Vacant

the ifs and the whys
remain unanswered
no closure will come

adrift, once again
the place you held in my heart
vacant

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

confessions

at the time of my confessions
when no one can hear me
when my needs are deepest
when I’ve lost all belief
sweating out the danger
in the depths of my despair
a mind that travels backward
on a trail that was unfair

the ferocity of the moments
a roadmap with no plan
with faithless understanding
staggering like a blind man
this avalanche of anger
termites eating my soul
slipping from those moments
into Alice's black hole

I'm looking through the window
at the hellish burning flame
always on the outside
but I hear them call my name
in the sorrows of the evening
on a chilly winter night
the loneliness continues
this dream that conjures fright

drenched with trepidation
as I shake myself awake
from this master plan of sorrow
a tale where I remain

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

skin deep

you're sweeping out the cobwebs
from where  I thought there weren't any
burying the feelings from the past
at times there were so many
in my darkest hour
by the light of a half-moon
you came to me, an irreverent dream
and sang the sweetest tune

no longer looking over my shoulder
for the allusions to appear
no longer clinging to shadows
of what was never near
I'm making an investment
depositing what's here in me
I'm giving you my heart and soul
knowing it's more than skin deep

it's more than just skin deep

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

spin

we spin our silken webs...
dreams; 

sparkling droplets of dew 

laying on the top...
reality;

what gets caught in its midst...

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

your love for me

for this short time
I walk the beach
by the sea that knows
where the skeltons rest
on corral reefs
forever untold
tides sweep them from me

I bask in the warmth
lotion blocks harmful rays
no tan lines to hide
this February sun--hot
peacefully, I think
as gulls swoop overhead

all of my thoughts
like all of my love
across the border with you
hoping that your truth
and every action reflects
all of your love for me

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

hidden

is it behind the breastbone buried within?
inside veins where blood runs thin
coursing, hidden, wanting to begin
just beneath the tanned, brown skin
lurking; waiting to do you in

in your mind flowing fast and hot
do you love me or do you not?
you sang it once but I forgot
in that once romantic spot
over and over, say it a lot
show me I am all you sought

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

getting a grip

truth written from one sided views
mostly of me and little of you
pages that glare with flowing script
as I come to terms and get a grip

vigilantes sing lyrics from my heart
ballads of love, unrealized starts
put to music, strummed with pain
where nothings lost or nothing's gained

I bring mine forth with prose and rhyme
five hundred days from another time
I give you the lyrics for yet one more
of windows closed and shutting doors
Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

people I meet

if He decides the people I meet
and I decide who stays or leaves
who gets to stay, who walks away
who is true and who betrays

sometimes I walked away too quick
something just didn't seem to click
sometimes I know that quickly I ran
before a relationship even began

some I've held on to, too long
although the feelings seemed so strong
I've let go of some too soon

one of them was probably you

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

friends

people you meet 

along life's path 

sun in your face 

wind at your back

friends are plenty 

when your times are black 

that's one of the things

you've never lacked

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

let's do lunch

I love to meet
and go to lunch
with the people
I like a bunch
I love the menu
to talk and laugh
telling jokes
and thinking back
I love to spend
the time of day
with friends I’ve missed
since I’ve been away
I love the precious
time we spend
not knowing when
we’ll meet again

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

one more chance

I don't know where your mind was

maybe you came to your senses

see what the fuss is all about

deciding you should take a risk 

the boat is pushing back from shore 

you're running down the pier

the gang plank is pulled back now

one more chance missed here

I can see you standing there 

my hair blowing in the breeze 

shading my eyes from the sun

one tear slips down my cheek 

the things we thought we wanted

like waves hitting on the shore 

and I can barely see you now

but I wave to you once more

 

while we both were searching 

wading that river of doubt 

it was so easy to fall into 

so much harder to get out

 

I left without a compass 

using the sun is the best guide 

and I can barely see you 

but I wave for the last time

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

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