The myth of the wolves
No alphas at their dance
They ask if the children
Can come out to play
I set two aside
Someone must ring the bells
To call them all inside
When the weather turns
I tilt my head
You smile
Some call it a snarl
Like my youngest
You will always be misunderstood
#vss365 #wolves

Jaded
Not by love
By loving
My heart has much to give
No energy to give it
Rings upon my fingers grow tight
Swollen as my feelings
That no longer flow forth

There is more of me
But less for you to see
You knew the best of me
At night
Will you share stories
Of how I used to be
#vss365 #jade

Across the room
Across the years
Mist of rising water
Salty as tears
What lived #undersea
Curls around our feet
Braids our hair
I thought they were extinct
Once a lighthouse
Now a taillight
A hand dripping with remembrances
A smile of #trickery
A lost eddy of desire
A piece of a broken wave
#vss365

We will all be
Taken by the sea
Put afloat
When strength fails us
Feed the waters
Drift in rhythm
Tossed in harmony
Earth turning

In the end
I know you are there
Seafoam
Sighs in the wind
I miss
Smell of the ocean
Scent of your sweat
On summer days
#vss365 #seafoam

You keep 3 hammers in a felt lined case
1 you'd used to break barriers
1 had destroyed things left behind
1 for a future you saw coming
I had a wrench and screwdriver
To loosen what was stuck
Affix what needed tightening
Between us we were prepared
To face together a world crumbling
#vss365 #hammer

I’m there
When nightmares come
The cat has fled
Hate’s when you flail
Make sounds
She doesn’t understand
I remain
Lean in close
Whisper just one word
You sigh
Slowly grow still
Tomorrow may be no better
This ritual
We will repeat again
For now
Sleep will ease your pain
#vss365 #word

Poems for everyday people. No pretense, no thesaurus words, just real tales of real life. Some pull at the heart strings. Some bring smiles. All immediately relatable to anyone who has lived. Get yours today. #writingcommunity #poetrycommunity #poetry #readingcommunity www.amazon.com/dp/B0GSJLQ8D...

Thank you

Always thought someday
I'd loop around to you
Promises made when young
Too naïve to understand
Or we understood too well
I moved you married
Phone calls became texts
FB likes soon all we had left
Now too old to travel
Too scared to call
Time has stripped us
Of what our dreams once held
#vss365 #loop

Thank you. I've have been pleased that as I have found happiness I can still write sad, and now also write happy (and goofy and weird).

Thanks so much

I read the messages you wrote in 1986
Fine petite script a computer cannot recreate
I have pen and paper to express my words
Try to capture handwriting I once had
I have examples from letters you returned unopened
Now all I need is to find a soul
Who I can share my thoughts with
#vss365 #letters

In the last month I've had #poems accepted by 3 different publications. Also published my book More Than a Whisper.
Pretty satisfying run. It could only be made better if you all rushed out and bought the book like the gentleman in the picture (note me eagerly pocketing his money). #poetrycommunity

You flowed
A gentle stream
White water around the bend
You carried me
Thought I was afloat
Your eyes smiled from the depths
A sirens call
I hoped to sink
Dead man's float
Never learned to swim
#vss365 #water #sink

In the otherwise undisturbed dark
The hum of highway cars sing
Songs of the distant traveler
Heart racing late night lover
Wandering soul going nowhere
Overdue midnight laborer
A child mesmerized
Wonders of the world
The mysteries that call him
Beyond his walls his yard his home
#vss365 #sing

Rhythm of your breathing
Shuffle in your steps
I could be blind
I’d still know it was you
My gnarled hand slides roughly
Over the aged folds of your skin
Muted laugh revealing a smile
I don’t need to see to feel
#vss365 #blind

Put memories away
Love and loss earning interest
Growing the hope the pain
Bank the belief in near forgotten dreams
The fears tucked away
Hold the combination keeping them safe
Savings built on things lost and gained
Silently churning
Until they are ready to be shared again
#vss365 #bank

I didn't marry the lovely Ms Christine @christineadele.bsky.social because she had two copies of this album but I have to say, as doweries go it's not bad😁. Only #vinyl I have of any real value and it's a pretty good album too #vinylcollection #vinylcommunity

Argh! I misspelled Lehrer!

Turned off the news
Voice of Tom Leher in the air
Pigeons in the Park had flown the coop
They won’t wait up for me
Dropped an ink bomb
Word flowing forth
While paper is less than gas
Gas still less than food
I’d say the thoughts bled out
But that is cliché
Even when it is true
#vss365 #ink

You gently took my arm
There was care in your eyes
I wished you'd take my hand
But that is not the way of friends
Lovers we would never become

I felt your warmth
Grateful for even this touch
More than anyone else offered
I knew not where we were going
Trusted you not to lead me astray
#vss365 #arm

Love the things we have now
In the world where research grants
Are handed out no strings attached
Spare limbs are the latest craze
I bought an extra hand
I can flip you off in traffic
While the others are at 10 and 2
Scientists are allowed to do anything
But driving fines remain insane
#vss365 #hand

Thank you!

A blank canvas
I’ve learned how to give
Not how to be
Walking on eggshells
Maintaining illusion
Fighting for what you say you need
I am what I have always been
Moments of pleasure
Blisters raised that cannot heal
As the light fades
I cannot be the rock
When I am only made of sand
#vss365 #sand

Thank you sir

God no longer speaks to me
Yet I'm filled with calm
When the church bell rings
In the street the murmur of voices
Those made whole by faith
Journeying where I dare not be
Long ago forsaken
I have no strength of belief
Though my heart is still drawn
To the place where I once would sing
#vss365 #ring

Don’t type at me
Your texts offend
Missives that pretend to care
When sincerity is not there
You can raise a pen
Search carefully for words
That push toward new beginnings
Not ugly ends
Place your heart on paper
Where you can't unsend
Don’t use words that vanish
With the brush of a key
#vss365 #pen

Fiction in specifics but inspired by realities seen as the years have gone by.

You said you'd never be with another
Time has made you a liar
It’s not the gray hair
Or rolls of life lived
Packed around my waist
The free spirit has died
Smiles turned to sighs
You look at me
Sorrow and pity and regret
Knowing I will never again be
The man that that you once loved
#vss365 #man

Do not pass by
When you meet yourself
As more than a flash
In the eyes of another
You are not an optical illusion
Motivations can be illusive
Know yourself
As more than the sum of actions
Do not shatter
When someone destroys
The calmness in the pool
From which you are reflected
#vss365 #illusive