douglas brent smith

you're living (it's truly amazing) i'm crazy though windows to open will never close doors you're giving (i'm  living) much more than before together we wonder while skies shall surrender when life lends us love the threes become fours but what matters above all when people may choose is magic in making the ones become twos. douglas brent smith  

he smoked a pipe that would make any author drool with envy which (by the way) need not be green but it's also available in red, blue, and occasionally paisley although perhaps best invisible. douglas brent smith  

Stars stream madly across the frozen sky sending drops of passion into the pathways of                                  our wings unmasked unfolded                                  we yearn for the mystery painted on the faces of leaping lovers of circus grips and tunesmiths sing, push, and pull the lever once pulled overrides all the rules the camera once flashed disappears with a crash the secret once known leaves the lover alone. douglas brent smith  

  Space Fish Nothing spectacular, just a fish in space who has swallowed a space station and is apparently surrounded by black holes. Oh, and an orbiting top hat, too. douglas brent smith 

oh lovely lady locked into real world rollers with past tense terrors run off with me somewhere like the mountains of Colorado where we'll build a log cabin right next to  our own peak while the snow falls, the sun rises and the television set's blue glow flows on we'll sing all day long and in the evening keep each other warm. douglas brent smith ------------- Note: When I wrote this, possibly in 1975, I had no idea that I would actually some day live in Colorado. Life can be funny like that. It wasn't in a log cabin, and it wasn't with the lover in this poem, but there was an interesting symmetry to the adventure.

  After Escher's Stairway Hands Up The cover to Journal #8 Study for the set design to The Great Brain Robbery, a play Sketch of Annie, 1975 Tower Sketch The Pilot Was Surprised Looking

we settle slowly into silence softly pouring the drops of recognition into each other's eyes with all the warmth we can hold stirring in our collective heart with a dream we had searched for passion open arms, seeking understanding wide eyes brilliant vision of a sharing so full it would flow and with delight announce its discovery you touching me touching you. douglas brent smith  

  Study for the set design for "The Mysteries of Love" by douglas brent smith So far, this play has not been written. 

that valentine's day i sent flowers to two people was not the first time even though it carried more drama and it was not because i could not decide but because i did not feel the need to love either any less but because you did not see it that way once discovered it did not turn out quite as i expected are you still angry? douglas brent smith  

there's a spot on her cheek an ash perhaps a mere smudge she's not aware of we all see it so quietly, i tell her turning suddenly she wipes it clean erasing any embarrtassment and returns to the task at hand counting her cards circles below our eyes declare that morning is near as the factory waits tomorrow day shift of all days and we can't call out again or we'll be let go for good the lights fade as the sun rises warning about duties as it shows the disheveled house i stretch out on the floor wondering what it could be like to share her bed i hear her turn off the water and close her door a pronounced decisive click birds welcome morning i blow out the last candle as the house grows quiet with Bob on the couch and Dave in the recliner and me on the floor and my love in her bed i second guess her thoughts as i hear her shuffle counting her cards. douglas brent smith

sometimes by chance by luck or by design we find real people moving along matching lines cruise to connecting music smile at marvelous magic sometimes we stumble onto a carnival of dreams so mellow and alive so easy and free yes, sometimes we wander with love waiting eagerly douglas brent smith  

that sudden electricity which you so innocently offered without pretense or guilt (a day we both remember)    then, carefully took away reverberates within that part of us that we cannot control and returns with dreams veiled over and keeps a steady hold if by some chance you choose to chase another's amorous embrace remember there're no secrets now i see it in your face you know i'll never force a smile or make it something new but if my love is not enough it's still my gift to you. douglas brent smith  

  Drawing:  Top Hat Journey , by douglas brent smith from Journal #7,  The Eclectic Trance Dance , 1974

with bold looks we invented invisible affairs unspoken yet more obvious as each melody played and  each game unfurled dare we touch? or would that break the spell? transcending normal expectations for a time any arrangement anything was possible like a floating shimmery bubble fragile then gone. douglas brent smith  

if i should doubt by cycles or by cynics the tones which you deliver or cause by asking over a few absurdist questions please know by all that matters and by all that ever stands i want so much for lastingness that i faulter as a man if you should see by vision or submission a hidden part of me or realize that in my eyes exists a bit of scandal please observe all perspectives and by all you understand i try so much for lastingness that i stumble as a man douglas brent smith  

her little breaths outnumber mine her sleep seems far more sound our areas indistinctly marked are shared like common ground the graceful moves of daylight hours give in to those of evening the beauty seems to be, we know that neither soon is leaving her little breaths outnumber mine i count them all, each one divine. douglas brent smith  

thunder over the cliff it's such a ruckus you never can miss selling rain for a nickel and a dollar a kiss step right over the peak douglas brent smith  

something sincere about you nurtures honesty open; childlike, free so few ever knew such fearless listening something warm about you presses the passion in me with clenching senses, loving exceeding even love something radiant within you soothingly sends comfort assurance, confidence, calm distinctively grounded with you only you so much special in total about you levels beyond my understanding but firmly with the grasp of my appreciation and wonder and awe not on a pedestal something removed from any gaze unassailably you douglas brent smith  

let's hear it for sublimation the savior of Freudian man what we're lacking in sex we can use in subtext to create an artistic piece let's cheer for our insomnia the sour grapes of night when we can't close our eyes we'll create a surprise a fine aesthetic feast hooray for our anxiety motivation for modern souls when we all get the shakes we/ve got what it takes to seek a constructive release let's celebrate our problems even as we sing the blues up or out it's a turn so we might as well learn the best direction to choose douglas brent smith  

you can't explain the way things want to turn out it won't help to turn them repeatedly about all we can do now is move with the turns and if we're really up to it we live, we love, we learn douglas brent smith 

mirrors on the fallen snow reflecting where you'd like to go and what you'd be if you could know the narrative that makes it so windows in the sky with eyes exposing soporific lies and passionless dramatic sighs whispering goodbye there's no fortune bright enough to make you and there's no moonbeam light enough to take you or any hammer strong enough to break you unless you start it all alone doors that lead to empty rooms welcoming as wood tombs promising the end of gloom not all what you'd assume douglas brent smith 1974/2023 

as most ends will see all ends will be as the darkness covers you the nightfall sets you free free when you'e glistening clenched as i'm listening to your many timbres toning replies to our inquiries coherent co-developed carefully enveloped touched with out finger prints missing annotations douglas brent smith  

i just remembered you and then us and then then and then as quick it was gone what were you saying? douglas brent smith 29 January 2023

the rain doesn't touch me i'm too intent on dreaming will you come along? douglas brent smith 9 December 1973

there is so much breathing to share live, create, feel, hold, release . . .  wanting so much to touch this small soulful love who already touched first 1973  

 i became aware of the poetry of existance      and of the artistry of      her voice      of her thin, gentle fingers and      the honesty of her eyes 1973

 when a friendship                               grows deeper and the desire for sharing each and every moment lasts          behind the level of  acquaintance the need to touch                                  grows stronger tastefully (if allowed) space                  to hold (carefully) emotions silently              when words are not enough  . . .                                                       because    . . .   words are never enough . . .  12/73