I Only Miss You When

 

 

 

I only miss you when I breathe

 

            When the leaves fall

            When daffodils bloom

            When snowflakes gather

            When I laugh, cheer or frown

                        . . . Sometimes when I cry

 

I only miss you when I blink

 

            When whippoorwills sing

            When puppies yap

            When I’m here or there

            Or far from anywhere

                        . . . Sometimes when I laugh

 

I only miss you night and day

           

            When sunshine smiles

            As morning dawns

            When nightscape stars glow

            After the sun sets

                        . . . Sometimes when I dream

 

I only miss you when you’re gone

            When the grass grows

            When babies cry

            When brooks babble

            When oceans roar

                        . . . Sometimes when I’m lonely

 

I only miss you when I breathe

 

Haven

 

 

My perfect retreat

Unrestricted safe haven

Where salty water

Greets the shore

And baby waves

Curl across the beach line

In gently repeating surf sounds

Aquamarine stretches

To a cornflower blue

Cloudless sun-filled sky

My radiant haven

Beach side

Surrounded by miles

Of shell-strewn sand

Shredded seaweed

Discarded driftwood

Where warm summer breezes

Flirt with my eyelashes

And rumple my hair

And far-off motorboat engines

Softly growl

As they glide around the dock

A getaway – a stay away

Where tranquility takes charge

My solitary haven

From hurried demands

Daily frenzies

Obligations and needs

Where sea grapes

And sabal palms

Are constant sentinels

Protecting and guarding

My tropical haven

Garden

 

 

Pretty poppies

Dainty daisies

See them perched

On slender stems

Petals dancing in the breeze

 

Regal roses

Precious petunias

Flounce and bounce

From ground to vine

Against the summer’s sigh

 

Lovely lilies

Happy hibiscus

Their petals reach up

Like outstretched arms

Welcoming the April sun

 

Blazing marigolds

Raging red geraniums

Stand sentinel

In snowy white pots

Along the walkways

 

Heaps of purple phlox

Butter-hued daffodils

Sun cherry zinnias

Against a hyacinth fence

Scatter their smiling colors

 

Aromas of gardenias

Blooming lilacs

And the gentle wafting

Of dewy honeysuckle

Delights my every sense

Belong

 

 

I want to belong

To someone

I want to be loved

By someone

 

I want the sunrise

          And stars in the night

To show in your smile

          To light up your eyes

 

I need to belong

To just one

I need to be loved

By only one

 

So give me a daybreak

          With a cloudless sky

Give me your love

          I’ll give you forever

Day’s End

 

 

The fiery red sunset

 

Casts cotton candy

 

Inverted images

 

Atop the shimmering water;

 

Looking like the end of the world,

 

Flaming colors streak

 

Across rooftops in the distance;

 

Bloated water-pregnant clouds

 

Hang low like dingy fleece pillows,

 

Their hazy reflections

 

Cast mirror images

 

On the grey-green Bay;

 

A majestic blast furnace

 

Of Halloween burnt orange

 

Glows against the razor sharp horizon;

 

The day slowly folds itself

 

Into a blanket of night

 

As darkness shoves

 

The ruby scorched sky

 

Beyond the August skyline

Essence

 

 

 

A shimmering spot

In the vastness of creation -

Hope

 

A sand speck

On the shoreline of eternity -

Remembrance

 

A glistening dewdrop

Reflecting and capturing -

Need

 

A pale shadow

In the depths of nighttime -

Belief

 

A tentative footstep

Toward the unknown horizon -

Trust

 

A gentle finger touch

Against your satiny face -

Love

Back - Previously Published

Back

 

 

I would need to use

Every dictionary word

To catch you up on everything

You missed with me;

I would need to create

A brand new language,

Teach you all the phrases

So you would know

What you missed with us;

It would take volumes

And countless chapters

To fill the book,

Longer than an encyclopedia;

All the sunsets, hugs,

Tears and smiles

We missed together;

So many years passed away

Spent apart – afar,

Would-have-been memories,

Holidays and every days

Gone and lost;

There’s not enough words

To write or speak

So that you know

I’m glad you’re back;

Too few happy songs,

Lopsided grins and loving gazes

That I can give

To make up for

All we left behind;

I’m glad you’re back

Asking - Previously Published

Asking

 

 

If I could spend my days with you

 

            Folded into your warmth and gentleness

 

If I could keep the candle from burning to the bottom

 

            And wile away my dreams with you

 

If I could keep the clock from passing time

 

            Just to stay gathered up in your arms

 

