Welcome to a place
where desolation meets
silent tranquility
here is my isolation
amidst the winter’s snow
there is no place
to bury the dead
no time or will
to dig deep
beneath the barren forsaken land
the dead lay as they fall
no ceremony as the wind
claws at your face
when you scream
no one is there to listen
in a place
riddle with unmarked graves
you walk amongst the dead
but do not know it
kill or be killed
at the Gate’s of Desolation
Do you remember the path
We once walked together
It was so long ago
In a childhood dream
It led us to nowhere
But we where still happy
It didn’t matter
We had everything
We didn’t need a tour guide
Or a guiding hand
Just each other and a smile
To follow a path
Yet to be paved
Here we were safe
Amongst the guardian trees
Where the strongest voice
Was the quietest
And the world belong to our dreams
Were has it gone now
I can’t remember where it is
I lost it in time
Lead me back
To the path we dared to pave
I fear it is gone now
If it couldn’t last
The test of time
What can?
What about our dreams
Will they be forgotten to
In the end of time
Remind me
Guide me
We will find it together
And never forget
That once we walked
A path unpaved
With the world in our hands
And the future in our minds
Today I shook
The hand of a man
Who truly has suffered
But lived his life
He is from Sudan
On his face
A story is told
Sun made wrinkles
Make him look old
His dark complexion
Shows who he is
A Lost Boy
He saw death
But refused to die
He fought for his life
And earned every second
His parents shot down
Right before his five year old eyes
So he turned and ran
And never looked back
Through starvation and thirst
He walked the hard land
Over one thousand miles
Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya
All called home
But never truly settled
His entire past gone
Lost in gun shots and screams
Blue rivers run red
But still this boy ran
Trying to keep up his head
Trying not to fall in the sand
His fellow comrades
The other lost children
Trek along desert ridges
Across barren lands
Nowhere in mind
Just trying to survive
Carried everything on his back
His history and hardships
A burden weighed down
Something pushing from behind
To keep him from falling down
So many fallen who never get back up
His name on a board
That guided his destiny
Brought him from nothing
But gave him everything
From Kenya to America
He traveled at last
To freedom, a home
But her could never forget his past
So he took what he had
And made something of it
Finally coming to our school
To tell us his story
Of a time so sad
He stands here before us
Showing his burden
Sharing his life
At the end of it all
I shook the hand of a man
Who had earned his way
Rough calloused hands
With a strong hard grip
That never let go
But yet still he smiles
Even after his time
Traveling through lands
Of blood and fire
To find a home
He is a Lost Boy
Torn from his home
At only five years old
There is a message in a bottle
Somewhere out there for me
Lost among stormy seas
And faraway lands
I don’t know whom it is from
Or when it will arrive
But I know
It is out there somewhere
Searching for me
To deliver its message
It kept safe for me
It survived the winds
The hurricanes at sea
The harsh unmerciful waves
Passed from hand to hand
Sea to sea
I know it will find me someday
And that day when it arrives at last
I will find it among the rocks
Nestled and safe
Waiting just for me
Inside is a letter
About what I do not know
Just a small little note
From an author unknown
Telling me a secret
I have lived my whole life just to know
For now I am waiting
With my eyes turned to the sea
Watching for the glint of a bottle
Lost at sea
Here is an old poem I wrote, I definitely like free verse much better than rhyme schemes…
Black striped nails
Fox with nine tails
All our efforts fail
Time to let our dreams sail
Black striped claws
Staring calmly into the lion’s maw
Trying not to cry with a locked jaw
Forever remember the horrors you saw
Black striped hair
Leave behind those who care
Stepping off a cliff if you dare
Walking into darkness unless you’re scared
Black striped skin
The game you play but never win
Look at your face you’re guilty as sin
This is my hell go on jump in
I am black striped
I will always have to fight
I am the darkness inside of light
I am blind but do not lack sight
This story will end here tonight
I keep on fighting using all my might
Please hold on and squeeze my hand tight
This is going to be a very long night
The fence gate
Guards the bell towers
Where the pigeons wait
Let the bells ring
Let the bells toll
It is time
Let it go
Let it go
For so long
You stood on
The wrong side
Of the white picket fence
Cross over
It is time now
To leave behind
What you were
To become
Who you really are
Shut the gate behind you
It won’t on it’s own
Seal it tight
Don’t let the demons in
Here is a place of safety
Welcome
To the garden
Where we are alone now
But never alone
Under the shadow
Of the bell that tolls
Waiting for the sign
From no one
To take up our arms
And walk away
To cross the threshold
To become something new
Come take my hand
Walk with me
We can cross it together
And leave the gate
Swinging shut behind us
Don’t be afraid
I have done this before
All you have to do
Is open your heart
And sigh out your miseries
Then fill your heart back up
with the worlds gentle beauty
It is there
I promise
It is just hard to see
Just don’t get lost along the way
In the shadow of the bell that tolls
It can shallow you hole
You wont come back the same
To got o hell and back
To look down upon
You very own grave
Come back with me
I will guide you
Back to the gate
That stands guard
Over the bell tower
That watches us
From the garden
Don’t be afraid
This is life
This is who we are
This is who we have become
Eclipsed by the shadows
Of the bell tower
A little boy runs
Through a crowded market place
His arms held out
As he weaves between all the people
A little toy airplane
Held tight in his outstretched hand
He runs along
With a smile plastered on his face
Making airplane noises
All around him is the sound
Of a society
Perpetually on the move
Haggling, arguing
Agreeing, thanking
All the mouths moving
As they converse amongst each other
The boy hears a loud noise
He slows as he runs
It alone stands out
One noise in a world of clatter
It rings in his ears
Finally he stops
As the pounding noise
Is right in front of him
Looking at the market stall
Placed before him
A butcher stands
A meat cleaver in one hand
Humming happily
As he chops into the meat
Of an animals dead corpse
The crack of bones
As the metal crushes
The animal’s dead body
Crack crack crack
It echoes in the boys ears
As the butcher wedges the knife
Out of the cutting board
Out of the pile of pulverized meat
The butcher wipes the blood
On his white apron
Laughing as he notices the boy
Standing there motionless
His arms dangling limp
At his sides
The butcher brings the cleaver down
Again and again
The boy flinches each time
Following each little movement
With eyes wide
Hands gripping tightly onto
The little toy airplane
The butcher spits to the side
And looks down his nose
At the small innocent boy
He snorts again
You wanna try kid?
