Poems For My Friend, Jeffrey:
In These Very Difficult Times
Encouragement Haiku
I believe in youThey say you own the darkness.
But the sun is yours.
Quiet Desperation
The night holds you with frigid arms of ice.This is no place for any young man.
You've paid an extremely high price.
I'll sing you sad songs��cause I can.
The days, they all pass, one after another.
Forgotten, you reached out to me.
I think of you as an intense, younger brother.
But nothing, no nothing is free.
The caged bird is spreading it's wings to the sun.
But the sun quit it's job and went cold.
Life seems to be over before it's begun.
And you face that reality so brave and so bold.
Institutional life comes without any gifts.
Except those that fit in a letter.
There's no room for tears, no room for rifts
You were sick once, but now you are better.
For What Is Gone
Please fear not the reaper, he's tame.There are much harder lessons to learn.
Make life a business�don't make it a game.
Let that life in you breathe, speak and burn.
Do you know what I am saying to you?
This is not just a lesson in rhyme.
Jeffrey William, your soul is so true.
You'll see that in plenty of time.
A large gap in my heart slowly grows.
Like a cancer just waiting to pounce.
I know things that nobody knows.
What you do with your time is what counts.
The Hero In You
They think they know you well, my friend.They point and grin and stare.
A plague of words will spell the end.
The taunts are everywhere.
No beauty am I, but no leper, it's true.
My hand, outstretched, is cut off.
Will I give it all up�just what can I do?
Just grimace and tear up, and cough.
Is your world a tepid, stagnant stream?
Or do orchids bloom in gardens of weeds?
You seem well, but are you able to dream?
I wonder if life fills your needs.
For what it's worth, I care about you.
Some may think me a beat-up old mat.
Step on me�you know you want to.
Or are you much better than that?
I will not waver in my feelings for you.
There are those who just wish I would die.
For the record, I often thought that way too.
But God only knows, I still try.
A Closet Full Of Skeletons
Who knows you in your pain as I do?Who counts every breath that you take?
Is it friend or foe? Do they care about you?
We all lie in the beds that we make.
We all have our demons�we all make mistakes.
I've made more than most, I admit.
But I will do just whatever it takes
To see that all the pieces will fit.
Am I crying the blues? Am I bereft of pride?
Look into the mirror and cry.
I know of the loneliness down deep inside
I'm nowhere near perfect, but I try.
enigmacat.
2003.
