Regret?

When I am an old woman and I can hardly see
And my limbs are as gnarled as an old oak tree
And naught but my thoughts are left to me
Should I regret the time I spent with thee?

When the tapestry of life has been spun
And sands of time have been outrun
And we feel as if we have just begun
Should I sorrow when our time is done?

When the end has come to us at last
And all of our life is in the past
And all that's left to us is fading fast
Could all that we had be surpassed?

Forever Living, Forever Dying

Forever living, forever dying.
Upon the wings of both I'm flying.
Here forever trapped to be,
Between the mountains and the sea

And somewhere else I do not know.
Somewhere midst the drought and snow.
Or Else in prairie lands so vast.
Perhaps its now, perhaps the past.

I look to see but cannot tell,
Am I in Heaven or in Hell?
Where at last does it stop,
In the Valleys or Mountain top?

Cannot rest, nor drink my fill.
Continuing on, tormented still.
And my soul is forever crying,
Forever living, forever dying.

A Million Things

There are a million things I could have done.

I could have reached and touched the sun.
A million things, and all times two,
All of which, I did not do.

I could have drunk the desert rain.
I could have loved, but feared the pain.
I could have lived a life so free,
unbound, as a bird upon the sea.

A million things, and all times two,
All of which, I did not do.

I might have found the rainbows end.
I might have been a constant friend.
I might have been a beacon bright,
I might have been someone's delight.

A million things, and all times two,
All of which, I did not do.

There are a million things I might have done
Coulds and mights, and did not one.
A million things, and all times two,
All of which, I did not do.

The Search

I left to search this troubled world

Curious what I might see.

I left to see the distant lands

And set my dreaming free.

I walked along the empty roads

And pathways through the woods.

And crowded cities thick with life

And spots where no ones stood.

(I cannot walk this road again

I cannot sing this song.

I cannot feel you next to me

Now that you are gone.)

I've seen the rising of the sun

As red as blood could be.

And I've seen the brightest moon

Glowing on the sea.

Misty mountains filled my view

And deserts bare and dry.

I've yet to see the ocean depths

Or touch the evening sky.

(I cannot walk this road again

I cannot sing this song.

I cannot feel you next to me

Now that you are gone.)

I've walked atop the glaciers
And through the midnight caves.
I've seen the birth of new life
And old men in their graves.

I've seen a miracle
But doubted all I knew.
I never found a heaven on earth
But I did find you.

(I cannot walk this road again

I cannot sing this song.

I cannot feel you next to me

Now that you are gone.)

I don't need a home

to say I'm coming back.

with all the wandering I've done

I've not found the thing I lack.

Of all the steps I've taken

I thought that I might find.

Some sweet escape, a last relief

to ease my troubled mind.

(I cannot walk this road again

I cannot sing this song.

I cannot feel you next to me

Now that you are gone.)

Hearing

I would hear as you hear,
See it through your eyes.
I would feel as you do
And win myself the prize.

I cannot hear as you do
You hear me not at all.
I would beckon to your heart
If you would but heed my call.

Fain, I would lose the sounds
That come by night and day.
And never more hear bird or song
If with you I could stay.

Hidden Love by Sara Teasdale

I hid the love within my heart,
And lit the laughter in my eyes,
That when we meet he may not know
My love that never dies.

But sometimes when he dreams at night
Of fragrant forests green and dim,
It may be that my love crept out
And brought the dream to him.

And sometimes when his heart is sick
And suddenly grows well again,
It may be that my love was there
To free his life of pain.

Dance

We dance across the moonlit floor;
Our arms, hands, and bodies one.
I follow in the path you trace,
You show me how it's done.

I smile at every misplaced step.
Patiently you lead me round.
Though I can feel the earth below,
My steps have left the ground.

Elixir

When I ponder on the days I had
I know not what to think.
Your love was an elixir
That I would deeply drink.

Oh, I knew not what that potion was.
Truth, or lust, or lies?
All I know is from that cup
My heart grew sad but wise.

Bloom

I loved you then, when year was young,
And all was green and new.

I loved you still, as days were long,
And nights were brief and few.

I continued to love you in the chill
Of winters darkest gloom.

But when the spring had come again;
My love, it did not bloom.

Where are you now?

I could feel the sunshine's warmth
From your golden smile
I could breathe the clearest air
I Could walk with you for miles

Where are you now?

Your tender arms surround me
Kept me safe all through the night
And when the dawn awoke me
You were always in my sight

Where are you now?

Your kisses breathed life into my soul,
Taught me how to live.
Everything I had was yours
All that I could give.

Where are you now?

Eagerly

Eagerly I sought your eyes
To tell me of your soul
I had a wish that you might see
My heart that you had stole.

Eagerly I met your gaze
but saw no spark within.
The coolness of your look was pain,
Though your touch burned upon my skin.

I closed my eyes to shield my heart
From glancing I refrain
I put it all to a restful death;
I dare not look again.

Wishes

Wishes are a way to think
Of things that could not be
They bring a smile to your lips
And set your dreaming free.

