Mostly Poetry

Last time I checked,
Love doesn’t strangle,
It doesn’t squeeze so tight,
That it cuts off the breath.
Sometimes a little freedom,
Will more fully captivate,
Than a psychological prison,
Of romantic unrest.

One can squeeze so tight,
That love and life leave,
Through grasping and clinging,
Dies the object of lust.
The hand wants to hold on,
The heart wants to hide,
The soul fails to keep,
As the dream turns to dust.

Like a vanishing mirage,
What we want becomes nothing,
What we hold turns to mist,
And settles to the ground.
What we can’t let go of,
We have greater chance of losing,
But what we don’t hold to death,
Might just stick around.

In spite of all this,
We cling and we hold,
To avoid “letting go”,
And the associated pain…
While what we gain through release,
May be far more valuable,
Than what we hope to save,
By grasping in vain.

~wbv

Ouch
I’m tired
My anxious heart
Quiet drives me crazy
Noise does too
It’s uncomfortable
Difficult

Uneasy
Thinking about…
That last moment
Where discomfort was hiding
Then I realize
Maybe too
You

Them
More like
All of us
Have felt this discomfort
And hate it
Loath it
Bother

Suddenly
I see
The truth about
This hated (needed) companion
Pain, anxiety, discomfort
A purpose
Definitely

Human
Human condition
A chronic condition
Pain, suffering, anguish, discomfort
All things that
Reflect life
Inside

Comfort
At rest
Reminded by discomfort
The security of humanity
That in this
Moment hides
Peace

~wbv

I once met a nolight
Who coincidently had nolife
A curious little creature
Still huge in my eyes

Laughing at me
Overhead a dark nolife
Silly and strange as a
Todeath in a nonlife

While this nolife nolight stood
Above little bigme
Said I of dead nolight, oh when will
It leave me?

Strange as it seems
The nolight couldn’t leave
Having never been “here”
Ever there, being he

Krazy dark nolife
Ever huge in my brain
Your lightless nonessence
Will make me insane, as

Only little bigme can off this
Rude nolight who
Drains every somelight from littlebigs like bigme
Wandering no more I see clearly with somelight
And somelight has hidden dead nolight from me
See?

~wbv

City of dreams
And memories ending
Tired sensations
Held low to the ground

Yearnings are fading
On hopes being dashed
Underneath it all
Secrets held, not a sound

The colors are losing
Their colors to darkness
The lights, once bright,
Grow dim

Reduction is
The only thing increasing
The water is thirsty
Satisfaction is sin

Apathy
Withheld
Darkened
Dead end

~wbv

Lowered eyes capture
This dull gray surface
Silent steps, quiet breeze
And the occasional horn

Step after step
The moment carries me
To far off places
Of yesterday’s walkways

Sand and beaches
Wind and rain
Rocks and gunshots
The heartache of loneliness

Step after step
This flat hard surface
Runs beneath my tired feet
To the tune of the person sleeping on it

Step after step
Focused and silent
I see nothing but light
And suddenly, it hits me…

~wbv

Touching softly
Every inch
Fingers dragging
Careful, focused
As high and as low
Covering it all
And suddenly…

A corner
Where this wall meets
Its companion
Stretched out
Repeating
Every previous step
On this new plane
And repeatedly

Twice more
Soon to find
That every inch
Is like every other inch
And each flat surface
Like the one that preceded it

Nothing else
Not a sign of light
No cracks
No windows
No doors
No way out
Of the room

~wbv

Clean, quiet, still, dark
Step inside
And feel your breath

Every sound is a clap of thunder
Every light is a blazing sun
Stretching out, reaching out
To fill the void

Nothingness longs for substance
Every nothing becomes something
In the lonely space
Silence creates noise

As loud as a mouse
As full as a drop of water
Every hint of affection cherished
Every casual glance kept (in vain)

When emptiness is the rule
Satisfaction is lawlessness
Substance is made a spectacle
And fullness is sin

~wbv

Every time I see you
My words get twisted
I can’t speak
Can’t feel
Can’t look
Can’t move
Without stumbling

I say the wrong things
To the wrong people
At the wrong times

Every time you see me
I am at my worst
It’s never a good day
There is always something

But you, you are perfect
You never stumble
Well you do
But I never see it
Or never notice
How stupid!

What a mess I am
With my worst foot forward

~wbv

Think, remember
Where is it?
Where has it gone?

Was there someone there?
Was there something?

Something meaningful?
Something of value?
Have you ever felt?
Have you ever known?
Have you ever spoken?

Or listened?
Or cared?
Or loved?
Or needed?
Or wanted?

Questions
Damn questions
In the absense of answers
Questions outline
The shadow of my existence
A dark and vague
Misshapen image
Of a reality now
Swept under the rug

You can’t erase me.

You can close your eyes
And you will hear me
You can hold your ears
And you will feel me
You can deny that I exist
Refusing to look or touch
Or see or hear
Or smell or taste

But the shadow remains
The darkness
The void
The nothing
Being locked as it is
By lack of closure

You can’t erase me.

~wbv

Beautiful soul,
Lost in this world of hate
Can’t find a heart to relate

Beautiful dream,
Left in the darkness of night
Hidden from morning’s light

Beautiful you,
You wish they could see it
The place where you leave it

The magic oasis where
Hidden love heals all but
Hate’s deepest wounds

The wounds that they gave you
The person they made you
The peace and the passion they stole

All tucked away
In the once quiet place
Where the stories of your love
Are now told

Beautiful soul

~wbv