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
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
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