The Sound of Loss

The sound of my heart

Crying out from the depth

Of its misery, hollow and blue,

Reaches the ears of my soul

Like a whale’s yearning plea,

Searching for its mate,

The kin with whom it belongs,

Across the vast expanse

Of the ocean forbidding,

It’s call goes forth, unheard.

Mournful and haunting,

The dreadful song

Continues to transmit

Into a world of peace and pain,

Their juxtaposition only known

To those who have mislaid

The very thing for which they long,

Over and over to grieve it

Until only the silence of Loss

Brings relief from the searching.

For Her

One day a flower bloomed in me,
Bright and bold and strong;
And as it grew it's petals spread
To show me all its form.

I looked upon the beauty there
And every time gave thanks,
Seeing that it's presence
Was a special joy, unmatched.

As time went past, the bloom would change,
Always a surprise,
Yet never ceased to bring a smile
As love grew, deep and wide.

I tried to care as best I could
For such a wondrous gift,
And hoped to nurture all it held,
To help it truly live.

As it grew I saw it less
But held within my heart
The promise of this special one
I hoped would not depart.

They say to love is to let go,
But with regret I miss
The color and the wonder
Of the life I shared life with.

MEMORY

Lost in time,
These memories
Like a long gone yesterday...
Come back to mind,
Distant, yet not far away,
Blurred by the journey
Toward life unknown,
A lasting reminder
Of a compass true,
Giving direction
To full circle round.

DISTANCE

I sailed away from paradise,

The land where good fruit grows,
Though why I sought to leave there
I do not seem to know…

And after drifting far away,
The garden looks so small,
Unimportant from out here
Within the darkness of the fall…

For only when we’re living near
Can details be perceived,
And what is closest becomes real
When easier to see…

Now I will strive there to return
And close the distance wide,
Truth grows greater, trouble fades,
While in the Light I do abide.

ALL

All I know amounts to nothing,
All I see reminds my eyes
That all I have I can't hold onto;
When all truth succumbs to lies.

All these dreams are stolen from me,
All the hopes I had for them,
All the years I fought for freedom,
Although life was simpler then.

All my understanding questioned,
All the insights never mind,
Now that all our days our numbered
All my soul cries out for time.

All the seasons pass in rhythm,
Turn to memory as they fall,
Lessons learned are all we have,
All for one and one for all.

Masquerade

Was it all naught but a masquerade?
A painted image, a gamed we played?
In all of that time what did we gain
By holding the veil for illusion’s face?


When all that’s left are the memories…

Stored up in places far out of reach,
How can we learn what we didn’t teach,
By starting with famine to build a feast?


Where is the sense in a broken pact,

When nothing replaces what we lack
And pain that weighs on a loved one’s back
Is doubled by want for a selfless act.


There’s no turning back from this cold place

Where none can hope to finish the race
And best has become a slower pace
For one with a heart that shies away.

The Broken Record

The broken record plays a song
I do not want to hear,
Repeating those familiar words,
Not music to my ears…
“You want much more than I can give”,
“You need too much from love”,
And “none can match your heart’s desire”,
“You’ll always be too much.”

The broken record breaks my heart
Each time it plays the tune,
When somehow I begin to hope,
It sadly sings the blues…
“Your heart wants more than I can give,”
“Your need is much too great,”
“I cannot be the one you want”, and
 “Longer still you’ll have to wait.”

HOPE

In the rise of the sun,
In the colors of day,
In the victories won,
In the freedom to pray ,
In the promise of life,
In the mercy of death,
In the reaching of heights,
In the searching for depth,
In the laugh of a child,
In the wonder of birth,
In the melodies mild,
In the flowering earth,
In the beauty of love,
In the power of faith,
In the heavens above,
In the joy that awaits…
May we find hope.

EVERYTHING

Taking it in, my soul expands,
For here is everything you are,
Wrapped in the gift we call 'ocean',
Enormous and immeasurable,
Diving deeper and reaching farther
Than we imagine,
Completely alive throughout
And holding secrets beyond us,
Beautiful and delicate,
Powerful and massive,
Offering art for our enjoyment,
Delivering gifts to shores that show our feet
How to walk in reverence,
And all the while speaking
In the universal languages
Of movement, balance, and reflected light
To bid us... "Come and See"...

Fragile

Your glasses on the foyer wall
Remind me you were here,
Just yesterday,
In flesh and presence,
Gracing the air around you with charge,
Instilling my home with a soul beloved.

The fragile thing you left behind
Reminds me of a tune,
Played wistfully
On the slender strings
Of a heart's forgotten instrument,
Never meant to last but for a smile...