dotted line

I wait for a sign
standing in this valley
my mind outstretched to you

visions that I see...
tall saguaros
mountains surrounding
warm sun
blue sky
me and you

the path we walked
side by side
has weeds pushing up
through the dotted lines

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

call my name

when the sun sets low
in the desert sky
the wind finally stops
blowing in the mesquites
the moon starts to rise
in the dark of night
I will find you

when your dreams come
the ones that let you down
when you toss and turn
but can't shake them off
you reach and touch the
cold pillow near your own
in the dead of night
I will find you

call my name
and I will be there
reach for me
in your hour of prayer
whether you whisper or shout
say it or think it
there will not be anyone
in my heart but you
in the dark of night
I will find you

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

features and benefits

the features of this relationship are:
you are a strong friend
you love me more than your luggage
you are a genius (at times)
you have Freudian insight
you guide me through tough decisions
you are deep like Voltaire
you are optimistic
you do not criticize
you are a voice of reason
you support me
you let me vent
you are funny
you are sincere
you encourage my writing
you've stuck around (why, I don't know)
and more that I can list

the benefits speak for themselves

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

the mediator

this is my new role
feelings out, resolution
all on the table

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

satan’s lot

i’ve sold my soul
to Satan’s lot
what i got back
isn’t what i thought

i don’t make the rules
i’m not on top
misery and anguish
is all i’ve got

buried too deep
in pain and strife
enough of this heartache
for one short life

how do I get back
and break this pact
lookin forward
but all is black

should have read the contract
read between the lines
should of, could of, would of
there weren’t any signs

a life of misery
and too much pain
nothin ahead
nothin i’ve gained

pray to God
on bended knees
bring me back
save me please

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

poetry

we sing the songs about loving and living
taking more out than we are giving
about feelings spread out from east to west
lessons in life we haven't learned yet

we write the words that sometimes rhyme
jotting them down when we have time
writing about love and broken hearts
it's what we do and who we are

we don't care if others understand
each new stanza that we pen
sometimes short or often long
telling about all the goings on

more often than not, no rhymes or reason
spelling it out with adjective seasonings
verbs that flows from deep inside
about tangled roads and flowing tides


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

the place I left behind

looking for somewhere that I've never been

all alone and in between the place I come from 

the place that I'm in, the place I left behind 

there's a few things I don't know; 

some things hidden, 

I don't want to see things come and things go 

here today, gone tomorrow 

here for a minute, gone in an hour 

now it all just goes to show 

I needed you less than you needed me 

I offer sweet tea and sympathy for things of which we won't speak 

words that leave us weak 

utterances of nothing pledged 

lips that won't spit them out 

this place I come from this place that I'm in 

this place I leave behind

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

glorious wonder

did you hear it?
the love song borne on the early breeze
wafting down from mountains tall
through the brambled mesquite trees

do you hum it?
is it resonating in your head
a tune you carry deep inside
when you wake, till you go to bed

does it fill you?
wrapping you in glorious wonder
an inner light that now glows stronger
a gentle rain from echoing thunder

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

anthem

let freedom ring in every thought
for love of country and what it costs
waving strong, red, white and blue
in every heart, the colors wave true

bring me your tired, your hungry, your meek
every immigrant who asylum seeks
from coast to coast this anthem sings
in every heart let freedom ring

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

muzzle flash

the bullet stays in the chamber cause the safety was still on
never spinning through the barrel, the target left unharmed
couldn't smell the sulfur or see the muzzle flash
you should have aimed more carefully if you wanted it to last

you got to feel the excitement of the live round in the chamber
standing in the little booth surrounded by the danger
you got to hear the click and the noise from those up close
but your sight was never good at what was in front of you

the switch pulls in your target, without a single hit
nothing dead on center or even a near miss
you won't win a trophy or ever enjoy the prize
with your finger on the trigger, you missed it by a mile

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

without a trace

a million dreams without a face
that leave at dawn without a trace
planted deep they bloom and flower
only in the late, late hours

summer coursed through lover's veins
autumn came and love remained
leaving with the first snow fall
ice and cold that dashed it all

months of blatant disbelief
shoveling feelings without relief
my heart not able to take a snow day
it worked overtime packing it away

April comes and so do you
whistling again a heartfelt tune
some days filled with beauty and wonder
a song that threatens to take me under

you give a little and take a lot
resurrecting what I once forgot
summer tries to course through veins
clogged and blocked with love's remains

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

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

forsaking dreams

yesterday's love underneath my pillow...
at night before I go to sleep...
hoping that dreams of you are sweet...
yearning to be in that far off place...
where we explored possibilities...
hot kisses given in candlelight...
a brush with passion, whispered sighs...
I float, weightless, over deserted beach...
past boardwalks and haunted seascapes...
through shuttered, cobwebbed, vacant rooms...
candlewax remnants on a dusty floor...
searching high and low for what evades...
the sun rises high seeping through my blinds...
the pillowcase wet from forsaking dreams...

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 always 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

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