out west

yes, you drive a pick-up
wear your boots and hat
your body's in the city
but not where your mind's at

you dream of open fences
a meadow for your horse
a stream behind a cabin
stone hearth to keep you warm

the day is getting nearer
when you toss your tie and run
you hear the mountains calling
out west where you belong

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

paradise

do you remember?
when we are apart
how you took my hand
then stole my heart
under the moon
by the whispering sea
that first time you said
that you loved me

do you remember?
when we are apart
how paradise feels
or have you forgot?
am I there in your day?
or just in your dreams
did you mean what you said?
that you loved me

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

atrocity

I stole the silver lining
from the clouds above
wove them ever carefully 
into a mantle for my shoulders
no longer will wishes come true

this atrocity realized
the heavens opened
crying sparkling tears
which I beaded on a
golden cord for my neck

darkness came and I pulled
the stars from the night
stitched them into a flowing skirt
with the crescent moon
as a tiara for my hair

for these sins I am damned
beauty pillaged not created
selfish, narcissistic, envious
of creation beyond my own
Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

curtain call

the curtain up
the stage is set
the paint still wet
on props
orchestra tunes
starting soon
excitement in my heart
a tragedy, a comedy
a script of drama and love
lines rehearsed
totally immersed
a "Tony" award for sure
final curtain call
still enthralled
as you play
for an audience
of two

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

asunder

as it all slips away
memories not saved
words you wouldn't say
love lost on the way

it echoes in the thunder
causing me to ponder
this spell I fell under
as love breaks asunder

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

the kind of friend

would you lay it all down

to save me, my friend? 

can you give what I need

and be happy you did?

I can say good-bye but never let you go 

you're buried too deeply inside of my soul 

can you be the kind of friend 

who always looks back? 

picks me up when I've fallen,

puts me on the right track? 

will you never look down 

and please never let me go? 

bury me there, deeply, 

inside of your soul 

we live, we learn we play another hand 

we can't see the future 

with just one glance 

we keep rolling the dice 

and leaving it to chance 

and what we lay down 

will always comes back 

we never look down 

and we never let go 

and it all comes from something 

buried deep inside of our souls

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

dance with me

put on your boots
and I'll don mine
let's go some place
where the music's fine
all the others
are forming a line
dance with me baby
one more time

let's dance real late
into another night
till the moon disappears
and it becomes light
hold me close
hold me tight
dance with me baby
one more time

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

haiku

a mind that plays tricks
on a heart that won't catch on
cataclysm results

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

resurrected

it's not like mine were the first green eyes 

that peered through the shroud of your are 

that looked deep inside, and saw through you 

pulled the scoundrel, resurrected the truth 

it's not like you didn't display the signs 

of want and need and what I provide 

you hide your heart and lay down pain 

I take it all and I remain

reminiscent of yet another heart in time 

your love torn deep, gashing open wide 

another valley, a different crescent moon 

a history of heart and grace and truth 

you revisit the love, anguish, affliction 

affirming it won't happen again 

I am you then and still I remain 

a friend till the end, a heart still pained

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

erased

memories erased 

your mind free, as is your heart 

not a trace is left

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

you rock

all my secrets and deep, deep truths 

with the wrath of God, I heap on you 

and like the trooper that you are, 

replies with insight and spiritual thoughts 

you listen quietly, talking me through 

these fallacious ideas and my blue hues

building me up, never letting me down 

leave me smiling, when I'm finally done

you complement, never criticize 

and in these matters, you are wise 

what other friend would stick around? 

