Lost
in a simile
Chasing
a metaphor
Being
so close
Yet so far
— away
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
So close yet so far
You were right there.
Close enough that if I leaned
just a little more
the space between us would have vanished.
Our shoulders almost touching,
your breath folding into the quiet air,
my hands pretending to rest calmly
while every nerve in me
reached for you.
It is a strange ache,
to miss someone
while they are sitting beside you.
I wanted something small.
Your hand in mine.
My fingers tracing the outline of your face.
A kiss that didn’t need witnesses.
Just proof that the distance I felt
wasn’t real.
Hours passed like held breath.
I memorized the warmth of you
without touching it.
I loved you without moving.
And when I left,
my hands were empty,
but my heart
was unbearably full.
(for Carol)
Sun was shining and West African kora music playing
As I walked through your open front door
Smiling beauty in apron with dinner aromas wafting
Greeting as one old friend to another
So newly met
Full to overflowing with expectation.
How long ago that winter’s day was
As vivid and fresh today
As the light and sounds, sights and smells
So indelibly impressed.
Now with the first of spring
Busying ourselves loading boxes
For another life-changing move,
Silently we each pray it is our last,
But know it won’t be
As time wears us down
And all the things that gave us meaning
Are replaced by something else.
Someday our hobbies and chores
Gardens and trees, pets, birds and bees
Like our aches and pains will prove too much
And we will retreat again
Seeking solace in ever more simplicity.
Until with senses and memory faded
We will be left
With just the sights and sounds
And the light that still lingers
Through the door you so warmly opened
So long ago.
(3/20/26)
It has been a rough week.
Monday was dog-eared and dozing.
The world ended on Tuesday -
so not a great start.
Wednesday, not surprisingly,
did not know how to break the news.
The planet carried on being essentially global
while millions of people seemingly not to care
that they were no longer there.
There were many afterlife tragedies,
rumors of leaky unsustainable beliefs,
suicides were tried but to no avail.
Everywhere there were catastrophic failures
of restroom facilities.
Thursday dissolved quietly
unwilling to confirm or deny its existence.
Those still able to crawl to work
did so in their dreaming skulls.
Friday absentmindedly tried to begin again
then remembered.
The few who thought it might only be
a cosmic PowerGrid blip
were assured by ghostly astrophysicist
that the world would return
and apologized for all the fuss.
However, as happened,
the weekend really was the END.
all poetry is the place I go to be the real me
words I cannot say are easily slipped into conversations here
because they are one-sided conversations
the conversation of one
all poetry is the only site I use nearly every day
I am lured here by my desire to see who read me and why
what they have to say
whether or not they liked my stuff
I am addicted to this site
it is cheaper than drugs or liquor drinks
and I don’t have to throw anything up at night after I am here
As long as it remains a delight, I will be a fan.
So far, so great.
From Washington D.C. is launched an attack
against a venal South America communist
While in Seattle, WA a North American communist
is sworn into office as the city’s mayor
I hear that Seattle residents voted in a middle-aged woman
whose parent still help her with her rent payments
And in NYC, a man with no record of achievement whatsoever
Zero Zohran – now Mayor of America’s largest city
What a hoot! But America can’t have it both ways.
If we are going communist, we’ll have to free Madura
FAT CHANCE OF THAT!
In my mind’s eye I picture myself
strapped inside a rocket soaring
just above the edge of space
there is just one problem
not enough money
cash—six figures
in my dreams!
oh my
what
to
do
Pursue? I can’t—
Raise a glass to those who can
You are so far
Why are you so far? Empty my heart
Why are you distant? Echo my heart
Why are you invisible? Blind my heart
You're causing me. Suffering. Trampling
Pain, in my heart. It’s not yours. Heart
Pain, in my life. That’s not you. A love
You are so far. Yes. Who created? Who?
This distance? Hmm. Are you everything?
No, you are not that. You feel like that
Yeah, I can live without you. Need you?
Oh, no. No! Just the love. Exists out of
Out of you. I don’t go there. No! Never!
I don’t go there. Never! Stay far! So far!
I don’t need your love! Selfish and cruel!
Where is sensitivity, empathy, honesty?
You haven’t! And I am dried. Here. I need
An ocean, a new land. To live the love
The love. The love. The love. The love
The only, the only, the only, the only one
The only one. That. The eternal. A love
A love. Everything. All world. Universe
I want this
Without you
But with you
Only you
Don’t need you
Never, never
You, you, you
Only a heart
Hmm. You
Be far
But
Close
Heart
So far today I have done almost nothing at all
picked up remnants of stuffed bunny dog left in the hall
drank some tea that was seasoned with ginger and honey
since I am retired, I still got paid my retirement money
I watched some lame show on TV from my arm chair
One dog jumped up next to me, the other did not dare
I have listened to the mowers, with a feeling of irritation
their machines are too loud, giving my house a vibration
Many cleaning chores I could have done, but I did none of them
my phone rang me twice, I am sure it might have been a friend
but I am not in the listening mood, and have nothing to say
so far I have been a sloth, completely lazy today
I had a need.
I peed.
I felt freed.
Indeed.
So Close, So Far
Beauty-backed brains,
Ever radiant, ever evanescent
And rejuvenating.. while life's rains
Treacherously try to tear and rent
Rippled holes into men's hearts,
Inspiration comes forth from you
Cajoled by Cupid's love-soaked darts
Encapsulating everyone in your view.
Ordinary folk like me
Metamorphose into a being
Only a favoured few see
Like snowflakes which spring
A surprise on creatures in June
Raking leaves which fell from
Aftermaths of a terrific storm
Where the sky meets
The ground
Where the stars become
Visible
Under that special moon
In the
For me and you
It all about us
Perfection of love
You are my lover
A special , special place
What ah lovely jesture
You and I togethers
We speak of threads that bind us tight,
An unseen web in the silent skies,
Yet faces pass, like ship's at night
Each heart beating, but each alone.
Beneath the stars, a shared expanse,
Yet we retreat, we miss the chance
To bridge the void with a learned hand,
To build a fire, to understand.
Words like whispers drift away,
Unheard cries that break the day.
The distance grows though none have moved—
A chasm wide, by fear improved.
If hearts are linked, why then the ache,
The fractures forming where we break?
We long for love, yet fear the heart.
And so remain so far apart.
Oh, let us dare to mend the thread,
To weave together what's been shed,
And find the closeness we once knew,
A world made whole, both old and new.
My spirit frost bitten
yet still the river flows
Mercy on the distant bank
my fate caught in between
Wishes drift across the ice
but this side holds me fast
Deliverance oh so very near
— in sight beyond my reach
(Dreamsleep: February, 2024)
In a land so far away,
Lost in dreams of other days.
A young man looks out over this vast land,
He thinks of all here before him and understands.
Understands the pride, the promise, the essence of what has to be,
He has known for sometime was part of this family's history.
The young girl he had loved from so long ago,
Has grown into the woman who has captured his heart and his soul'
Together against all the will find their place in this family's history
They will keep the promise to her granddaddy,
The promise to make the Yellowstone part of Montana's history
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