Sunday, August 31, 2014

AUTUMN COME SOFTLY

AUTUMN COME SOFTLY

Autumn come softly, 
Like a feather pillow falling,
Spilling leaves like feathers,
Your chill I feel it calling.
Spill into my hope for more,
My quiet intuition,
Let my half baked hopes and dreams,
Come to full fruition.

Let me float away on this lazy day,
Into this sky of crystal blue.
Let my spirit take it in,
This gentle vibe I feel from you.

Autumn come softly,
Refill my plate,
With a harvest of apples,
That fill up the crate.
A big shiny pumpkin,
With a shit-faced grin,
A handful of walnuts 
And acorns to spend.
The squirrels all busy,
Gathering for the winter.
Your colorful leaves
That bloom and then splinter,
Drifting aimlessly down from the trees,
'Til winter comes in with its bone-chilling breeze.

Autumn come softly, not all at once,
Let summer fade slowly into the horizon,
Spare the old woman, weathered but wizened.
Spare the old man at the local McDonalds,
Regaling his buddies with gallant war stories,
The past and all of its spirited glories.

And autumn come softly into my life, 
Be as a mistress and not as a wife.
Lay with me in fallow fields,
Let your clear, clean breath,
Come feather dusting over me
As I take my rest.
Then leave me be to take it in,
Like a man who knows just where he's been
And where he'll be tomorrow.
Autumn come softly with your chill,
Give me leave from winter
And its sweet, sweet sorrow.

-Bruce Potts
Revised Copyright 2014
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

I SO DON'T MATTER

I SO DON'T MATTER 

I so don't matter to this world,
Except perhaps as backdrop
Or some subtle form of subtext.

I so don't matter to this world,
Perhaps I'll matter to the next.
I'll even be so blunt and brave,
To surmise there's life beyond the grave,
That if I'll matter anywhere,
For sure it will be there.

I so don't matter to this world,
Except as a sort of footnote,
A white surrender flag unfurled,
A piece of prose you know by rote.
And not to under estimate,
My loving friends and my handsome mate,
I'm afraid I must reiterate,
What I feel in my heart must be true.
I so don't matter to this world,
Perhaps I'll matter to the heavens blue.

Like a toy designed to be poorly tossed,
My joints are stiff as a ball and chain,
Despite the meds and the surgery costs,
Despite my tears that pour like rain.
This body answers to a different power,
A power much higher than me,
And I so don't matter to this world,
Just a lesson in what not to be,
A poor and frail cautionary tale,
A source of mediocrity.

My spirit it falters but the trail it leads me on,
Struggling quite gallantly,
To follow my own sun.
I so don't matter to the world at large,
It's tote that bale and lift that barge.
Nowhere is sometimes where I feel  
Most loved and most at home,
I so don't matter to this world,
Just some quiet souls alone.

And they will gather near me when it's time to go,
To shed this earthly specter free,
Like roses thrown upon the snow,
Discarded oh so carelessly.
I so don't matter to this world,
A sailor upon tempestuous seas.
Nor is this a sad, cheap plea for a chorus of yes, you do,
Just the idle thoughts of idle hands,
That hang as stiff as drying glue.

Perhaps I mattered when announcing songs,
With a voice assured and oh so strong,
Or perhaps when proofreading courtroom drama.
Back when my nickname was Mr. Comma.
Or perhaps when I could write a rhyme.
Oh so perfect and sublime,
That it would leave tears in the strength of its wake,
Back when there was a lot more at stake.

I am in no hurry to say goodbye,
But in case I someday do,
I'll reiterate and make my case,
An ape could easily take my place,
In this frightful human zoo.
I'm filled to the brim with rusted tin,
What else can I possibly do?
To prove I'm more than detritus
Backdrop or a subtext.
I so don't matter to this world,
Perhaps I'll matter to the next.

-Bruce Potts
Copyright 2014
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Note: Sometimes having a bad day can be a blessing. This poem came out of one, and i am thankful for my bad days and my good. BUT….if your bad days are getting out of hand, please seek help. We need you around!

Saturday, August 23, 2014

THE SEASONS

THE SEASONS

The seasons, they whirl and spin anymore,
Kicking dust in the face like a hurricane.
In Dorothy's tale of  a Kansas folklore,
The seasons rudely call my name.

Fall is for the scarecrow,
Dressed in his Sunday tweeds,
Winter for the tin man and all his oily needs.
Spring is for the land of Oz,
Dazzling in rebirth.
Summer for the Revelation,
To burn and scorch the earth.

Spring the land of Glenda,
Summer the poison ivy's itch.
Fall the glee of crimson leaves,
Winter the wicked witch.

With snow and ice descending,
Chaos catapulting down,
Frightening little dogs like Toto,
Trapped in their one horse towns.

The seasons are spinning out of control,
Burning my heart and searing my soul,
Breaking my spirit and bursting my bubble,
My brain like the scarecrow in terrible trouble,
My limbs like the tin man, no longer supple.

No one to scratch my itch,
Except perhaps the wicked witch.
Flying monkeys in my path,
With calculators doing math,
Adding up the time I've left,
Leaving me old and quite bereft.

