a repost for my new friends from July 9, 2013,
and a special ty to my friend Cindy Knoke, an
incredible photographer for always rummaging
in my archives.
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a great big hug to my daughter on her 14th birthday
for sharing this song which inspired this story/poem.
please feel free to listen to it as a soundtrack.
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. in the wings
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they seemed to meet, quite by accident
but something in their eyes, told them otherwise
this wouldn’t be their first conversation
but.. it always felt like it could be the last
like a patient, who knows their time is near
with so many faces yet to see
and…confessions to make
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and…sunsets to end
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their now daily talks lasted for hours
even after they left that little cafe
feverishly texting on the bus back home
sometimes…through the hush of their night
they would talk of paintings, songs and poetry
any silly thing, as long as there was a reply
the hold on each other, so tenuous
an undertow…
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the pull of fear as real
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he not so accidently, brushed her hand on the table
she instinctively recoiled, placing it on her lap
she apologized quickly, she was sorry
but regretted showing him so much
his practiced stoic reaction, said little
this time his heart, tried valiantly to follow
‘but isn’t that how it always goes?’
setting a few more bricks in the wall
he was a little braver than she was
or maybe his clock, was just ticking faster than hers
he said the words, that they both feared
and knew it was wrong…
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the moment he spoke
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two hearts… waiting in the wings
for love to speak and heal their pain
all the words… they shared between them
could not help them say goodbye
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dear friends, i found a song and video that
inspired this poem. the words are written to the
tempo of the song and if you have the time,
please watch this incredible video.
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. Stubborn Love/ The Lumineers
It’s better to feel pain, than nothing at all
The opposite of love’s indifference
So keep your head up, keep your love
Keep your head up, my love
Keep your head up, keep your love
Head up, love
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. over the wall
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i saw a smile today…
shining from a stranger’s face
and bundled from the bitter cold
it leapt over the wall
to meet me eye to eye
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i woke a girl today…
and kissed her pale forehead
as i did on that night she was born
tears just poured over the wall
at the miracle in my arms
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i drew a face today…
trusting these hands again to say
what my eyes have always known
climbing over the wall
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’cause fear is the enemy of art
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i risked it all again…
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and shared all the secrets
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of my troubled life
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her patient Love tore down the wall
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to heal an injured heart
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now i won’t pretend to know
why this life can be so hard sometimes
and this world will bruise our tender hearts
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because i am just the sum of all my pain
the kind that can never really be repaired
i just learned to wear the scars beneath my skin
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i saw the sun today
Myth
You cant keep hangin’ on
To all that’s dead and gone
Oh, let the ashes fly
Help me to make it
Help me to make it
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. the first sound…and the last
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in the quiet before sunrise…
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before this relentless world awakes…
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at the window silhouette of my
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alone listening…
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i hear the first of morning’s call,
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faint from the dense of sheltering evergreens…
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alighting from February’s greyed and leafless branches…
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in slow breaths past your sleeping lips…
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i can hear our shared living mystery recital
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whispered deep within your down pillowed dreams,
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the serendipitous and storied soliloquy of
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our improbable union of years.
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in destiny devoted season after season…
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that even in this cruelest of another Winter cold,
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we can still scorch
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in the white of our own flame.
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and still… this fool romantic’s heart
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could believe only Love beckons reconciliation,
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but a slow and greying wisdom wonders
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‘is it our friendship we can’t live without?’
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and outside our window long past sundown…
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when the world has turned away…
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i hear the life mating cardinals, like us
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a fated pair
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calling each other home to close another day.
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we are as the Universe demands, and how
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i’m forever grateful it’s your voice i hear.
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the first sound…
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and the last.
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drawing approx. 8″ x 8″ on vellum paper
pencil, watercolor pencil, white and black marker,
acrylic paint and sourced from various Google pics
click to enlarge
from pretense and fear.
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patiently waiting…alone,
hoping our Truth will be found.
