Snakespeare

More by Snakespeare

CROSSROADS

I have been to many places
And down a thousand roads.
There is no rhyme or reason
To any place I go.
And I often stop and wonder
If any path I chose
Was really my decision
Or should I just suppose
That it does not matter
If I select the way,
For I would only end up where
I find myself today,
Standing at the crossroads
Looking back the way I came,
And all the roads converging here
Somehow look the same.
So I guess it does not matter
The direction that I choose,
For regardless of the path I take
And no matter what I do,
I’m sure that every highway
Would lead me here to you.

ICICLES

I used to feel
that the loveliest
of winter things
were the icicles
that would hang
from the steeple roof
that towered above the city square.
I would linger there
in the street below
amazed by nature’s wonders
as they would glow
like sculptured crystal
in the winter sun.
at night I’d watch
as one by one
they absorbed the hues
of all the neon lights
from the shops and bars on main,
changing colors
time and time again
like a tinsel tree
behind a color wheel.
this is how I used to feel
before the day
there came a sudden thaw,
causing the largest one to fall
and impale my dog.
what’s my point
in all of this?
I guess the lesson is
we should not become transfixed
and only see
beauty superficially,
but look beyond the glitter
and on into the heart,
for there’s often pain in beauty seen,
but peace in all the beauty
we tend to disregard.

FALLING TREES

If a tree falls in the forest
And no one is around,
Does it make a sound?
What about the scream
The rabbit makes
At the instant its brain explodes
Beneath the weight
Of the topmost limb?
See what you’ve started?
You must have known
That I cannot discuss
Things like falling trees
Without destroying
More than just the silence.

tara

tara slipped into my life
while I was sleeping, unaware.
when I woke up
and cleared my head
she was no longer there;
but there was a path of lilacs
that led
from the floor, beside the bed,
to the door
that opened up into my dreams.
these lilacs were as fragrant
as any I remember from that spring
when I first fell in love
so many years ago.
they grew, just a step or so
outside my front gate
and when I finally noticed them,
it was much too late,
for they had lost their fragrance and their hue.
it was in that instant
that I also lost you.
and now, another stranger seems
to want to invade my dreams
with all the stories
lilacs have to tell.
I know those stories well;
I’ve heard the promises
of futures they foretell.
promises that no one
ever planned to keep;
I contemplate the lilacs on the floor
then I turn
and force myself to sleep.

HERO

If I could make you laugh,
When your heart is touched with sorrow
And your eyes are touched by tears,
If you could come to me,
Knowing I could make you smile
And I could take those sorrows
And make them disappear.
If you thought of me that way,
That's quite enough for me,
That's the kind of hero that I want to be.

If I were the one
That you would want to turn to,
When you needed someone there,
Someone just to talk to
Or someone you could share
Your dreams and troubles with,
If I could make those dreams come true
Or those troubles go away,
the That's quite enough for me,
That's kind of hero that I want to be.

NAPKINS

She stole my heart
The way the wind can steal
The napkins from the table
At a picnic in the park.
A sudden gust,
Hidden by a smile
That caught me unaware
And I was much too slow
To catch my heart
As it darted through the air.
And in this wind my heart would soar
Like napkins in the air,
But who will pick the napkins up
Now that the picnic’s over
And she’s no longer there?

YOU WERE WITH ME

I have been to the ocean.
I have seen my reflection
In dark waters at sunrise.
I made believe it was your eyes
And you were with me.

I have been to the desert.
I have felt your intensity
In crimson skies at sunset.
I stood there all alone and yet,
You were there with me.

I have been to the mountains.
I have seen the untouched stars
In the vast mysteries of time -
And sensed the mystery of your mind
And you were with me.

I have been everywhere.
I have found that all the beauty
Of places I have seen,
Brings you back to me again
And you are with me.

You will be with me
Until the oceans disappear
And the sunset bursts to pieces in the stars.
In that final instant
I will know just where you are,
You will be with me.

MEMORY

We were given memory
So we would still have Lilacs
When the ground is cloaked in snow,
And sunshine, even though
It seems that winter’s clouds
Will never go away;
Memory, so we could hold our youth
When we are old and gray
And the light begins to fade.
Memory, so we will always have
The joy of yesterday.

I was given memory
So I would still have you
When my thoughts of yesterday
Are all that chase away
These clouds that cloak my soul
Since you left me long ago;
Memory, so I could have your smile
When I am old and gray
And my life begins to fade.
Memory, so there will always be
Lilacs in the snow.

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tara, scofield@ids2.idsonline.com
or
John Coffman
Poetry Copyright © 1996 John Coffman
Page Copyright © 1996 tara