Perfectly Said: when words become art

Perfectly Said when words become art By brian douthit

PublishAmerica Baltimore

© 2004 Brian Douthit. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publishers, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a newspaper, magazine or journal. First printing

ISBN: 1-4137-4024-3 PUBLISHED BY PUBLISHAMERICA, LLLP www.publishamerica.com Baltimore Printed in the United States of America

For Kate, my butterfly

Introduction Poetry, like all art, differs greatly in its many forms. All people enjoy the art they love because it connects with them, even if it may range from the skiffle pool shallowness of a painting matching the sofa, to art that stirs the passion of your soul and ignites within you the furnaces of outrage and injustice, to the glowing fires of love and beauty. When I first read Brian Douthit’s poetry I was immediately captivated by its inherent beauty. Many in simple ABAB verse, each poem was pieced together to the point where altering one word would be like an ugly scratch across its very essence. Where some poems read as though spewed forth from a literary fire hydrant, Brian Douthit writes the poetic equivalent of a “Field of Dreams.” His words hark back to the gentle splendour of Frost while still evoking the best of Shelley and Byron. Quite simply, I love his poetry for as you read through each line becoming more and more hypnotised by their rhythmic magic, you realize there is a sublime fragility connecting like shimmering gossamer on a moonlit night. The care in which each word has been chosen suddenly reveals poem after poem of true art, true feeling, romance, and skill. Living in Australia I have never met Brian in person. Apart from our mutual admiration of the other’s writing we have no connection. It is my honour to write this introduction, but it has been my joy to discover Brian Douthit and his writing, as I am sure it will be yours after these gems caress your soul and soften your heart. David Peter Robertson May 6, 2004

Contents Perfectly Said ................................................................................... 11 Golden Ambrosia ............................................................................. 12 A Kiss Remembered ......................................................................... 14 January’s Hands ..............................................................................15 Exquisite Anguish ............................................................................ 17 The Tender Leaves Of Pleasure ....................................................... 18 Morning Vision ................................................................................ 20 The Young Maiden ........................................................................... 21 I Fathom Infinity ..............................................................................22 Beginnings ....................................................................................... 23 The Magi’s Reply ............................................................................. 25 Convergence ....................................................................................26 A Delicate Kiss ................................................................................29 An Enchanting Lover ....................................................................... 30 She Returns ......................................................................................32 Immersed With Beauty ..................................................................... 34 White Lace Limbo ............................................................................35 Peking Breezes ................................................................................. 36 Mystical Dream ............................................................................... 37 Your Name ....................................................................................... 38 A Saturday In Chartres ....................................................................40 Sanctuary ......................................................................................... 42 Biography Of A Rumor ....................................................................43 Endless Night ................................................................................... 45 The Nature Of It All ......................................................................... 46 Pleasurable Frustration ..................................................................48 Romance Unplanned........................................................................49 Another World ..................................................................................50 My Lover ..........................................................................................53 Answers To Everlasting Strands ......................................................54 Gentle Torrent ..................................................................................56 Holy Evolution ................................................................................. 58

Polly’s High Firefly Season ............................................................. 59 Here, There, Everywhere .................................................................60 Perception ........................................................................................ 63 I Long For Your Shimmer ................................................................ 64 Ashes Of Angels ...............................................................................67 Radiant Beauty ................................................................................68 The Religion Of Romance ................................................................69 Shout Past The Horizon ...................................................................71 Beauty’s Merit ..................................................................................72 Midnight Ponderings .......................................................................75 The Beautiful Artist .......................................................................... 76 Weave The Rain ...............................................................................78 Freedom Song ..................................................................................79 Memory’s Gracious Glance .............................................................80 Silent Confession .............................................................................81 A Sigh In Abiding Passion ...............................................................82 Heed My Human Wish .....................................................................84 An Afternoon With Rain ...................................................................85 The Meaning Of Life ........................................................................86

