fortress

you climbed the fortress
up trellises of vine
to capture her heart
to hold for all time
the tower a bastion
protected, secured
without hesitation
your vision unobscured
your mission was gallant
the plan was construed
knowing not resistance
from a love that was true
as you scale the tower
you know in your heart
a happy ending was coming
you knew from the start

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

driftwood

in my fortress by the sea
I ponder thoughts washing over me
under the moon, tide’s ebb and flow
do I stay or shall I go?

one by one the answers come
just enough to keep me numb
giving what you think I need
sometimes truth will make me bleed

like driftwood washed upon my beach
footsteps left, etched very deep
no wind makes them disappear
always present, always clear

I sit here in a very tall tower
looking down on what aspires
growing like the ivy leaves
intricate is the vine that weaves

the sun comes up and warms the sand
in this never, never land
is this love that glows with day?
why does night bring doubt my way?

in this fortress by the sea
I ponder thoughts washing over me
under the moon, tide’s ebb and flow
can I stay, or do I go?

smalltown Friday night

a football game under stadium lights

a nip in the air,  on this Friday night

our final touchdown, when the score was tied

a team that fought hard, with all of their might

a bonfire after, cheering on the team

under a fall moon, how brightly in gleams

hoarse from the yelling, the cheers we screamed

now on to state, a coaches best dream

a smalltown girl, 'round the fire we snake

a homecoming dance. with my favorite date

the memories that come, the ones we create

that live in us always, and never abate

a long time ago, oh, how things do change

with all of the schedules that we rearrange

some of those thoughts that now are estranged

but plenty of new ones that I have exchanged

a smalltown girl, that grew and moved on

until a resurgence of one of my favorite songs

the memories return, just as ever as strong

here in my memory, they keep hanging on

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

I had forgotten...

I had forgotten this part
this part where love is returned
this part where it wraps you in its golden warmth
where it slips into your thoughts and makes you smile
a remembered comment, a remembered touch, a remembered kiss
I had forgotten this part
the feeling when you said it for the first time
"I love you"...spoken with your lips, heart and eyes... 

yes, I had forgotten, how right this could feel
and how love should always

be just like this

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

touch and go

there is no more, 

nor is there less 

it's like Alice through the looking glass 

I circumvented one of the rules 

now off the table what left you unglued

back to the banter,

the touch and go 

an even keel that we used to know 

teasing thoughts and passion screams

in the dark on a tiny little screen

the monsoons pass 

and there's thunderless sky 

my way of saying 

it's now been put right 

you get closer to finally, 

nothing in your way 

brushing past the valley 

with our yesterday's 

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

linger

you look and you see
you listen and you hear
you touch and you feel
you breathe me in
and your taste lingers on my lips
long after you are gone

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

silence

the sheep all still masked

and blindly they follow

listening to the words

all muttered and hollow

what isn't being said

should scare them to death

this isn't said lightly

it's no empty threat

on a podium he stands

and then wanders away

ignoring the masters

ignoring stormy days

as wise ones prepare

for what will descend

history repeats

before freedom can end

so gather 'round people

please heed the call

don't think that it's nothing

before it can fall

you're paying too much

for the silence you devour

all that's at stake

just takes your brainpower

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

last call

here where your west was all but won 

you didn't ask anything, nothing at all 

on top of a mountain where you see for miles 

down to my valley where it was last call

I played it all out, a map marked for you 

from the middle of the beginning with all new false starts 

the trail had some bends that didn't get plotted

it rends just like fabric and it all falls apart

I got lost for awhile in the chambers of my heart 

couldn't find my way back into your open arms 

secure in my mind with an ego that bends 

and snaps like a twig under footsteps that harm

blind is the trail where roses are strewn 

words never whispered from love songs not heard 

insight doesn't enter, the skies remain blue

each line that was written lays North undisturbed 

here where your west was once all but won 

you didn't ask anything, I heard in my head 

on the top of a mountain top where you see for miles 

last rites are said as I bury my dead 

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

still the same

lucky at the casino, lucky with the draw
the slot kicks out tickets, printed with it all
I look at my winnings, it's not close to last call
I knew your were a gamble that wouldn't pay off

from game to game looking for the next hit
bells are going off inviting me to sit
others over my shoulder close enough to spit
watching how I play this game needing wit

like Bob Seger says when he sings "Still The Same'
for a little while, I'm caught up in the game
an eight hundred number when too close to the flame
it's knowing what to hold and when to walk away

lucky with the cards but not so much with love
you can't beat the excitement of this queen of hearts
I could read you like my hand, right from the very start
I knew you were a gamble, that wouldn't pay off

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

not for me

For that one shining moment
I thought you were mine
A fragile house of cards
Constructed in my mind
but I misread the lyrics
The song was not for me
I know it never was
Should've read more carefully
so I retrace all the moments
rethink of all those times
when once upon a memory
I thought you were mine

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

blueprint

I thought it was all sorted
the truth from just the one
and you know I'm a sleuth
when there's work to be done
I'm reading between red lines
where clarity escapes

it seems the subjects twisted
this saga has some gaps


I think that the sweet breeze
blowing from mountains north
started way before
the band ever played our song
it doesn't really matter, 
when fragility's lost its glow  
my love doesn't have designs 
blueprint faded long ago

secure in what you have, 

secure in what you need
one holds on still strong, 

and one is hemorrhaging
one that's eyes are blind, 

one that's eyes can see
one that saw too late
an escape to set me free

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

love's not blind

only for you would I brave the storm 

leave this place that's safe and warm

rain that turns to sleet and snow 

winds that cut through heavy clothes 

to get to where you are 

only for you would I brave the sea 

waves that threaten to capsize me 

in the darkness of the night 

no moon that shines, no stars to guide 

to get to where you are 

only for you would I brave the past 

forget the ones that did not last 

open my heart just one more time 

knowing this time love's not blind

I will come that far 

and meet you where you are 

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

fragile or not

on the outside I'm a diamond 

my edges cut through glass

I am up for challenges

rally to each task 

I make my own decisions 

and stand by every one 

I shoot quick from the hip 

my aim again right on 

inside I am soft, 

as fragile as a pearl 

lustrous I shine--

delicate underneath

I won't let much get close 

they see the charade too late 

perfect  am not...

