The Greatest Force

Love can make us
Finer than we are
True love
Can make us
Finer still

“Love is patient
Love is kind”
They tell us
But they do not
Tell us
That true love
Can burn away
The blinders from
The lover’s eyes

Hearts and souls
Filled up with love
Crowd out all
Baser feelings
As the Light
Destroys the
Darkness
In its loving
Way

The only force
In all the Universe
Against which
There is no
Defense
Is Love

(Originally published February 11, 2015)

The Broken Place

Once trust has been destroyed ~
Can it be ~ as Ernest Hemingway
Has famously said ~ “strong
At the broken place” ~ or will
It remain shattered ~ and too
Fragile to believe in any more ~

We were happy ~ or so I
Thought ~ the perfect couple ~
One for the ages and the
Envy of our friends ~ until
I was blindsided by your
Sudden announcement that ~

You needed space ~ and time ~
To be yourself ~ to be by
Yourself ~ and that you were
Leaving me and our child to
Flounder ~ in an unaccustomed
And unwanted abandonment ~

You had your plans all made ~
A new apartment to be paid for ~
With money you had hidden
From me and lied to me about ~
Which makes me wonder if
I ever even knew you at all ~

And what can I tell our newly
Teenaged daughter ~ who needs
Her father as she never has
Before ~ how can I convince
Her you still love her ~ and that
Not all men will act this way ~

I am bewildered and lost ~ and
So far beyond feeling hurt
I would need a new word to
Describe it ~ but for our daughter ~
An innocent victim ~ I must be the
Strong place that was broken ~

Colors of Love

My love is black ~ or so he tells me ~
My adoring eyes see only sweet warm brown ~
To match his eyes and complement his hair ~
My skin is fair ~ my hair pale gold ~
My eyes are blue or gray to match my mood ~
And when we lie exhausted in each other’s arms ~
Our limbs entangled and our breathing slow ~
We make a lovely picture ~
In the spill of moonlight ~
On the bed ~

Sea Change

She reached out and brushed
A small piece of lint from your lapel ~
And you gave her the intimate smile
You used to save for me alone ~

I glanced at her husband ~ but
I could tell the moment ~ had
Totally escaped his notice ~
His arm around her waist ~ a fond
And trusting look upon his face ~

We stood there as we had
So many times before ~ two
Couples ~ four friends ~ but
Suddenly everything had changed ~

The question is what will I do now ~
How shall I react the next time ~
You reach for me in the night ~

Knowing you are thinking of her
How can I bear it ~ how can
I not ~ for no matter where your
Heart has strayed I love you still ~

I could confront you ~ extract a
Promise which I believe you’d keep ~
But knowing that you yearned
For her would be as painful
As the actual affair ~ and you
Seem happy loving both of us ~

I lie there sleepless ~ staring at
The ceiling ~ as I begin the long
And painful journey that is
Now my life ~

Amid the Ruins

I followed you last night ~
But in your feverish rush ~
You didn’t even notice ~
The taxi that kept pace
With yours ~

I’ve known for some time now ~
That all those late night
Business meetings you just
Had to be there for ~ were
No such thing ~

And when I saw you use your
Latchkey on her door ~ I knew
That I had lost ~ and I wept as
I watched her throw herself
Into your arms ~

I wonder if she knows about me ~
I wonder if she cares ~ or if
She is blinded by passion ~ as
You seem to be ~ so heedless
In your cruelty ~

It breaks my heart ~ but I must
Take action to protect myself
And our dear children ~ whom
You seem to have forgotten
In her arms ~

But when the ugliness is over
And we can speak again ~
Perhaps you will be able to
Explain to me ~ how loving her
Destroyed your love for me ~

The Betrayal

I could have throttled her ~
Will throttle her
And with great pleasure ~
I wait only for my chance ~
To take her by
Her lying throat
And drag her ~ speechless
For once ~ into the
Shadows of the night ~

