A tiny glimmer, so very small,
Of intolerance, before the fall
It's a gentle wish, a quick desire,
Just one small spark, could light a fire.
It finds dry wood, in the ways we make sound,
Rage's orange glow spreads all around
A despicable heat, yet thrilling blaze,
Lost is compassion, in its bright haze
But the wind blows, the flames leap high,
It paints, polarized trees against the sky
A roar takes hold, it will not cease,
Swallowing up all joy and peace
Now emotions creep, with tempting call,
To walk a line, risked by us all
A tricky step, with nothing near,
The high-wires thin, controlled by fear
They pull and push, a twisted sway,
Along that rope, night and day
Hate is the news digging us all so deep,
Where honesty fails, and the truth is always asleep.
The ground below, so far away,
Demands a price to pay,
For the games, humans do play
That little spark, now burns us all, the scars are vast
How long can this estranged incendiary inbalance last?
P=Perhaps we should have.
E=Ears for hearing, so listen more.
R=Reading time for a good poem to start each day.
H=Heart, show love along our way.
A=Applause for others and say thank you.
P=Praise as we are blessed.
S=Smiles to give away and make someone's day.
We left home behind,
hearts full of hope,
dreams draped on backs,
dust dancing on shoes,
the city ahead —
calling us forward.
Tall towers took time,
but so did costs.
Bread was a bill,
air wasn’t free
Even sleep stung —
priced in pressure of thoughts.
Coins clattered too soon,
pockets pressed dry.
We chased light,
found cold steel.
Time ate dreams,
tangled and true.
We counted months,
but gained grief.
Rain mocked us,
so did noise.
Home hung farther,
each city night.
Plans pooled into prayers,
hope huddled, thin.
We worked wide,
waged just peanuts —
enough to stay stuck
in survival’s spin.
Still, we hold
that first fire's flicker.
Not lost but paused,
not failed just finding.
We left home to build home.
We marched through flames, but felt no guilt,
For bravery itself gave us our name.
The world can stumble, the body can fall,
But truth endures beyond the graveyard wall.
We bore the loads others refused to carry,
Unspoken tears the night couldn't conceal.
Nevertheless, we sang in the tempest's midst,
Our voices soared on shattered wing.
Our title to glory is not gold or marble,
Not crowns, nor thrones we never held.
It is the love we gave away
The light we ignited in darkest day.
Death knocks, but hearts don't bow,
We welcome the shadow as a friend.
For when God calls and wants to know our name,
We'll stand upright, unbroken by shame.
Not for power, not for pride,
But for the truth we held within.
Our legacy is plain, simple—
We lived with love, not governed by fear.
So carve no statues, chisel no creed,
Our legend is in every act.
When last silence closes the flame,
Our souls will whisper: *we lived humane.*
I locked my memories and dreams
No one but me is bound to know
Where have I hidden our trees
The green of grass and white of snow
The roses, the forget-me-nots
The pansies and the olive tree
And every flower in your pots
You pictured for the memory
The cacti stars in white and pink
They wonder why they came around
I’m pretty sure they can think
Especially when the sun goes down
And we are there, inside the walls
The cacti whispers in the night
Watching our shadows in the hall
Move in the rectangle of light.
Deep down I knew just like me you are only human too.
I'm grateful for you still wanting me as someone you woo.
Deep down you knew it too, that maybe I am meant to be with you.
We live together
People, nations, countries, continents
White, brown, and black look different
Maybe, but behind an ancient heart
Our lives have come to colorful life
Colors are different, but together one
There is no color. All the colors are the light.
More than the rainbow. Illusion that life
We live together. We can. In the light
When We Lose Our Way
A place we call home
A long journey alone
Astray off course
Guidance on a new road
Find your way back
Poor choices along the way
Only blame myself
Learn to grow
I still have time to change
Put the past behind
Put the wrong things right
Someone’s watching from above
Let this be our prayer
Watch us where we go
The road back home
Guide us through the sky
Leave our troubles behind
in the seventies we all wanted to look like Farrah Fawcett of course
She was a gorgeous blonde actress, her smile was a heavenly force.
We ran to the hairdressers to get the Farrah Fawcett cut.
None of us looked like her, so the cut was kind of a bust.
The first time we see them…we smile…
how can I love you already, we say
The first time we hold them in our arms…
we’re in awe
for we never knew we could feel this way.
When we bring them home…
we pledge to do everything we can
to do our best…indeed
to keep them safe,
to take care of them…
to give them everything they need.
We look in on them often…
their safety we readily discuss…
because we don’t want anything bad to happen
to something so valuable and precious to us
Our love is unconditional…
We strive to protect them every day…
from strangers with evil intent
who might try to take our loved ones away.
Oh what a beautiful sentiment…
if this poem was about our daughters and sons…
but in the America we are living in today.…
sadly…
this poem is about our guns
We who loved America
I enjoyed America and remember touring
a Sunday outside Houston (Texas), met in a café
a group of openly armed, elderly men
They were courteous people one could meet
I understood guns have cultural meaning
In America, we in Europe don't understand
I remember a saying, "A country where the populace
is armed, people are polite."
I stayed on the ship longer than needed, but had
To go home and get educated, I studied management
and later ran a restaurant
I was never at ease in my country, not that I suffer
Retromania, trying to escape my past, but
I was back on a ship again, this time as chief steward
plying the waters of America and the Caribbean.
cardboard mattress
concrete box spring
cocooned within the threads of shame
pillow stained
with dried tears of despair
air pockets
hover with a pungent force
that’s the way I remember her bed—
as I walk by.
Oh love defined
Might this troubled world to
See
In blissfulness
You and me
Wicked who oppose
Shall be redeemed
To speak us as one
Ah love redeemed
Sought the frails
Must They trouble
To find
I have a love
So sweet and kind
Oh mercy we
Might We to bare
Us redeemed
A concuss bare
Sweet the love
We pledge to share
To consimate
A humbled care
To procreate
And truffle not
We as one
And those begotten
they may not laugh
If they take my hand
We as one
Before a world to stand
Lovers cow
To be as one
Our new days
Have just begun
Whereas we
In joyful bliss
To stand as one
The pride in bliss
Happy we
As love unfolds
To stake our claims
And defined our goals
A banner of
Christ we bare
In joyful love
The mentions share
To be as one
To welcome in
Biides and grooms
Toast our new kin
(“The Longest Journey”, 2020, original encaustic)
All That We Dream
When George Harrison sang,
“Yesterday, today was tomorrow
And tomorrow, today will be yesterday”
He was making a simple observation
On the nature of Life as a flow
We attach our momentary labels of time.
But he could also have said this applies
To all of us simultaneously in the flow
While attaching those labels as if outside,
And that this simple shift in perspective
Is the key to liberation, at least
From the burdens of this Life’s stress and strains.
Each day we do things
And when they are done, tomorrow or the next,
We are not the same person who did them.
The beauty of this is the one planning
Is never the same as the one executing
Nor the one enjoying the result.
So plan away, aim for the stars
Take that step, take the baton
On the endless journey
The endless stream of doing
As time and being flow together
Effortlessly accomplishing all that we dream.
(9/5/25)
The heart will beat
to a rhythm blood can’t read
skipping sacred moments
bearing scars of battles past.
If love comes for blood
every kindness hides a snare
the gentle touch a leech
that takes far more than it gives.
Still, we will call it love
for it laughs at our laughter
weaves hope through our silence
clings to compliments like a starving child.
If love comes for blood
its mask is flawless and warm
for it dwells in our feelings
yet the heart remains blameless.
Related Poems