If I could cry away my hurts and always

 

            Have you there to wipe away my tears

 

If you could love me just enough

 

            To keep the embers bright

 

I’d ask for nothing more

 

            To make my life complete

 

Ticking Clock - Previously Published

Ticking Clock

 

The ticking clock

Knows not the seasons

Nor holidays

Does not know the difference

Between January and July

Its ticking hands do not know

Cannot follow

A backward path

Can only strum away

The hours and the days

Into months and years

Minute by sixty second minute

The ticking clock

In its everlasting onwardness

Never hears the silence

Nor overhead thunder

Never understands the desire

To stop and seize the moment

Does not pause to remember

Where it’s been

What it’s seen

What it means

Just leaves it all behind

Like dust kicked up

Behind a rusty pickup truck

On a rutted country road

Never minding where it settles

What it may obscure

Leaving a film of grey white

Across the memories of once ago

That relentless ticking clock

Just moves forward

Taking you and I with it

Summer To Autumn - Previously Published

Summer to Autumn

 

 

The days grow longer

Shadows stretch wider

The sun shines brighter

While the water warms

And seagulls flock

Competing with pelicans

Children grow weary

Of yellow buses

And textbooks

Dog days loom

Amid heat washed asphalt

Puffy clouds surround

Rainbows after an afternoon downpour

I marvel at the simplicity

Of a summer day

Water touching sky

Shoreline hugging sandy earth

Blue against blue against beige

Royal purple pansies

Surround gardens of daffodils

Ball games in parks

Hot dogs on grills

Fresh mown lawns

Open air concerts

Yield to shorter days

And darker shadows

A chill seizes the air

Greens turn to browns

Golden leaves tumble free

Blown asunder by autumn’s

Wild and uninhibited

Sprightly dance

Children with backpacks

Shiny noses and unworn shoes

Set off on learning journeys

So I marvel at the simplicity

Of an autumn day

Shifting Sands - Previously Published

Shifting Sands

                              

 

 

I spent my time

Building something

That could not be built

On crumbly silt

And so it collapsed

Fell in upon itself;

I trusted and wanted

I tried and failed

Yet persisted in the dream

Because I believed

Yet did not know

Of shifting sands

Beneath my feet

 

And still I toiled and hungered

With determination

Fearless resolution

Faithful in my yearnings

That you and I could share

A loving future built

Upon a platform

Of reinforced concrete steel

 

So I’ll re-spend my time

Constructing newness

That will sustain us

Keep us afloat, not adrift

To shelter and protect us

From falling and sinking

Into a misty wash,

Keeping the desires

Sunshine fresh and growing

Because we know

Those shifting sands

Beneath our feet

Will change to solid rock

Seeing You In July - Previously Published

Seeing You in July

 

 

My once empty days

Have been filled with your love;

The ocean of your eyes

Pulls me deep into your soul;

Your soothing touch

And easy smile

Makes my heart melt

Like orange coated dreamsicles

On a yellow July day;

A window reflects prisms of light

Where no shadows disturb the newness

And as far as my vision can take me

You are all that I can see

New Day - Previously Published

New Day

 

 

 

The placid green water

Exudes a stifling calm

The stillness of the surrounding air

Envelops the early morning

Changing from charcoal darkness

To petal pink dawn

Overhead a growling Cessna

Pierces the daybreak tranquility

Rousting tropical birds

From their languid havens

To caw and screech in protest

A distant barking dog

Joins the newly created

Morning din

As a slow motoring

Fishing boat

Gently slices through

The once serene water

Spreading tiny wave patterns

Just enough to sway

The tethered pleasure boats

Along the planked pier

The scent of dewy magnolias

Vies for control

Over wafting plumes of hot java

A softly ticking mantle clock

Urges necessity

A background reminder

That a new day

Is underway

For Every Season - Previously Published

For Every Season

 

 

Take my hand

And sing with me

In butterfly meadows

Quiet pleasures

Of a springtime morn

 

 

Take my hand

And walk with me

Share the sights

Simple pleasures

Of a summer day

 

 

Take my hand

And dance with me

Under starlight

Easy pleasures

On an autumn eve

 

 

Take my hand

And love with me

All our days

Endless pleasures

Through winter’s frost

 

 

Afternoon - Previously Published

Afternoon

 

A cloud armada slowly drifts

Into the summer afternoon;

A plague against the surrounding blue

Ready to release its pelting ammo;

Their steely shadows darken

The agitated water below;

Their billowy muscles never veer

In the steadily rising wind;

