Free

Vented spleens and nasty scenes

Catharsis without end

Affection with conditions

You thought it came for free

The screaming and yelling

Promises unkept

Broken Hearts and egos bruised

You thought it came for free

Each time you felt better

Your anger freely shared

Apologized and kept on going,

You thought it came for free

You’d threaten to leave and mean it

Repeatedly play trump

Slamming doors and hurling words

You thought it came for free

For 20 years she stood and bore it

Shook it off, forced a smile

Bit her tongue, bided her time

Waited patiently

Who knew that she remembered

Neither forgave you nor forgot

Who saw the scars that stayed unhealed

Long after you moved on

And then one day your bags were packed

And left at your front door

The locks were changed, the order filed

Your apologies ignored

For 20 years she stood and bore it

Shook it off, forced a smile

Bit her tongue, bided her time

And then she set you free

Copyright 2007

Expectations Dashed

Expectations dashed

Confidence smashed

Bad checks cashed, bad dreams crashed

Another perfect day

Promises broken

Harsh words spoken

Nervous smoking, Uneasy joking

Another perfect day

24 lonely hours

each worse than yesterday

who knew that missing you

could make me feel this way

Shortcuts taken

Identities mistaken

Sleeping dogs wakened, love forsaken

Another perfect day

Passion faked

Thirst unslaked

Progress braked, souls stripped naked

Another perfect day

24 lonely hours

each worse than yesterday

who knew that missing you

could make me feel this way

Copyright 2007

Communication’s Overrated

She spent her lifetime talking at him

He spent their marriage listening back

But in the end,

the endless words

just weren’t enough

To reverse their fade to black

Communication’s overrated

No solution to the mess

Extra grease won’t solve the problem

When the gears aren’t made to mesh

Sometimes all the talking in the world

Won’t work the problem out

Kumbayah while holding hands

Just ain’t what it’s about

She left their home in desperation

He’d never understand

Her hopes and dreams

had drifted far

From anything they’d planned

Communication’s overrated

No solution to the mess

endless words, still not enough

and sometimes more is less

Sometimes all the talking in the world

Won’t make the problems fade

Ever after is always there,

Whether happily or not

They did their best to talk it over

Made a plan to talk it through

Mend it, patch it, make it fit

Bridge the gulf ‘tween me and you

But in the end, there’s just an ending

It is what it will be

lead stays lead, no glint nor glimmer

no magic alchemy

Copyright 2007

Last Chapter

She’s finished the last chapter

Of a disappointing book

She’ll put it back upon the shelf

Without a backwards look

Did she just expect too much

Did she look in the wrong place

Did she read too much between the lines

Was he just a pretty face?

Don’t judge a book by its cover

Everybody says

What’s hidden in the pages

What lies below skin deep

the secrets sometimes best left unknown

That haunt you in your sleep

She told herself she’d never settle

She’d hold out for the best

But the tale unfolds, the end foretold

She’d settle for less and less

The best laid plans at 25

Can fade by 41

Dawn’s endless possibilities

Fade with the setting sun

Sparkling dreams give way to fading echoes

Anticipation yields to rueful sighs

Wistful memories are all that’s left

As promises become lies

As pages turn

Well-trodden paths of no return

Promises soon hollow

Disillusionment follows

and still the memories burn

copyright 2007

Hard on the body

My tongue’s still sore from biting

My stomach’s tied in knots

My ass is chewed

My liver stewed

And my belly’s gone to pot

You’re hard on the body

And harder on the mind

Brutal on the psyche

And hell on my pride

My heart’s been convalescing

My soul’s still black and blue

I’ve long since forgotten how many times

my heart’s been broke in two

I’ve turned my cheek

and bitten my tongue

chewed my nails down to the quick

and coughed up half a lung

All my friends have told me

You’re easy on the eyes

They’re right, it’s just the rest of me

That’s tore up and denied

So I nod my aching, pounding head

And muster up a smile

Thank the lord I’m well insured

And that they can’t see the wreck inside

copyright 2007