My God has not failed, though the world says He has
My God has not failed, though through flames I must pass
Though grief fills my heart, I do not have despair
My Savior still loves me and hears every prayer
My God has not failed, though mere men taunt and laugh
My God has not failed on this difficult path
His Word never said I would not suffer pain
But simply that He also suffered the same
My God has not failed, though my loved one is gone
My God has not failed—He has done me no wrong
My loved one is now like a seed in the ground
Yet out of His death fruit and life shall abound
My God has not failed—He still reigns in the skies
My God has not failed, for He gives me His eyes
To see that this pain has a good end one day
To see all the blessings He leaves on my way
My God has not failed—He is still by my side
My God has not failed, neither left me nor lied
I say to these young ones, “This God is our God.
Since He is our guide, over death we have trod.”
Trudging down the same path
Present equals past
Red clay
My problems outlast
The runes have been cast
Astray
A delayed forecast
Emotion outcast
I failed
THeir plan - in each oriface pour
some Vaseline, KY and more...
with rings of the bell
they both had to yell,
"Too greasy to open the door."
I don’t dream often, but I dream of Jeanie,
the only one who ever touched my Nadi.
I met her bathing in the Irrawaddy.
You’d classify her as an in-betweenie,
but looking pretty hot in that bikini!
She got me going when she called me ‘daddy’!
Jean self-identified as “thorough baddie,”
but never let me see her Kundalini.
I couldn’t leave her working in that paddy,
so whisked her off to Venice. Like Houdini,
she made the transformation: loved linguini:
but part-time jobs (a waiter, then a caddy)
meant I could not afford her. One bellini
cost forty bucks! Forget the Lamborghini!
I tried to escape you long ago.
'Til fate set straight my own ego.
I lost the frequency long ago
At first it hadn’t seemed important
I could barely tell the difference
But once it was gone I couldn’t get it back
There was a time where that didn’t matter
Then it did
And it was too late
They tried turning the nob
Hoping the new frequency would work
But it never did
The nob would twist
Left and right
Back and forth
As they watched me like a animal
Waiting for a new reaction
I would try
Dance to the new sound
Sing the new song
It did work for a while
But the second I tired
they would turn up the volume
The seemed to think if they could drown me in the sound
I wouldn’t drown myself
the damned alarm howls at 5 a.m.
like a thirsty rabid dog in the dark.
I throw my bones into a threadbare suit,
and drag my carcass out the door.
the streetlights flicker, dying gods,
the freeway hums a tired hymn.
coffee burns my throat—
fuel for another round in the machine.
the boss with his middle fat finger,
his gold watch, his ulcer breath,
telling me I’m lucky to be here,
lucky to have this endless grind.
I move numbers, push papers,
count the hours, count the minutes,
watch the clock like a prisoner,
like a dog waiting for scraps.
lunch is a stale sandwich,
eaten under a flickering light.
I watch men in pressed suits,
laughing over steak and wine.
back to the desk, back to the screen,
back to the same dead dream.
the sun sinks, the city groans,
and I drag myself home.
a six-pack waits,
a cigarette, a sigh,
some mindless TV to fill the void.
then bed, then dark, then nothing.
the alarm I hate, howls again.
another day chewed up,
spit out,
like a lifeless roach, life is gone
The yearly line I chose to change course
is a self-afflicted wound
that bleeds each day, as I travel
the universe that spins in darkness
on its journey through the blackness of space
a second, a year, does not matter
if finding a reason to nurture my soul
comes once a year, in the form of wishes
to be met that are useless
where reason is held far beyond
the time I measure
in the lineal thread of changing light
until I measure a new year
where the seed of failure is planted once again
Failed marriage
In my village in the Algarve, I met a retired
Captain in the US Army, he had a military walk
and tended to dress like he was on a safari
He had a house in Florida with crocodiles
on the lawn, he never said what he did when
in the army. perhaps the catering corps
on his travel to see Europe, he had in Portugal
met a plump middle-aged woman and decided
to stay for a while, and since few spoke English
I was his audience.
