What I'd Give (A Picture Challenge Poem)

Soulful eyes, entrancing pools of grey,
How unfair is this little game you play -
The stare that launched a thousand sighs
is in full force in your gorgeous eyes -
What I'd give to have them fall on me.

Sun-kissed skin and tousled hair,
What makes you special and so rare
is the way you look so very good,
the way you look as perfection should -
What I'd give to be right with you there;
to feel your skin on mine.
What I'd give to sit by some shaded tree
with you, a content and loving stare
penetrating into me as I lazily, softly
play with your hair.

Lips so soft, tempting and sweet;
no wonder women fall at your feet!
And yet you are unaware of what you do -
tongue running over your lips rapidly,
the way you bite your bottom lip
is more than enough to make me slip
gladly into insanity, happily into ecstasy;
What I'd give to have your lips on me.
But alas, this can not ever be -
simply because you don't know me.
Sweet thoughts these are, but sad ones too,
What I'd give for these sweet thoughts to come true!

Special Places

This Laurel Canyon bed's not the same without you in it,
Till you come home, yeah, I'm counting every minute.
Don't know how I manage to keep it together,
Because my world revolves around you.
So I'll sit here waiting until you touch down
And I can hold you again.

Memories of you are all I can hold onto
Until you come back home to me.
So I'll picture all of the things we've done together,
Think of the places we've been,
The things that mean so much to me;
Our special places.

It's late and I'm tired, I answer the phone -
You called to tell me goodnight,
I tell you I love you, I tell you I miss you,
You laugh and tell me the same.
I miss the warmth of your body against me,
But all I can do now is wait.

Memories of you are all I can hold onto
Until you come back home to me.
So I'll picture all of the things we've done together,
Think of the places we've been,
The things that mean so much to me;
Our special places.

Oh, I'm so tired of all this distance between us -
It kills me.
But I will stay strong, and I will hold on,
Because I know that you'll be back soon.

Staring out windows and looking in doorways
I hope somehow to find you there.
Next time you call me, you're letting me know that you're days away from here,
The hardest part's over, the waiting is through, now I can almost see you
So baby, until I do

Memories of you are all I can hold onto
Until you come back home to me.
So I'll picture all of the things we've done together,
Think of the places we've been,
The things that mean so much to me;
Our special places.
Babe, please come back home soon
to me and our special places.

Nuts Girl

The first night that I met you, you had saltines in your hair,
You were really pretty drunk, but I just didn't care.
Little did I know you'd be the one I can't forget.
I'm in a mess - but I'll be the one that you'll always adore,
Be the one that you've been waiting for (right at your door)

Welcome to the crazy,
You said "come on boy, just take me! I'm your Nuts Girl."
Whatever life throws at me, know that I'll always be happy
'cause I'll have my Nuts Girl.
You know you'll always be my Nuts Girl.

Age is just a number,
As far as I can tell we're having fun
Why should that matter in the long-run?
If we're both happy then they should just let us be.

Welcome to the crazy,
You said "come on boy, just take me! I'm your Nuts Girl."
Whatever life throws at me, know that I'll always be happy
'cause I'll have my Nuts Girl.
You know you'll always be my Nuts Girl.

You said our life's a movie, well I tell you girl, you move me!
You don't need diamonds and rubies 'cause your so refined
and I'm so glad you're mine.
We're gonna stick together, come through any kind of weather,
Given time I know that we'll be fine.

Welcome to the crazy,
You said "come on boy, just take me! I'm your Nuts Girl."
Whatever life throws at me, know that I'll always be happy
'cause I'll have my Nuts Girl.
You know you'll always be my Nuts Girl.

Anticipation

This waiting game is so unfair,
You're running here and running there,
So much time I have to spend
dreaming until the day's end
of having you back here again,
but you are miles away.

On April 17th, my love,
you'll be in New York City -
what a pity!
For there is no way I could be
with you that day in NYC,
I'm scared of flying and don't have enough money
or time to take me there.
I don't care.
I'll watch and wait for photos of you
and wait until the glorious day
when you are back on home ground,
when I can feel nearer to you.

May 3rd will be that fateful day,
May 4th we'll be even closer
as I make my way into the dark cinema
and smile at the sight of your poster.
The movie will start and I'll feel so proud,
watching you prove people wrong,
That night, I'll come away happy, content
that I could see you again,
Even though really in my heart I know
we were never really together.
The thing is, you see,
knowing that won't stop me
from loving you forever.

Jacob

I: The Path

He, at such a tender age,
walked the path which paved the way
for many things;
Some great, some sad, some things for the best
and some for the worst.
Alas, his praises nobody sings.

He watched her every day in class,
frustrated and filled with desire,
His young heart knew not of what lay ahead,
His imminent baptism of fire.

A determined and strong young man was he,
Aware of his hopes and his fears,
as any gentleman should be.
He had knowledge beyond that of his years.

He knew of his main aim in life,
His career was perfectly mapped,
He would work hard, and he would strive
to keep his father's dream alive
and take over the family business.
However, at college, he felt he was trapped.
Trapped in a room, knee to knee with temptation,
Trapped in a room full of high expectation.
No, nobody sung his praises,
so he never thought he'd do any good,
not even she sung his praises,
but he still loved her as much as he could.

