Being Poetry

And at times you cry and complain
And sadness takes over
And cry out for death and love and sex
Sometimes only happiness sustains
From sunset to morning
Love and peaceful is the man and his
Sometimes, the person while in love
Laugh and cry about things only in his mind
And then, sometimes, things from back a while
Are livid and hot in his present time
Sometimes he mixes midday and midnight
And sleeps through work hours
And wake up during the night
To find that he is not lonely
- This is being poetry -

in honor of Estado de Poesia, by Chico César, sang by Maria Bethania

Give it time and rest

I won't say "you should know better"
For who knows such things?
The older they get, the less they care
But I will tell you this:
The pain will go away
And it is better like this
Alone but for friends
Not loved but by yourself
(It wasn't love anyway)
It hurts now because it must
- It is the price of lust -
But you won't remember or regret
Give it wine and rest
Give it time and sex.

For Jeff Bowen.

A Picture in Motion

A Picture in Motion

There is something to do
With hearts and how fast they beat
And the gaze and the walk and the smile
And smiling back

Papers were signed and oaths sworn
But there is something to do
With the chance of encounters
And lust

Rules were set and boundaries drawn
And there is a fine line to trespass
Between care and respect and devotion
There is passion

And time has passed since I was seventeen
It comes back now: The horse in my dreams
The safety he gives I will never seek
It isn't for me

It is up in the mountain, hidden from them
With no interruptions but the ones we make
Among all this, one thing still:
I chose for me the air from your nostrils.


November.5th/2014
for Don Harrison