Just Before

 I feel sigh after sigh arising, 

moving in a slow spring breeze

that will not let them leave,

caught in a crosswind that makes

now feel like forever.  And sigh

again.  The sources of longing 

and loss hidden.  I want to hear 

some blues about love lost and found

some blending of pain and gain

on a guitar string that almost breaks,

some voice that knows the depth I 

need to reach before l can breathe

again, that knows that life doesn’t 

begin with a cry but a sigh just 

before the crying begins.

- Byron Hoot

https://www.facebook.com/hootnhowlpoetry/

Living Statue

Silent, he sits entranced in his own enigma of thought.

I wait. I watch,

Not knowing how to reach or touch him.

And if I did, what would I discover?

A man enslaved by his daring dreams of conquest,

Or a little boy daydreaming of barefoot wading 

in cool, shallow pools?

So far away, absorbed in other worlds, is he.

Too far away for loving eyes to see,

for aching arms to reach,

for romantic dreams to whisper,

for lonely lovers to embrace.

I wait. I watch,

Not knowing how to reach or touch him.

But if I could, what would I say?

Come rest in the peace of my fond embrace,

Or go away you hurtful fool that disturbs my life

like a tempest tossed sea stirring?

Your faraway absorptions in other worlds leave me

Too far away  for loving eyes to see,

for aching arms to hold,

for romantic dreams to whisper,

for lonely lovers to embrace.

I wait. I watch,

As you break my heart.

~ P.S. Colley

Sept. 1, 1989

Cries of the Unheard