Best Spaces Poems
As my thoughts shrink my mind expands
Growing into the spaces between my words
The words of others
Refreshed within the pauses
Dancing inside possibilities
Filling in the blanks
Words suspended
Within time and space
Connecting the random with the infinite
Skipping along
Flowing through in whispers
The spaces
Reflecting eternal promises
Stepping stones along elastic highways
Breaths yet to be exhaled
Here I grasp for inked pleasure
My resting place
along inspiration's highway
My moments of calibration
Synaptic revelations
Hallways leading to ancient corridors
The place where all artist meet
Each space, appears the same
To those unable to see
They can't feel the symphony
Yet, we who live, within the spaces
Rise together
Give applause
A world expanded from the small
An opening within word walls
Rising to float, upon the breeze
They lift our mind with subtle ease
Come and join me please
I have space
I have room
Within my spaces
For you
You flashed that smile at me .
So , how was it for you ?? .
Classical infusion, Beethoven’s “ode to joy”
playing on blaring audiophile speakers annoy
purposely looped to destroy vagrants with electronic music
blends of subversive elements and anxious acoustic
the solution to loitering the bodega doo dropping
spicy Shiitake broth smelling pissy store front,
jaded daily stunt, at midnight wino corks popping
abruptly segway into a film from one music scene
to a melting hallway, a lipstick alley with animate occupants
disconnected unmoored, appearing eerie and dormant
fluorescent lights unleashing a hum buzz in duress
hissing sizzling hornets’ nest of unsettling unrest
illogical levels of unease, an iniquitous den
such madcap absurdity is beyond my ken
not a shack, mall, nor a Holiday Inn,
a queasy Quasi-Moto mood which lies within
backrooms filled in with discarded filets
of fishy maceral that have no place,
frolicking pixella's in a glossy abyss of liminal space
plump puce brushed lips affixed
swollen browns and purple mixed
deep maroon and dusky rose,
make-up art is what they pose
I wish I may I wish away what is unreal with blinky eyes
I pray not to awaken one more inky surreal surprise
Crescent shaped moon portions mounted in pseudo walls
mounted upon the glare in unpleasing patterned halls
side by side quagmired half discs dawning a contorted face
in a half dazed-half-moon crest loon’s invisible phase
not unconscious but in some in-between state
bored while in transition and abandoned as they await
whimsical moldings who see me try not to take a peek
an exit to this madness is what I and they seek
maybe re-evaluate my sleep number, for gravity defying rest
What insight imports this encounter and what test?
what it means for a doomed generation Xer or baby boomer,
tacked in stucco, Silly Putty it seems, in a warped sense of humor
I wish I may I wish away what is unreal with blinky eyes
I pray not to awaken one more inky surreal surprise
THE SPACES BETWEEN
I am here and you are there
Close in affection love and care
We coexist in a larger sphere
But I'm not there and you're not here
Here I am and there thou art
We come together then we part
Separation means no less serene
The parting makes a space between
No man is an island the poet said
So must we be continentally wed?
Merged, united as one world nation
No free-willed self determination
This does not deny our essential coaction
Nor say we live without attraction
But each isle is distinct, individual, though
We exist as in archipelago
As with notes in a beautiful symphony
No matter in what fine harmony
The composer's key melody supreme
Depends on the spaces that intervene
That passing bell may not toll for me
Yet I’d mourn the loss of thee, she or he
You see though we're not an amalgamation
We have the great gift: of communication
Across all known spaces waves are flowing
Linking furthest points of a universe growing
We detect photons from distant galaxy
Can we not treat in closer proximity
So with hugs and Omm and kumbaya
You may lose yourself in nirvana
Praise oneness if you must by all mean
I'll bless the spaces in between
Most of life is spent in
hope for better things yet
expectation of what is to come
or anticipation of what could be
and while this is good, even necessary...
Focusing on the few
more “memorable” moments
misses out on much
of the spaces in-between:
Time with loved ones
time amid others
time to ourselves
time spent going places
and getting things done
time spent sitting utterly still
Such seemingly mundane spaces
on life's broad canvas
are the underpainting of the portrait
that our life becomes
the basis of the character we create
moment-by-moment
day-by-day
While more exciting times
are mere small fragments
on their own, a sad display
an infinitesimal, tiny sample
of the grander scene of life
So slow down, dear ones
Breathe deeply, remembering that
rushing only leads to rudeness
Instead of slopping through
these middling spaces...
Correct some of their ugliness by
brushing them with beauty, a little each day
Carefully choosing each word and action-
coloring them with kindness
Be honest, but without cruelty
Stop tolerating the intolerable
stop committing to what you don't want
stop rejecting what you truly need
life is a limited commodity
don't squander your time or anyone else's
Clothe yourself with humility
artist's smock of life
the covering that allows for
mistakes, creativity
and continual learning
Make the most of every moment
especially
the ones in-between
you might find that in the end
they were the most precious times of all
The music begins, then the singing
I close my eyes, and even my ears smile
inhale.. humongous exhale, arms raise to the heavens
then my hands pose, lingering in jazz dancer's style
My mind begins to fly
Or perhaps as I glimpse the shadows going by
it's actually birds, yes birds fast forwarding to the rhythm
flying past majestic leafy trees beneath a dusky sky
Then the speed slows from 78 rpm
to 33 and a third
my body relaxes a bit more while I sway
becoming hypnotized to each note to each word
The clouds are outlined in smoke
a gentle breeze blows against my face
dancers appear, adorned in loosely draped gray chiffon
enchanted by the music, they swirl with finesse and grace
The wind picks up, so much so, that now, I'm flying
the shadowy scene about me is racing
it's as though I'm soaring through a vortex
unfettered, perhaps it's a virtual paradise that I'm facing
Feeling mellow with this
Byrd's band flickers in and out, the notes float and transcend
the song finishes but the music doesn't, not yet
I pen this piece as I peace out, so the music doesn't really end...
