country song

I tried to pull it all
from out of thin air
tried to hold you close,
bring you much nearer
my arms came up empty,
like the hope inside of me
you never gave me a reason,
a reason to believe

I hung on with hunger,
you starved me to death
that cold, long winter
when I could see my breath
I couldn't see you through
those frost glazed panes
or in the desert spring
when the monsoons came

I tried to make sense
out of nothing at all
you never tipped your hand
and you dealt the cards
I finally packed my bags
so that I could move on
from what was never here,
from this sad country song

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

tumbleweed

blowing like a tumbleweed
across the desert sand
looking for some roots
a safe place for you to land
drifting with the mountain breeze
across valleys and lost highways
searching for the answers
in every desert sage

talking to saguaro
are the answers there?
looking to the stars and moon
to guide you with their prayers
searching always searching
for the things that will bring peace
even though you found it once
it didn't meet all of your needs

ramble onward bramble
seek and ye shall find
looking deeply in your quest
and at what you leave behind
good things are in your future
looking for what is blind
ramble onward bramble
seek and ye shall find

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

I remain

the morning sun upon the rise
red bleeds across the clouded sky
you know I'm here, I didn't run
even when the monsoon comes
it doesn't change a blessed thing
I remain, I remain

in the twilight and the dawn
in deep dreams where you belong
in the laughter and the tears
past the valley of pain and consuming fears
I remain, I remain

in the distance through the trees
what does plague also relieves
sand dripping through the hourglass
slowly catching up with the past
I see it all looking down the sights
through the scope on a clear night
that is how it's supposed to be
anguish ebbs from the wound that bleeds
and I remain
I remain

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

Kansas

the 70's music fantastic
what a wonderful night
you were singing to me
that "Kansas" song I like

always checking on me
"is there anything you need"
holding my hand tightly
and we never missed a beat

texting in the mornings
and late into the eve
I may not be in Kansas
but you could be what I need

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

when

when the chambers inside are no longer hollow...
when the lump dissolves and I can swallow...
when the tears no longer fall...
when there is no feeling left at all...
when the phases of the moon...
when the sight doesn't leave me blue...
when the season once again changes...
when the spring removes all former traces...
when the blood flows again to my heart...
when the ending becomes a fresh start...
when the news of yesterday...
when the songs are not too vague...
when all above is finally done...
I'll know at last I can move on...

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

who will you love?

who will you love when it finally comes down?
when both of your feet are planted firmly on ground
not sand that shifts and threatens your soul
casting your heart in a deep, black hole
what sparkles not necessarily gold

who can you trust other than your friends?
when the walls crumble and collapse within
mortared feelings at your feet
your spirit sagging from the weight
grace escaping this same fate

who do you know, what do you feel?
what is untried and what is real?
what lays a mystery, could have been had?
it stretches before you, always has
the secret inside a shadowed glass

who will you love, what will be revealed?
when at last your heart is unsealed
when you finally cut and run
to the valley of the sun
North to mountains and endless nights
far away from prying eyes
far away from a past life
far away from me

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

blue sky days

drafts I've posted from long ago
when all of my dreams went up in smoke
wounds inflicted by a lover
it took a long time for me to discover
that friendship can't outrun the past
where we've landed at long last

pain inflicted with my words
just in case you had not heard
I love you made you come unglued
not quite what I expected of you
passion alone didn't fit your need
you said you tried to not mislead
and that these feelings would recede

all those thoughts now are held at bay
the curtain drawn on yesterday
the silent sounds that disappear
an effort made to draw me nearer
holding closely what will stay
through months of rain and blue sky days

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

album

a photo of every memory
pressed in an album of lost dreams
a faded rose now flat and brown
from the bed where you lay me down
petals starting to fall away
like the sweetness of that day
these memories do not hold a threat
for a heart with no regrets

the aftermath of hope and belief
when you turned your back to leave
your love wrapped up in other things
mine is crippled with broken wings

the last page in a very thick book
love compressed without a look
black and white image on the floor
the window closed as is that door

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

someway, somehow

I saw the danger
but not the signs
my heart beats quick
but not in time
and it's too late
to pull back now
it's all going to work
someway, somehow

is it real love
or mirrors and illusion
it hangs heavy
with passion and confusion
it's not rocket science
or nuclear fusion
I'm feeling the draw
electromagnetic intrusion
I'm not pulling out
and not pulling back
it's all going to work
someway, somehow

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

reasons

five hundred reasons
with four changes of seasons
can you weather more?