The path stretched out far ahead of him,
Stretched away to a life yet unknown,
And he walked on and on, right down it,
to his future - his hopes, his fears and his dreams.

II: The Struggle

That day started like any other - birds were singing high up in the trees,
The sun beat down warm on his shoulders, and his love was all he could see.
He knew not of just what lay ahead of him
that glorious, bright sunny day;
He knew not of the grief and despair lying dormant in his lecturer's chest,
Knew not of the things he would say
That would shake him, change his world forever.

He never expected that day to be taken aside,
His books and his dreams lying scattered as he cried
and learned of the terrible way his parents died.

A simple drive in the country had taken a turn for the worse,
and now all he could do on hearing the news was curse
everything he had,
all he knew,
what he wanted and loved.

Blinded by grief, he ran,
Knowing not just where he was bound,
Then by chance, on the first train he found
he jumped.
Whatever it was he was hoping to find
by boarding that train that day is unknown,
But it is certain he wanted to leave his old life behind,
and start anew in some fresh, green wondrous land.

He wasn't alone on the train that day;
Two other passengers kept him company
and finally told him just where he was headed -
The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show On Earth
was to be his new home.
It was certain, then, that he would not be alone.
Perhaps the struggle to grasp his parents' death,
his thoughtless escape
had all been for the best - perhaps the circus would bring him new hope,
distract him enough, with its mirrors and smoke
for him to truly start again.
Perhaps, he thought, I'll fall under the circus's spell.
Perhaps, he thought, as the train came on home, only time will tell.

III: Destiny

The young man was shunned by the kinkers at first,
left by the wayside, thrown in with the worst of the lot -
but he knew, and Marlena did, too, that he was a good young man.

Marlena, the Ringmaster August's wife,
Her mature beauty, her zest for life
caught his attention and he fell in deep.
Forbidden love, he thought, is best,
Yet it is such a torment, he never could rest
for thinking about her.
But she was not his.
She could not be his.
She somehow would be his.

Once he had settled in, he met Rosie.
He fell in love, now two had his heart in their grasp.
She loved him so much that she obeyed him faithfully
as he stroked her side and made commands in Polish -
he never once felt silly, never once felt a fool
for loving this pachyderm,
nor for harbouring a love so cruel
for his fair, sweet and dear Marlena.
His Marlena who was not his at all.
This, he thought, would not stop the fall.
August, he knew, did not like him much,
He knew that August knew his every move,
His every thought and his longing to touch
His Marlena
Without a word ever having passed between them.
August was cold, he knew of the freedom
Jacob and Marlena could have if he surrendered her to him.
But he could not - he was too proud of her,
She was his trophy, along with the show,
All this gave him power and status - she could never go;
August had a life far too good to leave.
Marlena, however, vehemently disagreed.
August could see this too - her love for Jacob.
The connection between the two was magnetic,
Compared to her love for Jacob, what she felt for August was pathetic.

Overcome with rage and confusion, August fought Jacob,
threatened him with death,
but Jacob retaliated just as well - he well and truly put August through hell
by stealing his woman and charming her easily,
leaving August powerless.

Later, after Marlena took her leave,
The two shared a tender night in a hotel,
cementing their love and their extraordinary tale.
After that night, they agreed, they would run;
By morning they would have a new life in the sun
and the green of the quaint New York countryside.
So they ran, and they married, made many a child
and lived in their wonderful postcard bliss,
Not one hint of remorse in each loving kiss.

Now, old and frail, he should not have been
so mad as to run away again - he was sick of the way things were;
so plain, formulaic, so much time to spare
when he could be doing what he really loved.
Marlena had gone, his children had grown,
now, he thought, since I am so alone,
Ringling called to him - he was young again.
Defiant, he looked up at the tall circus tent
"Why the hell shouldn't I run away with the circus?!"
Doubt quickly came and went.
So he, now ninety - or ninety-three - once again joined the circus;
for one final time, he fulfilled his destiny.

The Voice

A voice can do many things, be many things.
But your voice is unique - when you speak, you don't talk -
you sing.

Yours is the voice that can move me to tears,
Yours is the voice that can bring to the surface
all of my fears
And then quell them again.

Yours is the voice that is gentle and kind,
Yours is the voice that plays on in my mind
like a stuck record which I don't want to stop.

Yours is the voice that alleviates pressure,
Yours is the voice that can make me feel special
Even though I know you aren't speaking to me.

That voice of yours can make my heart stop,
It flutters and leaps, when every word leaks
from your perfect mouth.

Your voice can soothe me in the dark of night,
Your voice turns my life's wrongs to rights,
With each silken syllable your perfect mouth frames,
I long to see, long to hear you speak my name.

Your voice, for me, is a shoulder to cry on,
Your voice is one which I can rely on.

To fall so in love with a voice seems insane,
With your face, I'm in love -
Your personality, too;
but neither of these are the same.
I could look on your face,
listen to your voice all day,
Your face shows the outward sign of beauty,
But your voice really proves that it is your duty
To be exactly the kind man you are;
You won't change for anyone,
and that, amongst many other things, I admire.