Invitation to the Depths

Believe in what you cannot see
Can you conceive the air we breathe?
Each breath is slowly killing me
You know you will too eventually
It’s nothing to laugh at that time destroys all things
While wearing your heart on your sleeves
You’ll find out how much it bleeds
how many dark stains it leaves
How jaded are your memories
That you can’t see the forest for the trees
But I can see the sea, washing steadily over me
I know the tides, your change of sides
You shift on that beach quite nervously
Stepping on sand, your piece of dry land
The only certainty on which you stand
But let’s swim, these depths invite you in
Test your waters, fear isn’t the only common sense
It’s a natural defense, another border fence
Breathe, this air will help you float, but only if you let it
Can you take it? Life has no preserver, you got to make it
It’s all about your motion in this ocean; sink or swim;
Davey Jones waits and you could very well join him
I can see your back, but all you can see is the shore
Walking on water isn’t commonplace these days
It just doesn’t happen anymore
But damn, I swear you swam, half-ran right back over that crest
Your shirt, a useless sail fixed to a heaving chest
Where did your loyalties lie & when did they falter and die?

Craters & Catalysts

Fall back into the crater where the catalyst hit
Of the depth of inspiration you’ve found in it
Far from the world let’s try to free fall
Like leaves from a tree first one, two, then all
to float on the surface, where you lie there dying
technically but surely, though some go on trying
Immersed in a sea, what is it to be?
So uncharacteristically buoyant
Yet still sinking quite peacefully
When facts don’t make sense
And ignorance, your only pretense
‘cause they’re all so shallow
like spheres sorely lacking dimensions
useful as a trip to the gallows
Grab hold as you’re told to the rope in suspension
Be ready to jump when you wish to land
The choice always given, everything close at hand
Not often we land on a sole destination
But with one foot in uncertainty, and the other temptation
For all that we seek, the bright-colored lights
That so light up our dreams
And fill up our nights
would you tear at the seams
As you drift from the heights?
No, dive in and absorb it, these rare lucid streams

Sticks & Sand

writing in the sand
like so many times before
incoming of a wave
washing my words from the shore
gathering my thoughts
as rhythmic water sounds and breaks
even as i finish a new line
again, the ocean comes and from me takes

Oh Well , it Was Worth a Try

I’m no good with creative compliments, (10)

I’m sorry to say they’re not my forte (10)

These kind words and little presents (8)

But I hope you accept them anyway (10)

I know you’ve heard them all before (8)

From others that might have more sway (8)

But please leave me an open door (8)

And not be so quick to send me on my way (11)

Blank Pages

you're sort of like an open book
but completely full of blank pages
written in invisible ink
look at how hard you make this
too concerned with what people think
and i'd really just like to know
no, i wish that you'd just show me
to see just how far this could go
i'm tired of taking this slowly
so please toss that old paperback
and show me something with a spine
i'll pay with paper or plastic
but i'm sick of sitting in line
when you're ready up at check-out
i'll be waiting with my wallet
can't try to say you lost your phone
'cause it rang when i just called it
is it really alot to ask?
your cheeks are getting red and warm
you're making this no simple task
let's watch the words begin to form