Perfectly Said Bidding me closer and drawing me near Her fingers caressing my face A soft expression warm and sincere She is light and tender grace Magnetic eyes attracting my stare Swathe me sweet and lovely Her delicate hand plays with my hair And the world is joy around me Pulling me in, she’s an alluring bouquet And I agreeably comply She opens her lips as if something to say I hear a soft and loving sigh

11

Golden Ambrosia A quiet tranquility gently eases into the moment As if sweetened Time was selected from a ripened vine and placed softly in Life’s basket to be saved and savored for a warm and sparkling celebration

And as my eyes embrace and faintly fall upon her tender face I peer into the depths of those bottomless sapphire mysteries And I slip silently and willingly into eternity

12

O’ how love is a sweet fortune found And an even greater fortune for those sentient souls who regard their heart as the sustaining substance and drink its essence as golden ambrosia

13

A Kiss Remembered The press of her lips was similar to a secret Only softly would it be revealed As if whispered in a hushed quiet All that was hidden, our kiss did yield Within this tender and moist union Was perceived a pleasant mystery Communing in some esoteric reunion Rendered to sentimental history So willingly swept into the past Suspended in flowing motion Enlivened love, an ocean massed Lavished in shivering emotion Ah, to delight in the embrace of flight And to be swallowed by sovereign fate Two undying spirits reunite And remember the kiss of a soul mate

14

January’s Hands The dormant trees stood frozen And the absent garden covered in purity The world, a quilted glistening vision Silent but alight, still with energy An old piece of golden ribbon Rippled freely on those lifeless limbs Fastened between ice and aspen Exposed to the cold breezes whims I pondered on its shimmering texture And wondered, what life has it known Had it graced the hair of some family member Whose aging mother, now lives alone Was it tied with pride in daily routine Often with dally, and at times in hurry Or only on occasion, to look fresh and pristine When appearance was important, and cause for worry Was the ribbon more, than what I now see Esteemed and precious, more than any treasure Warmly handed on, by generations maybe And the wearer admired, for reaching such measure Thinking on this, through my visible breath The once grand ribbon now in pieces and strands One final owner, ensuring a lonely death For now it’s come to rest, in January’s hands

15

Exquisite Anguish Light rouge across blue glass Glossing the sky at onset Sunrise appears as a bright crevasse Penetrating the night’s every outlet As dawn advances upon creation Silken robes open loosely Freely exposed for nature’s elation Are tender blossoms growing profusely As echoing shadows fade away The rising day sets the meadow aglow The sweetest innocence, on a morning sashay With my devoted attention beginning to grow Pleasing winds whip her hair To the soothing song of a mourning dove As I’m lavished with her simple stare My exquisite anguish precedes love My longing eyes close, in desire for air Such breathtaking beauty has a delicate crush Not lost alone in my adoring despair Regaining my sight, I saw the rising sun blush

17

The Tender Leaves Of Pleasure Upon her pursed lips so favorably wet rests my dry parched thirst The first of a kiss to never forget I rejoiced while in moistness submersed Ablaze with passionate sin fire burns anew and fresh The refreshing heat of smooth cool skin while enmeshed with her shivering flesh I hold desire and temptation fondly they are the river to fulfillment’s ocean

18

And they are the sweet reaching tree as pleasure’s tender leaves soak the sun

19

Morning Vision She is so lovely, as she comes nigh Spring grass covered in morning dew The earth gives her praise enough to cry Valued by nature, as she comes into view As she continues and walks nearby I pause to look at her, in this day anew She is beauty as I’ve never seen Daylight breaks, to my delight Erasing shadows in between Clearing up my darkened plight Merciful sun, my vision pristine Rises only, to show her in the light As time moves on I am content A busy life and daily clamor Nothing gives me cause to lament Cherished affection is held with pleasure My morning vision, time well spent A wonderful woman, I’ll always remember

20

The Young Maiden I walked alone in the public garden Troubles and worries left far away Nature emerging softly like satin Breathing deep the scented array Peaceful and secure in quiet meditation My soul was at rest on the warm midday I came upon a pretty young maiden Sweet and tender, so innocently shy She sat alone with unknown burden My silent thoughts were lead awry Moving close, she was obviously shaken I listened most sadly to her painful cry Whispering softly, so to be kindly heard I sought the cause of her hurtful aching She looked at me and uttered no word And continued her injured whimpering Glancing behind, with her eyes she gestured To her broken and tattered angel’s wing

