Nigh

Angst ridden,
I consider my own random repression,
Needless,
And for what,
To please masters never pleased,
For grist that never satisfies,
Transparent,
I reveal more in a minute,
Than a lifetime of unsatisfying or fulfilling work,
Wouldn’t you agree?

The road to my recovery,
Twists and turns,
Pushes and pulls me in directions,
I’d never imagined,
Much less considered,
As I realize the value of a system,
That could never be,
Leaving me,
Lost and found,
In stoic consideration,
Philosophy be damned,
My time,
Is nigh.

SDM

Global Warning

The pyramids were a warning,
A dire warning that none of us listened to,
That of a society,
A civilized society,
That will consume itself,
It was true of Egypt,
Rome and Great Britain,
Pax, Pax, Pax,
And now is true of the United States,
My attitude unshaken,
As I ponder the world the way I’d like it to be,
Rather than the way it is,
Though I must smile,
As prescient knowledge is given to few,
Who heed the warnings.

SDM

For ALM - With Thanks

My own invasion of Poland,
Was crossing from Czech by car,
On my way to one of the most endearing cities,
I have ever been,
In Wroclaw,
In the city centre,
I crossed the river and marveled,
At the raw brilliance of a city,
Destroyed by war and flood multiple times,
Rebuilt by the passion of the people,
Brick by brick,
Precisely.

Wanting to see Westerplatte,
But short of time,
We had to choose,
Picking our battles,
So as to see the most we could,
Zakopane also not in the cards and Warsaw,
We could not find the time.

I was on a mission,
One I have had since childhood,
One that brought us to the Jewish Quarter,
Of Krakow,
And then to Oswiecim,
A part of me never returning home with us,
As I witnessed,
First hand,
What industrial slaughter of a people looks like,
Falling to my knees, tears streaming down my cheeks,
I will never forget,
The man,
That sweet old man,
Who rushed to my side,
Extended his hand,
And called me brother,
As he lifted me back up again,
Our eyes meeting,
And in an instant,
There was no need for words,
Not there,
Not then,
We’d never meet again,
But my faith in humanity,
Though shaken,
Was restored,
By the simple action,
Of a beautiful man.

SDM

What are friends?

True friends are there;
Whether you are up or down!

Real friends are there,
To say the right thing, at the right time, in the right way,
And even when they don’t,
They still try.

Real friends stand by you,
When you face,
The fire-breathing dragon of life,
And help you stare it down,
With a warm hug,
And a knowing wink.

My friends,
My real friends,
True friends,
Have stood firm,
Holding the line of my own sanity,
Though razor thin,
And aid me as together,
We strive to tame the beast.

My friends,
Real friends,
The ones who’ve shown up,
In my moment of need,
Have reminded me of Aesop,
A hare, the rabbit, loosing,
To a tortoise, that knew,
The power of slow,
And I thank you,
My friends.

SDM

Kitty Play - For Cheryl

Like a delicate kitten,
New born and dependent,
I turn to the teat of these words,
Pleased as the nourish my soul,
Longing for a taste of surrender,
As my sixth sense kicks into overdrive,
Like a phoenix in flight,
Fire in the clouds,
So I whisper;
Rebirth!

SDM

In Vino Veritas

In Vino Veritas,
But no thanks,
I’m trying to cut down,
Though I do miss the sweet intoxicating velvet,
Swirling around on my palate,
Though,
In order for all parts of me,
To live in harmony,
Seizing the day,
I must gain control,
Of that little demon,
The leprechaun bastard,
So yes,
In Vino Veritas,
But not if I seek to,
Carpe Diem

SDM

Pinch Me

If I should wake,
Tomorrow;
discovering,
That while I slept,
(if only for an hour),
everything changed,
in the instant that I woke up,
there was no famine, sword or fire,
The Hounds of War,
Leashed in,
(Just barely),
tenuously hanging on,
As we embrace each other,
For the first time,
As Brother and Sisters,
Humanity,
At peace,
If I should wake in that world,
(PLEASE)
Pinch me!

Comandante SDM

First Twitter Words - P's for Robyn

Perpetual this pesky pain,
Revealed in pretty pastels,
Less like Miami,
More like Havana in the glory days,
A particular shade of me,
Constantly revealed,
Each day stronger,
Perhaps persistent I will present a poem,
Like a pancake,
The batter raw,
Just like this promising star.

SDM

Gracias Mi Havanera

Many times today,
I have had a fortuitous battle with myself,
Accepting that Cuba is where I should be,
Sitting on a beach,
Or the storied pathways of Havana's side streets,
My corazon at ease,
As with keystrokes or flicks of the wrist,
I continue to create,
With sounds of joy in the background,
Rather than the solace of my own misery,
The cancion of my own desires,
Filling up the void, that is just beyond,
Reach,
My amor for Cuba deep and faithful,
Hemingway and Che,
Propelling me to go on,
At paz with myself there I would be,
Wandering free,
Viva liberdad,
My Corazon!

Comandante SDM

An Orchestration... for Lavinia

In concerto,
A full orchestration,
The sounds of the strings, when perfect,
Are tangy,
And tug at my heartstrings,
Like the first kiss,
Of a love born in spring.

The glorious sounds,
Of a perfectly struck chord,
On a violin or viola,
Is music to my soul?
A wispy celebration of the surreal.

