i

tumbled streams

raymond sapienza

ii

Copyright © 2007, Raymond Sapienza

iii

to Rachel, for her patience.

iv

5

tumbled streams i arrange my thoughts in fluid groups,

streams flowing to a river.

their purpose to go a scenic route

and pool where thoughts grow bigger.

but along the way are rocks and falls

and offshoots not intended

which tumble streams and shatter thoughts

…too shattered to be mended.

6

twice each day

the mantle clock above my hearth

has long since lost its movement.

yet, twice each day i find it true

and cherish those quiet moments.

7

full moon the moon has been full too long i fear,

and i, as a fool, behold her;

wishing i could find her ear

and whisper there to scold her.

8

sigh i heard you sigh from across the room

though i could not see your face

as you stood at the window and gazed

at the moon;

it gazed back through the lace.

a sigh of contentment? of longing? of pain?

your emotion i could not trace

as i crossed to the window and gazed

at the moon;

it gazed back through the lace.

9

deceitful flames i gaze into the night sky

seeking answers from the stars

as do countless other eyes

and countless other hearts

while the stars accept our yearnings

as fuel for their deceitful flames.

and though they never answer

they bid us ask again.

i gaze into the night sky

seeking answers from the stars

as do countless other eyes

and countless other hearts

each knowing, as morning threatens,

there will no answer be.

for the stars are self consuming

and so, alas, are we.

10

the stream

the stream hastened to the fall

to conclude, too late,

that it wasn't at all

where she wanted to be.

silly girl,

till she fell she thought

she was free.

11

silent times silent times,

touching very lightly

brushing only slightly

hand to hand.

quiet times,

nothing to be spoken

no need to be broken

by a word.

peaceful times,

although short in duration

a lifetime of sensation

a smile upon a sigh.

silent, silent times.

12

the moment

if never the moment strikes,

if all remains silent and still,

if complacency darkens the light,

it’s then that the moment will kill.

13

tryst upon midnight visits of the moon

i speak to her in veiled allusions,

for fear the stars will overhear

and leap to correct conclusions.

14

i love a girl…

her arms are scarred by razor cuts,

carved words of hate and grief.

mingled tears and blood she spills

in an effort to find peace.

- i love a girl that won't be loved.

by day she hides in a smiling face,

by night all smiles cease.

she exacts the price alone in the dark

in an effort to find release.

- i love a girl that won't be loved.

deeper scars can be found on her heart

than those upon her skin.

if only I could share the dark,

if only she would let me in.

- i love a girl . . . .

15

unreadable eyes

there are those whose eyes we cannot read,

not for lack there of emotion.

we simply do not share the same

devices nor devotions.

16

the well wishes sealed within the well,

private dreams that none dare tell,

whispered to the water deep -

entrusted to the water's keep.

no source of magic is the well,

no power there over Heaven nor Hell.

just a quiet place with simple rules

where now and then a dream comes true.

17

true hearts sun rises / sun sets /

night conceives / morning begets /

images come and go.

seasons change / skies race /

planets turn in time and space /

futures come and go.

love lifts / loss hurts /

happiness glows / anger bursts /

people come and go.

friendship stays / memory lives /

good things never cease to give /

true hearts never go.

18

instinct

and as the crowd goes

so i go,

not due enough to

my own mind,

but drawn by instinct's

ebb and flow

to seek the comfort

of the kind.

19

toil tranquil, tranquil is the light

of breaking dawn and setting sun

to all who toil for daily rest

and daily reckon up the sum.

but never will their joints be blest

who count their task as lifetimes run.

and darkness reigns both day and night

o'er those whose work is never done.

20

promise 'twas a lifetime ago if it was a day

that i felt your breath upon my ear

and heard your whisper, sweet and clear,

promising you'd never stray.

'twas a lifetime ago if it was a day.

and though the promise was not kept

(perhaps such promises should not be

made)

'tis a memory i'd never trade

for a drying of all the tears i've wept.