21

I Fathom Infinity Soothing water ripples lightly coursing smoothly over gleaming stones Reflecting colors ever so slightly chanting faintly in softened tones Tiny finches poise on branches and sing in harmony with the stream As she soaks me with easy glances I melt flowing into a dream She is all that Purity hopes to attain and the very rendering of beauty She is the enigma I strain to explain yet in her eyes I fathom infinity

22

Beginnings With eyes closed, all’s quiet in creation I embrace the face of silence Finding peace in shadows isolation Erased is rain of outward stridence My veins flow with the richness of honey Sweeping through me at a slow tempo My skin alight, almost sunny Warmly sweet with a golden glow Echoing sensations vibrating my mind Negating lifetime limitations Answers to questions still undefined Saturated with sensory flirtations I arise on the earth born anew Fragile, yet joyfully freed My virtuous life sown by you When softly, you planted my seed Attend and nurture in coming weeks It’s of your loving nature, that my beauty speaks

23

The Magi’s Reply Marble stairs with ivory railing Ascending, along with my dreams Silver awash on walls and ceiling I’m announced by mild moonbeams Met at my movement’s summit By all that beauty achieves Adorned with a wordless sonnet And curls like Autumn-colored leaves Suspended in a songful hush A brush of moistened lips And a sudden rush of scarlet flush When embraced with her melting hips The moments passed as a serene caress Aloft in pristine pleasure Then an impish request that I should address Why my love would not languish or waver The reserves of my heart I sought to supply As only a magi observes In sweet lullaby I wished to reply But said, “I’m loved more than any deserves”

25

Convergence Fingers interlace and entwine hands held one with the other Affection unfolds with senses aligned Hearts unveil one to another In each was kept those cherished streams of flowing hopes those treasured lives of light unlived those pleasured eves of nights unslept Despite the strength of inward needs they dared believe these dreams undreamt To Love’s consent they surrender freely and succumb to all and ascend sublime

26

A simple clutch of gentle comfort meant so much in fleeting time

Fragments of wishes and flushes of urge and pulsing desires All emerge when two hands converge

27

A Delicate Kiss A sweet innocence adorns her face In the fashion of an alluring smile Inviting me, to some other-worldly place Exiled, in all that desire holds worthwhile Does the wind not pursue her Save only to stroke silken hair And easing to a breeze even fainter In favor, of caressing skin this fair O’ how she holds my tender attention As my heart melts into a flowing chorus A soundless song above comprehension Exquisite expression, yielding me voiceless I shall no longer evade her splendor But rather, embrace a savory bliss As yearning gives way to surrender I dissolve into her delicate kiss

29

An Enchanting Lover As the music plays my mind strains Dim shadows search for memory’s trace As a misplaced sorrow softly remains And the forgotten name of a lovely face As the melody unfolds passionate and tender I awaken to the loss of bygone affection The rhythm of song seduces me to remember So bitter-sweet lingering in reflection Abundant hair with the aroma of honeysuckle Brushes against me like a butterfly’s kiss A valued souvenir woven from Time’s wrinkle Reminding me of my beloved as I reminisce Her ever fervent eyes ablaze with favor Easing me in to untamed sensation

30

Removed from all else by the image of her Enmeshed with desire’s elation As the song ended I mused on romance And doubting as I played it again Was the name of the song simply by chance “The forgotten love between fairies and men”

31

She Returns Playful whispers near my ear as laughter swashes softly Endearing eyes I clearly hear speak to me so warmly My soul awakened by her rousing smile Retracing time in tender embrace My heart resigned to die a while until I gazed again upon her face Her soothing scent sweeps the air and wafts away secluded wanting

