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.

At The Crossroads of History

A serious danger threatens the

Stability of our country;

Democracy dangles upon a thread

& oscillates to every poll.

Today we wait at the crossroads

Of two paths; which way will we go?  

Will we pursue spite and ignorance?

Our way of life hinges upon

The prudence of our countrymen.

Will they rise to the occasion

Or flounder at the voting booth?

One or two impetuous votes

Could change the course of history.

Will we be on the right side of history?

The tortuous months soon to come

Will shape our fragile destiny.

So many important questions

Remain unanswered as of now,

But I can only hope that we

Will avert a catastrophe.

Nevermore

On restless, gloomy nights as these,

I am reminded of my once

Beloved; how she piqued the heed

Of my sweet admiration, yet

Completely pulverized all hope

Of affection with a mere word.   

Within my lacerated heart,

The embers of this dying love

Still smolder in a pool of blood

While streams of romantic ardor

Ascend as faint puffs of smoke through

The heart’s indelible crevice.

These outworn feelings will linger

Within the confines of my chest,

Perversely invasive, throughout

This night & many more, until

The embers cool & cease to smoke

& haunt my weary heart nevermore.

Together As One

The world seems apathetic to

The agony of those who live

In remote countries; deaf to.

The cries that scorch the weeping wind.

It’s time that we open our eyes

& understand that terror happens

On every corner of the map,

Not simply nations close to home.

It’s time that we open our hearts

& learn to sympathize with all

Fatalities of disaster,

Regardless of their differences.

It’s time that we open our minds

& realize solutions for

The suffering are well within

Our reach, but only if we want them.

The human race can overcome anything,

But only if we stand together as one.

A prayer to Baghdad;

A prayer to Istanbul;

A prayer to Jeddah;

A prayer to Dhaka.

And any that I may have missed.

O She

O she is like the night;

A midnight mystery.

Her voice…

The resonance of night

Abates voracity

& bathes a sinuous

Soul in satisfaction.

Her eyes…

A myriad of stars,

Dainty sugar crystals,

Illuminate the black

In opaline brilliance.

Her embrace...

The darkness clears the mind

& dreams extemporize,

Each rendered by the hymns

Of soothing nightly winds.

Her compassion…

The early hours yield

Serenity to sleep,

Providing strength to face

Yet another morning.  

O she is like the night.

My midnight mystery!

Tokens Of Forever

O darling, I’m in agony!

I crave the synergy of an

Impassioned, sensuous romance

& yet I must languor in wait.

If only the blow of a kiss

Possessed the strength to sweep away

Each cheerless, dilatory day

That separates the two of us.

O the irony! The days are

So long & yet life is so short.

It seems that time is torturous

& every tick is but a tease.

Yet days are docile when eclipsed

By the timeless resonance of love.

A kiss is a token of

Forever; a boundless embrace.

& so perhaps the blow of a

Kiss cannot diminish the days,

But in the spirit of forever,

That supple kiss shall outlast them.

For the destiny of a kiss

Is to flirt with infinity.