Listen to the Children

They speak mind speak

of things that ring or sing

before they have enough

of each other

then fists fly

or feet stomp

and they are done

Listen to the children

they have their needs

sweets and treats

and dirty socks

but give them love

and they receive it

look into their eyes

and they believe it

give them hope

and don't betray them

Listen, oh listen,

to the children

ajs

Resurrection


I tracked your tears
from Bolivia to Brazil
they wet my jungle mind
ablaze in passion
your temple tongue
that whispered from the heaven's
a melodic dance of freedom
expanding even the night sky

I twirl you around my nights now
in dreams of rushing rivers
I am your white water
after the storm
heading to the sea
where I will find you
sitting soft upon the high chair
of a crescent moon

ajs

Bad Timing


I have set my sights
outside of your
kaleidoscopes

where the colors blend
from black to better
with a twist of a wrist

white is always loud
against the dark

before it all fades to blue
warped in the deluge
of a thousand
misunderstandings

you stand misunderstood
i stand here
wondering
why


ajs

The Space Between You and I


I have felt the world explode between my fingers
the past participles of lost generations
dreamers, scheemers and mindless thieves

Saran, Sir Han. Sir Hand--------


me something more
than a timeless masquerade.


I have called lost souls to my trumpet
in the gathering of ages
silver coated and well spent,
depicted the lost movies
of gray screen days.







You don't get me here with spaces.


The Space Between You and I



I'm fine with you
and (eye)

lost between two mirrors
walls away from giving in

maybe it's the space we keep
that leads us to a queer profound??

Take the highway
there is a map
to lead you ---------------------- any where.

Still,
nowhere is the space


we keep

when life becomes a lie

ajs


Homeroom

Mrs Clauson knew of things
things that make us better
all in time, in due time
after sunsets when the quiet comes
we need only ourselves to find sleep

I was never lonely, it is a strange feeling
something like total darkness in the light of day
I'm not comfortable with passion prisons
I prefer the look in HER eyes
its been there since I was a boy
always deep, always real

I remember how Mrs. Clauson
would speak of my future
she made me feel larger than I was
she warned me of traps
the obstacles of bad choices
how one turn can change a life

Funny how she came to me tonight
dressed in angels wings
a soft smile, then a head nod
....I knew that I'd be fine


ajs



Sweet Descent

She tempts the timid in me
that hides behind stained glass
my warrior front a means of protection
no defense against the
screaming truth of lust
it vibrates my soul
to remind me
that I am a man
removed from caves
still ready to dip
into her honey nest
as the lore of ages
speaks to me waist high
I explode into
an epiphany of moans
that turns to grunts until
my brow dots in beads of sweat

I release the energies of men
who never danced enough to know
the sweetness of her peach
or the essence of a final sigh
after the body shakes out of control.

ajs

Yin & Yang

waves roll to shore

foaming water kisses sand

opposites attract

ajs



Toy Soldiers

Fresh,
a slip of tongue
an adolescent impulse.
Later he will learn not
to say what he means,
when he dims to mellow.

Tough,
he'll learn to be
a remnant of himself.
He'll carve days of dollars
they'll rise and fall,
sink or swim.

Later,
he will gaze
at the slip curl of
a summer moon
thinking of lead
army men, and G.I. Joe.

June,
such a lovely month
for a man to be born,
again, and again,
dying in-between
each blink of sun.

Stranger,
what kind are you
Gray or blue?
I'd really like to know
if you ever won
at Stratego.

Before,
we begin our dance
of words and impressions,
here beside the middle-age
of life, still taking sides
and building walls.

Tomorrow,
you may find me
beside a hemlock
picking small cones
for a Marigold potpourri
no less, or more a man.

Until,
that day arrives
we guard ourselves
enough to be at ease
to give each other
what we plan.

Free,
Is a large word
it comes in moments
when the soul is loud,
then quietly slips away
hanging just beyond
our reach.

Me,
I chose the ones
in the prone position
blue, they fought at rest
hidden in the black grass
bullets whizzing by.

ajs
April, 1999

I wake in waters of words
in waves that roll over my fears
all my doubts delivered

no pretense, or pretending
the chaotic chisel of
my hammering head

speaking five languages at once
each one right though not righteous

all the world at pause
I see you in the doorway of dreams
your face distorted
your heart on the floor

I am not broken
I am bruised
there is a sea
awaiting my arrival

the waves shall roll me into the rising sun
where the peach of my longings
will paint my face enough
for me to laugh again

belly driven
out loud

ajs

"Over Hills to Pastel Meadows"

Once before a break of day
when in the silence of a stored cache
there upon my memories ladder
one ring above a thought came after
what was once as fine as lace
now lay defeated and disgraced
time alone tells tales that ail
in winds on shores and tears of shale
they echo off the Cliffs of Dover
to be a man now twice passed over
yet a purpose more than chains to bind
can set a man to see once blind
so with the rising sun's new light
I curse the day dreams fell from sight

A tick of time meant so much more
than the clicking of a closing door
for what becomes of what is gone
leaves a man no choice but
to move on

there before the break of day
eagles wake as children play
as stars fade slowly to blue skies
I find them twinkling in her eyes
her wish for love that would last
before the deluge's aftermath
for my dear now defined

you have at last escaped my mind

and travel down this road of life
should I be alone or with a wife
I shall think of her and often do
in pastel shades of green and blue
I have come to bare the bitter calls
of restless souls in nameless halls
always is my will to change aheart
that gives its way to rage
the knaves that dance
to and fro behind the glass
of ebbs and flow
shall not defeat a day at hand,
so long as I am my own man

I know not of the journey's worth
or why it is I was birthed
I have no will to go back in time
for what is hers is not mine

I break my bread here today

goodbye to winds of yesterday
I breathe free air then travel on
one more dream to be bygone
with the calling of my own true heart
I wish her well, then depart
the night falls down

in blues and blacks

never meant
for coming back

no, never meant
for coming back

ajs