lover, still

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

 

Top Hat Journey

 

Drawing: Top Hat Journey, by douglas brent smith

from Journal #7, The Eclectic Trance Dance, 1974

inseparable

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

 

impermanence

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

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

 

prepare to fall

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

 

about you

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