dead letter

somewhere, close to the very end
to protect, a lover pretends
faking what is now long gone
cutting losses and moving on
taking what we get from the stress
stamp it, mail it, to the wrong address
ending up in the dead-letter office

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

poetic justice

borders drawn, I step across
not a leap of faith
was it so hard?
was it that bad?
no, it was bittersweet
a rich dark chocolate
that leaves an aftertaste

were the words "I love you"
what you expected to hear?
written in flowing verse
not whispers in your ear
easier to say at a distance
while longing for you to be near

poetic justice, words that flow
vague lyrics that sweep through
softening blows, without afterglow
of all that we might have known
was it so hard?
was it so bad?
no, baby, it was bittersweet

the taste will linger
long after it melts
the wrapper tossed
your love not expressed
mine spoken for you to read
over and over
all that I bled

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

moss

we forged a bridge of friendship
constructed of heaviest steel
and the river of injustice
flows freely underneath
no undertow or crashing waves
wash up on grassy banks
serenity floating softly
for the fishes that swim there

hand in hand we walk across
this structure that we made
freedom of heart and wisdom of mind
waits on the other side
the iniquities and the dreams
of what could never be
covered with moss on glossy rocks
is all we leave behind

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

all of those times

there is a wild whisper, that's blowing in the wind
it sweeps down from the mountains like a very old friend
it whips my hair about my face and eyes
and though it makes me squint
it brings back all of those memories
and I wonder where they went

all of those old times of laughter and dancing close
all of those old songs we and tiles on a board
all of those old mornings talking, and refilling cups
all of those old times of loving and sharing that I miss most

there is a wild whisper, that's blowing in the wind
it sweeps down from the mountains like a very old friend

it whips my hair about my face and eyes

and though it makes me blue
it brushes up against fantasy 

and dreams no longer true

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

tiles

if I seem too quiet now
if I show you with actions
don't tell you with words
don't tell you why or how
I love you

I spell it out with tiles
letters with points on a board
double word score
down and across
I love you

when love costs
the price too high
for the heart to bear
worth every last feeling
I love you

take it all
give nothing back
your light dim in my dark
bright it shines in other eyes
and still it rests here inside
I love you

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

intense

thinking all about this  

choices that have happened 

from the first hello

to that last goodbye

the only thing I can figure 

in this lengthy analysis 

no other observation

relationships are intense

it is right brain, left brain

and everything in-between 

it's chemical, physical, biological

emotional and temperamental

it's what we can't hold back 

give back or take back too

one false step could rock it

and you fall in a abyss

there isn't rhyme or reason 

and forget all those equations 

the psychology and self-help books

it's really simple addition 

one and one makes two 

and giving your best shot 

close your eyes. dive right in

float up to the top

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

it's okay

it's okay to say I love you 

it's okay to show you care 

it's okay to offer all you have

even if you have some fears 

it's okay to not have answers 

it's okay to take your best shot 

it's okay to offer nothing 

just say that's all you've got 

it's okay to figure often 

it's okay to be in the dark 

it's okay to know that sometimes 

love is going to hurt

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

dreams are just for dreaming

I slip in past the smoke screen

hitting just a little too close 

night vision is a bonus 

I see you as you doze

no different from what I discovered 

some things will never change 

and I leave you like I found you 

with nothing rearranged 

I can see you on the road 

your thumb out, hitchin a ride

I was carrying a heavy load

construction made a difficult drive

no places on the shoulder 

no pull off posted by sign

I stop in the middle of the street 

getting ticketed for my time 

dreams are just for dreaming 

clandestine just the same 

real life is for real living 

not framing in a picture frame 

you take what He hands down 

trying to ace the tests 

you do with it what you can 

then stow it with all the rest 

here I stand on solid ground 

as the world spins round and round 

it's my competitive nature

that won't let me back down 

I once took my best shot 

got a ribbon for second place 

but I was in the running 

I accept my trophy with grace

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

what once

what once burned hot on a cold spring night
dwindles, extinguished, like a tallow's light
nothing to sustain, nothing to hold
as it fades away, love's afterglow

what once held dreams in sleepless arms
a kiss of a lover with all of its charms
hangs heavy and weightless in a darkened room
the fragrance remaining like musky perfume

what once played softly on a mountain breeze
a love song dancing with its expertise
evanescent gone, like the lyrics sung
over much too quickly, maybe not begun

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

wishes

this day starts with wishes
from people that I know
starting this birthday
with a very special glow
friends and family
the ones that I hold
tight in my heart, and
whom I will never let go


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

around the corner

the road to tomorrow is paved with the past
I step to the left as the dye bleeds fast
you touched my body, I couldn't touch your heart
not in the middle and not from the start

a whisper of truth that cools with its breeze
love wraps around me with new energy
all that I longed for, that I didn't see
was waiting around the corner for me

connected by passion, the heat of your song
all that I gave, stuff you drag around
I keep my dreams...you keep what you found
we both end up where we always belonged

