one of us

one of us loved, one of us didn't

one underwhelmed, the other was smitten

one played a game, the other held true

one lead with deception, the other with truth

one held back, the other gave all

one pulling back, the other one halts

one thinks that this can go on forever

the other one knows it's now time to sever

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

We Fence (My First Post)

we fence
forward and back, coyly with words
laughing and flirting

we fence
evenly matched, strong wit, strong hearts
no masks, epees glinting, no protection

and just when I think I am gaining ground,
you wound me
quickly and with no mercy

Wounded with silence
wounded with withdrawal
swiftly, you pierced my heart

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

something in black

I tried on your love
and it didn't fit
thinking if I altered
I could get it zipped

it just wasn't right
the color was wrong
when I saw our reflection
the fabric was flawed

so back on the hanger
and back on the rack
I'm shopping for color
not something in black

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

icy roads

clouds hang low over darkened skies
weather-fickle, and full of lies
just when I thought the cold would go
with thunder and lightning, down comes snow

I pull my collar up to my chin
my jacket now is much too thin
gloves are lost, my hands cold
mother nature is much too bold

where is spring, with grass so green?
nothing is ever how it seems
frozen now, my heart sinks
while others tell me how to think

decisions rest on icy roads
I'm not driving, this I know
where will summer find my heart?
in the light or in this dark

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

lost

it was many a year ago
when time stood still
as we built dreams
added questions
subtracted faith
plunged ahead
into dark mornings
waiting for sun--
stars fade
the moon sleeps
and you and I
somehow
ceased to be

I waited for you
on my plateau
it took too long
never looking
to see where I landed
you deviate from
the path we choose
seeking easier
looking for longer
of which,
you would find neither,
and in the end,
we both lost
,
Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

more than I will give

past your sentries I slip in
scaling easily your walled mind
past guard dogs with paws on bones
under the eyes of a crescent moon
stealthily slipping down the hall
I falter and contemplate my next move

asleep, I find you all stretched out
a sheet protecting you from the cold
a kiss on your lips...they quiver beneath
searching for more than I will give
you do not awaken, but stir and moan
a dream you think, alas, you're wrong

assaulting your senses a sweet perfume
of yesterdays and laughing green eyes
a walk by the ocean, footsteps in sand
a tide of passion by the sea that ebbs
warm sun burning tender white skin
as your heart opens and I flow in

waking fully, you grasp for the dream
looking for something you felt was there
I step to the left in the shadowed room
no sounds do I make as I retrace my path
past the sentries and sleeping dogs
leaving the same way I came in

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

the brink

sometimes, my soul flickers

like a candle in the breeze

grasping at straws to reason

but in the reasoning creeps

standing at a crossroad

where hope and reason meet

one path will hold victory

the other strong defeat

the echoes of the numbness

from silence to extreme

from shadows in the sunlight

to a night with no moon beams

the world that once did prosper

so shiny, it did gleam

slides down the slippery slope

along with American dreams

the storm of all mankind

who surely mean no harm

as callousness spreads thickly

on what has lost its charm

silence, they say quickly

lay down those firearms

we're here to protect you

no need for that alarm

still my mind roams freely

as I jot shit down in ink

it may come back to bite me

when I'm not allowed to think

"it isn't what I wanted"

they shush without a blink

and everything is crooked

that's pushed over the brink

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

lost from sight

I followed the path
as if I had a choice
I lit the candle
and I heard the voice
the whisper in silence
the taunt in the night
the locust of despair
the hope lost from sight

all of the possibilities
that hide in my dreams
the wings of the angel
her halo that gleams
words don't match the lips
it is all out of sync
like an old B movie
pushing me over the brink

it doesn't make sense
I feel it just the same
the rhymes and the reasons
of all foolish games
I sort it all out
like laundry on the floor
I close tight the window
and open wide the door

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

Someone I'm Not

There’s a lot of places 

To be someone I’m not 

A façade that I am holding 

Hoping not to get caught 

Acting always acting

like I have got it straight

If they knew what’s underneath

It wouldn't be that great

Strong, is all they'll ever see

No one gets beneath

Keeping up appearances 

A mirror of what they see

Keeping up this misthrow 

Keeping up the inner hell

How long can I do this?

Only time will tell 

If only I can fool them all 

Yeah, that’s the way I think 

But I am only fooling myself 

Bordering on the brink 

It’s me that’s got the answers 

To the questions that they ask 

Pretending I am something 

While hiding behind this mask 

But I will keep on holding fast 

To this pretentious veneer

Till all in side me crumbles

And implodes all hiding here

The racket will be heard for miles

As all inside me rots

Never letting them see at all

I’m something that I'm not

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

more than you

saddled my horse and spurred him hard
I rode fast and I rode far
through the plains in dead of night
now the mountains at last in sight

over my shoulder, vast terrain
nothing lost and nothing gained
alone again to still my thoughts
and all the worries that they've brought

many tabs open at the same time
what is yours and what is mine
separate hearts that beat the same
never a winner of this rigged game

take them all and leave me blue
lying here thinking just of you
not on bottom or at the tip
more than you I always quip

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

pages

as I write the pages
by dim candlelight
the ending maybe a mystery
hidden from my sight
I jot down all the secrets
that I've never told
when the day was oh so hot
but the wind blows too cold

many promises broken
angry words that were said
in the white heat of anger
things I won't confess
these pages thick with love
the ink that is still wet
from the love that glistens
and given without regret

the battles that I waged
sometimes met defeat
I would refight that war
although no easy feat
a chapter penned on heaven
a chapter written on hell
although the latter sometimes seems
the place where I shall dwell

I've lost track of the pages
and where this all may leads
drawing difficult conclusions
after numerous misleads

erasures and redoing

sometimes of all lines

thesaurus was handy

and used so many times

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

Labor Day

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

the best thing

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

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

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

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

peace

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

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.