Poetry Sample

Beat of My Heart 

Upon my heart, I place your hand

If only to make you understand

That because our love is so very true

Each beat is only for you

The Man and His Horn 

He takes his horn and places it to his lips

He’s played the notes thousands of times

He blows and blows but the music isn’t the same

Yes, his lips are puckered and his fingers are bent

But his breath is short and his bones are stiff

At times the music flows and is beautiful

Others it is choppy and unrecognizable

But he plays on

Not for fame or money

But for the music

And for himself

The Calendar

Each little box is like a still frame in my mind

Numbers change,as do the people and places

Some for the better some for the worse

Seven, thirty, or thirty-one an album filled

Some good are erased never to return

While some bad are written in permanent

The calendar , a yearbook of my life

A stack of eighty high

Torn, taped

And riddled with holes

The Calendar 2

Little X’s through the days

A countdown of sorts

Things to be done with time running out

The oak that was losing leaves

Is now showed covered in snow

And 2009 replaces 1973

Soon a new calendar will hang

But the X’s won’t stop

Daydreaming

As I sit here waiting,
my mind begins to drift
I wonder about old friends,
and new friends to come
New thoughts are born
Life's choices questioned
Snapshots in my memory come into focus
Loneliness and happiness intersect
and sometimes run parallel
Tears fall from a smiling face
Then I'm interrupted
and have to start again

Flying High
I'm flying high
even with a clipped wing
Telling my troubles "goodbye"
with a new song to sing

To Be A Bird
A bird I wish I could become
A pretty one that could hum
I would search out those people I dread
Fly over them and shit on their head


Two Rocks
Two Rocks fell off a boat
One drowned because it couldn't float
The other lived long on the land
But really died that day in the sand


Awakened
Awakened
Blackened midnights gone
Darkened Clouds lifted
Blinding Fog Cleared
From this nightmare
I step into the sun


Another Day
Again the sun sets
another day gone and yet
in the morning it will rise
and bring with it a new surprise


Looking Up
From the Depths of Hell I pull
I can feel the cool
I stumble and slip
I grab and hold
Looking Up
With so far to go

Three Days of Heaven

We said our last good-byes as I boarded the bus
We married on Friday and the weekend spent with only us
I was on my way to a foreign land
With nothing but a green duffel bag in my hand
I spent nine months in Hell
Thinking only of those three days of heaven
When I received my notice and
Began counting days beginning with seven
But on day four I got shot
And on day three my body lay on my cot no longer hot
When I returned home, a baby would have been waiting
For which I could brag
Instead it is my wife who was is waiting
For my coffin draped with a flag