It’s fun
He holds out the cleaver
Stained in blood
The little boy drops the toy
And steps forward
Out of his old world
And into a new one
As he grabs onto the knife
To big for his tiny hands
The forgotten toy sits on the ground
It is crushed beneath the crowd
As it moves forward
Always moving
The boy doesn’t notice
The crack of bones resounds
Echoing into a crowd that doesn’t listen
And doesn’t care
Except for the little crushed airplane toy
That lays broken and forgotten
As a boy walks away from innocence
Into a world of blood
As the cleaver falls
There is the quiet hum
Of a T.V. on silent
Sterilized white walls
Everything is so quiet
Yet so very loud
Footsteps echo in the halls
Whispers sound like screams
As they fall on dying ears
Do you know who you are
Or why you are here?
Who ever knows
Who ever will
As they roll
Another one away
Down a long hallway
That they never come back from
He is the one who remains
Locked in by
See through curtains
That cast shadows around him
And thousands of tubes
He is always alone
No one ever at his side
No family
No friends
No memories in the night
To keep him company
In the darkest hours of night
Where the ghosts are so close
And death stands at the foot
Of his skinny little bed
Telling him to come along
It is finally your time
There is just a pile of old postcards
That he bought for himself
What feels like a lifetime ago
From all the places he had been
And said he would never forget
But now he can’t remember
Anything at all
He forgets where he is
And who he is
He is separated and detached
From reality
By what he lacks
Waiting all alone
In a white washed room
With only a T.V. on mute
For company
And a stack of empty postcards
All waiting for the inevitable
The one thing he can never forget
That death is lingering
So very close
He can feel its breath
Whispering in his ear
In a hospital room where Lethe
Swept him away from all he knew
And ever loved
For him there is no future
Or a past
He is floating in an abyss
Stuck between heaven and hell
As the monitor beeps
Slower and slower
The man turns his head
And looks at the postcards
With old weary eyes
He reaches with his weighted hands
Shaking and fumbling
As he picks one up
A little smile on his dried cracked lips
I remember
He whispers but no one hears
As the monitor stops
And a lone tear
Slips from his eye
Staining the postcard
As it falls
Drifting slowly to the ground
Remembered at last
The fragility of life
Is a very scary thing
The thought that
All you ever have worked at
Is for nothing
With just a cut
A scratch
Your life could be taken away
An accident
A slip
Could send you astray
That your life
Could all just be
Another burning ash
In a cigarette try
Just a walk
Could be your last
A fight with family
Could bring an end
So very fast
Just a word softly uttered
Could end it all
A little slip
Could wind up
Being a very big fall
Showing you that
You really are
Insignificant and small
Just a speck
In the eyes of all others
In the face of God
Every bone, every muscle
Every word
Every moment
Could be taken away
Ripped from you
With just a thought
Your world destroyed
Never to return
And no one
Would ever know
That you were gone
Come in
Come back
It is cold outside
We wouldn’t want
You to catch a chill
Now would I
There is no reason
To venture outside
I have everything
You could ever want
Or ever desire
Shut the door behind you
It is dark out there
It is scary and unknown
You must beware
Don’t you know
I am just trying
To keep you safe
Like a good mother would
It is dangerous out there
Dark and twisted
So don’t even think
For a moment
That is where you belong
You belong here
Safe inside
Where the light always shines
Don’t walk away
Never leave me behind
Don’t you understand
You need me
You are mine
If you wont shut the door
Then I sure will
It will never open again
I may sound mean but I swear
My fragile love
It is for the best
The outside world
Isn’t for people like you
So shut the door
And leave your
Silly imagination behind
I have all you could ever want
But the freedom of the wind
And a world unknown