poetry

[enigma]

It was perfect, as usual, Charlie. The last few days here, also, would make a lion wince. So glad I'm not a lion!

[charliegee]

perfect indeed ...

[charliegee]

with apologies to Joe Walsh ...

sixty-four years on this earth
give or take a month or three
and life has treated me just fine
I've had my share of heartache

like everyone else, my share of pain
most of it, I must admit ...
self-inflicted but there were times
when I was stopped in my tracks

dropped to my knees, brought low
and I would think, 'why me?' ...
'why now', never for a minute
realizing I was being taught ...

never for a second slowing
the onslaught of my thoughts
and looking, simply looking
at how I was living ...

how I was squandering
my precious inheritance
lying in the mud with the swine
hungry, beaten and alone ...

my wife's death was the latest
in these seeming catastrophes
these timely warnings that
something was amiss ...

something was
dreadfully wrong
difference is I was made to listen
this time, made to finally see

that I was going about things
all wrong ~ I mean 100% ...
in a very real sense then
her death brought me life

and still I worry, still I fret
obsess over imagined wrongs
puff up with pride over
not being noticed, not being seen

but life has taken care of me
god always had my back
and I can only say
with the deepest gratitude ...

lifes been good to me so far ...

CG 9/1/10

[charliegee]

sleep or the lack thereof ...

I slept for an hour
then awoke ...
so widely, wildly awoken
and here I am ...

2:48 AM ...
sitting here
writing this
music plays softly

you can't try
to sleep, you know
just doesn't
work like that ...

can't choose
to awaken either
they both happen
independently ...

independent of
who you are or
who you think
you are ...

especially
who you think
you are ...
turned off the TV

took the dog
for a walk ...
and now I'll take
the fourteen steps

back to the bedroom
to sleep or not to sleep
what happens, happens
independently of me

like totally ...

CG 9/1/10

[michaelsees]

Charliegee you are really very very good. these are wonderful poems. they carry a rare and unusual "real" feel. If you have not done this I would highly suggest you put them in a book for the world to enjoy.
I have often wondered what goes on in the head of a poetry writer. Do the words just come before the thought. I would think so. What a nice poem that would make. A poem about "the poetry writer"

thank you for these gems

michael

[charliegee]

thanks Michael ... I appreciate your comments ...

[charliegee]

one thing/is certain/there won't be/many days like this ~ truth is/there'll never/be/another one ~ the simple fact/that you're alive/on such/a day ~ is miracle enough/reason enough/to rejoice/give thanks ~ nothing is sadder/than one/who sees darkness/in the midst of light ~ may your/sense of gratitude/light the spark/of those ~ who have/lost their way/that they may/see your smile ~ and rediscover their own .... CG 3/9/10

[charliegee]

simply grand ...

why is it the longer
we live, the harder
it is to discover
just what it is ...

that life is about
gives me a chuckle
to hear people say
they wish they knew then

what they know now
its the opposite with me
well, not even that ...
didn't know sh*t then

don't know sh*t now
oh, there's a thousand
boxes you can put
your life in and hope

hope for a good fit but
none of the boxes are
big enough to hold life
though people will try

they'll fight and kill because
of the boxes they've chosen
the boxes they're born into
I understand, we all want to

to believe there's a meaning
to all of this ~ that after our
sixty ~ seventy ~ eighty
years on earth that there's

something ~ something
to show for it ...
can't we live, can't we love
without any of this ...

without idea, belief
without creed, without need
to persecute one another
because they don't see things

the way we do ...
the sacred way that we do
you know, the old saying goes
'I'll believe it when I see it' ...

think we got that one wrong
think that maybe, just maybe
we see things because
we believe them ...

as this journey winds down
for me, I find a simplification
taking place, nothing I'm doing
something that is being done

independent of me ...
I'm just the witness of it all
watching things fall away
beliefs, ideas, identifications

I watch as freedom
takes form in its formless
holy way and all things
become sacred, all things

become new ...
my entry into death
has led to a life
I never dreamed possible

I did know then
what I know now
'nothing' ~ and it's grand
crazy, insane and just grand ...

CG 9/4/10

[charliegee]

'til the next time I fall ...

