“Nails”

I like what your finger nails tell me

They leave no room for interpretation

Whether they are dancing in my palm

Or pinning me to you

I like what your finger nails tell me

Every manifestation

November 2010

“Deep Lavender Clouds”

Clouds of the darkest lavender

Beset the Israeli afternoon

They send down their piercing rain

A well timed melancholy monsoon

The rain does not sting

As it laces across my torpid face

But it mixes with my tears

Washing my cheeks as if to displace

…The pain I allowed to settle there

Clouds of the darkest lavender

Swept in from the noble sea

They send warm rains down

Washing the whole of me

Their color reminds me of your dress

The one from happy hour

And how you wear class with such finesse

And melt with me in showers

…I remember, I cherish, your laughter

January 2011

“To an End”

Slowly you stirred your coffee from black

Your radiance shining from beneath soul cracks

Your eyes pulling, begging me to come in

Your kisses falling on my lips again and again

Such a love I thought I’d never know

Such a lover I would never let go

Something meaningless just had to come

From the way you wickedly smiled

While you recklessly played with my gun

I knew that this was just too much fun

The record faltered, it skipped a beat

I was left standing alone in the cold street

And so now you’re gone, the fun is yesterday

I’m left unsorted and in disarray

I do not know what love means anymore

I came to see you and you slammed the door

Flowers left abandoned in my hand

Dreams chased out to never land

Slowly you stirred your coffee from black

You smiled even as you sealed the cracks

Your eyes drew me fatally further within

Even as you knew you would put me to an end

I had put my heart upon your plate

You carved it neatly and fully ate

Now my heart and soul are completely gone

Consumed by you even though I tasted wrong

I do not know what love means anymore

I came to see you and you slammed the door

Flowers left abandoned in my hand

Dreams chased out to never land

You pulled me in, and then put me to an end

You pulled me in, and then put me to an end

I do not know what love means anymore

I came to see you and you slammed the door

March 2011

Convenient

“Convenient”

I do not want to be convenient

While you look for another lover

I do not want to be on the shelf

While you look to only please yourself

I do not want to be convenient

My heart failing in your hands

I do not want to dream of forever

When I’m just a string of your one night stands

You tell me that you care

And that you feel for me like no other

You call me almost every night

Gentle whispers tying me to the phone

You say you wished I’d hold you tight

That you are tired of being alone

I say I’ll come and be your man

And you tell me, no - stay at home

The waves of my soul keep crashing

Upon your cold and rock hewn walls

Hoping to wear your defenses down

So that your love may fully fall

Upon my shoulders and within my trust

To be embraced and nourished

But this hope is proving quite unjust

With my attention you will not be burdened

You warned me of your aloof affection

Even as your smile stole my imagination

You told me not to fall for you

You clearly said - no expectations

You said we would only be friends

While you planned my destinations

You had me kiss your waist and neck

And I listened to your passion

And I listened to your passion

And I listened to your passion

I said let me be your man

And you told me, no – please go home

I do not want to be convenient

While you look for another lover

I do not want to be on the shelf

While you look to only please yourself

I do not want to be convenient

My heart failing in your hands

I do not want to dream of forever

When I’m just a string of your one night stands

September 2011

“Minnows”

Minnows turn in concert

They flash in unison

One massive organism

That parts before my hand

Exercising the right to call

Upon flashing silver walls

Kicking in deeply blue

Oblivious to it all

A pelican makes tracks

Unseen beneath the shallows

A hissing rock skips into the bay

My heart yearns to follow

The sun watches his mirage

Turn red upon the sea

The fishing nets are pulled

And they are all empty

January 2005

“Girl”

I found once a girl

I had to let her go

She was Italian and blonde

Refreshing, with a certain energy

And fond of me

(or so she said)

And she made the bed

Before we went to the festival

In her yellow convertible

It matched her hair you know

We fit quite well together

Easily under the sun, and tender

I found once a girl

I had to let her go

May 2006

Another Drink

“Another Drink”

Can I tell you what I think?

We should not need another drink

To fall under the covers

We should not need a scene

To get up to speed

We should not feel

That we have given

Or that we have taken

This is all...

so wrong

Can I tell you what I think?

We need another drink.

February 2006

“Kool Aid”

Purple Kool Aid drips

Micro splashes on the floor

One last sip

My daughter did ignore

January 2005

Anyway

“Anyway”

