You're in this dream of cotton plants.
You raise a hoe, swing, and the first weeds
Fall with a sigh. You take another step,
Chop, and the sigh comes again,
Until you yourself are breathing that way
With each step, a sigh that will follow you into town.
That's hours later. The sun is a red blister
Coming up in your palm. Your back is strong,
Young, not yet the broken chair
......
Speak gently! -- It is better far
To rule by love, than fear --
Speak gently -- let not harsh words mar
The good we might do here!
Speak gently! -- Love doth whisper low
The vows that true hearts bind;
And gently Friendship's accents flow;
Affection's voice is kind.
......
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
......
I
We who with songs beguile your pilgrimage
And swear that Beauty lives though lilies die,
We Poets of the proud old lineage
Who sing to find your hearts, we know not why, -
What shall we tell you? Tales, marvellous tales
Of ships and stars and isles where good men rest,
Where nevermore the rose of sunset pales,
And winds and shadows fall towards the West:
......
Either peace or happiness,
let it enfold you
when I was a young man
I felt these things were
dumb, unsophisticated.
I had bad blood, a twisted
mind, a precarious
upbringing.
......
Looking out the window
I didn't see a sound
Nothing out there moving
The world on solid ground
No birds were out there singing
No rustling of the leaves
Was the river flowing
But silent as a breeze?
......
There's an addictive solace that whispers from between the cracks in this trench.
The floor stopped caving beneath me, and since then, I've been wandering the stretch.
The walls hug me cold and comfortable, or maybe they're simply my oldest, loyal friends.
I have lived, learned, and loved, and I have left, lost, and lamented.
I have contemplated the aches of history woven into each contracture's blemish.
I have mastered all the steps and I have memorized this condemning demised premise.
Enemies have worn friendly faces, played dress-up, and spoken with invalidity.
Friends have lifted me up and I've been sitting on the product of their solidity.
......
I hold my tears, but they slip away,
Like fragile dreams that couldn't stay,
I let out a pained sob,
Feeling my heart ache and throb,
Why do I feel so sad,
Even though life isn't bad,
All I want is to feel at peace,
......
The sky is weeping, a silent cry,
As I watch the world pass me by,
Sitting alone in the dead of the night,
I hold my pen and start to write,
Trying to express how I feel,
Hoping that time would make things heal,
In my emotions I am drowned,
......
I saw two eastern tiger swallowtails today.
I watched as they flickered, fluttered, and frolicked, rising and dipping.
A calm breeze gently passed my way.
In the distance, a boy mirthfully turned and flipped.
A sanguine sun coyly peeked through tall pines and sweet gums.
Then a gentle voice came and caressed my ears.
I savored sweet breaths as a bee crossed and hummed.
And I heard, "Shhh! Hold on, I'm abating all troubles and banishing all fears."