given, taken

given, taken
love forsaken
wanted, needed
hearts are bleedin'
given, taken
risk worth taking

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

release

with kindness comes clarity
with loving comes loss
with investment comes risk
to be put where it belongs

with anger comes tension
with frustration comes fear
with longing comes hunger
for what you want near

with heart comes emotion
with His grace comes peace
it will get much easier
when at last I release

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

neon lights

shadows rise and shadows fall and I see the reality 

clattering deep in the silence of my serenity 

tonight we lay together under the flash of neon lights 

tomorrow I am miles away, living a different lie 

I felt it in my spirit and I felt it in my soul 

what you didn't feel at all just left this gaping hole

thunder rolls and lightning flashes bright in all my dreams 

while miles away you lay there, pulling my heart strings 

like the mighty Phoenix from the ashes resurrected 

but none of the fences mended, just how you directed

that little piece of my soul, the one that you left whole 

sometimes friends, sometimes lovers the only role I know

I can be here with you, or as long as you can stay 

yesterday was just a day...long since faded away 

all of the photos taken, show us smiling in black and white 

you pick and choose, make all the rules, while I drift with the tide 

tonight we lay together under the flash of neon lights

tomorrow I am miles away, living a different lie

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

between wonder and love

they meet in the middle
between east and west
between sunrise and sunset
somewhere between dependence and indifference

they meet in the middle
between unsure and surreal
between unopened and unsealed
somewhere between give and take

they meet in the middle
between rain and sun
between ended and just begun
somewhere between fact and fiction

they meet in the middle
between forgiveness and grace
between bittersweet and a honey taste
somewhere between wonder and love

somewhere between blue sky and monsoon
once again, they meet in the middle

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

stand

don't run and hide

when things aren't right

stand your groumd

put up a fight

the more you take

the more they'll shovel

don't swollow more

and be on their level

take it all in

when things get rough

as bad as it seems

it can get much tougher

sort it all out

and make your plan

let it all go

when you make your stand

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

Heartbreak Cafe

sitting here at the Heartbreak Cafe
outside the sky is dark and grey
hot, black coffee on a rainy day
acrid taste disguised by the bouquet

looking at this lonely crowd
early morning while it pours down
on every face a deep lined frown
clinking spoons the only sound

not the first time I've been here
the Heartbreak Cafe dark, austere
a dismal place I don't hold dear
doesn't help my thoughts to clear

pay the bill left at this table
left thoughts of you and this sad fable
moving on to something more stable
just as quickly as I'm able

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

thoughts of you

temperature cold
inside this room
no moon tonight
darkness looms
shadows creep
across my dream
fitful rest
for me it seems

shadows from
a recent time
fantasy plagues
memories remind
how much time
before it fades
thoughts of you
and yesterday

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

sparkling crowns

the match lit a spark
the spark took to flame
kindling was soggy
from months of rain
all I could see
all I could feel
months of wonder
if this was real

just one more time
last when we met
not like you feared
but the opposite effect
beep of a message
not from me
hidden thoughts voiced
that made me bleed

all those others
in sparkling crowns
many a princess
that let you down
terms of endearment
perfected on those
rest now on me
here on the throne

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

head in their apps

with their heads stuck in their apps

freedom slips from millennial grasps

no History taught in any class

to teach them what would come to pass

oblivious to all that does surround

how their forefathers held their ground 

freedom from the British crown

a new government once held sound

cyclical, again it rears its head

socialism gaining thread by thread

wringing hands in constant dread

like little sheep they're being lead

get you head out of your apps

it's time to break from the blind mass

time for you to kick and lash

it always falls to the working class

 

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

paradise lost

you piece together
the broken shards
cutting yourself
on a secured heart

quickly it slips
as you grasp at straws
not enough time for
forgotten fatal flaws

sleight of hand failed
your magician bag of tricks
illusion forsakes
mortality too quick

the thick smoke clears
a circus mirror refracts
the image disappears
when you look back

your destiny fools
thought it was tied down
paradise lost
free falling to the ground

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

time

too little said too soon

or maybe, too much too late 

either way, 

the crescent moon just won't align 

reflections in a mirror, cracked 

icy winds sting my face

it ebbs and flows 

when I look back 

ticking zulu time 

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

Traces

There is a place inside my heart
that no one even knows
I keep it hidden from the light
to protect it from life’s woes

I almost let you find your way
into this precious place
but I pulled back in the nick of time
so there's no discernable trace

Traces of what could have been
traces left behind
not left on this precious place
only in my mind

Someday, someone will come in
they will catch me unaware
what will happen to this place
if someone gets in there

Will there be irreparable harm
will there be love and light
will I be happy I let them in
or angry for the blight

Keeping my defenses active
I've stood guard from the very start
protecting the wall around this  place
this precious place in my heart

Mystery

The things that you search for 

That can not be found 

No matter where you look 

Or how hard you try 

Timing is everything 

And now is not right

It’s not up to me 

Someone else decides

 