I think I should have kissed her

Although she would not let me

I think I should have kissed her

In courage and despite me

I think I should have kissed her

Beneath the full moon night

I think I should have kissed her

And held her waist softly, tight

A friend I did make

Patiently under the burning sun

Saying things I shouldn’t

The type that cannot be undone

But her hair gently curled

About my imaginary fingers

And her whimsy and her charm

In my heart they still linger

I think I should have kissed her

Although she would not let me

I think I should have kissed her

So gently and politely

I think I should have kissed her

Her lips an Angel’s blush

I think I should have kissed her

My heart slows…now hush

A fine Latina dancer

With whom I tried to keep

The pace of the song

That stems the coming sleep

Her moves of drums and water

Gracefully they flowed

And while my feet eagerly followed

My shoulders were too slow

I think I should have kissed her

Although she would not let me

I think I should have kissed her

The sun’s cinnamon envy

I think I should have kissed her

Under that Arizona sky

I think I should have kissed her

Before I said goodbye

Now – Sometimes I couldn’t hear

And sometimes I could not speak

Sometimes I was bold and brash

And at others, proper, even meek

But carefully she propped me up

And stood me on my feet

Then with smiling honesty

She sent me to the street

I think I should have kissed her

Although she would not let me

I think I should have kissed her

That’s what my soul tries to tell me

I think I should have kissed her

Now a million miles away

I think I should have kissed her

But I didn’t – Anyway

July 2005

“Killed”

I’ve been killed by love

I’ve been killed by you

One: an aloof butterfly, brilliant in color, yet…

Weaving a fluttering unpredictable path, leaving me…

Unprepared and unknowing

(Without the power of prediction)

One: parasitic armed with scathing, painted…

Black and biting but balanced with just enough –

Painkillers to stay the revolution

(an impasse blocking the solution)

I have been killed twice

Once by love

And once by you

May 2006

Voices

“Voices Part 1: Letters”

I receive your letters

And manifest complexity

And try and interpret such

As amorous curiosity

And while this must suffice

My preference for thee – would be

To share a cantankerous bottle of wine

And to hold you close to me

But such is not our arrangement

And I am left with but a single choice

To part ways with my pocket change

And call to taste the sugar in your voice

September 2005

“Voices Part 2: I Love to Hear You Smile”

I love to hear you smile

It is a simple kind of pleasure

I love to hear you smile

No matter what the hour

I love to hear you smile                                                                                        

No matter the length or measure

I love to hear you smile

It is a simple kind of pleasure

The corners of your mouth

Rise to tease my tears

The fullness of your lips

Waylay certain fears

The brightening of your eyes

Casts a ubiquitous warmth

The blush of your cheeks

Caresses my heart

I love to hear you smile

It is a simple kind of pleasure

September 2005

“Voices Part 3:  Echoes”

Only the echoes

Of your voice

Soothe my ears

Stringing them

With the torture

Of memory

And the pain

Of our epiphany

Realized

With coded words

Mouthed with telling lips

Bolstered

By a betraying glance

From behind

Your sheltering

Cinnamon hair

September 2005

“Voices 4: Phone Call”

The night is dark and I am staring at the wall

Hoping for just one drunken phone call

From you calling to say hi

(Perhaps high) and in a mood for trouble

Your words an elixir of nectar

Filling my lonely ears with sweetness

Asking simple questions

Parlaying seemingly simple statements

That play to my desires

            My hands reaching back

            Through space

            To stoke your fire

            One night

As I stare at a wall

Waiting, hoping

For just one drunken phone call

(in the dark)

May 2006

Explosive

Explosive like dynamite and stubborn like steel

I face the goddess that is Venus

And her steadfast will

She is glorious in her beauty

And immovable with her wrath

Fire in her eyes

And set in her path

I crossed her for want of love

And she turned the night back

I offer laurels, tears and doves

And wish for her veneer to crack

But alas, this goddess is…

Explosive like dynamite and stubborn like steel

I face my love, my phoenix, this Venus

And hope for a changing of her will

January 2011

The lights went dim

“The lights went dim”

The lights went dim

Drawing my disdain

For I had one indulgence

This night

The reflection in your eyes

That whispered such a hint

Of a warmth and a knowing

Just right

March 2011

Blender

BLENDER

A trickle bubble feel

A slippery movie reel

And then we all say snickle bub

And funky lub

We all get down with

The blue bath tub

A holler holler feat

A crackle dog so neat

A cracked elbow peel

A Lanky magnetic eel

Several stupid chickens

And one fat banana peel

The End

April 2010

Naked

“Naked”

Standing naked before you

Imperfections on display

Cold and exposed

Readily without delay

With all pretense and facades

Coarsely scraped away

Humbly, naked before you

Armed only with honesty

So that you may

See, touch and feel

So that your heart will trust

And know I am real

January 2011

Lavender snow below

“Lavender snow below”

The moon shown bright white

Over the glacier laced mountains of Greenland

A pale blue above

Everything cast in lavender hues below

As we flew on

As I dreamed on

Wondering

What another ten hours would bring

What another ten months would tell

What another ten years would hold

If you would be in the fold

We flew on

Lavender snow below

January 2011

“Come Lay Down with Me”

Come lay down with me

Let us bask in each other’s gaze

Come lay at my side

Cohesive thoughts fading to haze

Come lay down with me

And we’ll let our worries go

Come and indulge with me

We’ll let our passion grow

Come lay down with me

For a night each other’s muse

Intimately in each other’s arms

Escaping this world’s abuse

November 2010

Dreamt

“Dreamt”

I kissed you all night

And did not hold you, to tight

No, we fell in together just right

Your soft breaths, the sweetest sight

I dreamt that,

I kissed you all night