Like a good
boy scout I
told the truth
today to my
lover
truth stung bee
stings and bit
junkyard dogs

I bled remorse

My lover a pillar
stood his ground
like a Centurian

and forgave me

Lovers it is
said are
the missing
half of our
soul

Longing for one
I searched everywhere
a man that lost his keys
under every rock
I burrowed dirt under
fingernails
when I didn’t find one
I found two alike
hitched together like
oxen they present
themselves as one

I didn’t write
today my voice
harsher than most
days huskier and
tired but still I try
from the depths of
my silenced voice
to speak in words
as a poet is charged
to do
every day

Nightmares
have been dogging
me like a pouty
child
they now sit next
to me as I write
black page missed
call why do they
haunt me day and night
first I welcomed them
now eyes clench
trying to dispel them
like evil
sorcerers

blow northeast across
my deck drawing cool
washcloth winds
across my arms chills
run up my chest to
my neck a dog alerted
sitting in the sun
they breeze from side
to side rustling papers
like an old fan on my desk
they move ideas to the
floor