And then deafening,
Shattering such serenity,
The horns pounce,
Trumpets flailing,
Like my spirit at present,
As if Miles Davis,
Sans quartet,
Demanded my attention.

In concerto,
In one perfect orchestration,
Like the Brandenburg,
I know the twang, the pounce, the wispy and the sharp,
As I know the very blood flowing through these tired veins.

SDM

Nourish

At war with myself,
My psyche a fragile prisoner,
Of something that is outside the realm of what I’ve known,
No understanding,
For in this world,
What is truly to be understood?
Lies and deceit,
Conceit and ego,
Like a humid august afternoon,
Slap.

Yet,
I have no more room to delay,
As my life,
Is only lived once,
And I must grab it,
And let go,
Shoot for the moon,
Not one shot,
But many.

In a self imposed cell,
I reminisce about days gone by,
When alcohol and cigarettes,
Where friends,
But no more,
As I abandon all hope,
That self medication works.

Now,
I and I must champion I,
Liberate myself, alleviate my fears;
Hold fast to character and integrity,
Lose the parts of me,
That need not be found,
So I can nourish,
Gently,
This talent,
No longer hiding,
So all the world can see.

SDM

Havana Beckons

As I sit here,
Doing the only thing that makes any sense to me,
I refuse to block or repress my emotions, as I strive to be honest with myself,
About this hellish brute of a lapse,
The only resourcefulness I have,
Is to retreat,
Or is it advance,
As I way with the furious tides,
I picture a tree,
A willow,
From my childhood,
Upon which I used to sit and think,
And now I stare into the void,
Of a concrete jungle,
That offers me no hope,
Longing to be with Hemingway,
Havana beckons,
trading this grey mess,
for a civilized people
And I must submit.

SDM

Ego Game

“It’s all a game,”,
the rabbit gleefully announces,
as the wolf attempts to pounce;
“I spy with my little eye”, says the wolf,
filled with bravado missing his feast,
“Ah the ego has led you astray,” says the rabbit,
as she bounces out of reach yet again.

SDM

Shame

How long can we continue to rape the planet?
Treat the Amazon like a Costco size Cottonelle?
Deforestation slowly choking us all and for what,
Toilet paper or McDonald’s Beef?
In the manifestations of profit,
It is a shame,
National and international,
That we know what to do,
And what do we do instead;

Jump in the car,
Head to Costco,
And buy ten more pounds of crap we don’t need,
Smart!

SDM

Porous Monkey

Why would anyone drink Diet Coke?
I mean I know why… but it seems like eating wheat grass or an Aspen leaf,
It might be good for you, but where’s the fun in that?
Of course I’m a skinny monkey,
“Get it Mon – key”
Free to eat, drink and do whatever I want,
At least for now!
Who knows,
Maybe someday my metabolism won’t be so porous???

SDM

In that Pasture

Put me out to pasture,
Near to the Gooseberries patches
Watch how I thrive,
My head above the clouds,
As I touch the hand of Zeus,
Reaching for the Jersey shore,
Closer to my lover,
Still my sadness reigns,
As I consider possibility,
But not,
In that pasture.

SDM

Grain of Sand

Grappling,
Not quite sure if up is up,
And if I’m on it,
Dreaming of a far away beach,
Where I can be me,
Watch the kite surfers,
And record their wind,
In words,
Biking back to my shack,
Acknowledging Buddha’s embrace,
Seeking Zen,
My scarred emotions,
Revealed inelegantly,
Like a Thai kick boxing match,
Ouch!

SDM

As Destiny Intended

Like Frost,
The road less travelled,
Did I take,
But I fear,
I took the wrong road,
Following a trail to my own discontent,
Running away from myself,
Trying to be everything for everybody,
The result;
Nothing for me.

No more can I follow,
The path I’ve walked,
Ignoring a talent so raw,
That in its refinement,
I will find comfort,
A peaceful warrior poet,
Emerging daily,
Five words at a time.

My grief,
Sheer and antagonizing,
Holding me in the despair,
As I consider what I lost,
In the time I’ve wasted.

As I heal,
I know that I can,
I know that I will,
I know that you will,
Soar with me,
As I finally take flight,
As destiny intended.

SDM

If

If Rodin was here,
I would ask him to sculpt me,
So I could see myself,
Through his eyes.

If I were a canvas,
Painted by Rockwell’s hand,
Would he see the torment,
And capture the suffering in my eyes?

If I could be a song,
It would be Happy Birthday,
So I could celebrate everyday.

If I were a poem,
Would a Captain, My Captain I be,
Or Still I rise,
The Body Electric,
Or Sonnet 51?

If I were a dream,
I would be me,
Finally,
Standing proud,
For all to see.

SDM

The Moment I Saw Her

The moment I saw her,
My life changed,
As I recognized,
Irrationally,
That without even knowing her name,
I had seen my wife.

In that realization,
I approached the bar,
Asked three questions,
And the rest is,
As the say,
History.

Our love found,
In a darkened room in Toronto,
Though our souls had always known,
Each other,
Transcending the physical universe,
Entering the spiritual divine.

My passion unyielding,
Evermore,
Knowing that Sender loves Charmaine,
And vice versa,
Requited,
For the first time in my life.

SDM