No, your OTHER right.

The city passes Paced and slow I walk down streets With shops selling tea And televisons As Traffic rushes through Narrow lanes, And treelined avenues The air is heavy and alive Carrying the scents Of a hundred worlds Carpets and kababs To the dark rivers that vein the city With sewage and rain The fleeting showers Like a lover that hasn't yet overstayed. Bathing Gridlocked cars And pedestrians alike In brief flurries of liquid sunshine That filter through Summertime leaves

The chair creaks Sharp and shrill Back and forth Goes it's occupant For one leg Was shorter than the rest. A lack of animation, Stillness Gripped the room A portrait of time, But for the swaying man And the clock on the wall whose whispered seconds Passed unheard. A mind of nowhere With thoughts of nothing A desire to move And yet here I remain.

Sipping on big straws From little bottles Under a sky stained In all manners of grey With Dashes of white And smudges of ash. The light that trickled Through the clouds Was cold But soft. We spoke of the past By towers of bamboo Creaking in the wind The clamouring shoots And bickering leaves Sounded like rain On that rainless eve that we sat upon a rock An end and a beginning

On the edge of the world, Our feet dangling under stars, Over an ocean we could not see, And a sea which touched a sky it could never meet. Laughing at troubles, speaking of the past, As the city of dreams Whispered its quiet story Behind our backs

and they gaze back

with eyes of fire

each brighter

than the other

as if dancing

to the cold night wind

they flicker

like candlelight

guides to those lost

and those who wander

we write of them

in poems and songs

they fuel our dreams

and notions of beyond.

and some day soon

in ships of steel and metal

over a sea

deeper than deep

reaching farther than far

we’ll know wonder

when we finally

finally touch the stars.

and will fall forever

slow and sure.

There but sans purpose.

Everything it touches,

under wispy blankets

of white, brown and gold

fading into one another.

A timekeeper,

painting in layers and strokes,

upon all that is dear,

over all that is not.

It treads upon

memories delicate,

and stories lost to little corners

and tall bookshelves.

Upon photo frames

and mementos of lovers past,

Condemning our keepsakes

and little nothings

to the void that is history.

It is of the past as much as

it is of the present

for it makes the stars

and permeates all existence

For dust is beautiful

and dust is all we are.

Life's a journey

Or so they've always said

And he's one of many travelers

Everyone is

birth to death.

And truth be told

For he's lost now and here

With a lack of way

He knows not of far or near.

He's seen the signs

Those that travelers heed

glanced with disdain

Now watches his soul bleed.

And yet journeys on

In acceptance or desire

Of a fate not his

Oh how he tires

Allow him to rest, please.

He's lost much and many a sigh

Each deeper than the last

Each heavier than the sky.

In my mind you’re

Dancing along moonlit streams

Laughing the way you do.

Tugging at my heart strings

beautifully sown

from the threads of my dreams.

Keeping the universe together

Holding it by the seams.

And won’t you let me gaze into

the infinities that lay within

the mysteries that are your eyes.

Swimming in an ocean of stars

into the galaxies they hide.

Like a sailor homeward bound

longing for restful shores

I search time and memory

For the trappings of something more.

The night sky is painted

across waters still.

the starlight, so fleeting.

Yet beautiful and real

Like these fragmented reflections

of days long past.

Those moments of iridescence,

I knew would never last.

And from one truth to another

I’ve lost some of me, far behind.

Holding on to what was never.

Left me scarred, so blind.

And waiting on ghosts and shadows?

The ravings of my smitten mind

As is snow on a summers day

This is love I may hope for

and never find.

The empty wall, a canvas of shadow, a masterpiece forever restless, strokes of dark and darker still.. flickering into existence yet, vanishing into nothing. Shapeless forms, of night’s veil  wraiths dressed in black, Their faces swimming in the gloom smiling at my pounding heart. They tread lightly, without a sound Across this darkness that surrounds me.

Upon delicate memories, floating in the abyss, searching for purpose, yet knowing there is none. Cursed to wander this nether land as I drift to worlds beyond.

A breeze calm and salty blew Upon sand soft and white was he And there he'd remain through the morrow With weary eyes upon where the sky kissed the sea

...'Steady men.. FIRE!' Yelled the captain Starboard let loose a barrage of metal and flame The acrid smoke burned in his lungs It was moments, and a reply to their cannons came...

He counted the clouds, and then again and skipped stones across the water smooth he looked hard for the tall masts of ships to come and tried to wiggle free his loosest tooth

...the battle raged on, stormy and fierce From cannon to sword, the fight ran The air heavy with the smell of spilled blood, musket fire, clashing metal, and the cries of man...

The morn had passed on two little feet and noon gave way upon his little bum With eve, he lay hungry on his back and watched fall a westerly sun.

...the captain stood his ground long and hard, a score or more fell to his blade; lunge, thrust and parry Alas an ill fired musket found its mark The old soldier fell broken upon a knee And with eyes turned homeward and a heavy heart, let words slip in vain, 'my son forgive me'. There were but a few terns that flew overhead. Making all haste home, too busy to bother The lad who watched from the soft white sand. Watched in wait. In wait for his father.

The whole world seemed soaked, Bathing in the gold light of eve. From the swaying fields of corn to his right To the orchards of apple trees.

There were the hills off in the distance, covered in wood that smelled of musk. While the feathery nomads bickered overhead, He wondered why they made such a fuss.

A smiled played on his puckered lips, As laughter drifted to his porch from fields away. And shadows reached as far shadows could As night flickered out the flame of day.

Tilted his head back, let a sigh escape. As he gazed into the arcane infinity of space. Dark, slender clouds flitted across the sky, As innocent wonder took to his wrinkled face.

And there he sat, as he did everyday. With but a friendly moon as company that night. On call, he rose slow and quiet. To his daughter's voice or was it his wife's?