A Rhyme In Time

winter kiss

2008-12-10T10:32:00.002-05:00

icy wind
looming gray
long shadowed
winter kiss
memory fades
survival
takes the stage
animal instinct
to live

why do you hate me?

2008-12-09T14:16:00.002-05:00

why do you hate me?
i'm not like you?
different in many ways?
not white or black
or young or old
not flesh of your
flesh?
my blood flows red
tears taste of salt
heart rends with pain
aches of lost love
disappointment
shame
you hate me all the same
you sing a liars tune
and play a foreign dirge
death upon thy lips
to kiss my
cheek
the vipers sting
thy poison tipped fang
has pierced the
hated flesh
and cries
die!

Echo

2008-09-02T07:58:00.005-05:00

the echoes of the moment
sing a chorus of dim refrain
of days best forgotten
from realms that yet remain,
of times that linger hostile
in mind and emotion spent
in torrid pain and suffering
of hearts in anguish rent.

an echo of a sordid past
of once upon a time
rings true in present darkness
of somber song in mime
that lifts her voice in sadness
to moan a troubled song
that brings a brand new warning
of all that can be wrong.

a reflection of a beating heart
of a mother's mourning child
trapped in some dark solace
with no love left undefiled;
lost in the echo's chamber
drawing near to his last breath
death throes drawing closer
in helpless arms it rests.

Mournful song in horror's lie
reaching to draw him in
rebellion's child stands all alone
against the angst of sin,
unaware of the gentle hands
that would lovingly embrace
and sway him in a gentle breeze
to ease the pain he will face.

But yet the cry of echoed past
rings again in course refrain
a stealthy resurrection
unwelcome in helpless disdain;
stealing the heart of mother's child
tearing her soul away
addiction's wrath and disparity
echos fresh in fear this day.

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

am i the only one who knows?

2008-04-28T23:51:00.003-05:00

am i the only one who knows?
this calloused dream of mine...
who else shares the thoughts of death
that cross my hallucinogenic mind?
i call to you and yet
your silence lumbers on
masked in vibrant colors
created in forced hypnotic songs.
you delve in deep
diving for unknown chasms
grasping in darkened waters
for what you cannot see.
burden those who linger
with sodomized theater
words of clever connection
born of academic cliche.
break free those chains of hemlock
that cloud your forlorn eyes
pray for vision bright and clear
that will free your outspread thighs
to grasp the thoughts
and passioned care
of longing, dare i say, reprise
of those of us wanting, longing,
to live in the silence
and not die

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

silent tones

2008-04-25T00:11:00.003-05:00

ali can you hear me?

are you listening to my silence?

i have sung along with your silent tones

tell me how

i can sing to you

but wait

2008-04-24T23:55:00.003-05:00

you are the love of my life

but you hate me

i think

i can see it in your eyes

as you cry

i used to be your all

before you grew balls

and decided

that my strengths were only

a crutch

so fuck you then

who needs this

but wait

i don't want it at all

without you

strength of the one

2008-02-27T13:38:00.004-05:00

since when did freedom
get defined by cash?
how did my value
lose stature and crash?

how did my life
get stacked against money?
how did my liberty
lose out to financial cunning?

when did the corporation
take precedent over me?
how did group-think
overtake individuality?

when did "pursuit of happiness"
get defined as riches?
when did my dignity
lose out to sons of bitches?

when did art fall prey
to salability?
when did popular appeal
start to define credibility?

when did human value
become divyed in classes?
why should the strength of the one
be subservient to the masses?

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

in front of you

2008-02-26T14:10:00.003-05:00

it's all true
if you want it to be
you can be miserable
all by yourself

is a shattered mirror
broken? or just
a multi-faceted
expression of itself?

it's all there
right in front of you
the truth and the lies
that you tell yourself

is a beating heart
broken? or just
an expressionless
predilection of death?

it's all vanity
posed in your likeness
a shimmering view
for eyes of the deft

is a silent message
broken? or just
an open invitation
to join the bereft?

it's all frigidity
in the chill of your creation
winter's deadly gray
contempt to be felt

is a cold spring morning
broken? or just
concealed passion
waiting for the melt?

