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
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