'twas a lifetime ago if it was a day

that first i knew you'd never stay.

21

fool

within every heart there's locked a fool

longing to express

the countless notions, thoughts, and acts

the mind strives to suppress.

oh, rue the day my fool i freed

to fulfill his inclinations!

for though he's once again subdued

there's no repairing my reputation.

22

precious waste of time precious waste of time,

darling you are mine.

you share my cup of coffee,

you share my glass of wine.

precious waste of time,

until we meet again

i'll work for you in sunshine,

i'll work for you in rain.

23

pebble just as a pebble

that sinks in a pond,

i leave a few ripples

and then i am gone.

24

intentions we are no less than our passions,

no less than our desires,

till the machinations of our intentions

leave but the wax that has

dripped from our fires.

25

on the edge of sleep …that wee, neglected moment

when thoughts go standing still

then tumble into darkness

and with them take the will.

that wee, neglected moment

which wake and sleep both fill…

26

me i am neither this nor that

but only just as much as me

and if you wish me more or less

disappointed you must be

27

you are wind you are wind

i am water,

water in a stagnant pool.

i wait alone in tepid stillness

till your breath excites a move.

28

plight i am Cain i am Abel,

the good and yet the prodigal son.

i will live and die forever

i will end when just begun.

i am sanity draped in madness

i am darkness sprung from light.

i am love and hate together

this is my/your/our plight.

29

the heart a strange and mysterious cup it is

from which pours envies, murders and strife;

while also and always mixed in its depths

swirl love and hope and life.

30

sweet indifference sweet indifference, bouncing back

from where you have been hiding,

filling up my laughing cup

and ending all my crying.

sweet indifference, welcome back,

i'm oh so tired of trying.

i've had my fill of caring for

a world that loves its dying.

31

judgement and who am i

to cast a stone?

let one without sin

cast the first.

better to offer

a hand to a friend

than, by judging,

intensify hurt.

32

coaxing beauty as Adam was placed in Eden

to cultivate and keep,

though the garden now, to us,

lies out of bounds,

it remains our task to coax

from twisted thistles and deadly thorns

any beauty that within them

can be found.

33

the father of all such as handle the harp and

organ

Jubal, son of Lamech, son of Cain:

the first of all to fashion note to chord.

and music since has flowed from age to age

as bearer both of love and of the sword.

34

strangers chance meeting on a narrow path,

lonely strangers in a lonely wood.

each eyeing the other with suspicion,

each fearing both evil and good.

35

rhetoric words words words,

rain from swollen cloudy tongues,

cascade in torrential downpours,

swamp the arid ground.

words words words,

strain reservoirs till they burst,

form undrinkable fetid oceans,

lack the deeds to slake our thirst.

36

a clashing of cymbals musically speaking, we are far apart.

you require consistent harmony,

while i, with jarring notes to start,

find rhythm in cacophony.

conversely, i can soothe my soul

while basking in your melody,

but distress is all you ever feel

as i conduct my discordant symphony.

37

sorrow’s tears when sorrow’s tears in rivers flow,

think not to restrain them.

but let them to the ocean go

where wind and sky reclaim them.

and when your heart is parched and sore,

thirsting for contentment,

those tears, since held in Heaven’s store,

will rain for your refreshment.

38

razor cut deprecatory statements

whispered to the mirror;

razor sharp & double edged

to cut from ear to ear.

and though all but forgotten

by the time sunset is near,

each and every morning

the truth is hard to hear.

39

rain if some drops were filled with pleasure

and some drops were filled with pain,

oh! what a hit and miss game it would be

simply dashing through light summer rain.

40

game of life the wise player plans his moves ahead

but knows there is a limit.

for to plan too far is no plan at all

and has no wisdom in it.

