douglas brent smith

your heart sheds tears to me never for me as if i were your psychiatrist of love wise in the ways of your wanting though absent from the joys  you feel lost listen... i once chased a butterfly for an hour hoping it would remain free dancing there with me letting it land in my hand and know me because the moon knows and the stars know and this butterfly knows that though free and skittish and uncommitted our love is never lost but aloft on butterfly wings. douglas brent smith  

of course there were thousands of rational even dramatic reasons why we would never work out or remain together like gravity i keep falling for you like fate untested and irresistible because that voice those eyes that nonstop dancing and because you could tie a cherry stem with your tongue. douglas brent smith  

 Sketch: Busy, from journal #11, never doubt (1978)

your soft kisses danced across my face your agile fingers found my heart stars and planets shuddered underneath the stark, darkness hinted with each breath your eyes with tiny tears smile up at me pleading, asking begging (gleefully) though your voice said firmly "no." douglas brent smith  

precisely because i can not tame you or hold you to promises you'll never keep for the fumbling from friction and tension weeping in the night wondering where you are incredibly over the constant terrors you touch me with a velvet glove over fondness lost losing with the lies from eyes once true now gazing on weakness crushed under your strength i wonder why i want you more than before. douglas brent smith  

"Find the way to your own creativity and everything else becomes better." -- doug smith  

Can you tell when you're holding back? Or, are your senses dulled when things get dull and the sparkling shine fades away? Creativity can act like water: sometimes we need to prime the pump to get it flowing. Let it flow. Move it forward. There will be surprises. There will be storms. I really do believe that the best thing you will ever create has not yet been created. It awaits your initiative, your verve, your motion. You can't help but be creative -- no need to hold back.  -- doug smith

 "One brilliantly creative idea a day is all that it takes, to undo a hundred thoughtless mistakes." -- doug smith

 thru five years we've danced daringly with many diverse partners crept thru bedroom windows of  a few starched spirits and spilled a few tears of our own after five years kids become searching adults, your face remains soft and warm and my hands remain calloused but curious (a learning, yearning, burning process breathing Spring, simmering Summer fearless Fall) in five years it appears: some dreams last longer than others and life's road turns faster with eyes open as it rolls on revealing (with a wink) that some cycles and hearts remain synchronized, and that dance steps  echo softly and that i love you still. douglas brent smith

pacing thru the time tripped delicately on edges of faceless fancies freed from the rushing resentment of relentless realities battering upon a daring door of dancing chances taken and rebuttals received answers mistaken and desire deceived. douglas brent smith  

  Sketch: Cloud Posing as a Pipe, from journal #10, cry Wolf (1977) douglas brent smith

so what if your hair style is three years ahead of the trends and you will not regard fashion because we are above and beyond all that caught between generations and secret dreams "your mustache tickles," she said. -- doug smith  

soaring up here on a colombian vacation  looking up to find you  straight ahead looking down eyes narrow ears open for sounds lending a touch of thin but absolute meaning strong enough to stand wearing someone else's  shirt. douglas brent smith