Valentine

lay your leg across me, 

so I can go to sleep

kissing me goodnight,

so I will have sweet dreams

wrap your arms around me, 

hold me very tight

thank you for bringing Valentine's day... 

back into my life

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

graceless

grace left my body I stumbled and fell
just like Alice, in a deep dark hole
down I tumble but land on my feet
the only thing injured was my soul

my will got bent but it didn't break
scratches from roots of so many trees
it's damp from soil left long unturned
and cold without my strong beliefs

how'd I get here, what happened to me?
I fixed your life but mine got lost
you said there would still be room
how much space and at what cost?

the helping hand that I received
that helped me up back on my feet
asked for nothing in return
but showed the ways of your deceit

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

squall

past the nose your animal scent
behind the lungs that breathe you in
into the heart past many walls
you are causing quite a squall

thunder, lightning loud it screams
you the man from fervent dreams
setting my very soul on fire
no net under this high wire

many tried to claim this heart
they were wrong right from the start
I didn't know if you would come
to your charm, I have succumb

gone too many days and nights
telling angels of my plight
answered prayers from those above
finally home and with my love

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

broken dreams

so many thoughts in this crowded mind
things that are present or lagging behind
you might just think, that I've been blind
but I wasn't hooked or to one confined

cast my net far upon the vast sea
so little caught up there inside of thee
some of that caused me much misery
and some remains a plaguing mystery

if you could have changed the way you think
so many wishes in my cup clinked
not worth the effort or even the ink
I was gone faster than you could blink

never one to let go of things
all of your wishes seemed to sprout wings
except for me, not there on your string
no broken heart, just broken dreams

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

i write

the beach deserted this time of year
I don't mind, I love it here
cool and windy, it soothes my soul
and I've told this sea
everything I know

most like it only on warm, sunny days
playing their games under the suns warm rays
alone I walk, this is my beach
watching the waves
as the sand they breach


I don't mind, that's it's only me
nothing to share, nothing that I need
just me and my thoughts
and in my mind,
all the poetry I can write

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

your love

it's a Christmas gift 

not one day a year; it's one 

I open each day

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

sealed with a kiss

I don't need all the added distractions 

previews of current or coming attractions

I'm seeing the future, it's crystal clear 

it's sweet as wine when you are near

I don't need flirtation and all of the games 

one's who said they'd call and forgot my name 

not sitting around and not going to mope 

this is real baby...you float my boat 

you're not making promises you're not going to keep 

you're talking of the future and it's all about me 

I didn't know loving could ever be like this 

I give you my heart...and seal us with a kiss

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

too many tabs all 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

it doesn't matter

shadows fade into night stillness
no boundaries mar the thin red edge
all is calm in the realm of dreams
nightmares in the bedside drawer

closed eyes move in REM
dawn breaks hot, another day
monsoons off, a month away
awake I stretch and then I yawn
as I smell the aroma
daybreak offers

many things I need to do
one more cup will get me through
no longer, my first thoughts of you
how you are; will we talk?
that no longer matters

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

forever ties

not always truthful
hedging your bet?
what you give is
what you'll get
a little sugar
goes with the lie
that's not the pull
to forever ties

I'd rather you say
I think, I'll check
then brush it off
that dusty speck
I'd rather know
then have to guess
at what is now
and not regress

I know you
your sordid past
all the heartache
you amassed
still you bring it
home to roost
you never learned
what it induced

problems brought
upon yourself
all dusty from
that nasty shelf
haunt me as the hours fly
as I don my wits
to get me by

if you leave it 
lying around
eventually,
it will be found
hurt with truth
and with its pain
nothing lost
is everything
gained
Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

nothing left to say

each sunrise holds promise
quiet rapture before he spoke
not thinking, the words spill out
too late to reconsider
the mess you have made
no mopping it up now

she listens,
not hearing the anger
but the very frustrations
that brought them here
sitting on this porch
together

but each is alone
although they sit side by side
not touching, not feeling
no reply from her
unusual at best
but there's nothing left to say

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

the gecko

push-ups on concrete
to the tune of “macho man”
then you slink away

together

in a matter of seconds, you were gone
taking all of your stuff
except what was inside of me

sometimes, I wonder if you are happy
a better life without me
I did my best

do you think of our times together?
when life wasn't perfect
but we were together...

