Self-Knowledge

And a man said, "Speak to us of Self-Knowledge."

And he answered, saying:

Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.

But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart's knowledge.

You would know in words that which you have always know in thought.

You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams.

And it is well you should.

The hidden well-spring of your soul must needs rise and run murmuring to the sea;

And the treasure of your infinite depths would be revealed to your eyes.

But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure;

And seek not the depths of your knowledge with staff or sounding line.

For self is a sea boundless and measureless.

Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth."

Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path."

For the soul walks upon all paths.

The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.

The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.

Khalil Gibran

Beauty XXV

And a poet said, "Speak to us of Beauty."

Where shall you seek beauty, and how shall you find her unless she herself be your way and your guide?

And how shall you speak of her except she be the weaver of your speech?

The aggrieved and the injured say, "Beauty is kind and gentle.

Like a young mother half-shy of her own glory she walks among us."

And the passionate say, "Nay, beauty is a thing of might and dread.

Like the tempest she shakes the earth beneath us and the sky above us."

The tired and the weary say, "beauty is of soft whisperings. She speaks in our spirit.

Her voice yields to our silences like a faint light that quivers in fear of the shadow."

But the restless say, "We have heard her shouting among the mountains,

And with her cries came the sound of hoofs, and the beating of wings and the roaring of lions."

At night the watchmen of the city say, "Beauty shall rise with the dawn from the east."

And at noontide the toilers and the wayfarers say, "we have seen her leaning over the earth from the windows of the sunset."

In winter say the snow-bound, "She shall come with the spring leaping upon the hills."

And in the summer heat the reapers say, "We have seen her dancing with the autumn leaves, and we saw a drift of snow in her hair."

All these things have you said of beauty.

Yet in truth you spoke not of her but of needs unsatisfied,

And beauty is not a need but an ecstasy.

It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth,

But rather a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted.

It is not the image you would see nor the song you would hear,

But rather an image you see though you close your eyes and a song you hear though you shut your ears.

It is not the sap within the furrowed bark, nor a wing attached to a claw,

But rather a garden forever in bloom and a flock of angels for ever in flight.

People of Orphalese, beauty is life when life unveils her holy face.

But you are life and you are the veil.

Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.

But you are eternity and you are the mirror.

Khalil Gibran

Found

A signal extinguishing hopes

Entwining memories into frozen ropes

Hanging hearts destined to fight

Until fate's eclipse measures light

Perusing through signs of destiny

To find myself trapped in consistency

Dreams haunting the world's despair

Lured by all that is right and fair

Simplicity is truth and truth betrays

Left to count happiness on lonely days

Streets of Japan

Taken a segway to desertion

Hourglasses filled with destruction

Fingerprints polluting my mind

Stealing volts of life to find

Parting seas of useless thought

Fixed in memories exquisitely fought

Silently searching in life's quagmire

Sweeping across guilded fire

Pitiful wonder at what has become

Singing curses to the rising sun

Unearthing damnation single-souled

Reliving all, after being told

Life's Web

Clarity shrouded

With clouds of illusion

Brevity of nirvana

Frozen into confusion

Inaction embarks

The first blush of dawn

Venus bejewled

Twisted rows put on

Delerium demanding

In likeness of another

Glory days Birthing

Chains left to sever

Buried delusions

Dried by the sun

Mirrored depths

Of Utopia on the run

The Life of Water

Sitting at the edge of a lake. Silence. The only sound daring to interrupt is that of the gentle waves lashing onto the shore. A momentous rhythm, as if the spaced clashing comes from the very core of this body of water. As if it is a calm heart beating against itself. The wind is bitter, carrying the dew of night meeting day. Silence. It opens the door to reverie and memories forgotten. The water eroding the rocks. Rocks from a crumbled mountain, of times when the world was not this world. Each particle is carrying a story. Each wave is stealing them into the depth of the ocean. Another part is taken away... another thought... another memory. Some might say, it's just a lake, and those are just rocks. It is a lake, and those are rocks, yet they hold alot more of something than we ever will. They hold time. They outlive us. They carry with them our presence, the presence of those before us, and the presence of the future. A fingerprint. A laugh. A tear. A memory. A life.

- The Product of Writer's Block

Phantasmagoria

A Dream

In visions of the dark night

I have dreamed of joy departed;

But a waking dream of life and light

Hath left me broken-hearted

Ah! what is not a dream by day

To him whose eyes are cast

On things around him, with a ray

Turned back upon the past?

That holy dream, that holy dream

While all the world were chiding,

Hath cheered me as a lovely beam

A lonely spirit guiding.

What through that light, thro' storm and night,

So trembled from afar-

What could there be more purely bright

In Truth's day-star?

