The Aspiring Bard

Somewhere... The trees are greening, Buds are swelling, And birds are rejoicing In gentle winds And cloudless skies. Somewhere... New life is forming And pushing out Of moist, brown earth. Daffodils and crocuses Reaching toward the sun. Somewhere... The world is shaking free Of winter's grip And being renewed By sunshine And gentle rains. But here... I sit Under foreign stars And watch a dieing year Wane with the moon.

How I envy Your smug shell Of security! Convinced Of your invulnerability As you live your simple life. My own shell Has been broken. I can no longer believe That security is found In physical things. Suddenly, Comfort zones Are part of the past As I am pushed out of one life And into another.

Oh, how I want a silent place Where I can pour my troubled soul Out in shining tears beneath the starlight. Away from the uncaring ears Of a falsely joyful world Where smiles matter more than being real. With stifled sobs my heart is sore Oh, for the luxury of tears! To cry, and find some healing in my pain.

Small lights Shining far below, Afloat in a sea of darkness. Beacons guiding Toward new adventures.

This poem still feels a bit choppy. Perhaps I should mess around with the meter some more? A thousand feet pound the paving stones Following the lure of modernity. Pressing toward a future that can never be. A thousand minds race madly on, Ignoring the hope they are searching for. Never stopping to realize there's nothing more. A thousand people ask in vain The meaning of life without accepting The only simple answer: Christ sacrificing.

This one still feels a little rough to me. Rain beats on the wind shield. The wipers are doing double time. Lightning dances across the sky To the drumroll of thunder. Why must I sit, Imprisoned in safety, When I want to run with the storm, Arms outspread, Heart thudding with the thunder, And feel the wet rain-kisses On my cheek?

Words... Such broken and halting things Never saying what I want to say. Brushing the bloom from my lovely thoughts And blurting them out in such a blunt way.