respect the invitation into
someone elses home
understand the owners view
understand their virtues
embrace what they have built
its an energy that serves them well
let it be an energy to serve you well, too
lets all join hands
and sing the song of the home
lets sing it loudly
lets sing it proudly
lets sing it as a chorus of one
and remember youve been invited
dont be like the dog that bites the hand that feeds
i burned my candle from both ends
and then complained
about the dark.
couldn’t tell night from day—
just a long hallway
with bad lighting
and worse memories.
the clock kept lying.
the mirror too.
through the wall
the magpies talked—
not poetry,
just the usual report:
pain,
someone elses suffering,
rent due,
another body giving up before it should.
I listened
because what else was there to do.
maybe it was madness,
maybe wisdom with a tight fist.
hard to say
when you’ve trimmed the wick
from both ends
and called it living.
I wanted more light
without paying the cost.
that’s the trick
that never works.
now I’m tired.
not heroic tired—
just used up,
like a matchbook
with one good strike left.
so I’ll take a nap.
let the smoke settle.
and when I see you—
keeper of the flame—
don’t lecture me.
you know
I burned bright
because I didn’t know
how not to.
sometimes
that’s all a man has and a good woman can only watch.
She took a step back from the world
what it wanted her to be
She wasn't who she was anymore
what they once did see
She saw things differently now
Her eyes were open wide
She was broken open
To things she could no longer hide
Every where she looked she saw ego
She saw hate for mankind
People who judged and criticized eachother
The blind leading the blind
Only caring to be right
Only caring to be heard
Never stopping to listen to anybody elses word
She released her self from the facade
She released herself from the rat race
Knowing life isn't a competition
And no one wins first place
For life is a journey
Not a written consent
Not a place to throw shade on others
Not a place to vent
She wanted to live for humanity
She wanted to live with a humble heart
She knew changing and healing herself was the best place to start
Her eyes were now wide open
They were no longer a blur
She now sees a world that needs benevolence
That was the becoming of her..
Who are we beyond the distance
Beyond the ears that fail to listen
Amongst the shooting stars
That fall and burn through the sky
Lingering souls left alone in the dark
Meerly a scar to a sea of sharks
Thirsty for someone elses pain
WE ALL ARE HERE TO BE IN PEACE AND LIVE FREELY
IN A WORLD THAT ONLY GOD HIMSELF CAN SAVE
WHY DO WE JUDGE AND HATE
IS IT THE COLOR OF SKIN THAT YOU SEE
LOOKING ON THE OUTSIDE BUT NEVER LOOKIN IN ME
IN ME YOU WILL FIND LOVE FOR YOUR KIND AND LOVE FOR MINE
MANY WILL NEVER SEE OR NEVER KNOW WHAT IT COST TO MAKE ME GROW
LIFE AND DEATH IS HELD WITHIN THE TONGUE
SO WHEN YOU SAY HATEFUL WORDS ARE YOU NOT THE ONE THAT IS WRONG
AND NEVER FORGET ABOT THOSE BABIES THAT ARE WATCHING AND SEEING
DONT YOU THINK THAT THEY ARE ANGRY
BEING TREATED UNFAIRLY AND NOT GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE
SOME ARE DYING BY SOMEONE ELSES HAND
OUR SKIN COLOR SHOULD REALLY NOT MATTER
BUT ITS JUST THAT THAT DIVIDE US
LEARN TO LOVE LOVE TO CARE FOR YOUR FELLOW MAN
STAND FOR RIGHT EVEN IF
THE COLOR OF SKIN
Two men want to make me a wife
What am I to do
How on earth do I decide
When both seem like a lover true
Don't judge me please life is no green dream
I have been very careful with myself
I stepped away from a love so great
Just to be chased by two someone elses
So it's Valentine's day in December
I want to be fair and honest
Both men are a win to remember
With a soul like precious Onyx
I have to pray the confusion away
For love is a gift from above
As long as I keep a heart of faith
God will show me who to love.
Sitting here watching wide eyed
Maybe I cried
When the world gave up and no longer tried
Seeing the actions this could bring
Watching and wondering Maybe out loud
Cause a silent voice get lost in the crowd
Times no longer on our side
When our words we must hide
Showing no compassion
Seems the new fashion
See how far that goes
When love no longer shows
Who knows
Feel no pain
Life held in disdain
Is this really how it's supposed to be
Guess we'll just wait and see
On our way
So much closer each day
Words that no longer come free
Hearts no one may see
Look ma, no strings
Just brainless walking beings
In the silence a heartbeat sound so loud
Alone in every crowd
A closed heart can never feel
Locked in everyone elses will
So many a word
Never to be heard
Robots we have become
Does that not bother some
Maybe my words sound dumb
This is what I see
The world as it may someday be
Each night, while you lay breathing quietly,
I wander like a wraith through empty rooms
A phantom in both life and memory,
the ghost a long abandoned oath exhumes
I hover like a spirit over you
each night, while you lay breathing quietly,
so desperate to believe what isn't true,
I make the best of ambiguity
This specter in the mirror isn't me
These lines belong on someone elses face
Each night, while you lay breathing quietly,
it's loneliness that holds me in your place
My worth so long defined by your extremes;
extolled by love, or birched by perfidy,
I find it's just the first that haunts my dreams
each night, while you lay breathing quietly
She dances to her own tune they told me.
