We think we tread the solid earth. Yet, the earth itself was but a dream.
In the dream, we burned each other's desires and greed,
Filled with the ecstasy of each other's love, we finally became one—
Only to realize we were each other's roses.
We think we know one another, yet we know nothing.
Even this, in the end, was merely a dream of each other.
We thought we were walking upon a dream.
Only to awaken and find ourselves standing upon real ground,
Holding fast to each other's love and warmth.
I neither awaken nor do I dream.
At this very moment,
With a thundering, restless sound, I am born anew.
Someday, when someone reads these words of mine,
I shall be born within your heart and in your eyes—
Not as a dream, but as reality.
==================================
No more writing!
Until my poem calls me, again!
==================================
Common sense, once common indeed,
Now seems a forgotten human need.
We hurry through life with reckless force,
Placing the cart before the horse.
We seek the harvest before the seed,
Demanding success without the deed.
Racing ahead without thought or care,
Then wondering why progress isn't there.
Education fills the mind with facts,
Yet often neglects life's deeper acts.
Not teaching how to reason and think,
But leaving many on worry's brink.
For wisdom grows when minds reflect,
When consequences earn respect.
Every choice we make today
Shapes the paths we walk someday.
A thoughtful person understands
That truth is not held in one pair of hands.
Each circumstance has another side,
A lesson often pushed aside.
To move ahead, we first must see
What is, what was, and what can be.
For genuine progress, clear and true,
Begins with understanding what we do.
So let wisdom lead and haste take pause,
Let reason guide through life's great cause.
For the surest way to move ahead
Is to think before the path is tread.
Tread softly on my feelings
and I'll tread softly too.
For we only have those dreams
that we know will not come true.
The ones of love we can't resist,
that touch our heart and soul.
The ones that linger and persist
to tempt our self-control.
Yet we know our love will never be,
not in this lifetime dear.
We know as well that we're not free,
the path for us is clear.
We must go our separate ways,
and the memories we will keep
are the what if dreams and might-have-beens
that realities put to sleep.
And though our silent thoughts may fantasize
of romantic bliss and more.
As love may come to mesmerize
those dreams we must ignore.
So, tread softly on my feelings
for soon we must let go
and the only memories we will keep
are the dreams we'll never know.
Speak with kindness and a gentle heart.
May we be blessed with every walk in nature…
to enjoy all the sights and sounds around her…
to tread as softly as we can
and leaving her…exactly as we found her..
inside the darkness fear we tread-inside the darkness tread we fear
As I gaze upward at the sky so blue,
I hope you’re resting well,
So that you can feel renewed.
The orange sky presents an extraordinary hue
When the snow blankets the mountainside,
And I wish for that mountain to rest peacefully.
You have an incredibly open heart,
A fine citizen and a romantic hero,
As the snow sparkles among the trees, it creates a work of art.
Snowballs are hurled from my dreams,
Quickly landing in the heart of nature and wildlife
In this unpredictable world.
Free-flying thoughts take their flight
From your creative mind,
Venturing into the beauty of nature and the comfort of the fireside.
Use your hands and eyes to solve problems;
Your talent has often been on display,
Imbuing various shades of color
To convey such meaningful news.
Naturally, I think of you
And all that you do,
High up on the mountainside where you tread so skillfully.
Arrived alive
departed dead
and the same
may be said
of all who tread
this weary world
of ours
less a milestone
more a speed bump
each Birthday
I perceive
and poetry
is but one way to fill
the waning hours for me
In the palm of the universe, only the mad ones dare to tread,
Mad to live, to speak, to be saved from the relentless currents of time,
Craving everything at once, like a blazing sun at its zenith,
They never yawn, nor utter the mundane, but burn with the brilliance of fallen stars,
Like fabulous yellow roman candles bursting into webs among the stars,
Their light dances upon the walls of my soul, weaving dreams I can never touch,
While sandcastles rise in my wandering mind, without foundations to hold them.
Marble staircases and crystal chandeliers waltz in the echoes of forgotten dreams,
Through the labyrinth of unwritten memories, I roam, lost and searching,
Unaware of the source of this sweet poison that floods my senses,
Oh cruel universe, why do you show me only shadows of happiness?