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pencil, watercolor pencil, acrylic paint,
paint markers, approx. 8″x8″ on vellum paper
sourced from various Google pics and my imagination.
click image to enlarge
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and how could it be…
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hearing only her laughter, singing
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the melody of my every dashed Hope, raining
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down in sparks and chords
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from soaring skies so high above my broken life,
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swirling past faceless strangers
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in anonymous rooms. if
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there were other voices to hear that night
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these ears never heard them, and if
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there were other eyes to see,
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mine never met them. and if
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there is a steady hand
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coloring summer days from despair, the
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perfect cosmic hand was dealt us that night,
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a royal flush of Kings and Queens,
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of hearts and diamonds,
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of fateful serendipitous
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milliseconds
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between the lost..
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or found.
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to Scout, my earth Angel
Happy 13th Valentine’s Day
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approx, 8″ x 10*’ on vellum paper
pencil, watercolor pencil, white marker
sourced from a b & w selfie of Scout
and my imagination. click to enlarge.
a relentless snow
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drifts in consuming whiteout…
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will i disappear,
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succumb to the vampire wind
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that would drain my soul to numb?
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these eyes half open
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in waking hibernation,
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this heart a frail beat.
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a frozen flatline…
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waiting in emotional
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ambiguity
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for the morning Sun
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to light… this desolate sky…
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to wake… from this sleep…
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the ambivalent
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stare dead eyed past the wounded.
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yet time and again
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your brown eyes warm my shadows,
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and mend these oft broken wings.
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Hope turns skyward now…
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beyond… this Season of Fear…
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snow… falls ever white…
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and Winter’s death has it’s Spring,
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even the sparrow… finds food.
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watercolor pencil, pencil,
black and white marker,
white acrylic paint
12″x 12″ vellum paper,
sourced from various pics
and my imagination
click for larger image
dear friends,
it’s been a long week and a longer winter.
i began daydreaming about the warm weather
and the annual vacation we take each August.
we rent a 5 bedroom houseboat on Holly Lake
in Tennessee and find our favorite cove and
tie up for 10 ten days.
this is a repost, i edited the form. it was written
in one sitting at 3am as i sat as i always do, on the
top deck while family and friends were asleep. this song
was playing in my headphones and this poem was inspired by
the incredible shower of shooting stars that crossed the sky.
please play the song and begin reading…ty and i hope you enjoy.
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when
the
S u n
is
busy
elsewhere…..
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and
the
night
descends
upon
your
world…
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.
in
your
S i l e n c e…
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in
the
S e r e n i t y
of
forgiving
S o l i t u d e…
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.
cast
away
the
fear,
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just
S u r r e n d e r
your
heart
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and
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L i s t e n.
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beg
your
eyes
to
open,
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to
gaze
so
high
above
the
low
horizon.
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there…
beyond
any
doubt
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behind
the
shadow
of
constant
cloud,
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.
S h e
can
be
seen
each
night
cajoling
every
S t a r
in
your
S k y.
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B e l i e v e,
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embrace
your
F a i t h.
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.
S h e
is
O m n i p r e s e n t,
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S h e
is
E v e r l a s t i n g.
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S h e
is
a
daughter
of
the
U n i v e r s e,
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a
S i r e n
of
S h o o t i n g
S t a r s.
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.
her
voice
a
chorus,
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a
H a r m o n y
of
every
melody
devoted
to
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L o v e.
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.
her
history
our
yearning,
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the
sum
of
our
forgotten
M e m o r y.
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.
her
shape,
a
C o s m i c
swirling
of
I n f i n i t e
density.
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.
S h e
talks
to
S t a r s,
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in
the
U n i v e r s a l
language
of
L o v e,
of
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R e a s s u r a n c e.
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a
S i r e n
offering
C o u r a g e
to
erase
their
fear.
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‘my bashful star,
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ready yourself for the voyage.
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T i m e
is
N o w.’
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‘oh, lovely star
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hear my song,
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my Melody of Love as you fly’
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‘go little star!
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blaze a trail
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across the midnight sky’
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and
become
N o w,
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what you were always meant to Be.’
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and show this world
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P e r f e c t i o n,
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in your moment of
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E t e r n i t y.’
who could know then 