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

almost and yet

2008-02-13T13:41:00.004-05:00

indecisive

amorous
ladies
misrepresent
overtly
sensual
trysts

guys
obviously
tantilized

libidos
anxiously
increasing
desire

bodies
undulate
timidly

never
offering
truth

totally
offending
needs
ignore
gaining
happiness
together

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

voices

2008-02-11T10:37:00.001-05:00

prophet of doom, sage of sadness
prognosticator extraordinaire
cheer up you son of a bitch
your a fucking american
for god's sake

oh my god i can't believe you said that!
pissing on my pity parade
what gives you the right
to rain on my rainy day
bitch!

major malfunction
what a fucking brat!
got everything, needs nothing
wants to lie around and wallow
in a self effacing pile of imagined crap

what do you know?
you're not inside my head
you can't possibly understand
i'm depressed.... suicidal....
i have a fucking prescription!

wake up and smell the fucking roses!
you privilaged piece of dog shit!
you fancy yourself
the downtrodden artist
on the verge of death
yet all the while
you salve your imagined wounds
with cabernet sauvignon
and pour out your soul
on your fucking macintosh

who gives a fuck
that you spent too much
on your american express?
nobody with real problems
that's for sure

who cares
that your collection
of 12 year old scotch
is leading you to alcoholism?
not the rest of us drunks

you whine and complain and loathe life
all in the name of art
you fancy yourself the starving artist
while you buy in bulk
at fucking costco

i'm sick to death
at listening to your insipid rhymes
begging your readers to feel your pain
hiding behind a facade of depravity
in your barcalounger

for all of our sakes
pull the fucking trigger!
either shit or get off
the proverbial pot
you privilaged little fuck!

don't act like you know me
don't even start to imagine
don't think you can overtake
the voices in my head
you can kiss my ass!

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

for ali

2008-02-08T13:42:00.000-05:00

weep and mourn for the death blow has landed
sorrow and lament for the death toll that's paid
suffer the loss and imbibe in what is handed
relish the pain as humanity displayed

weep not for a tomorrow unventured
pour not your heart's feeling on the future in vain
capture this moment's burden trapped and indentured
bound to today in the past to remain

rise up and smile in a new life that's dawning
your pierced and broken heart springs forth anew
shed the shackles of winter's dark fawning
the radiant blooming of spring will come to you

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

in the shadow of you i linger

2008-02-06T10:53:00.000-05:00

in the shadow of you i linger
more aware with each passing day
of your presence like a ring on my finger
a reminder of something more in play
in silence you press and i ponder
the desire for our eyes not to meet
for your touch away from me to wander
to never wrest my heart's final beat
mysterious you harbor all power
i see you draw closer in time
you are cold like a february shower
in reigning you speak like a mime
at last my dire pleading is dross
alas our inevitable paths shall cross

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

unpunctuated rhythmic pause

2008-02-06T09:33:00.000-05:00

today

not unlike any other

day

i mourn your passing

fray

grieve the thrashing

way

your absence is present

stay

please stay

away

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

perhaps

2008-02-04T12:01:00.000-05:00

you pass by my window, pushed by the breeze
formed by the breath of god, change as you please
shifting in form, transforming with ease
white, grey then black, the azure you fleece

innocent with charm you caress the airy morn
in silence pass, a hardened mystery forlorn
a foreboding kiss, your mere presence adorns
a watchful eye skyward is born

shall i find in your passing a simple refrain
a gathering ambition t'ward life giving rain
or fommenting madness in darkest disdain
of peaceful memories which alone shall remain

drift on now and leave me alone with these thoughts
for present pondering leaves a future unwrought
and unsure of danger as of yet to be caught
perhaps a sunny day without you may still be saught

perhaps a sunny day without you may still be saught

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

formidably frank

2008-01-24T14:09:00.000-05:00

famothless
fallacy
follows
formless
fragility
forward
forever

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

to war

2008-01-09T13:58:00.000-05:00

to war to war
to go to die
to war to war
to grieve and cry
to war we go
to set things right
to death we go
to go in fright
to die in vain
to shed fallow blood
to pour refrain
to weep and mourn
to plow the grave
to widowed scorn
to rend the soul
to even the score
to war to war
to war to war

