the taste

my head spins
as
our lips meet
and
i taste
that most
electric
exotic
part of you
uncensored
we both leave
inhibitions
behind as we
promise we will
be everything
the other could
ever want
knowing that
the second
our
lips part
and the
electricity stops
and the taste
fades
we
will not
only
have the
memory
but we will
also have
the
magic

wings

though man may wish that he had wings
flying is earned and the freedom it brings

every bird before it learns to fly
has to leave the nest to give it a try

and every bug no matter how small
must spread some wings or always crawl

the butterfly and pesky gnat
all are living proof of that

yet on the ground people remain
our only flying done on a plane

the challenge

no words were exchanged
as each stood in the shadow of the other
the challenge was clear
the weaker would bend to the will of the stronger
their eyes danced and their feet followed
one blow connected and one blow missed
and soon they both knew
there would be a winner
and there would be a loser
suddenly the stronger of the two stopped
as if the battle was already won
but the weaker one continued
each blow had no effect on the strong
yet the weaker one did not give up
despite having no chance of winning
the weaker of the two refused to stop
for the challenge was not to win the fight
against the strong or the weak
the challenge was the fight inside themselves
and they both walked away winners

concrete reality

this universe provides concrete reality
hard truths wasted on soft minds
all towing the corporate line
thinking someday they will get theirs
the corner office and the company car
too afraid to acknowledge they never will
while spitting out political and business jargon
criticizing the masses who have long since given up
the poorest knowing the game is played by many
but won by a few and never by them
while those at the top laugh at those who think like them
dress like them and act like them
all the while keeping the prize for themselves
those who do without know that a little more
is so much worse than none at all
especially when a little more is all you will ever get
rags to riches meets rags to dishes
as fingers worked to the bone wipe away dreams by the hour
and most of the tired poor huddled masses
die never knowing they lost game the minute they stepped onto
the concrete reality

Sunrise

Each new beginning arrives with the sun
No matter the time of day
Whether Midnight hour or highest noon
Or the time we put work away

The sunrise means the death to the old
And the glorious birth to the new
It also means the chance to behold
All we were meant to do

Despite the hour or task at hand
Sunrise gives birth to the wise
And reminds us all of the chance to redo
The things we have come to despise

So let each day bring to you a fresh start
Whether the time be day or night
For among the gifts God has given to you
Is the chance to make wrong things right

Where I Belong

In and out of time and space
I still have yet to find my place
In my life right or wrong
I still have not found where I belong
In a land of musicians
I could neither sing or play
And in the land of artists
I could not find my way
In the land of dreamers
I could not fall asleep
And in the land of poets
I was not moved to weep
In a land of dancers
I was always out of step
And in the land of answers
I had no questions left
In the land of friends
I always felt alone
And in the land of houses
I could not find a home
In the land of plenty
I could not find a meal
And in the land of caring
I was unable to feel
In the land of darkness
I was unable to find a light
And in the land of war
I refused to fight
But still I keep searching
Because I know one day
The place where I belong
Will have to come my way

The Greatest Poem Ever

In loving memory of my wife Joan Elizabeth Mitchell-Nelson

on the sixth anniversary of you joining God's chorus of Angels

Rest in Peace

July 28, 1959 until May 25, 2006

Our Wedding Day, June 19, 1982 - the greatest day of my life

To show how much I love you
I wrote the greatest poem ever
That told the story of two
And a love they would always treasure

It told how you made me better
And how you saved my life
Of how I will love you forever
And you will always be my wife

Of our many adventures together
Including the birth of our son
A love that changed like the weather
Then all too soon you were gone

The night that I first ever saw you
Seeing you so elegant and serene
And how Cupid and his arrow true
Guided me to my Queen

Of our first dance together
I still remember the song
A soulful romantic ballad
Of a love that finally went wrong

Now the days drag on forever
Without you by my side
My life worth living never
Without my beautiful bride

Eternity in a day

Never measure our love by seconds
Minutes days or years
My love for you is always  timeless
Despite how things appeared

You held fast to the things you loved
And one of those things was me
But life gives us all only so many chances
Even when love is meant to be

Distance kept us from growing together
When I needed you next to me
But know that I will love you forever
The one who failed you was me

An illness took you from me
Despite how hard you fought
My failure was to make you see
Without you I was lost

Each year since you have gone away
Is filled with shame and regret
And still I find it hard to say
All the things I have not said yet

A man would have found a way
To keep his love safe and sound
But all I have left to say
Is I am sorry I let you down

Your stay in heaven will be eternity
God rewards his Angels well
My not keeping you safe and next to me
Has sealed my fate in hell

The Little Things

Grand gestures were wasted
On someone as lovely as you
The little things meant more

Diamonds and gold and pearls
Were not as important as a hug
Or holding your hand while we kissed

