Lessons from Life

Saturday, September 5, 2026

Labor Day

Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

You were wearing a yellow shirt
sit next to me and we start to flirt
my favorite bar in my favorite town
life was dull before you came around

you're the best thing I've ever done
two is better than only just one
I guess I knew right from the start
you'd be the one to steal my heart

my leg accidently touches your knee
a current of violent electricity
ravages my body and you feel it too
my mind spinning in this crowded room

I'm at a loss, should've known how'd it be
truth be told, it's a two way street
I must admit I don't understand
why I lose my head even holding your hand

There's no explanation, or simple excuse
For the intoxication I feel around you
during the day and from dusk till dawn
every month and all year long

you're the best thing that I've ever done
two is better than only just one
I guess I knew right from the start
you'd be the one to steal my heart

Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

blueprint

I thought it was all sorted
the truth from just this one
and you know I'm a sleuth
when there's work to be done
I'm reading between red lines
where clarity escapes

it seems the subjects twisted
this saga has some gapes

I think that the sweet breeze
blowing from mountains north
started way before
the band ever played our song
it doesn't really matter,
when fragility's lost its glow
my love doesn't have designs
blueprint faded long ago

secure in what you have,

secure in what you need
one holds on still strong,

and one is hemorrhaging
one that's eyes are blind,

one that's eyes can see
one that saw too late
an escape to set me free

Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Lyrics Of My Life

Prose that’s put to music
Lyrics of my life
Sung in soft and bluesy tones
Wonder, loving, strife

A melody of amazement
A rhapsody of passion
A song of aspiration
An opera of emotion

The chords of deep dissension
Played by violins
A harp for softer moments
A cello for my sins

The maestro does conduct it all
Standing with baton
The symphony well directed
As my life plays on

the next best thing

are we all waiting for the next best thing?

while we rest on this plateau

is the hidden from sight

our active imagination?

causing dreams that come at night

are we always looking over our shoulder

wondering if it passed us by?

was it at that busy intersection?

the corner of was and will be

where we jay-walked with indiscretion

why not slow down and just enjoy

keep what we have without the ploys

learn the nuances,

emit the true feeling

understanding all that love allows

and cancel the subscriptions no longer needed

Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Sunday, August 23, 2026

shadows from the moon

the moon glows eerily on mountain ranges

casting shadows long and strange

saguaro standing tall and lean

with brush and boulders in between

stars don't help or shed some light

no settling this disturbance tonight

coyote roam and search for prey

to keep the rumbling stomachs at bay

thoughts cast and fall on desert terrain

wondering what'll happen if we meet again

distance grows like the shadows from the moon

dreams discarded that were roughly hewn

Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

like a dream

when the dream becomes reality

and the reality like a dream

when fire catches and ignites

but is much more extreme

the moon breaks through the scattered clouds

the wind pushes colors of fall

a galaxy of stars surround

as love takes in it all

closed eyes open, my heart beats faster

it's all in the scheme of things

when the dream becomes reality

and the reality like a dream

Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

never

I'll never say those words again
I'll bite my tongue and hold them in
what lays spilled on a sticky floor
when it all gushed out that time before
I'll never say those words again

I'll never feel like that again
I'll bury it deep like unforgiven sin
what drifts in dreams, forgotten by morn
swept up like hair after its been shorn
I'll never feel like that again

I'll never hope like that again
hidden by that lovesick grin
it didn't work then nor does it now
I give you this, my solemn vow
I'll never hope like that again

I'll never say those words again
I'll bite my tongue and hold them in
what lays spilled on a sticky floor
when it all gushed out that time before
I'll never say those words again

Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Sunday, August 16, 2026

one more time

questions burn
pages turn
still some secrets
I must learn

behind, our past
don't look back
nothing there
but smoke and ash

still, the dreams
my mind screams
waylaid answers
I get it seems

in between
crisp, fresh sheets
love starts over
for you and me

one more time
it's all fine
still I wonder
what's on your mind

Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

between wonder and love

they meet in the middle
between east and west
between sunrise and sunset
somewhere between dependence and indifference

they meet in the middle
between unsure and surreal
between unopened and unsealed
somewhere between give and take

they meet in the middle
between rain and sun
between ended and just begun
somewhere between fact and fiction

they meet in the middle
between forgiveness and grace
between bittersweet and a honey taste
somewhere between wonder and love

somewhere between blue sky and monsoon
once again, they meet in the middle

Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

the valley

Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

once or twice

once or twice I thought I saw you
where shadows stretch across rock lawn
but it was the heat from the sun’s rays
a mirage evaporating into evening dust

once or twice I thought I heard you
drifting silently into a dream
when I looked you were not there
faceless lessons I finally learned

once or twice I thought I smelled
ambrosia left from morsels of love
it left me hungry after digested
thirst not quenched from bitter wine

once or twice I thought I felt
the softness of a lover’s hand
soothing brow but not my mind
coarseness of burlap against velvet skin

once or twice I thought I tasted
the sweetness of what could have been
imagination plays funny tricks
on the senses of what won’t be

Sunday, August 2, 2026

peace

Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

to sleep

maybe even dream
dream of what it all might mean
intent clear at dawn

Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

love sleeps soundly

the sun shines in your smile

your eyes the color of blue sky

your touch warm like the rays

you start my day

the moon glows through blinds

the stars blanket cool skin

your voice the whisper of a mountain breeze

when you say "good night baby"

love sleeps soundly in your arms

Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

pirouette

on my toes, but not my game

a ballerina's pirouette

Louboutin's with a red soul

make a pretty silhouette

crystal clear the morning light

the wine a deepest burgundy

switching always back and forth

bending deeply from my knees

sleep, don't sleep

dream, don't dream

black and white to hazy gray

this is how it seems

want, don't want

love, don't love

pack it all away

thoughts on a rainy day

on my toes, but not my game

a ballerina's pirouette

Louboutin's with a red soul

make a pretty silhouette

Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

dreams on water

hiding behind trees at the lake

leaves falling in full moon light

trading all we had for something new

moonbeams glistening like diamonds

sparkling dreams on rippling water

over pebbles straight to the ocean

night birds call, gliding, ascending

around the corner where the river is bending

down the timeless banks of change

where sleeplessness awaits

searching for a friend to see me through

the darkest of nights

but I am lost in rock formation

blades of grass bent by howling winds

sparkling iridescent in shallow light

I know I won't be staying here

living on my hopes and prayers

just another line

as my watch clicks the minutes by

I'll know when my time has come

to get what's mine

to give the truth

Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

two shadows

two shadows meet
and fuse into one
a mixture, a blending
of sorts has begun
when darkness falls
a new song has been sung
when daylight emerges
so does a tight bond

Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License