you totally rock, I'm your biggest fan

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

then and now

yesterday's song, 

gone before dawn

bits and pieces of us 

scattered in the wind 

but one thing is true 

always about you 

I loved you then and now

yesterday's dance,

one more chance 

embracing fire and passion 

the music ends 

before it begins, 

still 

I loved you then I love you now

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

love doesn't live here

love doesn't live here anymore 

if it ever did before 

my heart pounds deserted doors

love doesn't live here anymore

packed its bags and moved away 

no forwarding address, nothing to say 

its been gone for a month of days 

a black and white overexposed frame 

my heart is breaking from deceit 

all is different than it believed 

need to figure a way to excrete 

as it makes its slow retreat

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

I

I am 

you aren't 

she is 

you are

I do 

you don't 

she does 

you too

I want 

you won't 

she has 

your heart

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

hope floats

hope floats 

without a sail 

away from me 

with no avail 

it returns 

as a whispered breeze 

each time you give 

your love to me

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

let go

I don't need your love 

to make me complete 

read all the books, not about me

I'm smart enough to know 

about the heart I can't hold 

and the hand that has been let go 

it wasn't out of need but my heart's want 

about whispered words and  a slow dance begun 

unfinished lyrics once left unsung 

under a moon I thought you'd hung

the moon has a way of slipping behind clouds 

cool mountain breezes, that mock me now 

stars gazed upon don't shine near as bright

memory haunts dreams, and come every night 

when the dawn bleeds in red...

I write from my thoughts

putting it down, so I won't forget

an unpainted portrait without a regret 

how long does it take to forget this love? 

to put it aside and memory thereof 

I can put it in prose, lyric and haiku 

make it come out, the way I want it to

 

it wasn't out of need but my heart's want 

about whispered words and  a slow dance begun 

unfinished lyrics once left unsung 

under a moon I thought you'd hung

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

fuse

strike the match 

light the fuse 

see it spark

from me to you

smell the sulphur 

feel the heat 

that's how it is 

with you and me

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

if love has a season

if love has a season it's springtime 

when everything blooms and grows 

gentle rain blow 'cross the plains 

and in the mountains surrounding my home 

yes, love is a springtime feeling 

I think most people would agree 

all those you see there on the street 

holding hands and whispering close 

springtime is around the corner 

I'm opening my windows and doors 

I don't want to miss one single chance 

to let in its warmth and love

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

felled

a savage crash

a lightning flash 

a thunder crack 

brings it all back

a shadow felled 

hopeless hell 

my heart locked

in a pine box 

monsoon rain

washes away 

answers vague 

most every day

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

meanings

manifest, multiply 

manipulate, metastasize 

masticate, mesmerize 

minced, minimize 

maddening 

meaningless

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

master plan

a master plan without a plot 

feelings displayed, quickly dropped 

not connected like domino dots 

forming a thick and grievous clot 

I said I do but you cannot 

inside it spoils, quickly rots 

it was always a very long shot 

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

tightrope

like a dusty book on the shelf

unread retracting words written or said 

this the tightrope on which I tread 

different dreams you have instead 

nothing ventured nothing spread 

feel my tears not yet shed 

what comes next?

the part you dread

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

hurdle

I ran the distance 

hurdled the thoughts 

the track not clear 

in this dismal fog 

breathless, fatigued

I jump over them all 

one hurdle left 

and I hit the wall

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

be gone

be gone lamented thoughts 

be gone with all your baggage 

leave this pen and paper

don't think of coming back 

let me write of love 

and happy fantasies 

I'm sick of feeling like this 

I'm tired of this elegy 

be gone lamented thoughts 

and don't think of coming back 

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

no consequences

turn your back, stroll away

seeing you go, 

completely unscathed 

conscience clean, 

heart in check 

no consequence 

from this brief trek 

objects are closer 

than they appear 

written on the right side mirror 

my love, my heart, 

indifferently scoffed

stand under the falls, 

and it all rolls off 

what was the wonder 

that you saw on this stage?

this drama macabre 

with shadows of rage

crestfallen and 

sidelined, they 

observe all

ambiguous tastes

that pitch me in hell

in the dark of night 

when feelings swell 

how long I stay?

it's hard to foretell

I just barely, crawled away

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