- Edgar Allan Poe

The Greatest Day

A little short of faith

Just a little jaded

It may seem far away

And all the lights have faded

Closer than the sea

To shores of memory

Describing a poverty

Souless and demanding

Win or lose

New lights in the making

Twice written memoirs

A life you belong to

This is all I see

Endless latency

Devastating joy

Caressing energy

Worlds unknown

When all is faded

Closer than the sun

To desert sands waited

A little short of faith

Let lights become unfaded

Believe in what you will

Conscience sated

Make a new day

Just a little jaded

Petals unfurl

Winds that sigh

Strawberry feilds

For you and I

Crossing the undertow

Finding love hated

Wait and see

Just a little jaded

Written

The same is set

a living one to get

Singing to one merit

shadows left to inherit

Soar above the shores

looking at what's in store

Envisioning the moment

crying out to seconds bent

Fixation engulfs its finest

in a glorified state of unrest

Some or none or all

Beckoned to your call

Ferver weaving through

of the many words to unskew

Felt, known, and never forgotten

imprinted on, branded upon, and molten

Here is to find the same is set

and still in need of a living one to get

Late

Sanity reposed
As life unfolds
Hopes restored
Days to uphold
One hour to live
Champions met
Beauty to give
Dreaming clouds set
Give me the time
I'll give you more
I'll be your sign
Open the door
The very one,
We're living for.

Summer's Lie

A soul digressing
in its own wake
pain so unbearable
it unmasks hate

Drained of will
hurt - unabashed,
unveiled, unashamed
unbelievably sweet

To un-live, un-die
to undo fate with
the last dawn
of tears unmade

A cherished ache
mine, all mine
to uncreate

To Rise Against

simplicity_________________
adorned__________________
divinity___________________
your home________________
likeness of _______________
another world _____________

shivering to ______________
become again_____________
handled and ______________
not dealt with______________
sacrifice of all _____________
which is beautiful___________
dalliance made of __________

white black and gray________
knots made of separation____
but it goes on _____________
we go on _________________
life goes on _______________
or so i'm told______________

36

I am the fight lost
the victory won
the need decieved
the burning sun
I am your denied prediction
your clutched glare
your sacrifice made
your youthful dare
I am in the moment of moments
in an explosion muted
in ungrateful rescue
in edges surrounded
What am I?

Again

The clocks running down
losing to the holes in my mind
severed
delivered
by all kinds of time
I wait here for it to move
when and where and forever
nothing
everything
for all kinds of time
I walk forward watch backwards
and here I run and here I stay
living
dying
for all kinds of time
I drown to make my own
then damaged to fly down
shattered
battered
waiting for all kinds of time

Ice Undone

Dipped in water
like ice undone
cooling blood
rushing forth
will crumbles
wishing life
to those alive
thirst
while drinking
bending
reaching
covering
Dipped in water
like ice undone

Pause

An open empty space
Stalling heaven in a race
There we are; you and I
Finally I forget to ask why
Give me that moment to bury
To unearth it when weary
Heat releasing its smoke
Potent enough to choke
As I hold back words
Screaming in another world
Give me, Give me
So I may take
Stab risks with what's at stake
The never-ending
The Eternal occupation
It lives here
In this sensation

Ode to the Weak

I write to you
from words swimming through my veins
letters chained by heartbeats
I think of you
with thoughts that caress my soul
sighs created with hope
I run to you
in lives that have passed and will be
days sated with serenity
I sing to you
with songs tuned by my many emotions
notes streaming in the wind
I give to you
with a light in me that remained untouched
struggles owned by sheer will
I swear to you
by the laws of time and their creator
there will be a dawn

Hades

Sprawling on top of a hill dark with the night
Nine o'clock
chimes go on with the ticking clock
sitting on the world
a hand pulling strings
writing laws of mankind
Ten o'clock
chimes go on with the ticking clock
sitting on the world
the eyes will freeze
putting away all misdeeds
Eleven o'clock
chimes go on with the ticking clock
sitting on the world
a mind will contemplate
the different silks to debate
Twelve o'clock
midnight strikes and with it fright and fight
chains of law broken
criminals condemned by criminals
and then the silk curtain falls

1659

"Fifty years" said the old man
Has it been that long since then?
I still remember all the memories
when we walked through the grove
and I held your hand
you moved away shyly
leaning in with your thoughts
If I could put a memory in a bottle
that would be the one
we broke dishes, yelled, and wounded
we stood by eachother
seeking life with a fever unknown to us
together we thought would end in forever
days passed and we grew old
and I still remember when...
we walked through the grove
to my ears you sung while you spoke
settling in the minutes
the sun moving backwards
do you remember when?
we were there together
and now is the end of forever
seperate in life one in death
in the end we are together again
memories, memories
and here my world changes
we walked through the grove
now you walk through it again

Walk Backwards

you and love by
followed one the
true remain
shall I one but
sold I gift a
treasure valuable
a is trust
murdered I've
that with and
accepted have I
for myself from
me for fear I
tongues many
speaks Danger.