32

Such gentle joys are always there In every return of Spring

33

Immersed With Beauty Echoes of her scent so replete Drift through the air as if mist Appealing, and ever so sweet Invites me near, as if to insist Her body, firm and slender Faint arms, resting on the edge Delicate feet, frolic in the water At first sight, love I did pledge She was closed and shy at first Then inner beauty began to expose And with her I became immersed Nothing is lovelier than a rose

34

White Lace Limbo Her tight skin glows in light of candles As night outside shadows the window A dress on the floor next to sandals Across white lace my slow eyes follow

Swallowed by the deepness of pillows Oblivious to the beckon of time Hands sweeping from torso to toes Lasting moments in a passing lifetime

Sensual embraces accented with sweat As white lace gives way to desire Nestled between sheets a trembling duet Lit candles burn down as the fire grows higher

35

Peking Breezes The greenest ivy I’ve ever seen Abounds, up old round columns Sheets from a fountain, form a screen And create astounding crystalline blossoms Urgent concerns were resigned at the gate For these ornate garden grounds are gentle Its ancient marble, predates my human fate Vibration of thought, inclined to be tactile As I bathe in waves of tranquility Sweet scented honeysuckle graces the air And I glance into the mild eyes of impossibility To see rare beauty, rending the roses to despair “From which delicate flower, has this soft petal fallen” My powerless heart, saying what it pleases Her caress of a response is distressfully foreign Where peace meets unrest, blows the Peking breezes

36

Mystical Dream As I lay sleeping I had a dream To a mystical place I went I walked shaded, next to a stream With flowering trees casting lavish scent I heard harps playing a blissful sound Among statues, noble and ancient I found a crystal, smooth and round Showing the spectrum clear and vibrant At first my own reflection Then I gazed hard and deep I saw a child playing with passion And then awakened from my sleep Considering my dream, my happiness grew And I’ll always cherish it fondly The child is the morning, fresh and new The place; this world of possibility

37

Your Name I breathe your name into me across my lips it lightly prances Saying it like a prayerful plea the rippling sound around me dances

Your name rings within me deeply melting my tender marrow Cherishing its chime so dearly I surrender to its vibrating flow

Echoing in my existence through every season and each year

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A name of resonating brilliance falling softly on my ear

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A Saturday In Chartres Apparitions of winter have melted away As the earth gives birth upon grassy plains Passing noonday rains, create a mirthful ballet With soft-petal dresses, swaying to refrains Confining gray clouds, untie a captive sun Whose warmth dissolves all persisting mist Rising flaxen wings, begin to twist into heaven With France enchanting me, into a Springtime tryst Content to wander these engaging lands Its gentle beauty almost torments my heart A cathedral built with Free Stone Mason hands Mankind and time, were eventually kind to Chartres Hauntingly noble, almost ominous Stained glass windows casting a gothic gaze Chipped pale brick, with a sense of darkness A magnetic fear lures me through the archways A dim, mild light shines inside The scent of centuries, weighs in the air And the residing lives of those who’ve died Seem to guide my eyes, to an upward stare It was no deity, nor saint, or savior I saw But a mass of quiet light, whispering in through the glass Such passionate hues, inspiring me to awe Reds and blues, evoking trepidation to pass

40

Peace and comfort settled into my soul As I continued to stroll through the colorful brilliance The hallowed cathedral gave me a soothing cajole For I had first judged it, by outward appearance

41

Sanctuary

Sagebrush and laurel leaves and ageless elation all radiantly thriving in the life of my ever yearning eyes Such gentle passion such tempting endearment brushing lightly over me with an enticingly strange and appealing hush As if I were joyously weighted down by all the soft spoken supplications that any lover has ever helplessly uttered in a moment of tearful fondness

42

All of Heaven holds its own sense and reasons and so I supposed when she gingerly kissed me and I slipped from density into the wondrous refuge of Sanctuary

Biography Of A Rumor Faint whispers fondly murmur Conceived between smiling suspicion And veracity’s embellishment, as father Yet born as innocent supposition Nurtured by the absence of substance And suckling abstract observation It grows in the eyes of rationed intelligence As falsity’s fond blood relation How lovely the voyeur’s diversion When other lives are see-through So cherished are these perverted children Imagining the populace is human too

