Go On Your Way

Go on your way, be well, my friend,
I wish for you no ill.
That life did smile, our paths to cross,
I’ll treasure most until
We meet again where good friends meet
Where comrades, arm in arm,
Relive old days and toast the times
Their pranks brought them no harm.

We had our fun, did not hold back
When we could offer aid;
The virtues that we forged were those
By which true friends are made.
But now our ways diverge again,
We shoulder each our load,
And I shall wander as I must
On Frost’s less travelled road.

-©2008, “Lemuel”

* * *

That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

Passing Tryst

For Bigg and HB, with the best wishes we all can muster -

“He’s very young,” the email said,
“As young as my own seed;
A moment’s pleasure, passing tryst
To fill the present need.”

But he returned to fill your need
For now your need had changed.
The demons knocking at your door
He kept at distant range.

And ‘though forbidden, as it were,
And hid at time by stealth,
You found yourselves, both poor in things,
Enriched by your love’s wealth.

His hands were strong as youth should be,
His will surmounted fears;
The head beneath the silken hair
Was wise beyond his years.

How strange that such a casual thing -
As how you both should meet -
Should marry you in union now
And love so bittersweet.

No primrose paths nor fields of wheat
Have been your lots since then;
The Fates and Furies cross your paths
To bring your love to end.

You love, and, by the power of love,
The threats to life give way.
You live, and, in the strength of love,
You conquer each new day.

- ©2008, “Lemuel”

* * *

That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all (and especially two lovers at the other corner of the commonwealth)!

Well-worn Sheets

Note: Faithful readers just knew that there had to be a poem on the way.

* * *

My skin is chilled as now upon
The sainted sheets I lie.
The harshness of their emptiness
Their texture will deny.

Not long ago – but just one night -
I lay on well-worn sheets.
The warmth and tenderness I knew
Was luxury to me.

‘Twas not the thread nor silk worm’s work
That comforted my soul.
‘Twas one who shared the bed with me
Whose touch did make me whole.

But he has his and I have mine;
Chaste sheets now beds adorn.
I’ll treasure long within my soul
That night with sheets well-worn.

- ©2008, “Lemuel”

* * *

That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

The Eddy’s Resolution

The eddy has its resolution;
The maelstrom now, its prey.
The gods have had their sacrifice;
The curse is kept at bay.

The waters for the moment still
Their raging torrent while
The victim tumbles senselessly
Through murky streams of bile.

His tale an epic ne’er will be;
No one has need to know
What happened when he yearned to see
What lay in depths below.

No hand was there stretched out to grasp
His own as down he fell.
None noticed even he was gone;
None thought to toll the bell.

The maelstrom waits in calm repose
Another soul to claim;
It’s rage will feast another day
In keeping with its name.

- © “Lemuel”, May 2008

* * *

That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

The Wealth of Kings

With a tip of the hat to Cooper for reminding us of the quotation and for giving me the inspiration.

* * *

Who, being loved, is poor? (Wilde)

* * *

I knocked upon the entrance door
As if to rouse the host.
He peered at me through clouded glass
And saw a beggar lost.

Should he admit me to his hearth?
He puzzled as he stared.
He wondered at the harm I’d do
If his own soul he bared.

I stood before him and he saw
But pitied, naked flesh
Shiv’ring in the world’s cold,
Alone, without redress.

He saw his own stark wretchedness,
His pitiful estate.
He wondered what he had to give
From his own empty plate.

But even so, he op’d the door
And welcomed me within
I opened mine to him as well
And found the wealth of kings.

Who, being loved, is poor? he asked,
With poet’s artful care.
We opened wide the doors of love
And found our treasure there.

- © “Lemuel”, 2008

* * *

May each of you, and all of you, find yourself immeasurably wealthy with the finest gold of love.

That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

We Two

Poeme
Instrumental music by Secret Garden from their White Stones CD

We Two
Words by Lemuel, ©2008

Days may ne’er again give us time
For our love,
My dearest one,
And yet again we may be one
In time, love,
As once we were and yearn to be.

Oh, how passion burned with brightest fire
In our hearts!
All creation joined our song!
We were driven by our hopes
And dreams then;
We could not see our end.

Yet in our soul we knew
What fate
And the winds of change could do,
And still we lived to love and loved again
as if our time could know no end
and schemed then, dreamed then, we two.

‘Seems we’re running out of time
For our love,
My dearest one,
But time will not then be the gulf
That parts us,
We will be free as we should be.

Oh, how our love will light the sky
for all time!
Yes, every star will add its light!
We will shine in darkened voids
Where love hides;
To lighten others’ ways.

Now by our souls we see
Through our days to eternity,
And so we live again and love again
because our time will have no end
we’ll scheme then, dream then, we two.

* * *

That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

Deep Blissful Sleep

Your firm hand rests gently upon my right side;
I reach out to turn off the light.
My body returns to the bed of our rest;
Your strong arm encircles me tight.

The heat of your body is warmth for my back;
You girdle my waist with your strength.
The fur of your chest brushes soft on my skin;
I feel you responding in length.

Your warm breath blows gently, caressing my cheek;
Your beard presses close on my neck.
You nibble my ears in a playful surprise;
I start with a gasp held in check.

The pace of my heartbeat is rapid and strong,
Yet somehow I’m tot’lly at ease;
Your own heart keeps time with my own close at hand;
The rhythm is our song of peace.

My hand grasps your own and I press to my heart,
The sign of the love that I keep;
You’re all that I’ve yearned for and all that I need,
And I drift off in deep blissful sleep.

-©2007, “Lemuel”

* * *

That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

How Could It Beat More Rapidly

When in doubt, write a poem…

* * *

How could it beat more rapidly,
This fragile heart within?
How could my blood rush through my veins
To feed my reddened skin?

I read your words and hope abound’d,
My life renewed once more;
I took your thoughts and conjured up
An image I adored.

Expecting much I did await
Our meeting day come due
That I would make your visage real,
My fantasy be true.

But, oh, how low my spirit fell
To depths of great despair.
It is my fault; I raised it up
To heights I did not dare.

The brittle and unwise support
Of tenuous dreams collapsed
Unraveled came the frail cocoon
In which those dreams were wrapped.

Were you untrue? Was I unwise
To feast on hasty dreams?
Have we the will to dull the pain
To fathom what this means?

I live again to love again
Of this my heart is sure.
I will obey my foolish heart
Until that love is pure.

-©2007, “Lemuel”

* * *

That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

The Gay Mark of Cain

There’s a mark on my forehead that won’t go away
It is known as the gay mark of Cain
It sets me apart so I will not be harmed
And keeps those around me from pain.

But this mark is a token that I am no fish
And I’ll nevermore swim in that sea
It signals my friends that I neither am fowl
So free as a bird I’ll not be.

What thing did I do? What heinous a crime
has left me so well stigmatized?
What brother is dead? Just whom did I kill
to be nothing in everyone’s eyes?

I’d rather be harmed and I’d rather have pain
Than to wander as this life-less shell.
For risking to live brings chances to love,
And love brings release from my hell.

So here I do sit with this mark on my head,
And everyone sees it, it’s plain.
There’s nowhere to go and there’s no way to hide
My personal gay mark of Cain.

-©2007, “Lemuel”

* * *

That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!

Do We Know Each Other?

Do I know you?
Have we met before?

Ah yes, you were telling me about yourself.
But I was too busy.
I did not hear.
Could not hear.

Did I tell you that I once…
Oh. I told you that already.

Now, what again were you saying?
I did not hear.

* * *

31 days.

That’s a wrap.

Sending HUGS to all!