Another Second or Twelve

If only I had
another second or twelve
to think of how to
respond and do so
accordingly to fit
what the circumstances needed
so I could change the response
that ended in me defeated,
I needed that extra
moment to think
but it couldn't be afforded
before time did sink.
The sentence required
an altered structure
for an outcome to change
to lead to an alternate future.
That future was optimistically
anticipated ahead
of its fruition
that is now dead.
The plan I had
fell on its face
before it left
its starting place.
If only I could
have had the time
to speak exactly
what was on my mind,
but alas I acted
far too slowly
for thoughts to turn to words
in a motion planned so poorly.

A Woman's Shutter

The fear that strikes,
the feet that hit
the ground by which
an anger is lit;
the woman hunched,
the woman cowering
under the iron fist
of the man towering;
a complete thought
not to escape
her lips or mouth
without a berate;
the love she once
craved for and longed
now scares her to death
in a place feeling so wrong.
A passion he used
to use for love
now fuels a fury
that nothing rises above.
A relationship that has
become a suffocating corner
has her trapped in the moment
with no way to go forward.
With no flow of ideas
in a mind shut down
by fear for life
that always abounds,
she closes her eyes
(as her stamina is gone)
and prays for the safety
that has long been undone.

As Text from the Past

You hand me a letter
of what I know it contains.
It is full of heartbreak
and unrequested pain.
It tells of the reasons
and explains the excuses
of why we should run
away from the muses.
It expressed the feelings
in words unworthy
so a face-to-face encounter
full of controversy
won't have to occur
or happen between us,
as the easy way out
is your preference of choices.
You hand me this paper
and stand before me
awaiting my reading
that will not happen quickly.
I put it down
on the ground by my side
with intentions of reading
when the pain no longer resides.
I'll let you walk away
without my knowledge of the contents
where explanations arise
that are nothing but nonsense.
I'll read it in the future
as text from the past
because it's too hard in the present
that came to be too fast.

An Evening with a Friend

Having a lovely evening
with you, my friend,
a breezy summer one
I wish wouldn't end.
It started with a fire,
a burst of flame in the air.
The heat caught you
as you began to glow there.
I enjoyed myself
thoroughly as you diminished
wondering if and thinking that
we would never be finished.
Slowly but ever-so-surely
you began to shrink
as my lungs did fill and our time
did gradually near the brink,
yet my brain was overcome
with an extreme relaxation
as my body lounged in its chair
embracing such a sensation.
My heart was loving this
experience together again
until my eyes looked down
to discover we were near the end.
Against my will
and all my wishes
the final ashes fall
with a wrist's final twitches,
the discarding of a friend
with whom a night is shared
until I pick up another one
and the experience is repeated there.

Her Name Is "She"

Her name is "she"
and nothing else
no matter what
the idiots yell.
If you can manage
to look past
the hard exterior
she pretends she has
you will see
a beautiful lady
with a sense of humor
that causes laughter like crazy.
She has a heart
bigger than she lets on
that she isn't often
given the chance to be shown,
but if you let her
in your world briefly
you will truly be
blessed for all eternity.

Doors

So many doors closed,
waiting for just one to open.
We thought we knew the way to go
but seem to have a different sign shown.
Now we are unsure
as to whether or not
the door we assumed was for us
was at all what we thought.
Perhaps we imagined that path
to be the one that was destined
because we wanted it so badly
that it didn't matter which way blew the wind.
We didn't care what the signs
were actually saying
because we were going to listen
to what we were paying
attention to in our heads,
a conversation being created
by our own selfish minds
that were going to force what was fated.
Now with sudden news
that we did not expect so soon
we must grip the reality
that we blocked a moment so opportune.
We must take the notice
that the moment slipped from us
as it hits our collective gut so quickly
we can't breathe and can't focus.
Our momentary dream and passion
that could not be taken away
will pass and fade into a past
that will haunt us for many coming days.

Need for a Pillow

I don't know what sign
you need to receive
to understand how badly
I want you to leave.
I cannot tell you
how much I can't stand
you loitering around here
without a purpose or exit plan.
Do you not have another
place you could go
that would not prevent
me from my home?
Why do you not
have a place to be
that does not affect
my time with my family?
My anger is overcoming
my words and thoughts
as my actions could well follow
though they are being fought.
I am trying not to grow
as violent as I can
but there is only so much
that can be taken by a man.
My body cannot help
but to quiver and shake
as my hands become fists
in a fiery passion that can't be faked.
I am trying to block
the emotions that I
can't swallow or digest
but that still won't die.
Every sense I have,
now extra heightened,
the slightest wrong move
can bring an attack to frighten.
This fighting that I am
trying to keep within
is about to burst out
of my soul yet again.
With nothing but these thoughts
running within my soul
only a deep breath and a pillow
can make me whole.