43

Endless Night Tender passion reaches for tomorrow Any other I would forsake I wait for streams of sultry red and yellow My lover returns to me at daybreak The darkness commits a quiet treason A world woven in a velvety blur Each second evokes a season As I anxiously await for her Moonlit shadows strangely move Unleashed like some darkened beast Driven in a hungry groove Feeding, on a luminescent feast The moon itself, full and bright That terrible ghost amongst the tears Haunts me from a distant height My nemesis as morning nears O’ my love where is the day Whose astounding brilliance I await End this grave of white and gray And return to me, my precious mate

45

The Nature Of It All The high sun shines all around giving reassuring warmth and comfort Everything’s so bright and I’m spellbound peace at last in a colorful concert

Fragrant aroma fills the air Delicate petals tender and fragile To touch them softly if I dare A caress so gentle and casual

46

Holding firmly and stretching deep reaching out for the sweetest moisture This is the one that I think I’ll keep because that’s what it is to kiss her

47

Pleasurable Frustration I have seen into eyes engaging On the most affectionate of faces Beauty has set my passions raging Lightly lost, in love affair chases O’ how you are marvelous and unrivaled I revel in your gentle seduction You have both dazzled and bedeviled With such a delicate introduction You delve into me deeply Discovering facets I didn’t fathom Making me yearn for innocent folly And wish for blasphemous rhythm Do I entreat you to further explore Or implore you for limitation Unknowingly, you have caused an uproar By being such pleasurable frustration

48

Romance Unplanned The mysterious moon hung overhead Casting the only light In the darkness I was led By my adoring and lovely sprite We came upon an unknown place She began her playful laughter Running away as I gave chase I vowed to catch my tempter Perhaps she was too kind to me Or maybe made some err The pursuit was ended quickly She was easy to ensnare Kissing her fondly, I held her tight We moved as if to music A hedonistic song that night We were passionate and rhythmic I thought about the plans we made They were nothing less than formal The evening left me undismayed Because romance is sometimes casual

49

Another World A soft sound arises from a thousand or more thin transparent wings that are only found on the tiny lives that simply exist on the edge of some dreamer’s fanciful imagination The small wings begin to sway slowly in succession across the freshly formed petals of the sweet Spring flowers sending the intense scent wafting through the evening’s warm air

50

O’ how the inspired soul of a lover dwells in another world all its own That even the windblown smells of nature turns their beating heart into fairy wings

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My Lover I melt with helpless affection My vision flooded with what I see Caught up in a fervent passion She is an image beyond lovely Yearning drips from my very soul As I sit in silent devotion My gentle heart finally whole Willingly lost in emotion Enticing me to sweet weakness Her appetite sets me afire A woman so bewitchingly faultless Enchants me with desire I pray the sun rises every day For hours of engaging pleasure Another dance of her savory ballet Her beauty my only treasure

53

Answers To Everlasting Strands Softly flowing on eternity’s breath Resting in humanity’s hands Searching steadily until death For answers to everlasting strands If the Devil is the dual to God And good on the end of evil Why are the faithful at odds in Jihad East and West, in hostile upheaval If mass equates to space and weight And a thought is not a thing Then how can greed and hate dictate So much of human suffering All of our beliefs and notions Form images in our mind Planting seeds of caustic actions In the garden of mankind Most hold to the one idea The responsibility is the others To create the all-loving panacea For us, as sisters and brothers Should all give goodness and kindness To everyone we see Although a righteous and noble practice The ruthless and cruel may not agree

54

None should neglect their self respect And self defense is necessity But an axiom that might help us connect Is “cause no harm, to a tolerable degree” Softly flowing on eternity’s breath Resting in humanity’s hands Searching steadily until death For answers to everlasting strands

