Spirited seeks a match for that energy,
someone willing to jump in headfirst.
Cheeky talk can draw in an audience
who thrives inside their world of fiction.
Truth can be extremely difficult to handle.
Coming across as so eternally upbeat,
dark clouds steer clear of that sunshine.
Occupied minds will miss the details,
the sparkle in some smiles isn’t gentle.
A forlorn soul has a cracked window
leaving them completely vulnerable.
Curiosity always craves an adventure,
giving no thought to the consequences.
Nothing’s off the table to avoid boredom.
Naively each return a gaze with a rose,
some eyes only hold counterfeit sheen.
If
If I could,
I would turn back
the cruel, unrelenting hands of time.
I would patiently wait on the sidelines
instead of jumping headfirst into life.
I would wait for a better song,
a gentler tune,
a better partner than the devil
I got stuck with—
an evil waltz,
unending.
And like an evil zoetrope,
I keep seeing glances
of distant places,
of glimpses of once-reachable hope,
and the laughter
of old times.
Grace quietly dances with another.
Peace glides past.
Yet in another—
the teary eyes of my mother.
On and on,
we waltz.
Paganini, lost in his world.
Time doesn't work on him.
And on and on we dance,
hoping for the inevitable,
sad end,
and longingly wishing for a sip
of water
on the expensive table.
What was it about
the roar of the crowd
the crack of the bat
the circling of the bases
headfirst slides, the dust they begat
What was it about
the swish of the net
the dripping of sweat
in those musty old gyms
none of us ever forget
What was it about
that seventy-yard pass
dropping like a feather
right in the receiver’s lap
The magic moved us all back then
kids with heroes and larger-than-life dreams
‘til we no longer made the team
‘Til Fenway Park and
Madison Square Garden
became two more venues
for hustlers’ schemes
I dive headfirst into Masonite’s wood fibers
compressed baked & primed
blending boundaries of life,
lightning and death’s
cycle of pain in paint
as a path to tranquility treading
through inner turmoil of vibrancy
A hummingbird in her shell breaks away
the triaged torment
for a moment, quietus cabaret on
cacti untamed canvas
conveys an observer in one’s
own collard greens
Tehuana traditional gown
from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec
ripe reds & burnt orange
Oiled in, the gods Xolotl,
guard dog portrayed
Aztec god & fertility goddess
Motherly milky way
flanking figures,
a fiery orb of the sun
& the cool, silvery moon
dualities of balance
Fresco muralist Diego Rivera
cuddled infantile by Kahlo,
adorns a frontal lobe’s
opened third eye
& wears Buddha’s mouth
apprises of oriental wisdom
both his & hers
naïve folk art
enveloped in a cosmic
love embrace of the universe
Diving headfirst into healing tides
cleansed and terrified simultaneously
quick to sink or rise with every wave
ups and downs are fragments of joy
as shells move swift with the sea spray
my relentless spirit is the cornerstone
falling down hard getting up harder
I’ve been left behind in rough waters
beautifully bouncing rocking about
hurricane strength is what I needed
pulled under forced to briefly pause
thrown up high to capture fresh air
rejuvenated to go try with a crash
abandon fear and take on becoming
a concussion is merely temporary
I eventually reach stable and calm
I wonder if you’ll see the secret revealed
Listen to the words the truth I will yield
Of a beautiful scene, just like a rose hill
Visions of you cause my heart to be still
Even apart, my thoughts are always of you
Every moment spent with you is far too few
Living to see that smile as if it were the first
I want you to know I’ve fallen headfirst
For all to see that I actually truly love you
Keep this secret, as you now know, too
It’s so true through and through
Where would I have been without you
Horses gallop through my mind
They don't stop they just rewind
Piano keys play lullabies in my dreams
Logic’s tossed into the bin
Love's a game I’ll never win
But I’m diving headfirst in
Or so it seems
I wait for eleven eleven
To whisper wishes to the sky
Love's made me crazy
Can’t you see
She’s the only equation I believe
If she were math
I’d beat a calculator
She’s the answer I’ll solve sooner or later
My little heart
It sparkles bright
Like city lights in the dead of night
Thinking of her makes my thoughts combust
I’m not the same
I’ve lost control
She’s the melody that fills my soul
Love’s a mess but trust me
It’s a must
Watered Down
Tiny mirrors, iridescent light
aged salt on my skin
Mother of Pearl
inlaid earrings reflect the
seashell skull MASK
I wear below the surface.
No longer able to carry
life's miseries and mistakes
the inevitable misfortunes
the chaos above
the crushing sound of the surf
I sink, no anchor
WATERED DOWN
my pulse dissolves
into the water and
rhythmic movement
Released.
