When We Fall Out Of Love

Heart turns stone cold
Hurtle into bottomless abyss
Tear innards into shreds
Blighting all hope of happiness

Gorging on sweets won’t rid of
Bitterness that creeps inside mouth
Once filled with sweetness
Of long and fulfilling kisses

Emptiness on verge of implosion
Ignited by recurring nightmares
Interspersed with reveries of passion spent
Wrench the fabric of existence

Feelings precious as miraculous manna
crumple into stinking carcass

Benumb spirit with mounting dread
replacing dreams with regret

When we fall out of love

Lovers & Strangers

This poem is part of The Love Collection, an anthology by Destiny to Write Publications. The free e-book can be downloaded by visiting the link below

http://poetrybybarrymowles.wordpress.com/the-love-collection-out-now-in-paperback-free-ebook/

All lovers are strangers once, caught in vortex of time

Walking same roads, drinking coffee from roadside cafés

Riding buses, buying books, strolling on promenade

Dancing nights away with a bunch of friends

Confusing lust with love, desire with passion

In a sea of strangers, how lovers find their lost half?

My guess is as good as yours

Is it an instinct or a primeval code

Imbedded in minds and souls
Endure onslaught of countless lifetimes.

Love can be baffling as it is exasperating

Long before it begins to feel any good

It is like a thirst that won’t go away no matter what

Or how much you drink

Heart tethered to gathering storm ready to burst any moment

Hazarding broken heart, shattered dreams, disillusionment

Some strangers step out of matrix

Open their hearts to love and hurt

Willingly burn at stake to strip off all trappings

 And become lovers they always meant to be

Soul Speak

I am not the only one living in

Crumbling sand castle I carry on my shoulders

Several people keep walking in and out

Speaking in voices louder than my own

They move the furniture around

Rearrange my thoughts for me

Tell me what to feel

How to act or react

I get crowded in my own dwelling

Pushed around, manhandled, talked down

Made to feel redundant, almost an intruder

Someone entirely dispensable

I often struggle to find my feet and voice

To be heard and seen

My only solace is impermanence

Nothing has lasted forever, nothing will

Crumbling maybe, but it’s my abode

I have lasted longer than all those

Soul suckers with trampling feet

Last word will always be mine.

Hope

Walking down the memory lane

Stepping between the rows of naked trees

Crushing the golden leaves with heavy feet

Glancing at darkening frosty sky

Trying to smother another upcoming cry

Rekindling the memories of bygone spring

To bare branches a yellow leaf clings

Dying sun is defeated by the chill in the air

A lonely redbreast cry in despair

Oh, so much pain and disillusionment!

But there must be a spring to follow this autumn chill

It never lasts forever

And it never will

It was written in 1994, when I was in college and published in my college magazine. I found the old copy of the magazine in my trunk and was inundated with memories.

 Life’s Celebrations

Spring

Little twisters of yellow leaves

Dancing spring dance

Celebration galore

Misty Morning

Moon and Stars call it a day

Gorging on darkness

Aurora arrives

Keep Your Weakest Moments to Yourself

Keep your weakest moments to yourself
For their shadows are often interminable
The memories haunting
Their fruits bitter
Destroying all peace
You ever hope for

Keep your weakest moments to yourself
For if you can’t keep your secret
Keep your own counsel
Be your best friend
Stand up for self
Who else will?

Knowledge and Enlightenment

To attain knowledge
Add things daily
To attain enlightenment wisdom
Remove things every day.

Gathering pieces of coal from mine is knowledge
You need it to keep you warm on cold nights
Or cook meals for your hungry children
It can even be sold to buy things you need
But stumbling on diamond embedded in a coal is enlightenment
You did not look for it nor did anything to deserve it
Other than recognizing it when it came your way
Throwing away your cache of coal to hold it close
Coal becomes inconsequential for
What you have now is much more precious


Diving into deep sea to gather scallop is knowledge
You need to feed your family and pay the rent
But discovering a Lion’s Paw pearl is enlightenment
All you wanted was meat, shucking away shell and viscera
Unprepared to finding a royal purple gem among ravage
Now you care less about the meat going bad
More about keeping your treasure safe
Millions of scallops to be harvested
Only handful of perfect pearls to be found
Choosing to walk away with most precious is wisdom

To attain knowledge
Add things daily
To attain enlightenment wisdom
Remove things every day.

Choices

Locked in this bubble of time
You and I
Are free to choose
What we want to

Turn our backs to our truth
Pretending that we don’t care
More than we need to
Now or ever

Or else

Accept the seed sown in our hearts
Embrace our destiny
Living the moment for what it’s worth
Not worrying about keeping or losing

Tomorrow will be another day
With chores to do and lives to get on with