Wishes are a lot of fun
Although they don't come true.
The sparkle in the morning sun
And fade like morning dew

Birds

Time is forgotten,
when roses bloom in spring.
Tiny birds return again
and teach my heart to sing.

A simple tune of life's new growth
thaws my frozen heart
Help me to forget him birds
and give my life a start.

I don't remember

I don't remember anymore
How once your eyes met mine
I don't remember how it felt
Your fingers with mine entwined

I don't remember exactly how
Your touch burned upon my skin
I cant even recall now
Where it all begins

I have forgotten most words
That you had said to me
All I do remember
Is when I set you free

Shells of Autumn

Drifting autumn leaves are now
Shells of what was young
Summer dies along times way
Winter still unsung

Barren limbs reach for the sky
Silent cold and gray
Twitching in the winter winds
Gone are days of may

Wind replaces song birds call
Whistling sharp and shrill
Keening to the moonless night
Echo winters chill

Did Not, Would Not

I did not heed you when you called
I did not stop to know
All the words you could say to me
As the winds of winter blow

I would not stop touch your hand,
I said my last goodbyes
I could not let you see my tears
I will not let you see me die.

Tears, Idle Tears

Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy autumn-fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more.

Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail,
That brings our friends up from the underworld,
Sad as the last which reddens over one
That sinks with all we love below the verge;
So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more.

Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns
The earliest pipe of half-awakened birds
To dying ears, when unto dying eyes
The casement slowly grows a glimmering square;
So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.

Dear as remembered kisses after death,
And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feigned
On lips that are for others; deep as love,
Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;
O Death in Life, the days that are no more!

By Lord Alfred Tennyson

Ode

Ode
by Arthur O’Shaughnessy [1844-1881]

We are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems

With wonderful deathless ditties
We build up the world’s great cities.
And out of a fabulous story
We fashion art empire’s glory:
One man with a dream, at pleasure,
Shall go forth and conquer a crown;
And three with a new song’s measure
Can trample in empire down.

We, in the ages lying
In the buried past of the earth.
Built Nineveh with our sighing,
And Babel itself with our mirth;
And o’erthrew them with prophesying
To the old of the new world’s worth;
For each age is a dream that is dying,
Or one that is coming to birth.

Eternal Call

It's been forever since I've seen you;
An eternity it seems.
Though it has only been a few short years
In the scheme of things.

I cannot recall you clearly,
No matter how I try.
I always feel you watching me,
Guarding me, as my days fly by.

The years have passed I've seen a lot,
I yearn to tell you all.
I have waited oh so patiently,
For your gently call.

It seems I can go no further
Though I try with all my might.
You seem to be just ahead of me.
Somewhere just out of sight.

I'm weary and I stumble,
I feel about to fall.
When I hear you calling to me,
That last eternal call.

Nursery Crhyme

(Humble thanks for the obvious inspiration of my childhood hero Dr. Seuss)

All the Yous down in Youville like spending a lot
And with no care for the future they bought and they bought
They bought You-screens and surround-sounds and big fancy homes
And You-pods and gas-guzzlers and cellular phones

They bought all they could and then bought some more
With the credit cards they got from the Mega-You store
Till they borrowed all the money that they possibly could
And purchased every conceivable You consumable good

Suddenly when there were no Yous left to spend
The sellers became afraid that You shopping would end
And the government and banks both surely knew
Without shopping and buying there’d be nothing to do

So they thought up a plan and they though it up quick
They guessed lending more money would sure do the trick
So they took lots of money and made oversized loans
To put under-financed Yous in overpriced homes

Though the U-financed You’s knew they could not re-pay
The bankers just told them to refinance some day
So they sold them You homes with all the whistles and bells
And promised their homes would simply pay for themselves

Now every You knows that new homes need new stuff
But very few Yous know when enough is enough
So the new financed You’s just kept on spending and spending
And everyone pretended it would go on without ending

And no one thought to save for the rainy days ahead
They just kept on spending and spending instead
Till spending ended one day and the economy began stalling
And chicken-little You proclaimed the sky is now falling

So they all ran right up to the head You Number One
Who said I know what to do to continue You fun
We’ll borrow some billions from right over there
And pass it around and spend it right here

But the Yous were all fed up with You Number One
So they elected You Two to get the job done
Now You Number Two knew just what to do (he said)
We’ll borrow more billions more billions times two

So the Yous borrowed and borrowed from some magical place
While You bankers and brokers slipped away in disgrace
How this all happened they could not understand
As they all cried boo-hoo on their fat pension plans

Now I’m not one to say how this story will end
But it’s obvious the Yous must now borrow to spend
So the Yous will all spend for that is there lot
They’ll spend and they’ll spend whether they earn it or not

And they’ll go on pretending that loans don’t come due
And assume they’ll be paid eventually by much younger Yous
Now I love to borrow money and I love spending too
But I’m not sure if it’s right to borrow it from little Yous

Especially when they are no more than two

Do You
Poem By: Gift Of Noni