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

homeless

2008-01-08T14:15:00.000-05:00

darkness settles across the eastern sky
a silent foreboding of what's to come
salient embrace of the fears of man

the chilling wind caresses the skin
a leviathan claw slicing the flesh
cruel reminder of society's hand

a shivered glance longs for warmth
or soothing touch of lingering breath
putrid reminiscence of better days

fear of death climbs the laddered spine
icy rungs of inevitable haste
silent strokes of reality's brush

lost in a sea of winter's humanity
gripped in cold and unwoven warmth
forgotten by all forgiven by none

lain to rest in memory's dreams
to die or not in unknown haste
only tomorrow knows my fate

© 2008 BY W GARY FORRESTER

08

2008-01-03T01:50:00.000-05:00

it's a new year

i died a little more

raised a glass in toast

swore to make it right

shamed the attempt

scorned the truth

scared myself

shunned it all

slid deeper

into

the

as i do it again

2007-12-12T10:31:00.000-05:00

as i do it again i fear i cannot stop
i fade into the swallowing fog

i am losing my way as i wander along
lost in sorrow i fear what i have become

stand aside and bear witness to my own demise
knowing both truth and consequence

silent and ashamed i keep to myself
alone in the disease of my own making

hear the warning calls of the one i love
see the shame and feel the codependency

the tormenting weight of addictive turning
presses upon me like a millstone's grind

the thief has arrived my life to steal
concealed already in the robbers bag i rest

giving way i yield to slippery slope
feed the dereliction of desire

fuel the fire and fan the flames
even as my own flesh burns

inflict the pain of the prisoners mirth
tightened rack at my own hand

cannot speak the shameful words
pride and fear has marked the way

lament the disappointment's curse
guilt has paved the rueful way

down the path of no return
what is to become of me? i say

in what truth shall my children rest?
that i have succumb to a grave?

that in cursed pleasure opened in jest
i long to find and know the rooted cause

for this malignancy that rots in my soul
i look without and never within

deny myself the truth from which i hide
sick and troubled my countenance fades

cannot bear the burden that is mine
to disappoint the maternal and bridal pride

© 2007 BY W GARY FORRESTER

bottled death

2007-12-11T09:43:00.000-05:00

you follow in the shadows
lurking, watching, stalking

you whisper in the dark
calling, attracting, luring,

you weave a lurid tale
acting, exaggerating, lying

you draw me away
painting, portraying, promising

you massage my inhibitions
touching, soothing, stroking

you promise rabid joy
cavorting, frolicking, carousing

you deliver reckless fools
slurring, staggering, humiliating

you steal my sensibility
robbing, pillaging, raping

you rock my judgement to sleep
flirting, caressing, seducing

you extricate my dignity
releasing, forgetting, embarrassing

you inebriate my soul
wandering, abandoning, convicting

you leave me with my guilt
regretting, weeping, repenting

you take away my hope
depressing, maligning, destroying

you are bottled death
sickening, debilitating, killing

© 2007 BY W GARY FORRESTER

life awry

2007-12-10T16:30:00.000-05:00

feel the pull
tendon's strain
the cord taut
cutting grain

drawn the noose
by friendly hand
darkened eyes
a final stand

see the edge
toe the line
feel the death
invite the crime

cannot stop
sudden plunge
the rush of life
to be undone

die at once
no refrain
sorrow takes
away the pain

no one knows
voices within
drawing nigh
calloused grin

life undone
in ordered steps
systematic
odd regrets

reason falls
shallow grave
self-inflicted
deadly wave

portent rise
missive thrust
adamant truth
unhallowed trust

saved alone
peace in jest
life awry
dead by self

© 2007 BY W GARY FORRESTER

judgement's curse

2007-12-05T16:14:00.001-05:00

judge not the choices another man makes
misguided movements of another's soul
don't stand apart from humanity's stake
in living life by freedoms grandest toll

