Half of the Time

My heart’s only in it half of the time,

the other half fast fades away

but then for a bit, a moment sublime,

it goes along with the charade.

A bittersweet vision dancing in light,

a vision undoubtedly you,

but fast does it fade and try as I might

my world fades to a shade of blue.

Origin Story

I know you

I walked with you

once upon a dream

or so I thought anyway–

it all grows confusing

when I stop to think about it.

So I try not to stop and think about it

but I do

every now and then.

I’ll take a detour

on a road, a path,

an avenue

of questionable memories

in my brain.

Disorientation takes hold

and it all grows confusing again.

I know you

but it isn’t fate

and it wasn’t the past

and my mind never could have

come up with a dream

like you.

Elastic Abandon

Between one dream and another

the tightrope snapped,

whipping reality with elastic abandon.

Stars fell in quick succession

as wayward eyes wished with woe

that they would fall straight down instead.

When all the dreams met that day

the night took its time arriving,

gallant and dark but just in time.

“No balance,” he wept with whimpering wails

while his trusty mare snorted fire

at the naysayers.

The Falling Dream

I had that dream again

where I fall again

but like before

I didn’t wake up

when I hit the ground

again.

Instead I am in pain again

staring up again

silently screaming consciously

but echoing misery subconsciously

from a broken body, mind, and heart

shattered on the jagged cliffs

of deep remiss

once more.

Rhapsody in Black and Blue

The impossible, improbable,

sprouts fruit from a vegetable

and the still-life watercolor

becomes vibrant video.

The screen fades, the frame falls,

the world so real

you could lay in the grass

and wake on the clouds.

Laughing. Smiling.

There

comes a fall

and the grass

and the frame

and the screen

and the colors shimmer,

dulled into a tattered canvas.

Maybe when we fell

it should have been

back to reality,

but maybe, no, probably

it was not for nothing.

When I Tried to Think of Her

The streets are wet with tears,

the roads dry with apathy.

At the intersection

there’s a yellow light

blinking at the speed

of dying dreams.

Above, above the radio chatter

is the singing stars,

coughing in the orange glare.

I walk along the gutter

and pass old friends and foes

in tandem.

It’s a long way but a short trip

and I haven’t seen you yet.

Potable Dreams

We swam in deep oceans

only to drown ourselves

in puddles,

and deeply did we drink

from those empty glasses

once held up to toast

the prospect of prosperity.

After All This Time

The lowest-flying dreams

bounce back off the atmosphere

into the vastness of space,

on course for collision

with everything in the universe.

I try to live in the moment

absent of such fanciful dreams

but I can’t help but smile

when I hold you close–

there’s stardust

in your touch.

Bad Dreams

Hang the bad dreams

on the clothesline

to whip in the wind,

stuck in place

as they would do to you,

and iron out

the woe trapped in the wrinkles,

pressing them into

dreams

with look and smell and feel

of summer warmth

Someone Like You (a waltz)

The morning in mourning

did cry in despair

since someone like you

out of dreams couldn’t fare

for

someone like you was all that I need,

I lied to myself but tried to believe . . .

The day broke, no fanfare,

but bright shone the sun

on you and your smile

for the music begun

for

someone like you was all that I need,

but my heart and my mind were not agreed . . .

In words that were spoken

it all became clear

that someone like you

was a thought that I feared

for

someone like you–it simply won’t do—

the place in my heart was empty but knew . . .

Those words were revealing

and it wouldn’t seem

appropriate to

walk away from a dream

for

someone like you would never make do

for someone like me who loves only you.