Dancing In Those Summer Waves

It began with the ripples
of the morning waves
bare toes instantly froze
screams became laughter
sun sparkled life into the
two young lovers one
early day in June

Nothing could stop their love
from blooming like a flower
in early spring 

Innocence guided their way
but before they knew those summer
days vanished and the new year
suddenly appeared

Dreaming of one hot summer day
where the girl who laid next to him
smoked a cigarette in the morning light
forming clouds through her crooked teeth
now lays somewhere else with someone else 

She once was the best thing he's ever seen
one of the true loves in his young life
her laugh runs through his mind
wishing he had more time
dancing in those summer waves 

Fireworks light up the sky
he closes his sad eyes
wondering where the girl
with the strawberry blonde
hair is tonight

Is she's celebrating the passage of time
knowing their love will always
be lost in the months behind

It ended with the calm sea
overlooked by twinkling
stars shooting in opposite
directions to places unknown
to each other

1.1.2016

New York Dreams

A dream greets another dream

I've long forgotten but

comes back as a lost memory

Early sun shines on city streets

New York's just waking up as
my friend and I walk down crowded sidewalks

Excited to see what the day brings in a

city filled with souls, trying to find tea

to wake us up more than we are now

We arrive again, late night

Tired but thrilled to make new

memories in the same city that holds

sparkling moments made years before

For this city is filled with magic

no one can explain but is seen on

every street corner I stand on

There's something here that's

like no place else on earth

I awake with a smile, reflecting on

my dream within a dream I had

long forgotten about but fondly

recalled one early morning on

the last few days of the year 

Oh Dear Ms. Millay

Late last year I read the biography Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford. The poems that follow reflect my emotions and thoughts on the book I was reading from the perspective of both the poet and the biographer telling her story.   

books filled with

pages inked with

lines of words

telling a story

few will ever see

or comprehend

your life burns

through these

turning pages

living more life

than you ever did

for your years

confuse me

make me yearn

to know your

mind

the letters

your wrote

leave me with

unpleasant thoughts

I’d rather not have

the pieces

are missing

my dear

I do not like

your world

through

your words

though

you wrote them

very well

I will not

undermine

your talent

for you shine

bright in a

dim universe

but my gosh

your ego

I cannot stand

thinking everyone

who you encounter

will fall to your feet

and the ones who

do not

you’ll write until

they fall under

the spell

that you cast

leaving no choice

but to fall

into your game

who are you, my dear?

for the troubled

woman

throughout these

pages

is a puzzle

I cannot solve

ESVM

page 313

12.16.2015

oh Edna, sweet Edna

your work was

beautiful

your talent known

young

your poems were

significant

but I could not

understand you

I can sympathize

at most

trying to comprehend

someone who is

selfish

is never an

easy task

your sister knew it

and deeply

resented you

your husband treated

you like a child

and did many

things that made

me not want to

understand

your choices

at times

your self confidence

haunted you

later in life

becoming your downfall

in the end

oh how I wish

to know your

thoughts

in hopes of seeing

what was invisible

to my hazel eyes

your soul is

long gone

no more pain

to suffer

but your poems

my dear

may they live

on forever

your legacy isn’t

the life you led

which is probably

for the better

ESVM

page 509

12.28.2015

Unknown Ghost

We live in fear
the unknown is invisible
walking among us all
a soul no one can comprehend

It's a ghost on a chilly night
blowing with the fallen snow

The pain that moves us
clashes with the useless pain
that makes us struggle on
those cold nights

The world we live in
fears us at every turn
preparing for an unknown
that can never be prepared for

Unless we change, the pain we
feel will do no good and our kids
will feel it more than we do now

Useless pain is worthless
but is with us all
creeping among the unknown
parts of our minds

Some will become aware
and will destroy anything
to make the pain go away

While others walk through
life never aware of what's
left unknown, what their minds
will push away to help
them fully grow