Perfect days were not spent on vacations
They were spent at the dinner table
As we talked about our day

Perfection in small measures
Makes the biggest impact on lives
And the biggest thing in my life is your love

Your Love Lasts Forever

Your smile warmed me on the coldest days
My harbour through the darkest storm
And still I was unable to find a way
To keep you safe from harm

An illness robbed you of your life
When you had so much to give
How hard it is to lose your wife
When you both just started to live

While the illness ravaged your body
It never touched your soul
You held on and fought so strongly
That again you would be whole

Surgery would have taken your legs
But you would not hear such talk
Your swore to all your family and friends
That you had to be able to walk

Because we saw you fight so hard
We believed what you had to say
Maybe if we had all stepped in
You would be with us today

Each day our lives are filled with pain
But we know you look from above
Life without you is not the same
But we still feel your undying love

Forever

From the time I first held your hand
Touched your face
And kissed your lips
I knew my love for you was forever

From the time you first opened your heart
Touched my soul
And taught me to love
I knew your love for me was forever too

And though you are now one of God's angels
I still can hear your sweet smile
See the way your lips taste
And know that I am loved

An Angel on this earth
You now have ascended to heaven
Yet you still hold my heart
In the arms of your sweet loving caress

The Love And The Light Of My Life

On May 25, 2006 at 6:21 p.m.
Life for me ended
Because it was then that my wife
Joan Elizabeth Mitchell-Nelson died
And so did I
Almost six years later and my will to live
My desire to succeed
My drive to be something more is gone
All that matters now is how soon
Death will let me once again be with her
If only for a moment
If there is a heaven she is already there
If there is a hell I know they are making a place for me
On judgement day when I sit before God
My hope is he at least will let her be there
So I can tell her how sorry I am for
All the things I did wrong
She deserved so much more than I was
Able to give her
And I deserve to spend eternity in hell
For not knowing the difference

11 days to say goodbye

As you lay there dying
And looked up and said
Your last words to me
I had no way of knowing
Eleven days could change
My life forever
I hear you say
"Oh how pretty"
Over and over
Not knowing then that
Would be the last thing
You say to me in this life
Yet those three words
Explain how you lived
Every day of your life
How you saw the beauty
In others
And even saw something
In me that made you
Want to share your life
With someone who was
Not smart enough to
Appreciate the gift you
Gave him
Each day I live
I know I am closer
To dying and closer
To once again be by
Your side
And I thank God
For those last 11 days
And all of the beauty
You are still
Teaching me to see

watering her garden
the sudden
storm of
tears

did not
wash away
her pain

no more
broken
promises
from him

no more
sleepless
nights
for her

her river
of love
for him
ran dry
long ago

now for her
what grows
will last
forever

but he will
never
see the
flower
that she
becomes

and without
her love
he is a
weed waiting
to die

My Brother

If I understood you my brother
I would be able to help you
To stop you before you make a choice
That will hurt everyone
Especially yourself
But instead I sit by helplessly
As you let drugs and crime rule
Your life and refuse to let them be part of mine
And as much as I want to help
I fear that if I cannot help you
Then I cannot help myself
Because despite our differences
We are more alike than we will ever say
We are now and always brothers

back of the pack

moving in
one direction
is never
easy

keeping the
pack together
is always
rough

the lead dog
is a hunter
but the last
dog is a rock

keeping
the pack
together
is done from
the front and
the back

The Professor

His office an absolute fortress
Hewn from old oak and rawhide
He rules it the way he sees best
As his books serve him as his guide

No regard for modern conventions
Even less for modern day rules
He maintains his steadfast contention
That the college is run by some fools

The policies are stupid and useless
And only give him reason to gripe
He relaxes away his undue stresses
As he fires up his huge pipe

A vision as Saint and as Santa
With gray hair and very large frame
The smoke curls like his antennae
And settles slowly in his thick mane

Each student who enters is humbled
By the knowledge contained in the man
And before this giant they crumble
As they hope to learn all that they can

the empire sleeps

the once mighty empire
now lay in ruins for all to see
visions of what was once
now crushed by the reality

that what once was what
nations and men would envy
is no longer a source of pride
for the fallen empire is me

from shore to shore what was
once vibrant and thriving
is now in pieces of a shell
as I sit here slowly dying

the choice however was up to me
to allow this all to come to be
and what I sowed I now must reap
and let this empire go to sleep

Why Every Day is Mother's Day

If love is a river your love is an ocean
Deeper and wider and beyond compare
You are the inspiration of every notion
With a love that can be felt eveywhere

 The One and Only

Of the many reasons why you are the only one for me
The greatest of them without doubt absolutely has to be
How you took my breath away at the very first glance
And when I look at you now I only think romance

