beggars whispered plea

I need to find the place
where understanding doesn't ache
where memories no longer burn
and my soul no longer quakes

no evidence that's left
from my beggars whispered pleas
I dreamed it way too late
no escape from the debris

I still can see his face
his words still burn in me
my heart won't cease from breaking
these barbed wire encased schemes

as I turned the other cheek
I just wasn't quick enough
you'd already turned your back
you'd already called my bluff

as I drink the acrid coffee
and the evening bleeds to light
another day dawns empty
after another sleepless night

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

No Doubts

It’s been quite a while
Since we started down this path
Then I had no doubts
That we could make it last

Seeking without fear
The things that I would need
The things I thought you had
To make this love succeed

The sun hides behind clouds
That’s when the shadows fall
Truth in what was here
Hidden behind your wall

The love that I once glimpsed
A virtual paradise
But dreams will come to end
With the rising of the tide

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

tarnished promises

when I left you were sleeping
miles from me in dreams
not knowing I was leaving
how perfect it all seemed

I could feel it getting smaller
this shrinking love affair
pensive in the moments
weighing what was there

tarnished promises
that never were fulfilled
my heart thats needing more
you don't get it still

indecisive minutes
between the bed and door
all the promise slips away
as I walk across the floor

my bags were always packed
I knew this day would come
how many times I tried
you never let me run

how long before you notice
that I'm no longer there
I packed it to take with me
the love that we once shared

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

minutes

when instant gratification
just isn't fast enough
the sun still heats your morning
the full moon calls your bluff
the saguaro has no answers
the nightingale has been snuffed
you call upon me for wisdom
you don't have the right stuff

momma raised you better
but you go off half cocked
leaving all around you
pretty much shell-shocked
you've been running for miles
just not outside of your block
and you are always racing...
racing against the clock

in the end you loved
exactly what you picked
fate is a lonely hunter
consequence makes you sick
you're in way too deep
fog grows white and thick
the second hand keeps running
as the minutes slowly click

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

blink

a touch that was familiar
a virtual paradise
how many ways you've known me
before beginning to think twice

your voice once sang a love song
the music sweet and low
the whispers of suggestion
from not that long ago

looking back and wondering
when did it all go wrong
one minute you were with me
I blinked and you were gone

now you sing a new song
the lyrics much the same
the chords you're playing different
but you sing the same refrain

in the ebony recesses
the shadows of your night
do your thoughts divagate toward me
while she lays by your side

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

earnest

you give it softly
it shines from your eyes
and from your heart
earnest feeling
earnest touch
earnest love

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

color fades

as the color fades
on dreams of yesterday
a painting bleached by sun
realization not begun

no beginnings at the end
dreams you can't transcend
the color starts to run
on what is left undone

slowly slipping from grace
bitter, scorched aftertaste
redemption never comes
from the forgotten one

thought there was more time
'fore clouds blocked the sun's light
canvass smeared, the likeness none
untouched dreams and one left shunned

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

pieces

your fingers cramped
and you ease your grip
just for a second
but it all starts to slip
dripping from your hand
so many grains of sand

as it falls around your boots
pieces of what was true
retrospect spread on the floor
fantasy, out the door
nothing like you planned
too many grains of sand

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

latte

strong espresso starts the mix
diluted with steaming, creamy milk
caramel flavor to sweeten
fluffy foam on top
me, in drink form

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

calling your name

looking at a moonless sky
darkness settling by and by
shivering in the mountain breeze
as I wish on vacant stars

reaching out but you aren't there
sensing your touch in cool night air
searching for you, but you won't be found
calling your name, calling your name

celestial stars now way up high
hollow moon in its disguise
hiding all the love I gave
dying in a cloudy grave

reaching out but you aren't there
sensing your touch in cool night air
searching for you, but you won't be found
calling your name
calling your name

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

heart

we carved a heart
in an old oak tree
just the initials
for you and me
the tree still stands
the heart still there
with love that has grown
through all these
years

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

empty hollow

you reach for the grace
of the shadow you found
a mirage that swallows
the empty hollow
inside your heart

fantasy slips your grasp
as my smile fades away
and the memories left
that hold no regret
inside my heart

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

melancholy wishes

my mind sifts through
these memories of you
the bad and the good
short times that we knew
sometimes happy
most times blue
melancholy wishes
that won't come true
so I pack them away
the lid still askew
finally, turning my back
on my love for you

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

lost

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
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

broken wings

all thoughts that I could have said
words that now don't mean a thing
under a full moon, cloudless night
with passion it no longer brings

in the cold of winter's sky
that will soon turn into spring
as you move, your back to me 
to a future you think green

all the feelings I once felt
just a bleak one-sided thing
a bird that sits and cannot fly
helpless with her broken  wings

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

tickle me

we lay down to take a nap
you tickle me, make me laugh
tickling leads to other things
pretty soon my spirit sings
we didn't ever go to sleep
but baby, I'm relaxed

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

moonless beach

holding what the twilight brings
sleepless nights, empty dreams
close my eyes, visions creep
passion ebbed on moonless beach

wander, footsteps in smooth sand
head down on deserted strand
listen to the ocean speak
what I hear that leaves me weak

turn around go back to start
left alone with this full heart
no one feels this love I seek
wandering on a moonless beach

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

a long-ago night

I should have confessed it all
the way you made me feel
when you were close

I thought you could read it
I thought you could see it
I thought you felt it too

now that time is gone
I waited much too long
a fantasy in time
the memories that remind
a dream from a long-ago night

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

lying

I would be lying if I said
you didn't get to me
and it would be untrue
to say it didn't mean a thing
but when you lay it all out
in my mind I have no doubts
that part of me got to you
whether you admit it or not

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

a taste of love

I can feel a love that's strong
when you hold me in your arms
I can sense a love that's true
when I'm laying next to you
I can taste a love that"ll last
left like honey on my lips
I can see a love that's vast
your heart reflecting all of this

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

drag me in

water is rising
it's ten feet deep
the undertow sweeps
me off of my feet
the currents too swift
and I can't swim
throw me a line
and drag me in

lightning streaks
across my sky
thunder crashes
in the night
hope stays useless
on the other side
be my savior
shed some light
throw me a line
and drag me in

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

ecstasy

in the darkness of the moon
from shadowed thoughts of my day
from a chamber deep within
you return to me once again

hands that travel creamy skin
lips that promise ecstasy
senses alive with each embrace
carrying me to that distant place

reality slips in with the dawn
the sun drains the smell of love
a mind that rests with foolish schemes
awakens cruelly from my dream

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

revered

through a window, near my bed, the moon shines
stars sprinkled, brightly twinkle, in the night sky
your eyes crinkle when they smile down on me
love is here, sweetly revered, and it is mine

tangled sheets, touching feet, skin on skin
passion heats, no retreats, sweet murmured sighs
wrap around, let your arms surround, encompassing all
carry me there inside your heart, make me fall

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

shadow of the wind

in the shadow of the wind
I feel Your presence
a whisper of increasing intensity
You won't show me the future
but You show me a way
to live in this life
to find contentment
to find peace
to find love

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

codes

under the surface it can't break through
deciphering the codes to get to you
I need a compass, a much better map
is it all lost or can I get back?

yesterday's news, today's headline
the story doesn't die, news at nine
I dredge it up from the bottom of the sea
what does it take, what is it you need?

I can't ease up and won't pull back
tenacity is one thing I don't lack
I fight for things in which I believe
and one of them was always you and me

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