'til the next time I fall
I will weave toward the light
I will cleave to what's right
take leave of the night
stay strong through it all
'til the next time I fall

'til the next time I fall
may my virtue increase
and my selfishness cease
I shall seek the lord's peace
as I answer his call
'til the next time I frall

'til the next time I fall
each day I will pray
praise god all the day
I will walk the lord's way
and try to stand tall
'til the next time I fall

'til the next time I fall
may your mercy attend me
both keep me and send me
may I always defend thee
when I'm thrown to the wall
'til the next time I fall

'til the next time I fall
when there's no consolation
only doubt, desperation
may I give adoration
as your love, I recall
'til the next time I fall

CG 12/13/o4

[charliegee]

wide awake and dreaming ...

wide awake and dreaming
before the dawn arrives
lost in thought, I question
the meaning of our lives

these days, so full of sorrow
pregnant with our pain
what riches can we gather
what wisdom do we gain

wide awake and dreaming
I light my cigarette
so easily, I doubt you
so soon, do I forget

you've always been my comfort
and now the tables turn
now I am without you
yet still for you, I yearn

the joys of life, they tempt me
but only leave me cold
I need to have you near me
now, as I grow old

oh god of grace and mercy
your love is what I need
your presence deep inside me
no longer to recede

love is never easy
I wake to find you gone
I'm left alone to wonder
in the stillness of the dawn

my faith will have to hold me
my faith will have to do
'til wide awake and dreaming
you bring me home to you

CG May 2005 ...
See More

[charliegee]

prayer ...

sit with me in stillness
sit and take it in ...
let your thoughts roam freely
find the god within ...

he waits beneath the clamor
the chatter of the mind
all words will ill define him
all concepts come up blind

the silence is his language
peace is his discourse
his grace just like a river
follows its own course

and in a gentle murmur
he calls to those who wait
who walk in night's dominion
to come upon their fate

they sense no easy answer
expect no fabled signs
they sit expecting nothing
where the fruit of wisdom shines

they live their lives as strangers
not keeping what they've found
their methods bare of meaning
a ball of yarn unwound ...

so sit there in the quiet
there's nothing left to do
we'll wait for him together
we'll pray he sees us through

CG 1/25/05

[charliegee]

your mercy ...

I have come to love you
you did not coerce me
I have come to love you
by reason of your mercy

by learning that your mercy
is greater than my sin
seeing your forgiveness
will always take me in

my guilt once overtook me
and crippled me inside
you stepped in and shook me
showed me it was pride

I remember feeling banished
from your love I was excluded
what joy it was to realize
in your grace, I was included

oh lord, how can I thank you
for a love that's undeserved
it's hard to understand
a love so unreserved

I have come to love you
to you is where I turn
in gratitude and gladness
your mercy for to learn

CG 1/27/05

[charliegee]

I am the distance ...

I (in my way)
get in yours
I am the distance
the gap, the span

the abyss
that separates us
I am the middle
the in-between

that prevents the beginning
from reaching the end
I am the wall, the barrier
the partition ...

you are here
immediate, untouched
yet, moved by my plight
I am the distance ...

CG 4/29/05

[charliegee]

another look ...

a simple question
do we consciously breathe
do we cause the blood
to flow through our veins

and the heart, it beats
entirely on its own ...
I'm no biologist
but I'm sure there are

many other examples
of the body running
on its own, so the question
is, the question comes

to this, only this ...
do we live or is something
living through us? ...
our thoughts, are they ours?

and free will ...
does it really exist?
or is it just another
illusion, another grand illusion?

and if it proves out
if it happens to be
that we're not as
in control of our lives

as was previously thought
would it really be that bad?
if we had to surrender
a bit of our power ...

and lie prone, lie prostrate
at the feet of mystery ...
to see that we are inexplicable
unclassifiable ...

would that be so bad?
then we'd have to see
that all previous definitions
well-intentioned as they may be

would always fall short
of who, of what we actually are
it would seem to engender
two possible responses ...

one, a deeper appreciation
of who we are and necessarily
a newfound respect for all others
fellow travelers on this big, blue globe

or to just dismiss it, go on as if
nothing ever happened, and really
nothing has ~ will it be business as usual ~
greed and self-service ...

the order of the day ...
seems like the choice
was always there
but as life on this planet

is threatened in so many ways
maybe, it's time we took a look
around, got out of our own way
yeah, maybe it's time ....

to take another look ...

CG 9/5/10

[charliegee]

gratitude ...

keep it simple
that's what I'm told
should be easy, no?
well, not exactly ...

I always manage
to complicate things
reading too much into
the plainest things ...

looking for the angle
the answer, the hidden
meaning, when clearly
to everyone but me

there just isn't any
angle ~ and what is
is simply 'what is'
and that's that ...

to get right down to it
what is it that I really need
that I don't already have
a million dollars, you say

well, besides that
which I really don't 'need'
anyway ~ cause the truth is
I don't need anything more

than what I already have
let's see, I woke up
made coffee, and now
I'm sitting here writing this

more than this? ...

more than this? ...

CG 9/6/10