41

sailing when i was a sailing man i would skim

across the sea, cast my eye at stars above

and dream a dream of those i loved,

so very far away.

but that was many years ago.

now i tread upon the land,

friends and family close at hand.

and when stars shine in heaven above

i dream a dream of seas i loved,

so very far away.

42

communication communication is great treasure;

phrases are gold spun fine.

words spent in vain endeavor

are pearls cast before swine.

43

may they now may they now rest in peace,

those who sought peace in life,

perhaps grazing it with a fingertip

propelling it just out of reach.

44

actions the fact of the matter

[as a matter of fact]

whether you choose

to act or not act,

if today it's your

actions that matter,

tomorrow

it may be your lack.

45

humility don’t think yourself higher than you are,

or even as high as you might be.

if you think of yourself at all,

better to do so with humility.

46

into uncharted seas as uncharted seas confront us,

let us not drift apart,

but tether our lifeboats together

and together find land or be lost.

47

if i could do it all again if i could do it all again

having learned from my mistakes,

i’d change my world around, and yet,

if i could do it all again

knowing naught but what i know,

what new mistakes would i regret?

48

natural love can't blame the viper for her venom.

can't blame the shark for his teeth.

when push comes to shove,

in life as well as love,

we do what we do naturally.

49

reality don’t tell me what has been,

nor even what will be.

we are here. we are now.

this is our reality.

if you feel the need

to tell me anything at all,

tell me why i feel so sad

when i hear the rock dove call.

50

the great equalizer city sidewalk

sudden cloudburst

pedestrians caught unaware

equality reigns

as fashion drips

from sodden clothes and hair

51

cliffs the tip of my tongue;

the edge of my mind;

that is where you dwelt.

would that i could

return to those cliffs

on the day before you fell.

52

Hydra we are what we are:

a warring race.

as soon as one ends

two more take its place.

no Hercules strong enough,

this Hydra, to master.

our mouths shout for peace

while our hands wreak disaster.

not a king nor a country,

not a people nor a man

can honestly say they,

true peace, understand.

53

the economics of spring spring fields thirst for rain

and look to highest heaven,

where traveling clouds

seek deserving meadows on

which to bestow their burdens.

54

clay in this clay

i spend my hours;

today for me,

tomorrow for flowers.

55

foundation dig a hole.

dig it deep;

as deeply as you can.

every day a shovel full,

until you understand:

no matter how deep your foundation,

this world is but shifting sand.

56

value birch bark rings, not diamond;

wood row boats, not yachts;

the value of an object

is a product of your thoughts.

if i think my old pocket knife’s

worth a mint, who’s to say it’s not.

57

shining then hair will fall, teeth will rot,

eyes and ears will dim.

the who you are will then be not,

at least not on the skin.

the time is now to cultivate

the traits not clearly seen.

that when the cover tatters,

they’ll shine forth from within.

58

dove just when i thought my time over

and nothing left worth my love,

a messenger floated from heaven

whispering gifts from above.

in a twinkling my heart was unfettered.

in that moment i finally knew,

the difference between life and living

is not what you have, but what you do.

59

balance balance is precarious

business. it is why we

swing our arms to walk.

if only our tongues

had such counterweights

to steady them when we talk.

60

freedom freedom is found in

the girl next door and the boy

who lives down the lane,

who march away from laughter

and dances, to where freedom

is yet to be gained.

61

evolution here and there

small revelations

push and prod our elevation

to peaks where, with a glance behind,

we see the solution for our minds

was never one of revolution,

but slow and steady evolution.

62

jest-iculation the wise will say a jest is just

a play on words, but the jester knows

where wisdom lies and where it goes.

and after all, men being dust,

i'd sooner a jester than a wise man trust.

63

gibberish some aspire ‘gainst mighty peaks.

some o’er tumultuous waves set sail.

some thru jungles dark and deep

flush out and over beasts prevail.

not i! my cap i’ve set not so!

i, to scratch the adventurous itch,

seek not tropics, sea, nor snow,

but plow the fields of gibberish.

64