I am not fearful
Of discovery ~
As the dim and shifting
Light hides more
Than it reveals ~

Silence so dense as to
Erase all sound ~
Will cloak our footsteps ~
And struggle as she may
She is no match for me
In strength or purpose ~
I will bend her
Will to mine ~
No matter what
I have to do ~

If she thinks I will let
Softer feelings
Stay my hand ~
She is mistaken ~

I trusted her ~
With my life and
The lives of my brave men ~
How could she
Play me for such a fool ~

But even as I wait
My chance at her ~
My mind scrambles ~
Like the piteous
Thing it is ~
To find some
Other explanation ~
Some way out of the
Nightmare my life
Has now become ~

I pray ~ as I have
Never prayed before ~
That I may find some way ~
To keep my honor
And to spare her life ~

But if this truly is
Betrayal ~ then on this
Night ~ for all
Intents and purposes ~
My life will end
With hers ~ and
I will lose my love ~
And any hope I
Ever had of heaven ~

(Originally published June 17, 2017)

But You Persisted

You came to me when
I was lost in darkness
You put out your hand
And it was all that
I could see ~ still

I blew out the candle
That it held and cursed
You and the darkness
That once again descended

I gave back anger when
You offered only love
But you persisted ~ and
Slowly I followed your voice
Until the darkness lifted

And I could see once more
Could see and hear and feel
And now you say you fear
The love I feel for you is
Only gratitude for my healing

That in time it will fade and
This time it will be you who
Is lost and alone in the dark
But I swear to you my love
On all that I hold dear

That as long as I have strength
To hold your hand and heart
We are safe in each other’s arms
So long as we both shall live
Amen

Blind Love

I’ve never seen eyes as
Green as yours ~
Like grass in the Springtime
Pushing toward the sun ~

Your skin has a healthy color ~
That owes nothing to
A tanning bed ~
And your five o’clock shadow
Is real ~ yielding to your
Razor once again each day ~

There is nothing artificial
About you ~ nothing studied
Or unreal ~ truly you’re a
What you see is what you get type ~
And that’s just fine with me ~

I love the way you look at me ~
Your heart in your eyes as
Your work-roughened hands ~
Reach out to touch me
As if I’m something precious ~

I don’t know if love has blinded
You to all my faults ~ and truly
I don’t care ~ so long as you see
What you want to see ~ you
Make me a better me than I am ~

Psalm 151

Oh I have walked
By the peaceful waters ~
And I have heard
The forest’s call ~

I have climbed heights
And plumbed depths ~
I have loved and lost ~
And I have loved
Again
Anyway ~

I have tasted fear
And burned with rage ~
I have known hatred
And still have chosen love ~

These eyes have seen
My baby born
And my father die ~
I have watched the
Day dawn
And the sun set ~
And I have seen the Light ~

Now I see the patterns
And the characters
More clearly ~

I am adept at reading signs ~
Accumulating knowledge ~
For what future purpose
I cannot even guess ~

But in a Universe
Which operates with such
Minute attention
To detail ~
I have no doubt that
All will be revealed ~

(Originally published March 19, 2012)

Love Story

You draw my eye ~ whenever
You enter a room ~
Your grace and the very
Shape and the size of the
Presence you inhabit in the Universe ~
Are so unique that I would know you
Anywhere ~

Whenever I think of you ~
I think of love on the grand scale ~
As if you and I were meant
To have a mighty impact
In the scheme of life ~
I find it hard for me think of us
In any other way
And yet ~

While I was filling up those rooms
Inside my head ~ with memories
Of magic and shared ardor ~
You have been always ~ the
Calm and steady core at the
Heart of my existence ~ without
Whom I’d have shattered
Long ago ~

Here in this reality ~
You have tethered me to Earth ~
And I have shared with you my stars ~
Can you even begin to imagine
What comes next ~

(Originally published May 24, 2017)