The seasons, they whirl and spin anymore,
And i am waiting at the door,
The door of heaven where the seasons are one,
Where the days are marked by the grace of God,
And an everlasting sun.

-Bruce Potts
Revised Copyright 2014
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Monday, August 18, 2014

LOVE'S REAFFIRMATION SAYS

LOVE'S REAFFIRMATION SAYS

(TO KYLE ON OUR 13TH ANNIVERSARY)

Repeat the vows you made to me,
When you first won my heart,
When there were only vaguest rumblings
That our life could come apart.

Reaffirm the electric charge 
With which my heart you plundered,
And what God hath brought together 
Let time not tear asunder.

Love's reaffirmation says,
I am with you for all time,
Without you there's no morning,
No singing birds, no sunshine.

Love's reaffirmation says,
I love the roads we've been,
And down that long and winding path,
I would deign to walk again.

There are times where I feel insecure,
So kindly hear my plea.
I have to say that physically,
I'm half the man I used to be.

I need to know it's me you'd choose
For a romp between the covers,
For life's a tenuous rocky climb,
For even the best of lovers.

Your soul's a clear blue sparkling lake into which I long to dive,
A sweet breath of refreshment that keeps my heart alive.
A charge goes up and down my spine when alas our fingers touch,
And just to share my day with you has grown to mean so much.

Repeat the vows we've just assumed,
Calmly and without hurry.
My heart sometimes becomes subsumed,
Filled with needless worry.

My feelings have no rhyme or reason,
I know our love's no passing season.
Just need to know you'll be there in the summer and the spring,
But most of all in winter, in the sunset of my dreams.

Love's reaffirmation, it takes me by the hand,
Whispers in my timid ears until they understand.
Love's reaffirmation says, 
I am with you for all time,
There will always be a morning,
Replete with birds and sunshine.

Love's reaffirmation says,
That everything worth knowing,
Is in the sunrise in your eyes,
Your graceful spirit glowing.

-Bruce Potts
Copyright 2014
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

SPRING THE GENIE

SPRING THE GENIE

(IN MEMORY OF ROBIN WILLIAMS)

This is not a dry run,
So open up the throttle,
And give the engine lots of gas,
Spring the genie from the bottle.

What little straw you do possess,
Turn into gold of happiness.
Do stand up at the Improv,
Be bold and quit your day job.

Go buy flowers for yourself,
For they are lost upon the dead.
And sprinkle petals liberally
Upon your lover's blessed head.

This is not a dry run,
A time for going through the motions,
Don't stick a toe into the stream,
But hurl yourself into the ocean.

When you fall down, don't ask why,
Or spend the time to cry.
For life goes on without you
And your dreams go hurdling by.

This is not a dry run,
Nor a dress rehearsal,
And at the risk of saying something
Kind of controversial.
The curtain it rises and it falls,
So do not hesitate or stall.
Go on and pull out all the stops,
And give life all you've got.

It's a swift, brief ride from cradle to hearse,
Do not frown or be cast down,
Or things will go from bad to worse.
It's carpe diem, seize the day,
As the Romans used to say.
I do not want to steal their prose,
So let me paraphrase.

Put the pedal to the metal,
Open wide the throttle,
And burn the highway with your tires,
Spring the genie from the bottle.

-Bruce Potts
Revised Copyright 2014
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Monday, August 11, 2014

ROLLING IN THE HAY

ROLLING IN THE HAY

Summer is a carnival,
The flowers painted ponies in a lover's eye,
The wind like the sound of a pealing bell,
Clouds like cotton candy in the sky,
A ticket to joy in a wishing well.

Carousels and ferris wheels like streamers in the heavens,
Good Year blimps in happy minds.
Eating hot dogs with a smile and laughing all the while,
Smiling children are all ears, to catch the secrets of the mimes.

Silent, wavy and seductive blow the stalks
Near old man Jenkins' rusty barn,
As we pass daily on our walks,
Holding hands and locking arms.
You, my man, more beautiful than lightning in a jar,
You so unbelievable, my fish story in a crowded bar.
All my mischief, all my plans,
Reverberate like an old time cowbell,
A clarion call throughout the land,
Pearl in an ocean, pebble in a nutshell.

So, oh what the hell, the doggies are a'fucking,
The geese are a honking and the ducks are a'clucking.
The meadow is silent and old man Jenkins is resting in his tomb,
Your tight blue jeans they bulge in front like a wistful mother's womb.
Come with me past the sheep and the rushing of the creek,
Silently accompany me and we shall find just what we seek.

For how I would love rolling in the hay,
Scaring the field mice out of the way,
Feeling your hair, soft like the day in my fingers,
The joy and the feel of you lingers,
Like a clear and clarion church bell,
You the summer's savior,
My ticket in a wishing well.

-Bruce Potts
Revised Copyright 2014
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

SERENADE OF TWILIGHT

SERENADE OF TWILIGHT

SERENADE OF TWILIGHT The stars in your eyes, love, I tried them on for size. They shone as bright as diamonds, how they mesmerized. And when...