Café
Pigeons squawk and look for crumbs, as pigeons will do.
Passersby pass by, agenda in their pace.
A bus belches, a light turns red.
The sun fights through a layer of high cirrus
To rest with indifference upon the table.
Theres cream in his coffee and sugar in her eyes,
Stirred to perfection.
She laughs at the citys small quirks,
Delights in its crannies and shadows,
Holds it all in the sway of her charms.
He laughs at her laughter,
Feels the weight of the buildings,
Sees valleys in her smile and mountains in her eyes.
He takes a drink,
She touches his arm,
At once warm and cool.
Harbor sounds and smells,
The ocean like their past, is felt but not seen.
Almond Eyes
An origami smile, a jasmine sigh
At once beholden to almond eyes.
Perchance to meet long years ago,
Divined again a chance to know;
And of what hopes to hold, to learn?
A chance again the flame to burn?
No, nothing known is so concise;
For to the flame the years are ice,
Leaving me to ponder slow
And wonder where the years did go;
Of time wasted and time to come,
As a river rushes on and on,
The world it spins through whorls of blue,
Like dreams lost and dreams come true,
Swirling cloud vapor into my lungs
The earth, the air, the body as one.
And with each breath I slowly die,
Forever lost in almond eyes.
I NEVER KNEW THE BLUES
I never knew the blues until the day we grew apart;
Of those heavy-hearted growls
Of anguish I can now so vividly recall,
Before the day you left, I never knew at all.
And now each rhyme and verse runs like an arrow to my heart--
I never knew the blues until the day we grew apart.
I never knew the blues until the day I woke alone;
Those soulful contemplations
And tales of lovesick loss,
Before I woke alone, I could not foretell such cost;
And now those ancient songs they cut me to the bone--
I never knew the blues until the day I woke alone.
I never knew the blues until I knew you'd not return;
Those crudely rhyming words
Of heartbreak and sorrow's taste,
Before I realized this,
I could hear but not embrace;
And now each note and syllable straight through my soul they burn--
I never knew the blues until I knew you'd not return.