No one can hear
my muffled screams
the silent anguish of age
the dark underwater shadows
We all live with
blacked thoughts
I have kept only to myself.
Diving headfirst
into the vast silence
I place each piece of hidden shame inside
the colored clam shells
I collect
between green seaweed waves.
One White, One Grey, One Pink
So....This is how Pearls are made.................................
Life takes its own eternity to create beauty
Kicking upward
I push leaving the
sandy bottom
tiny bubbles of rainbows
fill my lungs with freedom
I carry my handmade
human heart
I rise toward the filtered sunlight
there is no other choice
leaving this poem
Buried under the seawater’s door.
We had two, enormous Black Walnut trees
That would shed every leaf in the fall.
The lawn would be blanketed, brilliant yellow
As the cold, north winds would call.
The task was foreboding to say the least,
The work would be hard, I conceded.
To prepare for winter and snow to come
Raking the leaves was needed.
Many years since, in a distant state
I find myself raking again
And a memory stirred my heart anew
And with joy I remembered when….
After toilsome hours of gathering leaves
My body sore and aching,
A ritual started that to this day
Brings fondness of raking’s partaking.
My son and daughter would anxiously wait
For the leaves to be heaped in a pile.
At my, “Okay!” they would dive in headfirst
And be buried alive with smiles.
Laughter ensued, and joy was the mood
As our mountain of leaves exploded.
Rake ‘em again! Pile it up so we can
Dive in over and over, with Fall overloaded.
By Tom Valles
Rain, the supple daggers that shatter upon a window,
sprinting down its slippery surface
racing towards the ground.
The individual drops turn and twist
spiraling, earthbound.
Teardrop diamonds cut gracefully through
the air falling,
falling into an array of brown, blue and black,
the world around them parting a path.
A red carpet to the land.
They dive headfirst, plummeting into foreign lands;
buildings, bricks and slate-tiles roofs.
A sense of nostalgia?
As if they'd been here before,
but they were not them
and we were not us.
In a solemn cloud crystalline droplets rejoice.
They tie a parachute of sunlight to their waists,
watch as the narrow ray is sliced
into ribbons, flowing across the horizon.
Between concrete pillars
and above the barren fields,
a melancholy beauty.
Under a scorching sun,
tiny molecules rise
doggedly chasing the blue above.
Few will reach a destination
and scarcer a meaningful one
but each promises life.
They have been here before
though everything was different,
and easier.
By the sea I become immersed
in that flash of aquamarine.
Bubblegum and blisters go burst,
by the sea I become immersed.
Diving into the waves headfirst,
nature's worth a view in widescreen.
By the sea I become immersed
in that flash of aquamarine.
The mission was simple;
To save the whole planet
From white clouds
Lies the troopers
The wind howled
As they fell down
A headfirst dive
At the speed of sound
Death is a friend of the Earth
They thought, as they fell across the sky
I am the savior of the Earth
But I know not how or why
Today they made a sacrifice
That little drop of rain
But it went over our heads
Life seems still and same
Thud
They disintegrate into the hungry plants
They watch their friends get absorbed
This perilous journey they undertook
For the good of our world
At the cusp
Of a wave, a change, a fall
Into total darkness
Here we stand
Or rather slide
Headfirst into destruction
And as we fall
Into chaos and dissolution
We will at last be saved
And in that moment
What we took for granted
Will be lost
Within the total chaos
Law and order will be established
And with it the end of freedom
This is the new world order
That awaits when their machinations
Come to fruit
You, me, us
Reduced to so many parts
Without regard for who we really are
And in the change
As the light of dawn unfolds
Will we be revealed as spirt or flesh
And in the severing
Will we sink or fly
In terror or relief
This is the cusp
We find ourselves on
As the powers that be extend
And as they grow
And we still have a choice
What will it be
(10/25/24)
Headfirst into the sea he found her,
Madison caught Allen with her kiss;
Love left to surge bound them forever;
Free to be with her in this abyss,
Allen could breathe no trouble at all;
This realization was pure bliss;
His movements a nonverbal catcall,
the mermaid grins taking no offense;
She welcomes this monumental fall;
Fathoms down in a liquid romance,
elated with what never made sense.
The Beauty of Fall
Fall
frost invites
your favorite sweater
Fall
into hills of cold crunchy leaves
Fall
back in time to
a childhood school memory
Fall
to your knees and thank
Gaia for her bounty
Fall
favorably with the lost bees
as they try to find their way
Fall
into someone’s arms at
Homecoming dance
Fall
headfirst into
luscious bobbing apples
Fall
into a bed
of fresh flannel sheets
Mostly,
Fall
fearlessly into
whatever comes your way.
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