Inspiration: Places & Spaces by Donald Byrd
2/4/16
I love you without surmising 'why',
your passion sets pon dusky distances
betwixt & 'midst quartz glass spaces,
where scented phases astir moon glow
and impassioned fireside involvement
madly erupt above obscure air castles,
beyond a swept away briny rendezvous
of crystallized darkly essential marrow,
like wildflowers penchant for Spring
blooming 'tween summoned fiery March
snowdrifts' lashing bout ignitable flurries
amongst wind's orgasmic undressing,
farthermost indulgent sundown piques
regaling its worth with naught but those
magnificent moments in timely conception,
whence endearment yearns to be evermore
Inspired by Pablo Neruda - - Sonnet Xvii
Amidst the sacred places
I've witnessed distraught faces
A virtual Kaleidoscope of races
History often traces
Many are hungry and cold
Politicians bought and sold
Achingly, our God embraces
He competes to fill vacant spaces
Ima try to honor his plan
His kingdom is meant for man
But it's turning viciously dark
Lord hold my hand as I embark
The daily realities can be so stark
Hard to be tender and surrender
While yielding a sword I might need to render
Divisions grow strong amongst gender
If you have a special angel, send her
I'm made from the rib being tender
Equality, increasingly, a mind bender
Engage me in the sacred spaces
Let me hear boisterous laughter
Have my back in extreme cases
Teach me when to sit and when to stand
How to enjoy and employ loves embraces
No Particle Theory can ever be Unified –
for there is always the space between...the
unknown that separates while binds us
in a matrix of primitive wonder. Dark
Matter is only dark to those accustomed to one
light...for those whose eyes adjust to the
thin horizons of others who have passed
before them – and not the endless expanse within,
the heart and soul of a boundless Universe. So,
we slowly peel-back our outer layers, those of
earth and moon, the illumining stars, limiting
skins of meagerly defined senses. Without God
there is only Science...
hopping from one physical rock to the other, skimming
over the depth of spaces,
stepping cautiously into shallow pools
as yet to explore the unimaginable realms
of a far greater Spiritual Sea.
(More Context)
We are observers...consciousness existing
in an elevated dimension of reality. Difficult
to imagine, yet our thoughts are entirely
separate from our physical senses and their
body sources; we truly, not figuratively,
look in or down upon the many instances
and vehicles of manifest substance.
There can only be
one Unified Theory: it must be a Continuity Theory,
where separation is merely an elaborate illusion:
In fact, all we see and seem are Wave effects
propagated through a flexible yet solid dimension,
driven by vibrations or shivers (so to speak) –
Waves collide, and those peaks or points
of collision become our physical reality –
these are the pixels our eyes and minds interpret
and assemble in the likeness of recalled
references, desires and predilections – We look down,
look in, look out, but always from positions independent
of the objects of our inquiry. Mind, Consciousness
is entirely independent of the physical. This
explains the phenomenon of Savants. Our
brains are not developing receptacles of
knowledge – but, in fact, developing
gateways. Who we are, where we come
from, and how long we live progresses
far outside our experiences of birth and
death.
Welcome to adulthood,
if you are ever really one.
The world isn’t waiting for
a voice like yours to come.
It’s contemptuous of those
who think they’ll bring ‘change,’
and harder still on those who
think that they know ‘the way.’
No easy rides awaiting,
get used to handling fear,
your ideas and cries matter not,
there are no safe spaces here.
Welcome to real business,
where it’s quickly taught to you:
feelings and dreams mean nothing,
they only want what you can do.
There are no second chances
when you fumble your task,
if you cost them money,
then you’re out on your ass.
Yet it is the only way
to get goods without spears,
chose the punch-clock or the blade,
there are no safe spaces here.
Welcome to the Earth
and its myriad societies.
Though many dream of peace,
we’re not meant for harmony.
We snatch moments when we can,
they never last that long.
Evil does not stay quiet
and requires actions strong.
We struggle to bring about
some few moments of cheer,
but the wolf is always at the door,
there are no safe spaces here.
Welcome to reality,
the only one we know.
Some tell stories to ‘escape’ it,
but they can never really go.
Its laws have no care
for all our endless narratives,
the rules of nature are not
ever able to forgive.
The price of muddling through it
grows every day more dear.
Yet it’s either this or nothing,
and there are no safe spaces here…
needles dropping from the tree
a piercing memory
DRAWN TO UNKNOWN SPACES
Could there be sight more alluring
Than the bending of a lane
Or a brow of hill’s contouring
Could there be sight more alluring
Tied attention thus unmooring
Like a lyrical refrain
Could there be sight more alluring
Than the bending of a lane
As the Sun lights distant clearing
I am drawn to unknown spaces
t’ward the light by pathways veering
As the Sun lights distant clearing
Always changing ever nearing
Viewpoints new or well loved places
As the Sun lights distant clearing
I am drawn to unknown spaces
We kiss with eyes and touch with words,
And yet I can feel your hand in mine.
I watch you from a distance,
And yet you're closer than anyone has ever been.
We speak in tongues and laugh inside,
Because your thoughts are just like mine.
I feel you know me better
Than any other person has ever done.
We live in hiding and hide it well,
I see your truth and you see mine.
You can have me forever,
Because I want to share myself with you.
Reading was his sanctuary
From noise
From worry
From fear
He could curl up in the tiny spaces
Tucked between the words and pages
Of a book
Dream with the characters
Run with the plot
Imagine the illusions.
In his mind
The outside world
With its annoyances
Loud talk
Racing engines
Flying jets
Artificial deadlines
Could run without him.
Snow falls
The hills are alive