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

people I meet

if He decides the people I meet
and I decide who stays or leaves
who gets to stay, who walks away
who is true and who betrays

sometimes I walked away too quick
something just didn't seem to click
sometimes I know that quickly I ran
before a relationship even began

some I've held on to, too long
although the feelings seemed so strong
I've let go of some too soon

one of them was probably you

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

release

with kindness comes clarity
with loving comes loss
with investment comes risk
to be put where it belongs

with anger comes tension
with frustration comes fear
with longing comes hunger
for what you want near

with heart comes emotion
with His grace comes peace
it will get much easier
when at last I release

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

neon lights

shadows rise and shadows fall and I see the reality 

clattering deep in the silence of my serenity 

tonight we lay together under the flash of neon lights 

tomorrow I am miles away, living a different lie 

I felt it in my spirit and I felt it in my soul 

what you didn't feel at all just left this gaping hole

thunder rolls and lightning flashes bright in all my dreams 

while miles away you lay there, pulling my heart strings 

like the mighty Phoenix from the ashes resurrected 

but none of the fences mended, just how you directed

that little piece of my soul, the one that you left whole 

sometimes friends, sometimes lovers the only role I know

I can be here with you, or as long as you can stay 

yesterday was just a day...long since faded away 

all of the photos taken, show us smiling in black and white 

you pick and choose, make all the rules, while I drift with the tide 

tonight we lay together under the flash of neon lights

tomorrow I am miles away, living a different lie

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 stand

all I see in the distance
as I focus on it all
the last part of my resistance
stumbles now and falls
you won't meet opposition
from all the disparate strands
I'm taking my position
getting ready to make my stand

from a shrouded heart and shadowed soul
I watch as this unfolds
an unstable situation
that leaks from the usual mold
all I've seen and what I've read
ain't even the tip of the iceberg
and as I strolled down memory lane
the nightingale's all I heard

through fog of contradiction
on an ocean of salty tears
I admired the reflection
a dim light that disappears
careful always of what you say
in case reality should offend
as you sit and watch your soul decay
from the start to the bitter end

wearily I watched you
break chains to be set free
no chance at a storybook ending
not ever between you and me
strained are the limits of compassion
it's a wound that never mends
honesty was never in fashion
it wasn't in the cards my friend

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

just a girl

I was not the lucky one 

to set your heart on fire
dusty days so long ago

that have long since expired
I was not the sweet, sweet dream 

that painted your skies blue
I'm just a girl who long ago 

fell deeply in love with you

I'm not the key that fits the lock

and opens up a door
I did not have the power to

give what was wanted and more
there was just no miracle 

or wishes upon a star
I'm the one in the rearview mirror, 

when you drove off in your car

when you look back and wonder 

if you had gone that way
will you see the promise 

of what you held at bay?
I wasn't close to being the dream

you wanted to come true
I'm just a girl who long ago 

fell deeply in love with you

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

tug-of-war

yesterday tethered to tomorrow 

caught in a tug-of-war 'tween the two 

going back holds nothing but sorrow

my future now a rosier hue 

stuck in mud caused by the storm 

the past corroded from rain 

anticipating your next jump

love factored with all the pain 

the sun shines from behind dark clouds 

a rainbow that arcs across the blue 

he rides on a silver horse 

a hero to bring me through 

dreams of the past may bring it back 

quickly they fade with a new dawn '

till yesterday's face is just a blur 

in the morning when I stretch and yawn

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

tick, tock

is it too much for you to bear? 

always looking and finding me here 

is there such a thing as too much love? 

are you afraid it will swallow you up? 

are you unsure? is it me or you? 

do you need a dog like Blue for the clues? 

did I not say it or lay it on the line? 

every single moment, every single time 

did I give too much, or maybe, not enough? 

when you spelled out no, were you calling my bluff?

the clock ticks slowly away all of our hours 

what you could have had when you held the power 

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

the darker side

you discover my deepest secrets

I discover where you hide 

laying in moss and roses

thorns pricking your insides

you could make a difference

I could make one too

just maybe not together

that just won't work for you

down there on the darker side 

down there on the darker side 

everything is different 

one more sweet refrain 

not much ever changes 

in the gloaming of the estranged 

a million empty reasons 

a million one-lined verse

practicing to be perfect 

over and over rehearsed  

down there on the darker side 

down there on the darker side 

not the first time we've been here

as we circle around the end

rest your head upon my breast 

before we lose it again 

we're leaning on each other

at least that's what we pretend 

this time it could be different 

or once more it gets bent

down there on the darker side

down there on the darker side 

I was a whisper on your lips

a kite blowing in your wind 

turn me loose, pull me back 

a game of chance my friend 

it all drops like the curtain 

at the end of the final scene 

no applause, as it once more falls 

and you call out to me 

down there on the darker side 

down there on the darker side 

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