Red Chariot

Infinity
lasts for so long
over
vanished and gone
eternity
is time made temporary
branded
ravished into longevity
acceptance
hides in an hourglass
intricate
mastered by been and has

1967

fluidity seeps through
my pen walking on water
time is born
reflect my soul in a mirror
has it ever been so gray?
an artist's empty palette
a canvas choking on dust
heals with every ink drop
it comes to salvage me
as my own blood betrays
heating with anguish...
with memories
A river ending
a shallow creek begins
my brush turns against me
searches for reds
I now have my red water
my color
it pains me
I search to alleviate it
my pen
I will play devil's advocate
it wasn't me
it was never me
it was the paintbrush

Door to Purgatory

word for word
scene after scene
rewinding my mind
to know what it means

seconds pass
creating minutes
regress to the past
forging all the memories

a staircase
winding upward
taking me to the pain
steal joy and move forward

Moon in the Water

Give me your vision
so that I may see
it's who you infinately are
not ultimately may be

Give me your patience
to ask forgiveness
for seven skies of difference
365 days of repentance

Give me your strength
to uncreate this prison
grow deaf to the world
for now I can listen

Give me your faith
so I can watch
for a moon in the water
I can finally catch

Minds of Stone

It's dead on the vine
and I can't look behind
there are minds of stone
and hearts we don't own
I can learn the lesson
the forbidden confession
that lies and truth
do nothing to sooth
a heartless ache
shields itself with hate
chaotic in every way
but I wish it would stay
dreams that are so real
where pride would kneel
where is it? where did it go?
is my mind friend or foe?
swimming against the current
the one we made
looking for that spotless sun
one that's us against everyone
and then swept by doubt
frustration reiterated aloud
smoothing seams of tomorrow
like salvaging a broken arrow
one you'll use on yourself
looking at your soul on a shelf
waiting for time to make its move
everything won, waiting to lose
I laugh, I cry, I pray
yet on this day
It's dead on the vine

Bittersweet

Any day now
i'll wake up
it was all a dream

where I said now
and meant forever

built carefully all
ties I can sever

I find my mind
can't create speech

they'll only fall upon
ears they can't reach

Any day now
i'll wake up
it was all a dream

where I wished
I could deceive time

to reclaim all that
was made into mine

it's truest to say that
words are only words

forgetting is a curse
most of them were yours

Any day now
i'll wake up
it was all a dream

Inside the Seconds of Infinity

Sleep is forgotten
As I sit on the throne
Of cold passion
Fate is slain
As my gaze follows trails
Of sated torture
Eyes never dry
As callous tears refuse
To fall as if shy
A soul killed twice
As purity of the unknown
Tempts to bless
If memory lived in the
Patches of life sewn
Simply forgotten
Maybe then
The murdered could be
Reborn

Stars At Noon

Now again,
I see the sun at midnight
Cutting the clouds
Living on the winds of flight
My wounds seeping
A red so bright
The brilliance of darkness
Has taken away all my sight
The apathy I am accused of
Is a mask of what is "right"
Healing my scars
From an endless fight
Here left to stand
Suffocating my only light
Told to come back
To a place I never left and
Now again,
I see the sun at midnight

I wonder

There he stood,
vengeance worn like a brand
Eyes narrowed
cursing every helping hand
Arms outstretched
feeling his way through darkness
Mind numb
lost in this pursuit of happiness
Spoken silence
embracing all he longs to forget
A world challenged
where there is no room for regret

There he stood,
every fiber in his posture humble
Head inclined
causing pitied mountains to crumble
Subtle breath
creating life in an empty halo
Fervent heart beat
betraying doubt worn like a shadow
Frozen tears
falling on cheeks dried with reality
Fallen asleep
in the truth of his discrepancy

From the Corner of an Eye

To chase a feather in the wind
finding no truth to deny
walk down a road with no end

Choose as if you have the choice
i'll always be near
even if you can't hear my voice

Wonder if you should stay
or pretend you don't care
i'm finding it easy to say...

Oh yes, misery loves company
but you my dear
have nothing to fear
so light up my days
and i'll never go away
because misery loves you

Compassionate without sentimentality
put things into perspective
in your self-constructed reality

Deft and always in a hurry
trying to see the future
so you can pause to worry

When you have that one wish
to simply walk away
but let me tell you this...

Oh yes, misery loves company
but you my dear
have nothing to fear
so light up my days
and i'll never go away
because misery loves you

Caught Up In All Of What Doesn't Matter

What if the circle found a corner and met it's end?
What if heaven's angels found no deeds to send?

What if change was changed and then died?
What if happy left to make room for anger cried?

What if whole met half and became one?
What if all the work in the world was done?

What if you became me and I became you?
What if every lie was painted with what is true?

What if all that is blind guided sight?
What if day finally surrendered to night?

What if love was labeled as hatred?
What if time stole all that is sacred?

What if the sun were to be swallowed by the sea?
What if the life that is being lived isn't lived by me?

Optical Illusion

Full-moon lunacy
Broken from the edge of sanity
Rainstorm rage
Entombed in a tarnished cage
High tide hysteria
In the facade of an enigma
Skylark serenade
Cajoled smiles that learn to fade
Gunned down roses
Thrown into the wind of choices