So many young folks get married without actually understanding what true love is, and consequently end up in a stormy marriage, always battling for a love that seems to be forever beyond their reach. This tanka is for them:
the battle you fight
for love can only be won
by surrendering
for love cannot be taken;
it must be given to us
–photo by me
love is like the sea,
endlessly lapping at
our rocky shores;
in time, it fashions
our sandy beaches
and yet remains
unchanged
–photo by me
I thought I knew what love was
Until I watched a father push his crippled son
the entire length of a marathon, 26.2 miles,
in a home-made bed on wheels
I thought I knew what love was
–photo by me
Starlight falls out of the skies
And settles in her upturned eyes
She peers into the jeweled vault
Until the sun begins to rise
An amateur astronomer
She knows the moons of Jupiter
Orion’s belt and Saturn’s rings
She loves the stars like I love her
I hope someday she’ll love me too
But I will not obstruct her view
Or take the stars out of her eyes
My love for her is tried and true
(orig. posted 10/17)
–Image by Pinterest
My brother used to beat me
My mother used a switch
My wife cut up my yearbook
My kids must think I’m rich
My grandkids overrun me
And cause me daily strife–
I guess it’s pretty obvious
I’ve been loved all my life
jealousy and anger
they’re not even real
we just made them up
cuz there’s worse things to feel
like heartbreak and sorrow
the heart of the fray
we’d pretend anything
if they’d just go away
on our grand wedding day
when our mates said, ‘I do’
did we ever assume
we were forcing them to
release them we must
from our ill-conceived plan
cuz nothing shows love
more than real love can
and when love comes back
on it’s own you will know
that to feel true love
you must first let it go
Crazy Carol is the most beautiful girl
I’ve ever seen, yet she is very alone.
She slinks around town with her dog
In that same old Goodwill ensemble
And is quite confused that everyone
Acts so nice and friendly to her face,
Yet no one wants to be a real friend.
Standing before her spider-webbed
Full-length mirror, she sees herself
Broken up into all those pieces and
Asks aloud, “Could it be the cracks?”
Well, maybe I’m crazy too, because
I’m falling for her, craziness and all.
I sat at the window
In my lonely house
And scrutinized the
Sad summer moon.
Find another lover
On the lawn below,
A lurking black cat
Shape-shifted thru
Indistinct shadows.
Move on, she’d said
The soft moonlight
Somehow soothed
The all-enveloping
Sorrow in my soul.
Swear it on my life
I reluctantly got up
And threw my butt
Away as well as my
Old marriage vows.
You made a promise
In minutes, I was at
A single’s bar, both
Hoping and hoping
Not to find a lover.
michaeljordahl 