Smile Through Darkness

Morning comes.
Night lingers still.
Force my rise.
Darkness fills.

Each day. Each month. Each year.
Steals more.
My heart. My hope. My soul.
Nothing more. 

Once whole.
Once strong.
Once loved.
Then wronged.

My love. My trust. My truth.
Betrayed.
Confusion. Anger. Bitterness.
Prayed.

Days push on.
Night’s darkness strong.
Smile and lie. Nothing’s wrong.
Not alive. Yet life’s not gone.

Smile on. 
Live the lie.
Judge me not.
When I cry. 

What a Heart Knows

And so the story goes.
And so the days move on.
Another notch this heart knows.
Older, wiser, same old song.

Life throws its sticks.
Life throws its stones.
This heart’s been kicked,
but this soul knows home.

The smile will not fade.
The eyes will still shine bright.
For love is not a grade,
to be measured as wrong or right.

The living risk the loving,
and the living I have done.
Moving on is one’s own choosing.
Wallow in pity, or walk in the sun.

And so this story goes.
Far from being done.
When love is what a heart knows.
It’s the only song that can be sung.

Carry On

Carry on,
and be at peace.

Hear the need around you.
Reach out and lend a hand, and carry on.

Feel the hand that reaches out,
and fill it from your share, and carry on.

See a kindness. Feel some love. Share it from your heart.
Pass it around, and carry on.

Touch those wounded souls,
by opening your heart, and carry on, and be at peace.

I Trusted Love

I'm unsettled in my new life,

down a road I've never been.

It's not the life I dreamed of,

when I was just a teen.

I thought one day I'd have it all,

convinced beyond all doubt.

But now my back's against a wall,

and my time is running out.

What to do, and where to turn.

So many things I haven't learned.

I sit alone, always concerned,

I trusted love and I got burned.

Looking forward...

Danielle

May the past that lives within your heart
hold only memories you treasure.
And may the future that you're dreaming of
you receive in full measure.

I wish you much happiness, peace and success.

All I Need

Thirty years of living,
same soul by my side.
Thirty years of loving,
can't say we haven't tried.

Sometimes there is no end,
joined as one for all time.
Sometimes that's what we intend,
but then it's not our will but thine.

There were some good years,
but lately mostly bad.
There were such happy tears,
but lately mostly sad.

If you can smile in the end,
knowing we shared love for a little bit,
then I'll know peace without end,
and I'll know happy when I find it.

And of all we possess, I want nothing.

Because even though I have now lost it, I did know your love for a brief moment in eternity.

That memory is my most valued possession. 

That, and the love I still have for you, is all I need.

No Answers Here

Sitting at the bar, a pint of courage in my hand.
Joe Cocker's "Unchain My Heart" being butchered by the band.
But I don't care, cause the words are so true.
Let me go, I want to (need to) start anew.

Would you like another? She asks as she tells me her name.
I nod that I would and I smile at her game.
If she only knew, that's the last thing I need.
I've been playing too long, I've nothing left to bleed.

So I call to her that I've changed my mind.
Just bring me the check, I've run out of time.
It didn't take me long, just one quick beer,
to know that there are no answers for me here.

I once believed...

Alone again. Alone this night.

Dwelling on my dreams and fears.

Alone again, no more light.

So many failures bring the tears.

I once could dream.

I once believed.

I fear I will never dream again.

I am alone

Sometimes the past is better left in the past.

But always that advice comes from one who speaks from experience.

People always want more in their life

and when part of their past is missing it is natural to want to discover it.

Sometimes at any cost.

I have a hidden past.

Not hidden as much as it once was, but still hidden.

The parts I have learned, uncovered,

are proof positive that the past is better left in the past.

Still, I cannot seem to leave well enough alone.

Surely acquiring knowledge you were better off not knowing

does not entice one to continue on down that path? So why then?

Why must I continue this journey?

I suppose, because it is MY journey.

It is the only journey I have travelled.

I think it is natural, it is compelling,

to want to know all about each and every stop I made

on the journey that brought me to this point in my life.

Perhaps in doing this I will be more able to carry on, positively.

Perhaps not.

There is risk. Always.

But I have always liked taking risks.

Perhaps because I never knew the comfort of the known,

the unknown was just as enticing?

One regret. No matter how many people surround me, I am alone.

Why have I been burdened with such a curse as loneliness?