Of course, I replied.
Who else’s could she possibly dance to?
They stared at me.
But stopped talking.
Which is what I hoped would happen.
SECOND CHOICE
I wonder if you know
what it's like to be second best
Let me tell you it can beat you down
And put you to the test
Do you know what it's like
To have someone else in front
Of your wants and needs
they are left to stunt
Imagine if you will
that someone else's time
Is valued more than yours
No matter how high you climb
Can you picture yourself worthy
Only if someone else is booked
You're happy for a moment
But soon realized you're overlooked
What if you were to view
a pretty bunch of flowers sweet
Carried right past you without thought
To be laid at someone elses feet
To you this second choice seems better
Than being no choice at all
At least he's in your life somehow
Leaving you wishing at YOUR feet he'd fall
Someday your knight in armour
Will come riding his white steed
Through your door just keep it open
Better this than being second, indeed.
11/21
The back in forth of passion to hatred
One minute you love me the next you hate me
So much push and pull but the hinge was broke
Your touch used to make my skin light fire
Today it makes me flinch away
His touch used to be the thing I craved
Now I crave someone elses hand in mine
The touch that used to make me cave
That same touch makes my skin turn into ice
Are you the kind of person
who finds you dream of another life?
Do you wonder what it would be like
If you lived like someone elses wife?
Do you find yourself wishing
for a situation other then your own?
Only playing it through in your mind
thankful your thoughts won't be shown?
Does your life seem ok but yet
you commonly picture an extra scene,
when you see someone's life that intrigues you
and you crave how it seems so pristine?
What you don't have is what you want
and what you have is boring now.
You're looking on the other side of the fence
where the grass seems greener somehow.
I'm here to tell you differently,
be happy with what you've got.
The other side is never better
you think you'll like it, but you will not!
2021
Door Mates
He sits there alone
feeding the pigeons
worn out from banging on doors
forever closed to him.
She cleans
someone elses home.
It is the only house
she has ever had a key to.
They meet every evening
satisfied
that their persistence
opened doors for their children.
They were the backbone
of a resistance
the heart of a revolution
now overlooked
by those setting fire
to the doors
believing
they have been opened.
He opens the door
she smiles
their small apartment
a place of peace.
©7/23/2021
DOORS Poetry Contest
ONE LOVE THAT FELL FROM THE SKY
ONE CRY FOR ALL THE TEARS THAT I CRIED
TRUTH BE TOLD YOU WERE ALWAYS MINE TO CHERISH AND TO HOLD
U BROUGHT ME A SINCE OF PEACE IN A TIME WHERE I COULDNT SEE
WHEN THERE WAS DARKNESS U BROUGHT THE SUN, MOON, AND THE STARS
U GAVE ME HOPE WHEN I NEEDED IT THE MOST
U MADE ME LAUGH EVERYTIME I HEARD YOUR VOICE
YOUR VOICE SOUNDED SO SWEET THAT IT CALMED THE BEAST WITHIN ME
NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD ALL END BECAUSE WITH YOU I HAD FOUND A FRIEND
THE ONE WHO MAKES EVERY BEAT OF MY HEART POUND
WHO SEND SHIVERS UP MY SPINE WHEN THEY ARE AROUND
THE ONE WHO HOLDS ME AND SAYS THAT I WILL BE OK
I GOT YOU NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY
MY TRUE KING IS WHAT I FOUND
A QUEEN WHO FEELS LOST AND CANT BE FOUND
I WILL WAIT ON YOUR RETURN IF NOT THEN IT WAS A LESSON THAT I HAD TO LEARN
WE HAD GOALS, DREAMS, AND PLANS BUT IT ALL ENDED DUE TO SOMEONE ELSES HANDS
NO MATTER WHERE I GO, I WILL TAKE YOU WITH ME, WITH MY HEART AND SOUL
PEACE AND LOVE I SEND TO YOU WHEREVER YOU MAY ROAM
BUT WITH ME JUST KNOW THAT YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE A HOME.
MY TRUE KING THE ONE I ADORE ONLY GOD WILL MAKE THINGS IN ONE ACCORD.
Used to get a whopping almost every day,
Something I did or something I’d say.
Nobody how far I ran or tried to hide,
I’d end up with a belt on my backside.
Used to blame it on some foreign lands,
President did and everybody clapped their hands,
Still no luck no matter how I tried,
I still got a belt on my backside.
Came up with a story that’s sad but true,
It was everybody elses fault,including you,
No matter what I said I was told I lied,
So here comes another belt on my backside.
Decided to pack my bags and just run away,
Left a note saying catch me if you can,
I came home but no matter how much I cried,
There goes another belt on my backside.
I decided to change before it was too late,
Did it come from above of a twist of fate,
Life is better,now I’ve turned the tide,
No more belts on my backside.
MARTY L WEST
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