Let me glimpse the light that dances, yet remains untouched by any hand,
In the merciless universe, why reveal mere shadows of joy,
When my prayer is an echo of unfulfillment, a melody without end,
That is lost in the infinity of the universe, untouched and unheard by anyone.
In a realm of shadows and fears, footsteps tread unceasingly,
Small fears like dried leaves gather beneath the steps of autumn,
I am not a person, but a lost dream, among desires and shivers,
I fear small, ordinary, human things, like a wandering stranger.
I love adventures, transformations flow like a river to the unknown,
Yet I resist when opportunity appears as a door ajar,
In vain I flee, for fear finds me, an echo of steps on a deserted road,
I have no choice but to look into its deep eyes, to find courage.
Fear is not the monster I believed, but an old friend, unrecognized,
It is the key that opens doors to freedom, to light,
I realize the irony in the question: where has fear been all my life?
What do I still avoid that could be of help, that could bring solace?
With each step, integrating fear, I become more myself,
I embrace the shadows like old acquaintances on my path,
They make my heart beat fast, I live each moment intensely,
I weave my destiny from thin threads of courage and acceptance.
In a world of shadows and deep silences, I tread slowly,
On the paths of solitude, where stars weave my hair with gentle rays,
The guardian trees whisper to the wind tales long forgotten,
And people are storms that break my peace in waves of words,
Their voices become storms that drown my soul in murky waters,
They trap me in webs of lies and promises lost to the wind,
They strip me of my silence and leave me bare under a sky full of words,
I retreat to hidden corners of the universe, where the moon knows my secrets,
In their noisy tumult, I am the cat beneath the heavy steps of elephants,
Silent in a world that knows not to listen, only to speak,
In solitude, I find the harmony of a symphony of mute whispers,
Each thought is a falling star, each breath a new universe,
In the pale light of the dawning day, I find my balance,
On the edge of a dream, where silence is my quiet queen,
In this eternal dance of silence, I live the unseen magic of the world,
Words are but distant echoes, lost in time.
Beloved, how sad you tread into the mist of lost dreams,
Wandering in the cold blue, befriending the forces that are your foes.
Beloved, how sad, born of magic, a soul crowned with whirlwinds of ecstasy,
Yet you claim your fate is the dark spirit, eternal and ill-fated.
Beloved, how sad, and yet, how human,
To cling to the thinnest hope with all the strength you can muster,
Erecting an altar in memory of shadows, calling it the only one that will matter.
In the flow of your consciousness, you entwine with fleeting phantoms and illusions,
Seeking solace in the crying wind, in the rain that hurts.
But deep within your soul, you know the magic is not lost, just hidden beneath a veil,
In every step through the darkness, there is a ray of light, a corner of ideal.
Beloved, how sad to see only shadows and sharp edges in destiny,
But how human to hope, to believe in the light that secretly beckons you.
Perhaps in this magical sadness lies the answer sought,
For even in the deepest night, you have kept a glimmer of hope.
Before the dawning of this world age
My Father spoke, exchanging premise I was in Him needle to tread
In the grace, His space
A line define energies graft through the tunnel in womb needle to tread
~
I come, I came through too needle to tread, I bled
Awaken fully physically dead yet I live eternal needle to tread
8/30/24
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2024©
TREAD SOFTLY
I do recall a quiz question
Who made the most tyres
The audience was tasked
The answer is Lego, I fear
But was that in a good year
Some loud wit then asked
Another called them liars
It gave us all indigestion
As he looks at all the stuff
that‘s stored inside his head
he marvels at how randomly it’s all been packed away
“Gently, gently, be careful where you tread”
he reminds himself to move about with care
although he’s been up there many times before
and knows his way around
there are some dodgy places up there on his attic floor
as he looks about him with wonder and delight
there are things up there that he’d rather just forget
that he wishes he’d never done
that are cause for deep regret
but, when taken as a whole
he is pleased with what he finds up there
a veritable hodgepodge of life’s travails and pleasures
admitting that at times he should have paid more care
he considers it all to be his very own box of chocolates
he has his favourites that he wishes there were more of
and there are those that he vehemently wishes
he could quietly just get rid of
I wonder what it’s like
to be inside your head
would you like to spend some time
in somebody else’s head instead
even for just a moment
perhaps an entire day
and rummage through what they have there
all secretly stored away.
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