Some would say you cannot love someone who has gone
That your love is a memory that cannot carry on
To them I say they never knew a love that was true
Because they never had the chance to be in love with you

graduation

a cap and a gown will not make you a graduate
they will symbolize what you can do
but say nothing about what you will do
walking across a stage and shaking hands
means your journey has just begun
now your real learning starts
and it will take you the rest of your life
before you can truly celebrate your graduation
as happy as you are today is only important
if you are able to be this happy every day for the rest of your life
as unrealistic as that may sound new graduate
ask yourself the following questions
will you make it on your own
or will you need help
have you learned enough to know the difference
is this the right career choice
and if it is not what will you do to fix it
and if it is what will it do to fix you
will your decisions bring you happiness
can you handle a lifetime of pain if they do not
can you change the things about yourself that you do not like
and are you strong enough to deal with those who do not like you
will you choose the right person to spend the rest of your life with
and will the person who chooses you add life to your years
will you be the parent you always wanted to be
or will you be the parent you always wanted
will your children bring you happiness
or will you choose not to have a child
will you help those who cannot help themselves
and will you understand how helping them will help you
finally realize that every question you ask yourself
will be answered on your time
not in an arbitrary four year period

The Beauty of Silence

Smooth as silk
Sweet like chocolate
As perfect as your first kiss
Warmer than blood
Pouring out of your soul
Is the beauty of silence

Simple yet more complex
Words come here to die
As glances steal headlines
And who we really are
Shares an elevator to hell
With those who dare to speak

Fate

a poor man walks past a mansion
as a tear streams from his eye

some are born with plenty he thought
wealth and fortune until they die

their lives full of riches and glory no doubt
with only success and fame

all I have is what I have with me
surely fate is the one to blame

as the pain in his heart continued to rise
the poor man began to sing

his song filled with beauty and heartfelt pain
that only his life could bring

and the rich man walked by and thought to himself
what an amazing thing

that fate could be so kind to this man
and bless him to be able to sing

Reflecting

As the wrinkled old man approached
His body weathered by life and by time
All around looked but very few spoke
Fearing for his peace of mind

His body had long since betrayed him
And now it would barely respond
His goal was to somehow repay them
For helping him to move along

Before him stood a strange image
Of a young man dashing and strong
Who moved in every way he did
Showing how time did the old man wrong

As those near him looked in confusion
The old man slowly did grin
As he finally solved the illusion
The image captured in time that was him

Life As a Movie

Picture your life as a movie
Where everyone you know has a part

You as the leading man or lady
And each scene as a fine work of art

The soundtrack is your children laughing
The sounds they make at play in the park

Finding your happily ever after
Long before the theatre grows dark

As hero you conquer the wicked
Who try to ruin every good deed

While restoring order to the universe
And tending to those who are in need

If only each life were a movie
Very little would need to be said

Yes life would be perfect truly
If only inside of your head

The Poetry of Life

When the unique word or phrase
Must now share the page
With the melancholy day
The man finally found his way

And introspective and insightful
Becomes depressed or delightful
Watching lost children at play
By old people with nothing to say

Meets the woman full of sin
As her life comes to the end
Who once heard the call
After never living at all

Thus is the Poetry of Life
Free from care and full of strife
Set to music of what is to be
From the song that no one can see

Yet despite what they may
They all long for the day
When the words can be free
Given life read under a tree

urbanation

she has
a rhythm
all her
own

a life
that
gives birth
to movements
and music

she is
politics
and
people

she is
the latest
style
married to
the oldest
tradition

yet few
understand
or can
master
her moods

and as
she slides
so easily
from elegance
to urban
energy

she sits
alone
waiting
for everyone
else to
catch up

Angels Among Us

The angels among us
Are always there when you need them
They know there are no coincidences
As they do the will of God

The Creator of all makes no mistakes
Angels know God has a master plan for us all
And they know they are a very important part
They do the will of God
They do the work of God
They serve the people of God

An Instant

Life is created
And lost in
An instant

Despite advances
In technology
A simple cell
Mutates and
Everything is over

Our bodies
Made in the
Image of God
Will end
When God says

Job well done
My child
Time to
Come home

NO POEM POSTED ON THURSDAY, MAY 3RD DUE TO ILLNESS. I WAS HOSPITALIZED AND  UNDERGOING MEDICAL TESTS AND HAD NO ACCESS TO A COMPUTER.

the battle

the results
of the battle
are easily
seen

blood
scars
and ruins

the results
of the war
remain
hidden

betrayal
anger
and pain

the reason
for your
freedom is
obvious

results
never change
as long as
you win
the war

Waiting

Learning to wait is not easy
To patiently sit until time
Will let us know to move forward
And take on the next thing in line

Some never wait for the season
Or a literal change in their mind
To challenge the next thing their reason
And master whatever they find

Maybe learing to wait is the wrong thing
To do while we wait for a sign
While fortune and fame and the brass ring
Go to those who did not wait in line