That Sunday That Summer

Give me a reason to drive these lonely miles
Westward into the heart of the construct of love
But not the love that would sustain me
That love is too far west for a day on the highway

Give me a reason to abandon my pen and paper
Thoughts and words are the charlatan’s game of love
I lay them at the altar of your pledge
To the unwritten words betrayed by our collision

Give me a reason to close the last few open doors
When my soul was shackled by the obligation of love
There were keys jangling in front of me
Once these doors are locked – they will fall quiet

At Messenger Marsh

You didn’t even know who you were to us – to me – at that time
On that sunny day when the world wanted to open up for us – for you and me
When we touched and kissed and one spark of love arced across my soul
You were the best of us – of all of us – of those who came before and since
I was the one who chipped the porcelain pedestal that held our hearts aloft
My fear and my pride did their worst because they knew you were the best

Now the pedestal has crashed down around me and I pray you are unharmed
I want you to be safe – to be happy – to realize who you were to me that day
Who you were on that sunny day at Messenger Marsh – your love in bloom

The love in that house

The love in that house
Was a powerful love
It was a confused love
It was a love with flaws

The love in that house
Was an unbreakable love
It was a love that carried us
It was a love that baffled us

The love in that house
Was a soulful love
It was based on mythology
It was more than simple fiction

The love in that house
Is a slender reflection
Of the love that taught us to love
And the love we have tried to carry on

My Unfinished Heart

The bleak landscape of my unfinished stoop invites feral animals in search of sustenance
Much like the fertile landscape of my unfinished heart waits for a something to cleave to
Much like the fertile landscape of my unfinished heart searches for balance in this life

The cold would be daunting but the stoop gets visitors – even the little one with the golden eyes  
They rarely stay long – they get what they came for which offers me some sustenance

You came to the stoop that day and you asked for little and you gave everything
And I’m nurtured by your words and by your graceful presence in my graceless life

You named the Christmas cat Noel from miles away nestled in the safety of family
Today she returned to the stoop for a moment because she is more hungry than she is afraid

She will soon learn she is safe – she is safe there on the unfinished stoop
You will soon learn you are safe – you are safe there in my unfinished heart

You were less hungry for love and more hungry for the words and you somehow found both
Like Noel – you will be protected on the unfinished stoop and in my unfinished heart