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Post by charliegee on Aug 24, 2012 23:34:20 GMT -5
up and at 'em
started out a not so good day
tired, achy, vaguely out of sorts
it was about 1:40 and the next bus
into the city was at 2:01
didn't really want to stay home
so I sprayed some cologne over my stinky parts
with the proviso that I'd shower later
slapped a hat over my uncombed locks
put on some shades and off I went
heck, nobody changed seats when
they sat next to me so I was good to go
didn't know what I was gonna do
so I made it a typical Charlie day
just go where the day took me
figured I'd check out a few Daffy's clothes stores
'cause they were going out of business
and I reckoned a few bargains were out there waiting for me
let me explain that I am a hat and shoe addict
so that was my intent and my ultimate goal
at the 57th street store I grabbed a few hats
some tee shirts and a great pair of shoes
but the line was too deep and I didn't stay
so I made it down to the 18th street store and scored
some cool gray boots and a few tee-shirts
then walked through Union Square Park
past some farmer's market stands
with freshly baked breads, heirloom tomatoes
fresh fish, wine and other stuff
stopped to watch some Hari Krishnas
first time I saw them with a sax though
then I caught the uptown #6 express train
and called the day a good one
charlie giardino 8/25/12
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Post by charliegee on Aug 25, 2012 15:23:57 GMT -5
out on a limb
two leaves on a tree
kind of high up
they turned their faces
toward the sun each morning
and delighted in the afternoon rain
one day they looked at each other
and something happened
something very different from other times
they felt something for each other
something they couldn't explain
but felt very deeply
seasons change and age started to surface
and suddenly she was brown around the edges
and losing her moisture, her vitality
he did what he could and prayed she would recover
but time takes its toll and death comes to us all
she fell one day into the wind and down to the ground
he watched her flutter down and settle
into a pile of yellow and brown
he prays he will see her again for she
was the only one he ever loved
his time will come as it comes to us all
and then he will see what he will see
charlie giardino 8/25/12
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Post by charliegee on Aug 27, 2012 15:26:23 GMT -5
days of gray
the sadness comes
sure as sin, it lurks
it waits, it watches
so very patiently
though there's not always a reason
least not an obvious one
it can cut through
the shine of a sunny day
and dust it down
until the gray surrounds
love is meant to die
one way or another
it knows this
and exploits every opportunity
resurrecting memories
songs, familiar places
you kind of get used to it
and though you never actually welcome it
you can sit with it knowing it will pass
the tears cleanse your weary soul
the sadness comes
sure as sin
but joy comes in the morning
charlie giardino 8/27/12
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Post by charliegee on Aug 27, 2012 15:53:35 GMT -5
once
I was there in your eyes
they reflected my soul
I was there once
in the long, long ago
charlie gee 8/27/12
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Post by charliegee on Aug 27, 2012 16:05:23 GMT -5
simple question
this guy in my building
the one with the '68 Volvo
that he treats like a sick child
fussing over her, getting her what she needs
and it shows, the damn thing sparkles
well, we were waiting for the elevator
and he asks me if I missed my wife
it took some brainpower to answer
because the question was so startling
but he wasn't being malicious
he told me his 25th anniversary
was next week and...
he didn't know what he would do without her
I rattled off one platitude or another
but when I got to my apartment, I asked myself
what do you do without her?
when everything in your life was about her
charlie giardino 8/27/12
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Post by charliegee on Aug 27, 2012 23:41:47 GMT -5
my own true love
two days of free concerts in NYC
Charlie Parker Jazz Festival
in Tompkins Square Park yesterday
crowded with old and new hippies
some old school be-boppers
and everything in between
we sat across from a group
of Russians from the neighborhood
which had been theirs almost exclusively
for a time but has gone through
many incarnations since
from a heroin haven to its present
yuppification but its all cool
we imagined we understood
what the Russians were saying
and nodded our heads to the music
which was wonderful
funny how you can be in a park
in New York City and feel almost pastoral
then step outside into a completely new world
and tonight a doo-wop concert in the Bronx
a bunch of mostly white, mostly old
and mostly delighted folks hearing
the music of their youth
it was a lovely summer night
and at one point they played an old love song
and a couple got up to dance
my heart stopped as tears fell
and I remembered you
my own true love
charlie giardino 8/28/12
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Post by charliegee on Aug 28, 2012 3:43:39 GMT -5
a little story
I'm gonna tell you a little story
about a guy I used to know
pleasant enough sort
easygoing and all that
did what he had to do
but not much more
he lessened the path
of least resistance
thought he was fooling someone
going through motions
while withholding emotions
he got to using chemicals
to help keep them feelings in
thought he was cool
but he was damn near cold
maybe lukewarm is a better word
and deep down he feared
being spit out of some
important mouths
but he played the game well
maybe a little too well
maybe if he broke sooner
things coulda been better quicker
something we'll never know
he did break though
a little later than some
but it was the best thing
that ever blew down his street
that grief, that sorrow
well, they teach you things
you can't learn any other way
you see, he lost his beloved
and damn near went crazy
in a haze of sorrow and addiction
he threw up a hail mary pass
and god made a fine catch
and brought him over the goal line
yeah, I knew him pretty well
but he ain't there when I look
in the mirror in the morning
sure looks like him though
sure enough does...
