I think these deserve another chance.

Beneath the Weeping Willow I Sighed

And all at once my heart stood still;
To this day it disturbs and perverts my thoughts...
Her secretly devious smile
Battered down the fortified walls of my heart
All those years ago at the cottage by the river
The juxtaposition of her stunning figure
Splayed against the murky, muddy, mussel-infested lagoon...
Her sway of elegance; her walk of regality
In my mind, she was placed on the pedestal of pedestals
Given the highest of my imaginary honors...
I obsessed over and idolized her;
Studied her every arbitrary, trivial action
Though everything she did was golden.
Even now I long for her ethereal beauty
In times of despair and loneliness.
Her life was the epitome of fullness...
She could do no wrong; it was just not her style.
I remember her eyes of cotton,
How they melted at the first sign of injustice,
How they appeared engaged in my humble thoughts
How they creased ever so slightly
When something caught her fancy
(Something that was not a rare occasion)
She taught me to love and respect all
And, like a Daoist, refused to hurt any creature
Lest a terrible disaster ensue soon thereafter.
Her heart was made of pure purity itself
It beat to a steady rhythm,
Hardly quickening unless she was laughing.
In all my years there I never heard her voice raise
Or witnessed her hand poised for a sometimes deserved beating.
Her philosophy of life was ever intriguing
As well as excruciatingly simple;
It was always hard to follow her example.
Now in my old age of frailty...
Now that she has become part of the lagoon
Of which she was so fond...
I will always remember her affect on my childhood summers
Lest I forget and disgrace her epitaph and memory
She paved the way for my life
Through simply living and loving hers
Indebted I am to this angelic creature
Whose spirit lay undisturbed among the best of the best
She deserves no less.

~*~

My Apologies (Though I Apologize Not) 

Eleven days ago I wandered
Into the abysmal land of hedonists.
They smiled as they delighted
Constantly in higher pleasures
"Far beyond" my mental caliber.
I left the god-forsaken place
With a heavy heart
And personal condemnation.
My life is obsolete.

And out of all the lonely men

I considered myself to be the one;

The loneliest and most pathetic

Of all lonely men

Chain-smoking their lives away

'Til they draw their last

Gasping, smoke-filled breath

I know now why they suffer.

Ahead along the parkway,

I heard a dog yip suddenly

As his master was abducted.

I took the dog to my abode

And later learned of the rape,

Murder, and disposal

Of his once-revered master.

I did once have a lover
Her hair bore the pungent scent
Of spring rain and fig leaves.
She used to tend to our garden
It was so vibrant then
And I had a skip in my step.

Were a tragedy to ever befall me,
I'd expect nothing less
Than a pine box and six-foot drop
With a matching eulogy
And wildflowers every month.

Lo, who would remember me?
I am, as you say, a hermit.
Pathetic in my very nature,
Yet you come to me for advice.

I laugh at the future
And dwell in the past
Today matters not to me.

I have dabbled in the brooks
And very sands of time.

I wandered eleven days ago.

~*~

Her Concession; My Transgression

"It's cold up there,"
She whispered to me.
Her delicate words hung
Like icicles, dripping...
Surrounding me with
Anxiety.

"I don't want to go,"
She whined to me
And I finally understood
That she needed to migrate
South for the
Winter.

"You can't make me,"
She said defiantly,
Puffing out her chest
And succulent lips
Trying to look
Tough.

"But baby, I love it there," 
I pleaded with her. 
It had been my residence 
Since the dawning  
Of my own 
Creation.

"I want you to go,"
 I told her lovingly. 
I really wanted
Her to be there 
Since before 
I made her 
Acquaintance.


"I won't make you,"
I said, surrendering. 
Even though I just wanted  
To share everything with her.
She is my life 
Now.

"For you, I will," 
She conceded, smiling. 
I breathed a soft sigh 
And embraced her. 
Her hair smelled like the 
Rain.

"Then come, you will see," 
I said as we set off 
And finally arrived. 
I held her hand tightly
As we gazed up at the stars.

Her smile brought tears to my eyes.


~*~

Transcendentalists

Lost in the hammock's netting
Sipping our Arnold Palmers,
Swaying freely in the wind
To-and-fro and back-and-forth
As the scent of sweet Summer
Ascends high to the tree-tops
And to Heaven beyond them.
We are Transcendentalists;
Today we are they who dance
And delight in the beauty
Of the aesthetic world that's
Around our earthbound spirits.
Inside, we are magnetized;
The sun's rays perforating
Our skin, dripping desire,
Collecting droplets of dew
Spilling over, making life,
And exploding into stars;
A googleplex of novas
Lightyears away, yet so close
We can taste them on our teeth.
Plotting a peaceful protest,
We climb the trees and wait there
For something magnificent
And then it comes in a flash,
The great swan song trumpeting
From the bowels of the lakefront
In our hearts we know that this,
This is where we belong now.