Her morning eyes rise with the day Welcomed once more by a ballet of light The wind streams in its sweet bouquet Good favor she sings, to perishing night The trees are blooming in the birth of Spring And a chirping mirth from winged gypsies What pleasing bounties nature does bring Blessings of earth, give her peace and ease Her mate melts her with lengthy embrace In grace she dissolves, giving her trust Strong in heart with kindness of face Promised together until returning to dust The occurrence of pleasures and fortunate acts Give her delight to smile in grateful agreement And silently alone she considers the impacts Of her thoughts, actions, and judgment Awakened to her hopes and heartaches She braves the vastness without safe guarantee Will she forsake mankind for our blind mistakes Or will she cause us no harm, to a tolerable degree

55

Gentle Torrent Silent tears slip from looking glass eyes and pass benignly along with barely a trace What wrong has wrought her smile’s demise that once sweetly flowered on this cherished face

The depth of such weeping more vast than the present perhaps amassed in the abyss of travailing years

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What warrants this anguish so poignantly grievant whose arrant intensity assails all my fears

Across exposed fragile lips over chin to crisp blouse sorrow seems to stream like summer rain on a sculpture What ushered such wordless emotions to rouse When I vowed “You have my heart gentle lover... forever”

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Holy Evolution Entry to the garden’s holy ground Forbidden by reason of vanity Good and evil had now been found And the serpent reviled by humanity Perhaps evolution was our origin Animals availing themselves of survival From the ocean with gill and fin Came the saga of temporal travel For many the mystery may never be solved This question of creation or chance event Our vanity survived, and even evolved And mankind is his own reviled serpent

58

Polly’s High Firefly Season Were a wish within my grasp And reduced to human reason I’d give a gift to make you gasp And create High Firefly Season With it entirely dark enough You’d see a sparkling glow A pale yellow-lime mischief Growing to a tender flow Performing a festive fantasy They’d swirl into a carousel To a glowing prince you’d curtsy Then together dance a spell Whatever dream or merry magic Wherever you wanted to roam The night wouldn’t have been so tragic Had the fireflies lit you home

About This Poem:~ For Polly Klaas ~ Polly Klass was 12 years old when she was kidnapped and murdered on October 1, 1993. Polly’s death has resulted in many new laws and has changed the way authorities handle child abductions.

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Here, There, Everywhere Here where the heart is exposed and love thrives forever Grows an enticing beauty truly delicate Whose equal is known only to those solitary leaves underneath the bright flowering rose Who daily glancing skyward assume the morning sun is their selfsame soul that unfolds its pleasing perfumed layers scarcely from their reach

There where innocence dwells and avails itself in endless grace

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Comes an awareness of such gentle and light joy As if to witness the pure eyes of a lively infant as she crawls upon the garden’s grass Encountering the unknown yet unquestioned warmth of the wind slightly passing over herself and the young canvas of climbing vines Whose wondrous swaying and helpless movement brings within her sincere pleasure and expels her flailing delight

Everywhere the tender beauty of love endlessly reaches outward 61

for a joy and innocence that forever lies within

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Perception I saw a butterfly smile, as it flew by With wings of purple and pink And before it waved a hearty goodbye It gave me a knowing wink A gust of wind blew from the west And whispered in my ear Letting me know that robin redbreast Was happy and full of cheer The queen of all, paid a visit to me And brought me honey so sweet To be honored by such a royal bee Was a special and thrilling treat You may find this hard to believe But I tell you that it’s true Because that’s the world that I perceive By being in love with you

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I Long For Your Shimmer In your presence I am the semblance of man immortal My heart’s prism reflecting a brilliance when bathed in the light of your eyes so gentle And it is only to you that I open As if I’m the morning glory exposing its petals to the loving warmth of golden heaven at the sight of dawn’s bejeweled marvels You are my vision of safe haven as a lighthouse signals to one lost at sea

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In the fog and darkness to me you beckon Your reason and compassion light me to safety Like a multitude of stars in a constellation you are a formation of the known and unknown Eliciting mystery and fascination inspiring more when knowledge of you has grown

All of this and an abundance of more is your illuminating beauty and loving ways Devotion dispels all darkness and therefore I will long for your shimmer ‘til the end of my days

