The Poetry Marathon

Trailing you along life's path
through your trials and tribulations
I learn about me and my
failures and impossible situations

Mirror, mirror shows me more
than I could ever learn from a book
you let me know through your hook
that I am just a soulful thief

Stealing from you my expectations
pushing you far from your desire
toward my illusion
I release you to be brighter

Stop trying to stuff me in your box
where I must conform to your expectations
when what I offer is a paradox
with expectations defiled by unintended wrongs

A nurse I am
but not a saint
I cannot reverse
your fatal complaint

An attorney I am
but not a saint
I cannot reverse
your moral constraint

I am an author
but not a saint
my stories are mine
with colorful paint

I'm a doctor of the mind
of psychology and how we think
with theories of old and new
and I transform not as a lunatic

I am a seeker of truth and hope 
that each person, despite trope,
can become their best and joyful self
and I advocate for your hope

Born a perfect soul with knowledge and vision
from out of the closet comes the monsters
of generational rage, institutional derision, 
mandatory conformity and societal musts

The first decades spent conforming
to laws derived by marketers, politicians, and others
selling, controlling, and reforming
deep inside the soul struggles

Rejected for originality
imprisoned by corporate rules 
and left lonely and sensitive to brutality
apathy takes residence in the soul

Finding herself, she emerges
a siren of sincerity
connected with the timeless voices
she paves a new path 
of restored originality

An ocean of crimson nectar
shrouded by a refractive vessel
as if to preserve the substance
for eternity, or longer

Medicinal ferment to soothe the aches
numb the pain
free the creative juices
and entice sleep

Social lubricant of the ages
frees the tongue
from decades of taming
be still the beasts of shaming

Shared sunsets that brilliantly illuminate 
contours of the horizon with plateaus and spires
and low hanging puffs of clouds
and empty words of desire

Songs written about your love lost
an aching heart longing for closure
hope disappearing into deep valleys
shared for effect, but not inspired

Moments like these do not true love make
empty places where words could relate
lost opportunity for the one who wants
someone like me, instead of one who haunts

Spices blossom about my tongue
Crimson falls and lights her hair
Moonlight dance and distant trolley
My muse and I exchange a glance, a secret or two
I swallow her words, to marinade and digest
And pray that under the stars, when she has gone, 
They will return and new works spawn

Finger intertwined, arms outstretch 
gossamer sleeves and golden hooded gowns
you rise above the plains, the meadow
then dip below and kiss the beau
who wakes the bride
to watch your glorious radiance
alight the morning sky

Minutes pass as your reach higher
more radiant with each passing moment
cheer and play swarm under
winged insects bathe and delight
in the warmth and glow you provide
as you give your all across the land
for each living thing to grow and thrive 

Then as you tire and wane a bit
your youthful souls fall adrift
while gravity pulls you toward the earth
daffodils bow their heads,
theatrics and watercolors in the sky unite
the mantis rest their head
stars await their entrance, suspended in flight

Your life you gave for the glorious day
to illuminate the lost along the way
nurture the creatures, the being, the moss
giving hope to souls who once felt lost
and now your time to rest has come
and in the morning dispell the night 
and wake us with your morning light

Just hold me
While I weep in silence
Ask me not one thing
As my dolorous sighs release

Your strength I shall borrow
Just hold me
While I wallow in the sorrow 
Of betrayal, forfeiture and demise

My though clouded by tears
See the beauty of your love and plead,
Just hold me
Without me having to ask you

You ask no questions
And beg not a word
As to why I need you to
Just hold me

Light bends at the horizon
Archs and dips with the flow
Shadows fall to slumber
while snowcap rise aglow

Love follows the same
The trajectory tortuous
Dodging hills
Falling to dales

Abandoned and hollowed musings
Fall to the darkness of caves
Left to their own devices
They die withered and love remains

Souls together united
Amalgam of ancient and new
Familiar yet exciting
A love that is pure and true

The years have passed
We meet again
Along our favorite river
Wind blows softly, I can hear

My face is weathered
My hands are gnarled
But you haven’t aged a day
since last you kissed me

We embrace with outstretched arms
Hearts beat in unison
Be I feel you not
A hoax has fallen upon us

Then visions of you,
in Funerary urn
Mourners bending knee
Cradling precious memories

I remember then the wails
the tears as darkness fell
And in your eyes I can see
The beautiful maiden that once was me