One can say it was a perfect match for her dream
was to go to America, she guarded him as a prize
ticket falling in her lap after years spent in work
in various offices
Eventually, they went to Florida, and big was
my surprise to see her back two years later
it turned out he had one more wife who lived
in New York, she was not pleased when coming
to visit him, found a woman there
Nevertheless, his Portuguese girlfriend cooked
and cleaned for both of them until he died
So I married her
I missed the window of my telling
you who you are. My greatest
talent, f*cked too thin to mend,
or maim when it mattered most.
I’m not mad anymore, just sifting
through the wreckage of my gift—
this heft of language, all I ever said,
only salve on hand to save us, too often
out of stock.
Words flawless on paper, I fell limp
spilling from a broken mouth.
Throwing spells at your functional illiteracy,
believing an explanation could level
our podium standings, but it never did.
I never do.
Even though I’m perfect on paper.
You never do what I want, either.
Imagining Sisyphus content
was the death of us.
And we have died nine million times
attempting the trick of it—
a compromise so smug, filled with hubris
enough to spare every kind,
every one of us, where no one dies,
unless that’s how they wanted
their story to end.
Our story is ending.
What else is there?
A rock and a hill, a present mishandled
until it becomes a burden.
Until we've learned the weight of words
won’t hold us, slip, slipping away
again and again, and I’m there
hauling myself through the unwritten
spaces you didn't even notice, you left.
"I Wish I Never Failed in Love"
In the realm of heartbeats, I lost my way
A path that wound through love's disarray
If I had one more wish, I'd undo the pain
Erase the scars, rewrite love's stained refrain
A tragic ending, where love went astray
I thought I was special, but faded away
A good man turned cold, a heart turned to stone
The evil I despised, became my own
I wish I never fell, never dove so deep
Never surrendered to love's deceiving sleep
I wish I could forget, before heartbreak's might
Raped our free will, and extinguished love's light
In the shadows of what could've been
I search for solace, a love unseen
One wish remains, to turn back time
Rewrite our story, rekindle love's divine
But alas, memories linger, a bittersweet refrain
Reminding me of love's irreparable stain
Yet still I hold on, to love's pure flame
Hoping someday, love's beauty will reign.
This poem maintains the original message and emotion, with adjustments for rhythm, flow, and poetic clarity.
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In endless steps, I chased the line,
This path I tread, my halt in time.
Each stride I take, a half to go,
A journey bound by fractions solved.
Infinity in finite bounds,
Where motion stalls and thought grew large.
Achilles sprints, the tortoise leads,
My race defined by endless time.
Forever near, forever far,
Where reason left me, here I fall.
I failed to love
The way I could
I failed to hold on
The way I should
I failed to be there
When life got you down
I failed to care
When no one was around
I failed to be who I was
I know you expected more
I failed to be who you thought
I couldn’t be who you adored
Life has taught me to be strong
To live life honest and true
I don’t think all my failures
We’re all that wrong
‘Coz you know what?
You failed me too
Sorry may've come too late to explain (for my part)
and for all that I'm to blame.
I left and stayed away too long..
between us, you never were the same.
Your friends, always ever by your side, warn
tell you that you're strong and better without.
Tho' they weren't there when you were born.
I was so young and scared,
barely qualified to take on a new life.
Catch you lookin' up at the skies
from time to time..
wondering if you were loved
daughter of mine.
Rainin' showering smiles for you..
someone proud is lookin' down
you're not to blame, please let it go
tho' the need you feel is real.
As a father I’ve failed
I should have been jailed
My kids are not happy
The blame’s on their pappy
I pushed them too hard
left them with scars
On the surface they’re fine
underneath they are cryin’
If I only could've seen
what the future would’ve been
I’d have taken my foot off the pedal
and never have meddled
I'd have left things to mom
to the one who was calm
Instead of asserting myself
I'd have watched from the shelf...
But now I’m old and at home
and nearly alone
My kids, out of touch
I miss them so much
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