Luminous

Your eyes are the Fourth of July

Your smile the light of day

But the light in your heart

Is much brighter by far

And it leaves me dazed

And completely amazed

Just to glimpse one tiny ray. 

You’re luminescent, incandescent, brilliantly bright

But I know all about the fire behind the light

Let me warm myself beside it

Always want to reignite it

Light my way and stay within my sight.

When the Lord said, “Let there be light,”

He had you in mind for me.

A constellation, no doubt

With my own North Star.

Your glow defined

The dark corners of my mind

And set my spirit free.

Yes, Life's Quite an Adventure

(My response to a challenge to compose a poem from song titles of a single band, in this case one of my favorites, Yes.)

If you take a (roundabout) route

To the (heart of the sunrise)

And find yourself on the (south side of the sky)

(Yours is no disgrace).
(I’ve seen all good people) lose their way

And when they ask directions

Get only a (long distance runaround).

You may even find a kindred spirit

To accompany you on that road

And you won’t be the (owner of a lonely heart)

Because (love will find a way) somehow;

It always does.

If not, (hold on.)

Whatever happens, surely at the end of the journey

We’ll have (wondrous stories) to tell.

(And you and I) will drink and laugh

And tell all our tales

Like (starship troopers)

Returned from adventures on distant worlds.

The First Time

We were finally alone together

When you played that song for me.

I knew you knew exactly what you were doing

But I let the music weave its spell.

Sorcery, indeed!

We danced and we talked

But soon we were doing neither.

You took me in your arms and kissed me.

It stirred my soul so much it would be frightening

If I didn’t also sense such kindness in you.

You whispered in my ear, “Let’s not stop this time”

And I said, “I don’t want to.”

We shed our clothes and when you were standing

Naked before me,

You seemed the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

You looked so adorable, young and shy for a moment

And a little half-smile flickered across your face

But almost as soon as it came,

The shy, vulnerable look was gone.

In its place was pure desire.

You eased me back onto the bed,

Or did I pull you down with me?

It made no difference.

We were surrendering to each other.

What do I remember most about what happened next?

I remember your heat, your beautiful hands

With their subtle, loving touch,

Your unique and wonderful scent,

That extremely sexy voice.

I remember you already seemed to know perfectly how to love me.

You were so sweet and unselfish I lost myself in pleasing you.

The magic, the chemistry, were there for sure.

I had no idea the first time with a new lover

Could be so extraordinary.

Of all the times we’ve made love,

None was more special than that time

You seduced me with music.

But that alone was not aphrodisiac enough,

And in the end--all you really needed was to be who you are.

What in the World?

Cities transformed into war zones

Like some third-world police state.

People hating, mistrusting,

Misunderstanding each other

Based on class. 

Or race. 

Or religion.

Elders mistreated and disrespected.

Children going hungry and uneducated,

Bundles of wasted potential.

Politicians promoting their puritanical notions.

Telling others whom they can love and marry.

Trying to keep women in “their place.”

Petty partisan bickering

So that nothing constructive gets done.

Corruption.

Abroad, more of the conflicts

that have been smoldering and flaring for centuries.

Barbarism.

Unspeakable atrocities in the name of country or God.

Innocents in harm’s way.

Those trying to spread the story

Captured and murdered

In the most gruesome, horrendous fashion imaginable.

Corporations and governments

Indifferent to the damage they do,

Only caring about the bottom line.

Again, corruption.

Our problems are interconnected with the world’s.

Won’t it ever end?

I wish there were more I could do.

I can only throw words at it

And hope and pray that enough people

Come to their senses

And work for transformation.

Yet each good and innocent soul

Lost to the insanity of this world

Is not forever lost.

It is a light that will never be extinguished.

It is now one of many stars in the heavens

And their combined light will prevail.

Yellow Umbrella

Out on the street on a rainy day

A woman with a yellow umbrella caught my eye.

She’ll never know how the sight affected me

How cheery and jaunty it looked

Amid the gloom,

The fog on my car windows,

And the rain streaming down on them.

Please, please never let me be

One of those insufferably boring,

Eminently forgettable

Black-umbrella people.

A red one would be nice,

But I’m going to buy myself

The brightest yellow one I can find.

Have You Ever Felt

Have you ever felt

On the edge of life but not quite part of it?

Like happiness is at your fingertips

But just beyond your grasp?

Have you ever felt

That you were looking in

From a cold night

Through a lighted window

At a warm room

Where smiling people

Share a meal and a drink,

Music and affectionate companionship?

That maybe you could go inside,

Be a part of it,

If only you had the courage

To ring the damn doorbell?

Have you ever felt like a child

In a world full of grownups

All beautiful and accomplished,

Intelligent and articulate?

That anything you have to say

Is so elementary to them?

That to them inevitably

You are only a child?

An orphaned child

Who never has and never will know

The love and warmth of family?

Have you wondered how much

You’ll ever truly matter to another?

How much you can accomplish in life?

If you understand what I say,

You know how easy it is to despair.

You learn to function despite those demons

You and I share.

You keep a stiff upper lip.

You carry on, but they’re always there.

The darkness resurfaces now and then

And you don’t even know why.

I wish I could meet and talk with you

And together we could keep them at bay.

If you don’t understand,

And I hope you never do,

Sympathize and be kind because

You never know what lies

Deep beneath the surface

Of those you encounter on any ordinary day.