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

the ways you know me

all the ways you know me
and the ways that you are learning
when your hands and heart can soothe me
and stop this endless yearning
nothing I wanted more, as you step across
this welcome mat at my heart's door

as I wandered through the desert
as I looked and learned the dark
as I traveled endless trails
to find you where you are
as I stood in liquid silver
that drenched but did not quench
as I danced with faceless longing
to songs that ended too quick

all the ways you know me
and the ways that you are learning
when your hands and heart can soothe me
and stop this endless yearning
when love can be a heartache
when time moved on too slow
when that all becomes history
what I feel now
what I now know

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

open door

love left an open door
to let the breeze blow through
days of rain and darkest nights
my dreams are coming true
I find what I am looking for
what once I thought was gone
all I see reflected
what I hear in your sweet song
sing to me a ballad
of all it is you feel
dance with me a long slow dance
so I know it is real
what grows in my heart
after days of endless storms
this love that I now feel
when I wake in your arms

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

little things

it's the little things you offer
things that money can't buy
messages throughout my day
keeps my energy high
a flower in the morning
a sunset late at night
even when you're not near me
you light up my life

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

circle

like a circle, round and round
no beginning and no end
arcs that meet, connected and true
what begins and what ends with you

tracing over and over again
deeper and deeper with my pen
pressing harder as I draw
imprinting me inside of you

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

smooth

I swallow the concoction
my heart seemed quickly soothed
a little truth mixed with the lies
made it taste so smooth

ambrosia to my waiting tongue
with bibulous afterglow
predilection quickly sets
blurring all that I know

heartburn overtakes me
like the waves of the Black Sea
what echoes in this chamber
may never set me free

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

play it to the bone

you play it to the bone
all ends against the middle
while you are laying back
we dance to your fiddle
always a new song
lyrics unrecorded
as you write each verse
all the words distorted

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

gold standard

my gold standard dips
monetary units fall
what was once extravagance
is worth little at all
inflation reigns
the black market profits
blood diamonds mined in Africa
trade high on the market
as I slip into poverty
my portfolio crashes
you are living in luxury
made rich on advances

prices plummet at the pump
oil, by the barrel, left to rot
you can fill up with nowhere to go
things we have left worth little or not
stuff you don't need, but still you take
hording, stockpiling all that is left
sitting in the corner of an empty room
you call it want, others call it theft
a race to the finish line
for what is to be
I guess we'll just wait
and eventually see

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

The Right Way

It is the sounds of the morning
Garbage truck, school bus, birds
And you, snoring softly
Wanting those few extra minutes

I watch you, early in the morning
Covers askew, hair messed, peaceful
Wanting to stay here all day
Without the tension and stress that work brings

Rolling over you wrap yourself around me
Covering my neck and face with kisses
Hugging me with your arms and legs
Surrounding me with your love

Soon the coffee maker will start
The alarm will go off
The paper will hit the front porch
Neighbors will start for work

But you and I will stay here
A little while longer
Hold the routines off for awhile
To start our day the right way

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

illogical

when you are tired
and your mind is weak
the one you are with
is not the one you seek
something missing still
your life is not complete
answers do not come
angels do not speak

when you feel used up
from all that's coming down
illogical ideas from
thoughts that spin around
there is no protection
just incoherent sounds
your angel bows her head
as you're about to drown

you hear a lot of noise
but you can't read the words
the movie keeps on changing
your screams aren't to be heard
destroying all you've built
it is all just too absurd
your angel turned her back
because of what's occurred

when you make a decision
after all this time
you keep slipping backwards
down the rungs you climbed
and it's never poetry
because it doesn't all rhyme
your angel starts to laugh
cause the lyrics sing your crimes

when the answer finally comes
but it's way too late
ice is getting thin
and you still try to skate
you break another heart
in your hurry to escape
this is nothing new
you're told it's just a trait
your angel shrugs her wings
cause you know she can relate

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

as sure

as sure as the lightning flash
before the monsoon starts
as sure as the thunder crack
that follows that above
as sure as the tide flows in
after it has ebbed
as sure as the love you bestow
without question or remiss

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

homeless

homeless, my dreams
wander the street
sleeping in a cardboard box
chilled from the cold
and rumbling hunger
longing for more
hoping for shelter
love that will
take them in

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

I thought

I thought I saw myself
in the words you compose
but it was very vague
a shadow on a page

I thought I saw myself
in that look that you gave
there for just a flash
from your memory cache

I thought I saw myself
in the song that you sang
but it wasn't very clear
if I was ever even there

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

silence

I thought it could be special
the way it started
a beginning in my mind
that somehow got messed up
not saying enough
but saying too much
volumes spoken in silence
not enough questions asked
not enough feelings shared
when the door closed
my heart left on the other side

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

endless wire

a simple melody
you sing sweet and low
songs of hope and promise
as day to evening grows

a love that spans the distance
through miles of endless wire
close to me in spirit
a heart now set on fire

the music getting louder
as you are getting near
the lyrics you are writing
those that will bring you here

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

marks

one mark on the outside
the other lays within
you can read it in my eyes...
what my body verbalizes
but if you want to hear it,
if you want my lips to speak
the whisper that is in my heart
and coursing in all of me
then you will have to tell me--
tell me those three words
I can feel it and I can taste it...
but I won't say it first
never again will I say it first

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