65

Ashes Of Angels Standing in a Friday rain Wet waves conceal the outcry Drowning in a damning pain Ashes of angels fall from the sky Benignly burning precious time Thirsting for the fleeting future Disgraced a space with tolling chime Soldiering like a Templar At last a turn of the hourglass And I rule the fate of one Chosen moments quickly pass A ménage still craving union Standing in a Friday rain Wet waves conceal the outcry Drowning in a damning pain Ashes of angels fall from the sky

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Radiant Beauty Live for a moment’s measure On a silent conscious stroll And wonder at the splendor As you view the radiant rose Earth’s entrancing daughter Mistress to the sun There is no other nobler Than the lavishly scented matron She is nature’s passion, perfected The expression of deep devotion And proven to be trusted As love’s eternal token Love is in the heart of all Even if the spirit wallows Perchance a courtesy will befall And a rose will ease their sorrows For to treasure a tender flower With misgivings left unguarded Is to grasp the ether’s laughter And enter nature full hearted If merely for an instant Or transcending the explainable span Only the pure find beauty present As if Plato’s inner man

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View for a moment’s measure Your silent conscious soul And wonder at the splendor As you live your radiant role

The Religion Of Romance I confess I’m amiss when coveting her beauty A whirling skip when I touch her skin Helpless as I fall so fondly Surrendering to the sincerity of sin The smell of jasmine in soft hair so silken Tempted to feel, leaves me blessed My spirit soars as if by religion Absolved with freedom and love unsuppressed Tasting her lips is the sweetest communion Dearly enchanted with mere flesh and blood Her voice, my sacred sermon Words that rescue from a lonely flood Shall I wrestle with a worship of mortal love Verily planted seeds grow into a vine I’ve gathered much fruit from the one above All love expressed is divine

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Shout Past The Horizon Tired of the same old view You’d just like to get somewhere Don’t need the same old crew Only a friend or two that care Every time you look up it’s raining At least it cools the rage There’s no reason for all the complaining Your good news is on the back page It’s true that I don’t even know you No different than anyone on the street But I would mix up some horizon voodoo And we could shout until we felt complete Throw a penny in the fountain of your wishes Listen to the voice that wants to scream Our course is only a matter of our choices Shout, past the horizon’s dream It’s time to wakeup, get up, and come around Hit the proving ground, and go far Time for you to stop being so earthbound Come alive and shout out who you are

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Beauty’s Merit Such tender days in beauty’s haven Tightly held in heightened sighs Pleasure’s aching moments woven In ecstasy as anticipation implies

Sweeping screams in softened tones Wordless songs sung in measure Headlong thrusts into deep unknowns

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A journey begun upon finding treasure

Beauty’s merit outlives the eyes Its value found in vision’s silence To be baptized within another’s cries Is to live beauty as an experience

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Midnight Ponderings Midnight flows into the quiet city The moon sprinkles tender light Air, thick and balmy The present soaked with hindsight Battles lost and battles won My own self, my actions have betrayed Both right and wrong I’ve chosen The results never to be unmade Some memories, like demons so horrid Punish me beyond mercy Others, perhaps somewhat gloated Praise me with cherished glory Wondering, in these hours before dawn Am I more than my past invoice Or is it another thing to think upon As a good or bad choice

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The Beautiful Artist There, resting on a sunny slope In rolling wildflower waves Affection fueled a new found hope For the beauty my heart craves So lovely in her dress of white Sweet innocence untainted Engaged in spreading colors bright On a canvas that she painted Aware that I was watching near She bade me sit and stay A songbird’s voice and quite sincere Obligingly, I did obey If I thought her eyes were stars at night Then her smile was like the sun She shined with all of Heaven’s light In nature rivaled by none There she painted several hours In many a passing day Love blossomed among wildflowers Into a bright and fragrant bouquet The other was a treasure found Such pleasure we agreed Running free in life’s playground Abounding joy indeed

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I considered all the months to come And wanted her at my side She would seek her father’s wisdom In her desire to be a bride Perhaps it’s just the way of things Or some lesson I should learn But when she unfolded her angel’s wings She never did return