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

His path

long before I met you
erst, while we were looking
I had almost given up
thinking there was no one
who could complete me
at this stage of life

I should have had optimism
into the insight  He has
the plans He provides
for each of us
to live our lives
following His path

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

a coffee song

I don't know how the apology went
words like sand in thick cement
stirred too quickly like your passion
in hap-hazard and hidden fashion
convoluted and  oh so strong
a coffee song

an inkblot, just a little blight
a time-warp in this so called life

stirring wood--campfires blaze
bringing memories of other days
mountains high, saguaro green
forgetting pasts and what they mean

an inkblot, just a little blight
a time-warp in this so called life

it's all over; the fat lady sang
a cowboy song with country twang
no one really understood
that shroud you wore, it did no good
for a man with wordy depth 
I took the blame and then I left
 
an inkblot, just a little blight
a time-warp in this so called life

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

absorption

I lived in your darkness
cavernous as it was
all the while,
you absorbed my light
dimming me,
I couldn't see
this was so
I stumbled, blindly
trying to find my path
back to the way it was,
the way I was
without letting go...
the fatal blow
to keep meandering
trying to see
inside your shroud

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

abyss

would you tell me 

if I'm on the right path? 

have we lost it all? 

can we get it back?

did I miss the connection? 

the phone didn't ring 

the face is black

on the small little screen 

no words come 

nothing do I hear 

slipping into the abyss

just like I feared

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

up for the job

he stretches full length

up for the job before him 

then he goes to sleep

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

like glue

one road ends

as another bends 

a battle wages

from different cages 

mind and soul

travel high and low 

on each new chart 

ne'er a sign marks 

you do your best

forsaking the rest

relationships fade 

some friends may evade 

pulling loose threads 

draining your last dregs 

but after all we've been through

I'm stick like glue 

believing what you say 

as everlasting truth

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

in my eyes

window to the soul 

shows what you already know

opened with your love

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

two hearts

my mind works on overload
not much more can it now hold
my heart bleeds from all it knows
not enough to make me go

questions rise, the answers weak
not always what I actually seek
is this doomed, is it too bleak?
what lies really underneath

you pledge your love, holding tight
passion holds us through the night
but it’s still there in the daylight
20/20 is hindsight

in this vortex spinning round
trying to salvage all I’ve found
will I reach the higher ground
do you leave me here to drown?

escape

this the thin line that I walk
this mindset that cannot talk
I can no longer block it out
this blackness and shrouded doubt

going forward each new day
hoping it will fade away
that I find all that I seek
that it doesn't escape me

thoughts that grow are kinda random
overtake with reckless abandon
trying again not to overthink
ideas that are drenching me

but it sometimes overflows
this love with its rich, bright glow
can you make it turn out right?
restoring what will cause this blight

it is

it is with great depth we both play
it is with heart that I feel my way
it is with sadness trust evades
it is with hope it comes and stays

it is with chance a tomorrow looms

it is with mirth this crowded room

it is with heart a new love blooms

it is both ways I do assume?

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

quits

I called it quits 

when I hung up the phone

figured I was better

going at it alone

like a tumbleweed once here

now windblown and gone

more heartache from you

than I'd ever known

go to the closet

for my traveling shoes

pack a few things

leave the rest for you

maybe the closure

will leave me a bruise

next time I'll be

more careful who I choose

it'll take me some time

to rebuild my heart

I knew this before

the decision to depart

but ours was a love

tired from the kickstarts

always the understudy

never the lead part

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

always of you

in the lateness of the hour
after the sunlight fades to dusk
the moon rises high above the clouds
my last thought before sleep is you

dreams evade but sleep prevails
I rise early, as the dawn breaks
your side empty, a pillow unused
my first thoughts, always of you

whether you're here, or not by my side
whether your arm is around me or not
I know your thought is of me too
whether you can see me or not