Life Insurance

Oh mechanical body
            with a reckless driver
When you break down
            somewhere
            on the information highway
Make certain
            you are insured.


ShadowOcean
03-16-2000

Quiet Endings

You didn't join me
              for a final cigarette.
It's 4:50 in the morning and I'm still
              not tired yet.
I'm wired from the candy
And the handy way you handled me tonight.
I feel a little more alone than usual,
              this foreign home
Sends shivers though my sometimes
              rational mind.
Who is this face
              I place my body next to?
Can you tolerate my quirks?
Can I live beside you?



Shadow Ocean
2000

St. Patricks Day

You called me at 8:00
Your voice ringing 2000 clear miles away
A double Irish Nudge and soda bread
Grow cold in our empty booth
On this distant St. Patrick's Day.


ShadowOcean
03-17-2000

Desperation

I can give you
                 the illusion
                  of the perfect woman
Shave during every shower
Do my hair
Pick a certain outfit
Because I care
Flash a friendly smile
A coy look
A gentle reproof
Remain aloof
Whatever you require
Or desire.



ShadowOcean
2000

The Doe of Salvation

His eyes were lifted to the heavens above
He sighed and drifted to a place filled with love
And his soul which had hunted found its quarry at last
As the doe of salvation came wandering past

Well he faltered a moment before drawing his bow
Mesmerized by the wonder of his sacred doe
And he knew all his friends would have laughed at the thought
That he, the great huntsman had missed such a shot

So he drew his fell arrow and leveled the bow
In a straight steady line with the breast of the doe
But his fingers were trembling, his breath coming short
At the thought of destroying the beast just for sport

With gentle heart pounding he lowered his aim
And fell to his knees in repentance and shame
But the doe stepped toward him with head proud and high
Standing fearless before him she looked in his eye

For your mercy, my brother, she cried, a reward!
You shall dwell evermore in the grace of the Lord
His eyes were uplifted to heaven above
He sighed and he drifted to a place filled with love

And his soul which had hunted found its quarry at last
As the doe of salvation came wandering past.


ShadowOcean
2000

Princepality (to Machiavelli)

Divine right
Reinforced by steel
Drawn over rocky paths
On golden carriage wheels
While servants bring your meals

War-hardened and cruel
Or weak and pampered grace
We simper to your face
While plotting your betrayal
To reassure our place

Born to power
Schooled in diplomacy
Forged in battle
Or burdened by hypocracy
A slave to the beurocracy

Will you rise like Alexander?
Or fall like Napoleon?
How many battles have you won?
And do you have a son?
When will your time be done?



ShadowOcean
09-2005

Life Stories

Stories of the past
              Serve
                            To remind us
Of paths well-worn with
              Footsteps
                             Left behind us
Another year
             Another
                             Setting sun
The hours of toil
             Before
                              The game is won
The trail ascends
              The ridge
                              Appears much higher
Than we can reach
               Weighed down
                             By base desires
The trees crowd in
                 To block
                                Our lofty view
But still we climb
                  Our lives
                                 Are to pursue.



ShadowOcean
2005

Lifetimes

The fall from grace is long and slow
And leaves us time to ponder
What sordid fate awaits below
And all the while our fears may grow
Our feet are free to wander.

The call to arms is swift and proud
And leaves a wake of sorrow
As bloody hoof prints thunder loud
Beneath the angry sky, the cloud
Rains tears from heaven on their shroud.

The hands of time are swift and fleet
Decreasing with each hour
As brazen youth admits defeat
And age assumes its lofty seat
A throne of wisdom, bittersweet.

The night comes tumbling down to day
A sullen glow pervades the sky
The skin is touched by ashy grey
As soul and spirit fly away
Abandoning their husk of clay.