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Weave The Rain Opalescent expressions whispered in the soft breath of romance Clear and colorful shimmering mentions pass on an ocean of spacious expanse

White linen words unfolding in elegance as a dove’s song lightly begins Lifted to a threshold with every sentence aria on vellum and skins

O’ write me again my alluring Mystery

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Those impassioned lines that lover’s speak Weave the rain with all your fluency and leave me tangibly trembling and weak

Freedom Song The gentle songbird’s voice Unfolds along the air Sharing her vocal choice To rejoice, than to despair The dreamer flies for shelter To a high yet humble domain As the flowers sigh in favor To the rumbles of garden rain The surrounding water falls Fine petals pile around But the bound root still calls To be found within the ground To sing while having nothing Or accepting loss to grow Am I living or am I fearing Watching safely from my window

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Memory’s Gracious Glance Cool green grass our comfortable carpet Shaded beneath the large old tree Surroundings calm and utterly private As her sweet nature brings serenity The river of time slows to a trickle A moment of ease with no pressing questions Her smiling eyes to mine, gently sparkle I say nothing, and yet she still listens My fingers fondle her abounding hair As we surrender to fond affection Hearts arising in this dawning affair To foster a rare connection I will never have this day undone In memory’s gracious glance The morning music has well begun For the future’s flawless dance

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Silent Confession You are like a fresh April morning Dawning to set my world alight My heart, like a bird rising Happily sings before taking flight You are the very expression of glory Clearly precious and flawless O’ how beauty has no mercy When such affection is boundless You are my passion, and I your possession The manifestation of all that I prize These, the words of my silent confession When first I searched, the solace of your eyes

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A Sigh In Abiding Passion Faintly her scent lingered as if leaving a dusting of spirit On pillows and sheets fragrance whispered a wisp of a pleasing visit

Peacefully dissolving my weakened soul in flavored air I lightly feather Entrancingly tethered to a maypole dancing in the aroma of my lover

In sweet symphony I floated a perfumed touch like the caress of lace such tender melody reverently flirted

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As I embraced the smell of her enticing grace

Such soft memories wafting astride and woven with sumptuous skin Savoring her potion with grateful breathing comes a smiling moan residing deep within

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Heed My Human Wish What mighty power would there be That heeds a human wish Is there majesty to hear my plea Or shall I despair in anguish Had my heart an aural voice With fire it would sing your name Unrestrained it would rejoice In Time’s eternal flame We melt as one in the mild wind And mingle with the breeze Such peaceful moments I long to spend As a rush of laughing leaves I yearn to be enlaced with you In all enduring seasons Or face exacting years askew As life unwinds and weakens O’ my love we exist in time And flesh can’t abide forever But all to mine you are sublime And die to me you never What mighty power would there be That heeds a human wish The cost and price I’d pay gladly For you are all I cherish

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An Afternoon With Rain Dark gray clouds slowly slide Consuming the sapphire sky above A cool wind, waves in like a tide And thunder bids lightening, “come and make love” Delicate drops faintly fall Announcing to all, that within the hour An abundant force is coming to call A moist foray, in the form of a shower The essence of being, since immeasurable time Eternally gracing all that is mortal Innocently viewed as precipitating a crime To others, pleasant and peaceful My butterfly and I watch by a window Laughing and waiting for the downpour to wane Mesmerizing sparkles down the glass gently flow A romantic moment, without candles or champagne The vast clouds remained steadfast The pools outside became lastingly deep But alas an event we could not forecast My butterfly and I, were leant to sleep

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The Meaning Of Life No possessions or wealth or fame Lying prostrated on the church floor Seeking forgiveness with humility and shame The monk prays fervently to his Savior With dirty hands and soiled clothes A shovel, water, and his trusty knife He lovingly tends to the fragile rose The gardener witnesses the beauty of life Never ending days and sleepless nights The newborn suckling her breast In the room painted with clouds and kites For her child she hopes the best Meaning is found in many different places Each of us different in how we choose to live It could be a church, garden, or newborn faces The real meaning, is how we love and give

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