We don’t own our future 

Though it's ours to live 

It’s given to us 

Bit by bit by bit

Do the best that we can 

With what’s handed down 

Sometimes it’s nirvana 

Most times it’s not 

One day at a time 

That’s how it goes 

Future a mystery 

Only God knows

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

the only one that knows

there for all of the world to see 

you riddle your life so perfectly

typed in letters large and small

punctuation binding it all 

a beautiful, charitable contribution 

a poet's love that's so confusing 

reading in awe all of your prose 

while you're the only one that knows 

the heart that you captured and let fly free 

the riddles I read are not about me

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

ledger

I don't look, and I don't see
I hold it back from everybody
I figure it out, the only way I can
a narrow ledge with sharp incline
stepping over all that won't hurt
just for once, it almost works

it scratches and claws to find a way out
all the reasons that I think about
a part of me that I won't show
pushed to the back so no one knows
I hit rewind to where it all began
they don't listen or understand
but I know--but I know
what it's all about

the divinity of what's silently written
the ledger full of numbers and superstitions
like the mountains to the north with the same name
where saguaro grow and don't lay blame
a coyote howls in the dead of night
singing the phrases of its own plight
hungering for all that it longs to possess
out there in the lonely wilderness

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

fading years

I'm selling off the boxes
from all the fading years
I think they are completely dry
although once packed with tears
the prophet, there is nodding
at all here on display
no one seems to be buying
the dreams of yesterday

"is this all that you have now?
you've nothing left inside?"
if it's not there I'm keeping
the stuff held in my stride
maybe you can work this
into an intricate piece
selling it at auction
where your dollar will increase

he said "no one will buy it
it looks so beat and worn
I'm sure that you once loved it
before it was all torn"
he said "you should keep this,
and what it represents"
I thought, you are crazy
that time was not well spent

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

Shambles

I thought my life was all messed up
Until I talked to you
You, my friend, have problems
And more continue to brew

Your love life is in shambles
Your credit cards are maxed
You hate coming to work each day

Owe a fortune in income tax

Not much I can do for you
While your wallowing in self pity
I could say some pithy words
Or we could leave this city

Maybe take a little trip
To try and change your mood
You know that we would have to come back
And it would probably be to soon

I think that you are on your own
There’s nothing I can do
You’ll have to climb out of this alone
You may be totally screwed

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

faceless canvas

The paint not quite dry
The strokes vivid and strong
Hues of violet and amber
A masterpiece set aside

Each color painted with longing
A portrait of all that is true
A faceless canvas of yearning
Uncompleted from hapless youth

Before the callousness sets in
A fragmentary work of art
Placed in an abandoned corner
Forgotten in life’s hurts

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

real life

in the rain I hear you call me
in the thunder I sense your fears
in the lightning I see your shadow
in the darkness I hold you near

in the stars I see your eyes
in the moon I feel your heart
in my dreams I know forever
in daylight it's just a start

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

Oh Shit!

you walked in and I thought OH SHIT!
my heart pounded and did back flips
I knew I would be in the middle of this
no way around this sudden twist

that first date was pure perfection
I knew I was vying for your affection
looking back with much reflection
I know I made the right selection!

that yellow shirt with jeans and boots
we laughed and flirted, you were a hoot
you said I was smart assy too
thick as thieves we were real soon

now six years have come and gone
we're together, holding strong
you sing me all of my favorite songs
out of my dreams and into my heart

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

the stand

all I see in the distance
as I focus on it all
the last part of my resistance
stumbles now and falls
you won't meet opposition
from all the disparate strands
I'm taking my position
getting ready to make my stand

from a shrouded heart and shadowed soul
I watch as this unfolds
an unstable situation
that leaks from the usual mold
all I've seen and what I've read
ain't even the tip of the iceberg
and as I strolled down memory lane
the nightingale's all I heard

through fog of contradiction
on an ocean of salty tears
I admired the reflection
a dim light that disappears
careful always of what you say
in case reality should offend
as you sit and watch your soul decay
from the start to the bitter end

wearily I watched you
break chains to be set free
no chance at a storybook ending
not ever between you and me
strained are the limits of compassion
it's a wound that never mends
honesty was never in fashion
it wasn't in the cards my friend

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

Richter

when love starts to rattle and shake 

there is really no safe place 

as your heart splits down the center 

a deep, bleeding crevice rendered 

pieces left all over the place

tears of sadness on my face 

a quake of horrific magnitude 

rocking all that's left of you 

love that is built on a fault-line 

will never stand the test of time 

7.0 scored on the Richter 

reduced to ash and cinder

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

wreckage

we mature with the wreckage

not with tears or years

the things our mind tells us

overcoming all fears

forging ever onward

brief stops on our way

that's how we move onward

and get through the days

losing the baggage

maybe keeping one tote

keeping a journal

with all of our notes

maybe some therapy

if that's what you need

to empty the sorrows

on which your heart feeds

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

lines

between rocketing dreams

and the lowest lines

so much is done

not to leave it behind

It's the dragon you feed,

the debt that comes due

was it worth the price

of ownership to you?

Hope slips away

as greed takes its place

it doesn't take long

to fall from His Grace

and when you look back

at your wreckage and ruin

you can't say that you

didn't know what was brewing

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

grace falls short

it really wouldn't have been that hard
now it's tossed like a salad with swiss chard
a bitter taste that is left behind
I think I must've been out of my mind

you, whom I gave the best of care
wreckage created with utmost flair
no over the shoulder, one last look
a very short chapter in a dusty old book

what did you think, how did it feel?
to severe it all with so much zeal
no calls, no letters, not even a text
grace falls short, then disappears

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