FORFEITED RADIANCE

Morning dew rises, as the sun scrambles
Above the horizon as midday nears.
Right away, awakening my senses
Joining them in a varied splendid hue
Of beauty I have never encountered.
Rustling palm fronds and the swaying sawgrass,
Yet, I stare at the Everglades splendor,
Stretching horizons, boundless as blue skies.
Tidal waters drain the river of grass
Of all new vitality brought by spring.
No place like the Everglades exists on
Earth as it does in my very backyard.
Merely tranquility is what I sought,
And leaving solace disturbances in
Not so familiar surroundings for
Doing my part may not be enough now.
Only to realize her once beauty,
Underscored by the polluted soil.
Greatly respected by all those who have
Lived off the land for past generations
And future generations coming forth.
Sun sparkled, beautifully bounded as if
A tapestry were woven in a mixed
Nightmare of many colors in the sky.
Disappearing quickly, acres of land
Hopelessly scream for protection from the
Endless destruction towards her once beauty.
Reminiscing of the river of grass,
Remembering the many faceless names.
In the afternoon, the fiery sun
Victoriously forfeited to the
Ever present gathering gray clouds of
Rain storms of thunder, lightning and wind gusts
Of which seemed to arise before my eyes.
For the life she holds, some are not even
Grateful for the beauty she possess,
Rarely keeping her pristine armor whole.
As generations of families come,
So many leave feeling vacant while,
Someone else be fulfilled with inner peace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Marjory Stoneman Douglas and her River of Grass
April 7, 1890 – May 14, 1998

THROUGH ALL THE YEARS TO COME

Today, like all other days is to be
One of opportunity for me to
Daydream about tomorrow’s encounter.
During this moment in time, I see you,
As distant as parted seas, I try to
Near the silhouettes with each passing stride.
Daring to be quaint, they become one now,
Happening silently as the first time
In which his fearless stare met her shy gaze.
Sharing the beginning, of what will be
Everlasting passion for each other
Like a first love between a boy and girl.
Giving each other the world’s offerings,
I see them together eternally
Sewing a quilt filled with endless color.
Bringing forth, this gentleman and lady,
Only to now become husband and wife,
To bestow their heritage to their kin.
Now that I completed telling this tale,
Emotions of joy and celebration
Remind me why they are now together.

 

 

REFLECTIONS

No one knows how long they’ll be on Earth.
Dying a little each day right from birth,
We never know our reasons for being,
Or what we’re going to do or be.

When a loved one finishes their journey,
It leaves us feeling sad, remembering the past.
It hurts us knowing we’ll see them no more.
But we must go on, for they’ve gone through a door.

The good times we had and the love we shared
And the many things we did to show how we cared.
But as we grow and learn,
We each have a different journey.

As we walk the path down through the years,
Sometimes filled with laughter,
And other times filled with tears.
Memories are the only possessions of them we’ve got.

Be thankful for family and friends, tried and true.
They’re the ones that helped us when we’re feeling blue.
So until the day comes when we reach the end of our time,
We must try hard to love others and find peace of mind.

 

 

MY LAST RED ROSE FROM YOU

I laid my eyes upon you,
hoping to fall on you
but I saw you look on to the other man
as I tried to converse with you.

You just want to be,
as all girls seem to say,
"good friends for now"
with little or no emotion.

For I take my last red rose,
not knowing my bleeding heart
becomes separated and lonely once again,
with you parting my once warm body.

Taking time to walk life's roads,
twisting around unknown bends,
only seeing what's ahead
just prior to arriving.

Left in the cold winter breeze,
standing all alone,
staring beyond horizons
that were once shared together.

I hope to take my eyes off you,
wishing only to forget you,
but from the bottom of my broken heart,
losing you bothers me quite the least.

Hoping only to forget you.
I just wasn't able to express
the many feelings and the lyrics to sing,
towards the one woman
I'll love until the end of time.



 

HER BREAKING UP

An evil long grin is marked on her face.
Only pulling on strings to feelings
I have had for her from the beginning.
She continues to pull my strings harder
And harder until they finally tear.

Now the string is torn, I have no fear,
No loss for the time I wasted to ponder,
Over the once many wasted feelings
I had towards her from early beginnings.
I no longer justify a case in which I had no dominating guilt.

Creeping on her knees, pondering her fate,
Upon whether I will accept her bait
To return to play her game once again.
I don't think I'll be with her again,
No matter what she does or promises.

For I learn from my experiences.
Although it may take some time to heal
Wounds opened with minuscule grains of salt.
My loneliness leaves no empty feelings for
Her to occupy any new vacated spaces.

As she slowly comes and approaches towards
My body's coldness, now aware of the pain of her life,
I withdraw all my feelings and move onwards.
In the years to come, a life of my own,
In which I make the decisions all alone.

FEELINGS I THOUGHT I HAD

I laid my eyes on you,
Hoping to fall upon you.
But I saw you look on
To that other man,

I tried to converse with you.
But you just want to be
As all girls seems to say,
“Good friends for now.”

With little or no emotion,
I take my eyes off you,
Hoping only to forget you.
But I wasn’t able to express

The many feelings,
I have and will always have
Towards the one woman
I’ll love until the end of time.


 

CAPABLE AND CONDESCENDING CHARACTER

Can you hear me smile? 

            I don’t think so … or

 

Can you feel my heart cry?

            I don’t think so … or

 

You would still be holding my hand through it all

            or

Would you casually replace all that I gave you?

 

Either way, you have vacated all that I dreamt

            so

My smile can no longer be heard by you and

 

My heart is no longer crying in losing you,

But my mind joined them both in a celebration.

 

Can you see me wonder?

            I don’t think so … or

Can you smell the beauty?

            I don’t think so … or

 

You would still be holding my hand so tightly

            or        

Would you greedily take all that’s been given to you?

 

As the spree of wonder and beauty continue,

My wonder becomes vivid indifference and

My beauty expands as more around me is seen,

But the celebration in my mind continues.

 

Can you taste the tears I cry?

            I don’t think so … or

Can you feel my footsteps?

            I don’t think so … or

 

You would still be trying to hold on my hand now

            Or

Would you continue to pursue all that you lost?

 

Now all you can do is join the celebration,

With me and share tears and listen to my footsteps

Gradually become distant as I walk on toward

Where the earth meets the sky and leaves you all alone.

 

and … I leave you hearing smiles, feeling hearts cry
and … I leave you wondering and smelling beauty,

and … I leave you tasting tears and feeling footsteps,

Gathering together in a nightmare just for you.

 

Now I ask you to look no further than your soul,

To feelings you have held deep within for so long,

Just capturing your breath of life away as quick
As if it was given to you at your very birth.