ShadowOcean
2005

Reflection (A Wood Nymph)

A wood nymph crept to the well at dawn
While dewdrops sparkled on the lawn
As morning's light approached the hedge
Her eyes were lured to the deep well edge
 

And there reflected on the glassy wet
Was the loveliest wood nymph she'd ever met
She leaned and reached her hand to save
The vision from its watery grave
 

But leaned too far, and could not keep
From tumbling in the murky deep
She struggled vainly, tried to save
Herself from this untimely grave
 

The spirit sought was never found
And sighing in her grief, she drowned.
Now if you find this certain well
Wherein the wood nymph weaves her spell
 

And wait until the dew of dawn
Has scattered diamonds on the lawn
Then look within and you may see
A spirit in captivity
 

Unaltered by the march of time
Her image lingers to remind
Unwary watchers of the danger
Of seeing yourself as a stranger.



ShadowOcean
2005

Dragon

Lizard of thunder
Capture our wonder
With stories of plunder
And lives rent asunder
By lightning and flame
Or knights seeking fame
In a cave of disaster
In which you are master.


ShadowOcean
2005

Deception

Deception is a vicious beast
Who creeps and lurks behind the door
Or drips like water from the eaves
And slicks the surface of the floor

And if you turn your face away
He rakes his icy claws across
The tender flesh of innocence
Which rent asunder, then is lost

To lie and seek the truth are both
Conditions of the human mind
And what we choose to manifest
Determines how we are defined

Deception seeps in like a fog
Enveloping within its wake
The final vestiges of truth
And leaves your empty heart to break.



ShadowOcean
2005

New Orleans, September 2005

The streets are still
The silence fills
The cracks and dips
Where dirty water drips
Abandoned by the rebel
Crowds of drunken devil
Seekers, and the doorway
Sleepers, the poor
And meek who made
Their way alone, no prayer
Is strong enough to lift
Their bones above the drifts
Of mud and broken homes
Which rise like tombs
From water graves
And submerged caves
Of lost humanity.
Atlantis falls into the sea.

ShadowOcean
2005

River

Floating in the salty brine
Of a long forgotten time
Water flows from far inland
Before it crashes on the sand
The journey ebbs and flows at will
A million crevasses to fill
An endless maze of waterways
Journeying to meet the waves
Whose thunder echoes in the foam
Returning to its ocean home.



ShadowOcean
2005

Sweet Dreams

Falling down
The rabbit hole of darkened vines
A tangled web of
Hot desire
I twist and pull but only find
Myself becoming
Trapped by you
My mind entwined by what I find
Inside your deep and
Icy well
In which I break and penetrate
The surface calm
The secret life
That bubbles up and swells within the
Hidden place
Inside of you
Screaming in a soundproof room where
Dreams of love are
Piled up in
A long forgotten dusty corner
Waiting for the
Door to open.



ShadowOcean
2005

Wedding Poem

Love knocks on the door
Taps on the window
Dances the floor
Love stampedes into
The valley of dreams
Lays siege to the tower
Which bursts at the seams
And rebuilds with each hour
Love shatters your armor
With arrows of gold
And nurtures the garden
For love to unfold
Its petals to drink from
The bright morning sun
It cannot be purchased
But often is won
Love curls up inside you
And builds you a nest
Of velvet and moonlight
In which you can rest.



ShadowOcean
2005
Dedicated to my friends S&R on their wedding day.

Post Mortem

More than ever now I feel your pain
Flowing down your face like salty rain
Wipe away the floods of your despair
Bind me to your heart and I'll be there

Death is not the end, beyond the flesh
A deeper soul resides, awaits release
To fly beyond this earth remains the dream
To join the whole, my self is just a piece.



ShadowOcean
2005

Upon Leaving

Tremulous and sweet
I meet my end
Unaware the end
Was ever near
A smile upon my face
To mark the hour
When all the earthly trials
Will disappear
With open arms I rise
To meet my fate
The hour arrives
A sharply clanging gong
A moment past
The breath of life departs
So sad to leave
But happy to be gone.



ShadowOcean
2005