look up above and find your guidance fair
to he or what in faith alone will trust
and know that you and you alone are where
the faithful leap of choice is ever just

i cannot judge my neighbors way of life
as failing to meet some most sacred creed
only in death do we share common strife
the freedom to see our mistakes impede

leave well enough alone is what i say
to all who stand in most bitter vile rage
no god gave you the sacred right of way
to judge the acts on another man's stage

be free and fight for all that freedom brings
to live your shortest life in peaceful bliss
without the burden of the warring stings
of judgement's curse and evil's cold redress

© 2007 BY W GARY FORRESTER

alison

2007-12-04T20:42:00.000-05:00

i don't know you really
but i see you in my dreams
your narcissism fuels my flame
and fires my loins
with malcontent
while guilty thoughts
of merriment course
my inner veins

your beauty fills the cyber lanes
and gilds the lonely day
as i look for peace
in your sea of words
and die in your evil pain
throbbing pains
of vengeful shame upon
your spousal rage

but alison your radiant smile
i see with closing eyes
your glowing grace
of unknown ways
mysterious happiness reviled
i know not where
or why you cry
in anguishing lament

i reach for you wanting you
to touch your bared breast
to share your lively
witted smile that suckles
upon your chest
in peaceful smiling
radiant
and silent rest

© 2007 BY W GARY FORRESTER

what music will we sing

2007-08-06T09:35:00.000-05:00

what music do you sing
in your heart when you dream
what is your stereotype?

is there room in your soul
for more than what you know
to be the ambiguous archetype?

can you swing, can you sway
is courage there to play
in colors more than hype?

can you groove in the shoes
of different souls than you
in rhythms that are ripe?

are the skins of bronze and rouge
and browns with all their hues
coloring your world tonight?

can you share in the joys
of multicolored girls and boys
who dance in musical delight?

will you jam in your soul
as the inner-city grows
with drumming power and fight?

can your burdens unite
in common human strife
to breathe life’s vigil light?

can the music’s sweetness flow
from your head to your toes,
bring peace to your darkened night?

can we open our eyes
to see a paradise in
hides of our neighbors plight?

can we lay aside ways
long instilled through our days
to bring peace into purest light?

can you take my tarnished hand
and dance in demented lands
to usher in the noble knight?

will you lay down your blades
and calls for jihad’s ways
to dance with me in plain sight?

can you trust my outstretched hand
which longs for you to stand
with me, although i am white?

will you give me a chance
to act far beyond the romance
to dance in peaceful respite?

can you join my rapt jazz
and play a tune that has
the peaceful rhythms of right?

what music will we sing
in our hearts when we dream
when we write the new stereotype?

© 2007 BY W GARY FORRESTER

if ere there's been a time

2007-08-04T01:50:00.000-05:00

if ere there’s been a time that longed to call
upon a pow’r with greater strength than i;
to reach out to another one; to fall
upon my knees in humble fear, then why,
can it not be now? what wretched pride made
naught my fearful heart, and gallant folly
filled it's noble place? o that my faith was staid!
my unbent brow in contrition would be,
in awe before the holy majesty
of life and death and all that is unseen.
i'd bow in fearful hope to share my plea
to see beyond the way that i have been.

but yet, alas the fruit of death once hung
has poured it's deadly wine upon my tongue.

© 2007 BY W GARY FORRESTER