Vertigo

Do you remember...

The touch of supple fingers

Against cheeks of pastel vermilion,

Rendering vertigo and scuttling breathing...

Voracious glances luring bodies closer...

Anxious eyes &

Trembling lips coalescing?

...how could I forget?

Children Of The Revolution

guitars crack,

sweaty fingers slip at the touch

of glossy surface.

& a cassette tape tumbles...

                          its pieces ricochet.

splinters of the dead revolution.

the cries of a once rebellious youth

muffled by subway roars.

peace bends to profit

                                     from v to $

& war continues,

                         same ol’ same ol’

children of the revolution

          all grown up

forgot what is was they fought for?

The Avenue Of Emptiness

Is ignorance truly the path to bliss?

Walk the avenue of emptiness

& discover the strange meaning of peace.

When life fades into a soft monochrome,

A translucent, angelic mist of white

Descends like tinsels of lucid satin

Gliding from an opened window…

Blinding the soul?

Here the docile mind flutters like a snowflake

Guided by the gentle push of tepid winds,

Perfectly content to wallow in this

Incandescent void of thoughtlessness;

A realm that’s absent of philosophy;

A realm that’s absent of a direction.

But at what cost?

Repudiate your dreams & beliefs;

Empty them from your mind & let them plummet

Out your ears as if they were violent

Rivulets cascading from a mountain

Crevice & lathering on jagged rocks

Below... do this and you will walk this road.

Is ignorance truly the path to bliss?

An existence without the joys of life?

Without the power of choice & thought?

Without clear individuality?

It is a shame if so.

That Evening

That evening,

The irises of a lady’s eyes

Aroused the vastness of an ocean

& her pupils glistened

Like pearls beneath shallow,

Languid waters of crystalline blue;

Their lustrous nacre

Reflected the sparse rays

Of dwindling evening light

& swooned over the elegant

Procession of the stars above.

That evening,

The fractious mysteries

Of the universe withdrew

Their reticence & conferred

Their wisdom upon her;

Deep and troubling questions

Which once had lingered in

Her thoughts were burnt to cinders

By kisses from the flame of truth;

Memories found their meaning,

& rhymes found their reason.

That evening,

Her once perpetual,

Merry exhalations

Mingled with the ocean air for

The final time as she

Became one with the night.

As she ascended into

The great unknown, she saw

Memories flash before her eyes.

For life is but a flash

Within the spectrum of eternity.

That evening,

She discovered so much

But paid the price of what she knew.

That evening,

She became nothing more

Than stardust.

“For you were made of dust, & to dust you shall return.”

Beauty Of The Beach

O beauty of the beach…

The dying of the day

Soaks the somnolent sky

In drips of melting gold;

The teardrops of the sun.

The shimmer of the light

Trickles over ripples

From effervescent waves

Dancing on the water.

Warm, creamy sands along

Lake Michigan glow like

Vivacious embers low

Beneath my tickled feet.

Cool, frisky evening gales

Blow my troubles far, far

Away, beyond the haze

Of future’s foggy skies.

Goodnight, Lake Michigan;

Goodnight, o placid skies;

& goodnight my darling;

O beauty of the beach.

May the virtuous grace

Of evening tides carry

You to the kingdom of

Hearty mirthful dreaming.

& may you wake to find

A marvelous morning

As beautiful as you...

O beauty of the beach.

Salinas, California

Below the emerald mountaintops,

Guardians of the ocean breeze,

One finds a valley of fair crops,

Delicate soil, & buzzing bees.

Convivial whips of sunlight

Stroke lavish groves of hardy trees.

On every branch, hidden from sight,

Fruit slumber underneath the leaves.

It is no wonder that Steinbeck

Cherished his California roots;

The land of viridescent treck,

Unyielding sunshine, & fresh fruits.

Here placid air unbinds the chains

Which hinder a poetic mind.

Away from life’s rigorous strains,

Deep thoughts are vividly defined.

In the midst of the Salinas Valley,

Ideas amass wings with which to soar...

20,000 Shooting Stars

Together we were participants

In the sumptuous recital

Of twenty thousand shooting stars….

My soul melted as her fingers

Entwined with mine, inducing the

Stirring passions in my heart to

Rapidly overflow & flood

My chest in mystical frenzy.

The pools of rapture in her eyes

Glistened in the limelight of

My captivated gaze, coaxing

My tentative lips closer with

The hope of merging mine with hers.

The jostle of a midnight gale

Impelled her into my arms,

Imploring us to gently dance

Through the lather of the dusk

& to traverse celestial realms.

Together we were participants

In the sumptuous recital

Of twenty thousand shooting stars….

Penumbra

Unopened on a pinewood shelf,

A letter with love from L.A.

Accumulates dust & rancor;

A casualty of long lost hope.

A thousand cordial words within

The confines of the envelope

Are soon to be engulfed by the

Penumbra of romance’s realm…

The land of unrequited love.

The essence of love is immortal;

Our feelings never disappear;

They merely linger in this sphere

Of mysterious solitude.  

It’s here where words we wish were heard,

The chances we wish we’d taken,

& people who weren’t meant to be

Accumulate, & gather dust…

Only to be completely forgotten…

Someday.

Rainy Days & Faded Dreams

O how I wish to liberate

My soul from the humdrum restraints

Of rainy days & faded dreams.

Yet afternoons like these augment

The growing restlessness in me.

Incessant drops remind me of

Experiences not possessed,

Friendships which I could not attain,

& romances out of my reach.

Regret ricochets through my mind.

At times like these I ask myself,

“Am I only alive to die?”

How can I sit here idly

While precious moments of my life

Expire? Have I squandered youth?

But still the clock continues its

Perpetual tick, refusing

To wait for me to ascertain

Just what it means to be alive,

& what it means to be human.

For now I can only hope that

The rain will someday cease to fall.

Looming Mortality

We are all simply pebbles on

The beaches of eternity;

Ubiquitous raindrops which fuel

The thunderstorm of endless time…

We are expendable.

Indignance is of little use;

The end is inevitable.

But before we enter the dark,

We must strive to attain the light.

The apathetic will of fate

May limit our days on this earth,

But in this short time we’re given

We should embrace the joys of life.

We must live, give, & love.

In the shadow of a looming

Mortality, we are given

Few moments to make a difference.

We must take advantage of all.

Rather than fearing the end of

Our lives, we must join together

To ensure that the lives we have

Are worth living, & cherish them.

We’re here for a reason.

Your positive actions today

May have effects which could withstand

The test of time & truly last
Forever; every moment counts.