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Remember When

This poem comes from Autumn Leaves:

 

The way we were blends

Into the way we are.

 

The way we are

Becomes the way we were.

 

The way we were becomes

“Remember when?” And

 

In each other’s eyes

We’ll be young again!

Final Metamorphosis

This poem comes from Autumn Leaves:

I’m soaring now,

All is well.

As I glance down

On a worn-out shell.

I hear moans and crying.

What’s it all about?

Everyone wants to weep,

Yet I wish to shout.

Inside, looking out,

Now I’m outside looking in.

Bright, fresh beginning,

Freedom without end.

No more headaches

Or pain exist here.

Fresh new world,

Full of laughter and cheer.

Over the old earthly cocoon

You weep and moan,

But transfiguration is complete —

The butterfly has flown.

Spirit form unfettered,

At last completely free,

So why all the sorrow?

At last, “I am free!”

I Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda

This thought comes from Autumn Leaves:

 

I Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda

And a horse named Opportunity

Gallops off into the sunset

Carrying an empty saddle!

Artist

This poem comes from Autumn Leaves:

 

Paint with strokes of love,

Brush warmth of summer sun,

Birds fluttering all about,

And clear, blue skies above.

 

Paint happy trees, merry streams,

Stroke in children’s laughter,

Happy dogs and cats,

Lemon light of drowsy dreams.

 

Stroke in cool, green grass,

Quiet, existing limpid pools,

Browns of a robust mountain;

Blend them like sands in an hourglass.

 

Paint no sadness on life’s canvas,

Her presence already abounds;

Life is loaded with her morass,

So…just paint in happy sounds.

Flight

This poem comes from Autumn Leaves:

 

To move unfettered in air so rare and pure,

Beneath or above endless banks of clouds.

Unshackled to soar in mind and spirit

To remove earth’s burdensome shroud.

 

Could an eagle speak, would he

Hold us in contempt or in utter disdain,

Poor earth-bound creatures, animals of habit,

Foul air, daily tasks mundane.

 

Spread mighty silver wings,

Soar above the patch-work quilt pattern below.

Fly softly, free spirited,

But fly reverently as you go.

 

Diminished horizons, skies blue and clear,

Atmosphere charged with laughter,

Intangible, invisible

Because other spirits linger here.

 

To leave earth’s cluttered pull, to explore, to seek,

To know, to find lasting contentment,

To search out the truth of the universe

And to know God is man’s essence and ultimate destiny.

The Entity

This poem comes from Autumn Leaves:

 

Brighter than a falling meteor,

Shorter than an excited breath,

More fleeting than a passing moment,

Faster than a bolt of lightning.

 

Colder than a frigid arctic blast,

Higher than an eye straining cloud,

Softer than wind-blown thistledown,

Harder than the hardest diamond.

 

This entity comes quietly, yet quickly.

Lingers softly, burns hotly, turns cold

And leaves faster than it came.

 

Having brought joy with its arrival,

It now leaves sorrow in its wake.

 

Not to know it brings emptiness,

And to know it brings joy and bittersweet memories!

 

Such is this thing known throughout the world as Love…

And stranger still — no one can define it.

 

Ironic Circle

This poem is from Autumn Leaves:

 

The first men on our shores had freedom,

But little time to truly experience it

As they struggled to make their place and tame this big land.

Building, hunting, foraging, and planting consumed much of their energy,

But they had freedom.

 

Later, men struggled in chains,

Dying to secure richer lives for their owners.

Throughout their lives of trials and tribulations,

They held to their dreams tenaciously  —

Their dreams of freedom.

 

Later still, men fought and died by the thousands in great wars

To stop tyrants and secure freedom more concretely.

They fought, bled and died to uphold

Our country’s cherished principles,

But these men died, knowing freedom.

 

Even later, men who knew freedom’s sweetness and blessings

Let it erode because of greed, indifference,

Lust for material wealth and apathy.

Blinded by these pursuits,

They became disillusioned and let it slip away.

 

Ironic? Yes! Men who realized freedom,

But no time to fully appreciate it.

Men who didn’t have it and could only dream of its possession.

Men who knew it and died fighting to hold it.

Men without vision who let it slip away like a thief in the night.

It’s Not As It Appears

This poem comes from Autumn Leaves:

 

From Ming Dynasty

To urbane travesty,

Ancient pyramids,

Ages untold.

Mysteries beneath the sea,

Treasures beyond measure,

Yet all that glitters is not gold.

 

Old wisdom,

New wisdom,

Colors broken by a prism.

Rainbows cast in a cloudy sky.

Men haggle, question, and reason,

Searching the horizon for why.

A diamond in the rough is not enough.

 

Infinitesimal reaches of space,

Men scurry and race

To conquer and know the unknown,

Striving to be first,

To quench the unquenchable thirst

Of knowledge —

Or is it greed? —

Which pushes men toward the stars.

The well-worn shoe now cramps the foot.

 

Radio and television

Have created an invasion

Into history and lifestyles

With forceful persuasion.

Minds spoon-fed such

A diet of sensation

Soon lose innovation

And imagination.

A rose picked from the vine quickly loses its beauty.

 

Failure

This thought comes from Autumn Leaves:

 

Never fear life’s failures, for they are the

granite building blocks that make a solid

foundation in life — provided one perseveres.

Anger

This poem is from Autumn Leaves:

 

Anger that bubbles

Like a pot on a fire,

Feeds inward on itself.

 

Simmering hotter and hotter,

It feeds on misunderstanding, lies, innuendo,

Which fans passion into a white hot heat that no extinguisher can quench.

 

Finally, the fire burns itself out

To be replaced by cold, lifeless ashes

Of remorse, suspicion and questionable motives.

 

Mind barriers are then erected to protect

Self-righteous indignation of the experience,

Which no spoken or written communication can demolish.

 

Like a coral reef it builds,

Layer upon layer,

Hardened, fortified–impenetrable!

 

Such is Anger!

Then anger mellows into bitterness,

And once there, dies a cold, lonely death.