Sonnet

I took his hand, while drifting on the shore,
He mistook the shallows for the ocean.
His youth found the beauty in all the lore,
Caressing the anchor, devoid of motion.
My captain stood against a want and need,
To protect him from what must lay ahead:
Shattered lessons of betrayal and greed,
Of weighed down dreams, upon an ocean bed.

What he does not know now need not be known…
But when landlocked safety is rejected,
I‘d have to take what I myself have grown,
And sail to the deep and the dejected.

When waters roar and his eyes froth with fear,
I wish enough remains to pull him near.

timing

I couldn’t say I need you
When you smiled and said you had a reason
To not wake me with a kiss.
Kisses are to be timed.
Like doctor’s appointments
Or the schedules of trains.
I couldn’t say I need you
Because your smile was meant for me
To forget that I do.
It was a smile that was perfect
And timed so that I would not notice
That some appointments and trains
Are always late.

OLD FRIEND

I have nothing else to say to you now.
I have nothing more to offer or give.
I have spent my heart, I have kept each vow.
You forget all and I cannot forgive.
The torture of the heart (and there is one)
Is akin to a murder by drowning;
And all that was felt and said and done
Is now a matter for blackened mourning.
Words, like gales, seem to rush past as you leave,
Feelings, however, will not leave with you;
I have lost my faith, I cannot believe,
I cannot discern just which past was true.
And so, old friend, you have prepared me well:
I doubt heaven, I’m undaunted by hell.