this body of water , killdeer , blue jay , mallard and Canadian goose occupy her shore this Summer , oasis surrounded by urban sprawl , last refuge for young at heart , she mystifies to this very day.........I skip a stone across her wide , blue expanse in the name of all that protect and preserve her , young and old , and those in the nurture of the womb , with hope that they may witness her beauty in the days ahead ...........

claustrophobic mask
mystifies, impoverished
agony rumbles

This is clearly not what you expected friend, is it?
And how long was it that you waited?
Anticipation shed a glorious light,
Light falling on dancing shadows.
And you trace those shadows on my face.
Where you find beauty beneath darkness
Mystifies me