Smoothly they advance

Spreading their grimy tentacles

Slowly expanding their brawn

Into a massive layer of murk

As sun-filtered shadows

Vanish into the every darkening light;

By the dozens they slam

Against a sizzling July asphalt

Urging tendrils of pale steamy fog upward,

The raindrops swell into hundreds of thousands

Blending into a shiny wet sheet

Streaking and smearing the once

Clean and unblurred windows

Now a water cacophony,

Its thunderous growling, heavenly rumblings and

Stabbing jagged lightning bursts

Are the stormy foot soldiers;

The army ravages onward

Oblivious to its left-behind puddles and

Wind blown detritus

As it pulls aside the filmy grey curtain

To reveal a gleaming cerulean sky

In perfect shimmering newness

Published Works

Saturday Boats



Yellow-gray sailboats
Caress the earth’s border
As bullet boats speed closer to the shoreline
Leaving gasoline fumes
To mix with their salty spray

Pleasure boats and single passenger kayaks
Slowly drift from sight as the Gulf
Casts ripples along the glistening
Sunlit blue surface
Like glitter sprinkled from the heavens

From the corner of my eye
I catch a glimpse of a police boat
Rounding the inlet leaving a bubbly path
As it speeds toward rescue
In the desolate enveloping limitless azure water

A balmy breeze soothes
My sultry skin as I sit ashore
Watching the blue herons
Scamper across the sand
In search of dinner

I listen as sounds blend and merge
Then slowly fade while the roar
Of a powerboat engine growls
Shoving its way through the
Gray-green waters

I am mesmerized by the boats
Drifting and bouncing atop
Gentle bumping waves
Swaying them to and fro
Like a jazzy rhythmic melody

Published Works

Storm From The Balcony


A dusk devoid of sunset,
An overhead grey dreariness
Coats my vision end-to-end
Yet lights twinkle afar
Reminders that in my solitary world
I am not alone;
Yet I bundle myself deeper
Into my fleecy warmth
Cowering down to my chin
And gaze across the stretch of
Watery immenseness before me
To the island beyond;
A sliver of golden lightning
Punctures the gloom,
Faint thunder tries to fight for control
Over the ripping wind
As it soughs through the phoenix palms
Around the concrete edges
Of the side-by-side variegated structures;
And within moments
The overhead lets loose its torrent
To pelt against the swaying branches
To drench the concrete below
As sheet lightning glows in the distance;
My windows are dappled
By fat raindrops
They ooze and smear rivulets downward;
The lightning intensity grows sporadic and jerky,
A light switch turning off and on
Without regularity
No pattern to fill the night sky
With brief irregular clarity
Even the thunder sounds lonely

Published Works

Release



I’ve kept myself to myself
Wrapped my arms around my thoughts
Held determined passions intact

I’ve found my own solutions
To vexations and complications
Shouldered the necessary and unasked for

I’ve battled changes, tides and winds
Determined to level me flat
And stayed afloat yet drifting

Until you found me swaying
To the music as a solo dancer
Without a partner to lead me on

You folded me into your arms
Grazed my neck with satin lips
Our feet matching step for step

A sudden release of emotions
Seared my fragmented soul
Leaving me breathlessly weakened

No longer needing to self-protect
Nor scramble to cover or hide
The imperfect pieces of who I am

Your smiling eyes and soothing touch
Reinforce reasons to trust and share
Past mistakes and future dreams

Dusk to Dawn


Here it comes again
It happens every day
This is how it all ends
And begins again
Long happy sunshine shadows
Erased by twilight’s dusky curtain
Corals bleed into blue grey shadows
That streak across an endless
Pearl grey sky
Vermillion blends against a granite backdrop
That darkens by the minute
And twinkling pinpoints of light
Erupt overhead
Silvery dots shimmer
Across the onyx blanket
Keeping the empty sky company
Until the pre-dawn eastern glow
Announces morning’s arrival
Its scarlet orb of light slowly peeks
Along the horizon’s edge
Scattering rays of brilliance between
The bloated hovering clouds
The glorious warmth
Evaporates dewdrops from
Magnolias and sabal palms
While beckoning sleep-filled eyes
Arise to love another day

Published Works

Pages


The years ago pages
Have been turned over
Lying face down
To the left

Another chapter
Has been written
Words and pictures
Of different times

When we were dream-filled
Life seemed endless
Possibilities limitless
Expectations realistic

We trudged on through
Work-filled days
Silent midnights
Sharing without caring

Now blank pages
Wait to be written
Of hopes and desires
Still unfilled