nor never claimed to be

I don't mean to maim others 

and won't let them maim me

if I can't make things better

then I will let them be 

I say this from the first, 

as slowly it begins 

you are one of the few, 

that I'm letting in 

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

epitaph

a heart now broken
shattered, buried deep, entombed
epitaph of love

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

Tombstone

Walking on the wooden slats 

Past the hitching posts 

Where cowboys tied their trusty steeds 

A town with many ghosts 

A boomtown that was lawless 

With Doc and all the Earps 

Past the Bird Cage Theatre 

Where entertainment was rehearsed 

Into the famous Big Nose Kate’s 

With outlaws playing cards 

Hiding ace’s in their sleeves 

The danger disregarded 

Apparitions of saloon hags 

And six gun toting men 

Of silver miners in dusty clothes 

In this smoky, godless den 

Pick up the Tombstone Epitaph 

To read the local news 

No one shot and no one robbed

According to these reviews 

What must it have been like

In this wild and wicked town 

In the late 1880’s 

When this boomtown was founded 

History was in the making 

A county seat able to survive

For tourists like us on afternoons 

To see that it still thrives 

As we drive North and leave this place 

Past legendary Boot Hill

 All the ghosts put back to rest 

Though it still may raise some chills

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

going back haiku

back to the Midwest
fond memories that return
rebuilding my core

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

silent

the words fell silent
on deafened ears
no one to listen
no one to hear
quietly screaming
wanting to be heard
missing their mark
as I thought they would
quelling of anger
I'm misunderstood

a waste of my time
in an angry world

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

blacktop haiku

a country blacktop
no dotted lines to divide
I find my own way

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

till we die

if I could see beyond today
past the hurt that I still save
the future in a crystal ball
past the portraits in your hall

in every corner past all the dust
going for broke--do or bust
ghosts scream incessantly in my ear
I listen to them voice all of my fears

on two wheels I round the bend
is it a beginning or nearing the end?
a trophy sits, high on the shelf
winning more than anything else

I want it all and I won't share
talking just won't get me there
yelling hush, you kiss my lips
my hands stay firmly on my hips

hidden deep inside a box
all the secrets stay there locked
till you forget and walk away
none there are in a safe place

I read them all, each and every one
from when we started--it wasn't fun
denial is such an ugly truth
in black and white they lie to you

once again, I hide all pain
till I think I'm going insane
it means nothing--words inside
meant to stay there till we die

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

Midwest

Running through the fresh mown grass
Small town there in the Midwest
We laugh, we fall, we roll around
How our lives seemed oh so blessed

Then as we get older
Our lives begin to change
Not enough time in the day
There’s much to arrange

Seems like we’re always running
Our schedules are to tight
Kids and spouses, work and bosses
Mandating our lives

Somehow we lose our innocence
And start to become jaded
The Midwest fun of younger days
Has now completely faded

Being a child was easy
Back in the Midwest
Adulthood seemed so far away
The future was a guess

red flags haiqua

there were warning signs 

my heart sails pass red flags 

blinded by passion

refusing to come about

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

withdrawn

the effort put forth, a little too much
I did it though, to keep you in touch
thought you should know and you would care
but it settled in without her there

a little to calm, acknowledgement noted
no pain rendered, or sympathy spoken
I guess I expected a somber retreat
but you carried on without missing a beat

was it all in my head, that thing that was there?
did you really not want it or just didn't care?
in heavy thoughts always swimming to light
here in the morning and there late at night

I guess I won't know, I can put it aside
it really doesn't matter, it seems to have died
there it was yesterday, but now it is gone
physically taken, the memories withdrawn
Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

swimming at night

dive in deep from cool cement 

chlorinated water above my head 

breath held deep with ease I glide 

swimming with you side by side 

under stars we slowly churn 

eyes shut tight against the burn 

surface break in the still night 

you disappear from my third eye

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

paradoxical sleep

Random thoughts at arbitrary times
A life once shared how quick demised
Thoughts that swim in water deep
Nightmares in paradoxical sleep

You watch me flail, in over my head
Drift in and out while I mournfully tread
Choke out the water that’s in my throat
Silently drown or stay afloat

You were here and now you’re gone
Ash still falling with each new dawn
A life invested extinguished fast
Promise yielded to aftermath

Strength for all so they don't see
A tower that crumbles inwardly
Internal tears that my heart cries
The perfected façade is just a guise

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

love, as it relates to baseball

I stand on the plate with the sun in my eyes
the pitcher is ready, a fastball he flies
I swing just as hard as I possibly can
love says "strike one" as I try again

choke up on the bat, pull down on my bill
nodding my head, a new pitcher on the hill
it hurls past my chest, just missing my heart
love says "ball one" as the clock again starts

it's the seventh inning stretch, I need the relief
I brush off the dust, no way I'll retreat
the coach saunters over, giving me a pep talk
as the lines are redrawn on the infield with chalk

the board shows each tally, each inning not close
no intervention from heaven or its holy hosts
I shut the book on yet, another losing season
I'll still play the game with faith in the reasons

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