charlie giardino 8/28/12
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Post by laughter on Aug 28, 2012 4:05:08 GMT -5
the veil she walks to me now on the archway of dreams her voice echoes softly bidding me to come casting aside my sins dismissing all my lies she wants only me the heart of me that she knows so well all I want is her her immaculate beauty her unblemished soul and so we meet briefly nothing to separate us nothing, that is but life and death charlie giardino 8/22/12 Haunted and haunting shivers Charlie. Really beautiful man. |
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Post by charliegee on Aug 28, 2012 10:50:28 GMT -5
thank you so much, laughter... honored & humbled...
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Post by charliegee on Aug 28, 2012 10:51:21 GMT -5
light giver
you never talked about dying
least not while you were living
you just simply went about
the business of forgiving
and everybody saw it
everyone who knew you
we just stood there basking in
the grace that poured right through you
charlie giardino 8/28/12
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Post by charliegee on Aug 29, 2012 14:36:10 GMT -5
simple as that
on mornings like this
I miss you so much
with skies clear as glass
wouldn't it be a wonder
to walk together holding hands
through the days of love
when loss wasn't something
to contend with...
when having you near
precluded going without you
everyone tells me I'm a lucky one
and I'd be a fool to deny it
one moment with you
is worth a thousand lifetimes
but the emptiness is just as deep
it is a bottomless pit
with nothing to hold unto
the fall is precipitous
broken only by moments of grace
cushions of gratitude to lay my head on
as if they were your lap
and you were stroking my hair
somewhere, anywhere
together...
how did I not see this
before it happened?
how did I not treasure
every waking moment together?
regrets are pointless, you say
that very well may be
and I've thought it all through
the loss, the gratitude
and the simplicity of it all
sobers me like a shock of ice water
waking you from sleep
it's only that I miss you
it's only that I love you
that's all really...
that's all...
charlie gee 8/29/12
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Post by charliegee on Aug 29, 2012 22:15:01 GMT -5
grief
phases, stages, fits and rages
missing you more than ever lately
and here it is three and a half years
sometimes you even suppose
you have a handle on such things
but handles can break off
and you realize you're carrying
wisps of memory, shades of things
it's almost unreal and yet too real
she's gone, it still hurts to say it
tears at your heart, you know it
and don't want to know it
everything points to her absence
but your heart is stubborn
it holds on to impossibilities
it dreams its dreams
knowing full well
that outcomes can't change
but I love you, damn it
and I want you here
is that too hard to understand?
I cry for you, I cry for me
I cry for me not having you
there's a hole in me
only you could fill
and yet, I love
my heart has been shattered
splattered across the skies
and in place of it is this
bruised and tattered organ
that somehow finds a way
to thank god for his life
though he has no real reason
to do so...
the terrible mercy of god
that takes what it gives
and expects thanks for it
and somehow I do...
somehow I do...
charlie giardino 8/29/12
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Post by charliegee on Aug 30, 2012 15:31:46 GMT -5
new day
the tears have dried on the pillow
the sun shines, it glints off the bay
the sorrow has gone for the moment
there's joy in the start of the day
after the darkness, the light comes
never a moment to waste
after the tears come the laughter
after the grace comes the grace
charlie gee 8/30/12
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Post by charliegee on Aug 30, 2012 22:47:59 GMT -5
the whole nine yards
the darkness is the light
the pain is the joy
the happiness is the sorrow
interwoven, seamless garment
of love...
charlie giardino 8/30/12
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Post by charliegee on Aug 31, 2012 5:53:11 GMT -5
light duty
I'll be going on part-time duty soon
right now my job consists of
getting to my daughter's house by 7:00 AM
to watch my granddaughters
while she does her hospital rounds
as a pharmacy tech at a local hospital
I also fall asleep for a few hours
starting when 'Let's Make a Deal' comes on
pity 'cause I'm starting to enjoy that show
and haven't a clue why...
next week when they go back to school
I can go back to sleeping late
hey, somebody's gotta do it...
charlie giardino 8/31/12
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