douglas brent smith

brick by brick the hard high wall around me began to fall with music so soft only intimate ears could hear when with that wonderful tenderness so overflowing in you you touched my aching concrete cynicism and kissed my world weary mind into dreams of singing laughs of growing and joys of being alive like each bare brick of that wall you slowly, oh so carefully dismounted the doubts freed the fears and with quiet little steps entered my heart in a halo of rebirth revealing that there were once two loves in my crowded carefully plotted closed-hearted life: my rusted roaming van and my faithful guitar and now as sunrise welcomes Spring as living brings new growth i joyfully see three. -- douglas brent smith  

universal bang it was a universal bang it was a universal bang it was a big bang got to thinking about the nature of existance and with a certain degree of persistence i proceeded to untangle all the angles that approach us from the cosmic cloud encroaching us all leading to the theory that a weary sort of human needs awakening acumen to make sense of any reasoning and weather all the seasoning that's bound to blow right thru you no matter what you do you come up a little short and then it slips right thru your hands again it hasn't changed much to the aliens deciding if we're enemies or friends still hoping that we finally get the joke universal bank it was a universal bang it was a universal bang it was a big bang. douglas brent smith Note: from journal #10, cry Wolf (1977)

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  

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

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  

 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

Note: I once wrote a play called "The Great Brain Robbery." This poem is from that period of time, in 1973, when I thought some things were much funnier than I do now. And, the basic premise of the play, that we are unconsciously surrendering our brains, still holds up. Give Me Your Brain you're certainly a silly one afraid to give a brain the whole world's grabbing for it release it while you're sane we need a brain like yours to use in service to our cause it won't help you once you're crazy filled with riddles and with flaws you're no Einstein nor a Curie just a normal filled with fury you're no Jesus why not please us give that brain away such a silly greedy one clutching to your head all your brain cells added up won't matter when you're dead give me your brain it's not so much a sibling cerebral skunk crutch let it go now in this exchange give me oh give me hey give me your brain