Mostly Poetry

Breathe in
Breathe out
Wind and windows
Subtle breath of fans
Soft chatter
From wood and plastic
Break the silence
Only briefly

Breathe in
Breathe out
Distant noise
Of someone else’s
Busy life
Music created
Far from here
Carries a tune
To someone else’s
Listening heart

Breathe in
Breathe out
Loathe the silence
Hate the noise
The sound of peace
The sound of tension
Without a voice
Waiting, wondering
Dying just the same
As life is not slowed
By silence

~wbv

Peace reaches out
Stretches
And then pulls back
Hiding again
And in the midst
Of this change
There is a soft
Solitude
That remains
Failing not
Ceasing not
Leaving not
Harming not
This tranquility
Rests quietly
With you

Though I cannot grasp
Nor see nor touch
There remains
A peaceful warmth
Staying inside
Never leaving
Never wavering
In spite of me
And because of you
Quieted by tension
Calmed by concern
Resting in unrest
Complete in imperfection
This peace
This paradox
With you

Not easily explained
Is this mark
Defying description
That remains
Forever hidden
With you

~wbv

Twisted shame
Facade of love
Your wicked heart
Pumps poison blood

You are an angel
Dressed in death
Your rotten soul
Is left unkept

The bitter grip
Of selfish veins
Will shatter life
For sinful gains

But hope is vain
For wicked ends
Destruction starts
Where hate begins

And stopping not
At closure’s gate
The hidden bounty
Owned by fate

Will suck the life
From you indeed
Your dying spirit
Left to bleed

~wbv

I have in my heart
A secret room
Where things go to hide
That don’t seem to fit elsewhere

I only go there
When I’m alone
And nobody is around
To ruin the experience

So the last time I visited
This secret room
I was quite surprised
At what I found

I opened the door
And walked in
And the first thing I saw
Was you

Oh, and the second thing I saw
Was Richard Simmons

Weird, huh?

~wbv

The house is burning
What will you do?
People are dying
And you must act now

But you need help
There are others nearby
One is a Buddhist
One is a Muslim
One is a Hindu
One is a Jew

But you are none of these
What can you do?
How could someone be saved
With the help of a Jew
Or a Buddhist or Hindu
Or a Muslim and you?

Is it wise to wait
Til better help arrives?
And to sit on your ass
While everyone dies?

You wonder to yourself
What harm may come to you
By working with a Muslim
Or a Buddhist or a Hindu

To save the burning people
Who really need your help
Who are screaming as you ponder
All these questions by yourself

The house is still on fire
And you are filled with conflict
The house is burning
And everyone inside
Is now dead

~wbv

Always looking in
Occasionally acting out
Deeply meaningful
With little recognition

Inner dialog never ceases
Where quiet dreams remain
The world outside keeps spinning
In spite of this condition

Never quite forgetting
The heroics of the heart
The inner man fails to realize
What reality he’s missing

Too many to count
Are his dreams without voice
And for every dream worth reaching
There exists a moment in which to touch it

~wbv

Separated
A taste of love
Drinking from the waters
That are never quite enough

Ready to immerse
In the warm water
As the ground trembles
The limbs shake

Reaching for the fruit
Of the shaken tree
Not wanting to leave
The comfort of the spring

Fruit and flowers
The pleasures of life
As the tree sways
A bird sings

Listen to the water
Touching with soft sound
The wind through the leaves
And the silence held by anticipation

And finally
When revelation comes forth
The waiting one takes in everything
That this hidden spring has to offer

~wbv