LEGACIES

LEGACIES

The evening sun gallops over the indifferent mountains,
My sorrows fall like waterfalls and overflow like fountains.

I carry the world like a native juggling water on his head,
At home with the vagabonds and the unrepentant dead.

My fantasies, they swish and slide, over the gorges deep and wide.

I have lost my glow and lost my reasons,
Here at the changing of the seasons.

Like a tree that stands with one yet clinging leaf,
I lurch toward heaven with all the strength of my belief.

I have climbed the final hill and have fallen hard
unto the soft and lovely grasses,

I have lost the torch I carried to the scared and searching masses.

I have said goodbye to my friends and to my lover,
Given my life to the sweet smell of the rain,
And every last chance has slipped through my hands
Traversing alone this lovely fruited plain.

I have left deep prints where these tired feet have walked,
Have written the last word, talked the last talk.

I have built near perfect castles in the hills of my wildest dreams,
Then watched those castles crumble, ripping at their lonesome seams.

I have wandered this earth and tasted the world,
My wanderlust shining like a precious pearl.

I have climbed every mountain like a motherless child,
Floated through the strains of sleep and lost myself in the wilds.

The evening sun sets over the indifferent mountains,
My sorrows fall like waterfalls, and overflow like fountains.

And in the end, if I live or die, it is all the same to me,
Alone tonight with my memories and my meaningless legacies.

-Bruce Potts
Copyright 2011
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

QUIETLY I COME TO YOU

QUIETLY I COME TO YOU

Quietly I come to you, at the end of another day,
And feel your love engulf me in that old familiar way.

Like an ancient, favorite overcoat, you warm me to the core,
And light the flame of passion, keep it burning evermore.

Quietly I come to you and empty out my mind,
The cobwebs of my discontent, the rusty nails of time.

You comfort me like an easy chair, like a favorite reverie,
And rouse the embers to a blaze, ignite my fantasies.

Softly now you hold me, in the sway of loving hands,
And a bitter past soon stumbles upon the shifting sands.

I breathe in transformation, surrender to your will.
I could drink your love forever and never get my fill.

Softly now you take me, cool against the sheets,
Your kisses hot against my skin, I feel the rapture sweet.

Quietly I come to you, as quiet as a prayer,
Knowing your steadfastness like a fortress will be there.

Like a warm and downy blanket, I am calmed by your embrace.
Quietly I come to you and kiss your precious face.

-Bruce Potts
Copyright 2011
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

HOLE

HOLE

Go back in your hole of my past life
And freeze yourself there.

For you are a relic from my recent long ago.

I have no need for your screams
And all your self-righteous horror
At all my unrealized dreams.

You were not there on the fateful day,
God shaped my body in the clay.

I do not think you created me in the womb,
I do not think you would go with me to the tomb.

I do not think you would hurt very much
If I should go and bury my dreams.
Go back in your hole of my past life,
I do not need your screams.

I do not need you one little bit
Your sarcastic banter and your wit.
I do not need you with your stern crossed arms,
Your mercenary misplaced charms.

So go back in your hole where I cannot see your eyes,
In my hell I do not need another devil in disguise.

I am burning already, soon to be gone in a mighty flash,
And all that will be left of me is worthless rubble and misspent ash.

Go back in your hole of my past life
And freeze yourself there.

For you are a relic from my recent long ago.

I have no need for your screams
And all your self-righteous horror
At all my unrealized dreams.

-Bruce Potts
Copyright 2011
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

SWEET INFINITY

SWEET INFINITY

(FOR KYLE, HAPPY 10TH!)

Here in your arms, I take my sacred rest.

Sheltered from the madcap world,
My head upon your chest.

With you I share a history,
both commonplace and sweet,

In the siren song of midnight,
you’re a refuge and retreat.

So many mutual memories
that gather ‘round like friendly ghosts,
Gentle apparitions of the times I treasure most.

Rockin’ out to Blondie,
Janis, Judy, Joan.

Acoustically, electrically,
How our love has grown.

Splashing in the ocean, rejoicing in the surf,
Late night loving, carnal joy, our bodies precious turf.

Exotic destinations, Paris, London, Rome,
The bliss of San Francisco,
The cozy glow of home.

The years bolt by like speeding trains,
The golden flame burns strong,
Each breath of life a treasure trove
Since you’ve come along.

Here in your arms, we share a sacred trust,
Hiding from Goliath, just the both of us.

And all my sadness parted, you’re the Moses to my sea,
As love erupts forever into sweet infinity.

-Bruce Potts
Copyright 2011
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Author's Note: Today Kyle and I celebrate our tenth anniversary as a couple. We had our first date on August 18, 2001. Too bad we can't get MARRIED, but I'll get off my political high horse and just say thank you to Kyle for ten wonderful years. Love ya, honey.

SEARCH FOR ECSTASY

SEARCH FOR ECSTASY

Someone help me here and now,
For I have lost the ecstasy.

I do not know the rhyme scheme of my pilgrimage,
The winding road map of my journey.

My tired veins bulge with angry blood.

For I do not know my place,
A lonesome man in a lonesome space.

I do not know a savior to set my spirit free,
I am adrift on the sands that shift.
Floating on a reckless sea, where I have lost the ecstasy.

Someone help me free the blinding rage I feel,
May my lost and lovely kingdom come,
Save me from my martyrdom.
Let my trials and worries end,
Send me a savior and a friend.

For I have fallen out of fashion,
Someone help me find the passion.
Unlock this dungeon and this prison,
Someone help me light the vision,
The milk of human kindness poured
Into this weary waste of a dream
That sleeps in me unexplored.

Someone help me here and now,
In this search for the man in the robe.
Someone help me fight the fight,
All across this dangerous globe.

Someone help me here and now
Open my eyes and let me see,
And light the latent fire in me,
Let it burn both bright and free
To end this search for ecstasy.

-Bruce Potts
Copyright 2011
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

LIFT THESE CHAINS

LIFT THESE CHAINS

Lift these chains from off my body.
These ropes that do immobilize.

I’m sinking in this plaster cast
Far faster than you realize.

The path I walk is bitter and black,
And someone has turned off the lights.

There is no pause or turning back,
No mercy from the gods in sight.

Untie these limbs that shake and plunder,
Everything within their reach.

These dyskinetic arms and legs
Have nothing left to teach.

Let me taste your mercy, sheltered by your loving gaze,
In the place you have designed for me,
When this world and I have parted ways.

And let me walk unhindered
Through the gardens you’ve prepared.

Where the clear sweet scent of the hyacinths
Permeates the air.

Lift these chains and call my name,
If you ask then I shall follow.
Your voice will echo in the mountains,
In every glen and hollow.

Lift these chains from off my body,
Let my eyes see crystal clear,

The beauty of your paradise,
The magic of your kingdom dear.

-Bruce Potts
Copyright 2011
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED