Peppermint Mocha

Just a little something I wrote for a class and found today. Didn't have time to polish it up so please excuse the mistakes and errors.


Peppermint Mocha

Today I arrived at the café as usual. I order my usual mocha and went to my usual spot. But there was something unusual about today. Today she sat in my usual spot. The girl I had never seen before in my life. I took my drink and took my seat, across from her, somewhat puzzled and intrigued. She was gorgeous, that was certain. And she was reading a book. A book on philosophy. So she was smart too. Gorgeous and smart. Now there was a combination. She looked up from her book and I looked down at my laptop. I looked back up just as she quickly looked down. Then she shyly looked up and our eyes met. And in that instant she smiled. And I smiled back. I sipped my mocha and was surprised. Surprised that there was something new in it. Peppermint. Just like her, it was unexpected but serendipitous.

_____________________________

Today I talked to her. It took several encounters but gradually I got the nerve to walk over and introduce myself. We talked. For a long time. I was late for work. But I didn’t care. The next day and the next day and the day after that, we talked and laughed and cried and life seemed warmer and full of life. We grew closer as days became weeks, weeks became months, and before we knew it, fall had passed and winter had come. In those cold winter months, just the thought of her smiling face brought warmth to my soul. It was like the warmth of the smooth milk in my peppermint mocha, my new favorite drink. Whenever I sipped it, I thought of her.
_____________________________

Today is the best day of my life. My heart keeps pounding. I can’t stop smiling. Am I dreaming? No, I’m not. Because I know I can’t sleep at night either. Because life is so much better than a dream now. Why? Because I told her. I told her I love her. And she said she loved me too. And we kissed! It was amazing. Out in the snow, in front of the café, the linger taste of the peppermint mocha’s chocolate still there. Like the chocolate, smooth and warm and sweet and spicy and comforting. How can I describe that kiss but amazing!
_____________________________

Today I sit here alone in the café. She is gone. She said I’d be okay. She said we both knew it was coming. She said we could still be friends. Now I’m sitting here alone. Listening to the oppressive silence without her. Feeling the emptiness without her. Sipping my last peppermint mocha, because now, all I can taste is the bitterness of the espresso. And of love.

Goodnight

I missed you tonight
So much that it ached
My heart fell apart
When you weren't there
I looked to my side
Alone in the crowd
I wanted you there
Your scent in the air
But I can't see your face
So clearly anymore
Tears have a funny way
Of making us blind
Are you still there
Is anyone out there
Or am I alone tonight
Again
The walls fall in
The ground gives way
The night draws closer
Goodnight

Waves

Like waves upon the shore
We wave back and forth
Running upon the sand
Drawing back again

Like waves upon the rocks
we have fallen on hard things
But with each fall and withdraw
We will wear away even this

Like waves upon the sand
We'll let temporary lines wash away
Only to reveal beneath it all
The most precious of life's treasures

Like waves upon the sea
We rise and fall and rise once more
Because we are a party of something bigger
And the moon still moves us

Blotted Signals

It was a simple sentence
Jumbled words in simple order
It was a thoughtless phrase
Never twice considered
But what leaked from your pen
and bled down the page
An ominous ink blot
Maybe something?
Never nothing.
Where do whispers leave their marks?
Where echoes imprint yesterday's repetitions
Why confuse your readers so?
Unintentional prophecy that rewinds life
Autumn repeating over and again
What blot proceeded this thought
Summer is almost over
Is the sun saying goodbye again?
Will winter come to another heart...

To J.S. with all my enduring enmity

Ever more and more
I come to see
Your face as the item
Of my single hatred
Your confining eyes
That trap all ideas inside
That little shake
Of your brain dead head
When you dismiss me
Like some loathsome stain
You have scraped me down
Upon your welcome mat
Embracing me with daggers
And smiles
Your despicable lies
Choke my soul
And break the strength of my bones
I have never hated anyone
More than I hate you
But wait
One day
You’ll need me there
And I just won’t care
I’ll smile that same smile
You always grin at me
And I’ll say the same words
Your repetitive phrases
Of trite nothingness
What makes me hate you?
What causes this gash?
What makes my pen spill
With words so rash?
That I would even
Dare my soul to utter
That it is well and good
You will never be a father
But that curse, I stay,
It shall not depart my lips
For I know something far worse
This too shall eclipse
Hope once found
Shall shatter still stronger
Then no more will you have
Thoughts that are longer
These mysteries are plain
Or sooner will be
But for now I’ll smile
And take all your scorn
Within me
Continue on this path
O foul vexed man
And you will not like the end
Of your story
.

Quid Pro Quo

It's all rather elementary
It's really just that simple
You give a little something
You get a little bit
That's what makes the world go round

He said this to me as he stepped from the stage
Where the limelight fell like dust of his yesterdays
He said this to me as he showed me the empty hole
Where his heart once was.... so I wonder

Is it all just elementary?
Is it really all plain and simple?
Do you really ever just give a little?
Do you ever really get even a bit?
That's what makes the world go round
Love is what makes the world go round

Propinquity

I may be in over my head here...
I may be swimming too far out...
I may be loosing my grip soon...
If I keep hanging onto this cloud...

The push to decide is ever pressing
The weight in my heart could crush the world
I can't seem to find the compass point now
As it keeps pointing between here and there

A step and I'm out in the open
My heart will be in the cross hairs
Is it fear that keeps me waiting?
Fear of a mistake I couldn't bare

All the world's one big show, yeah
All the world is a symphony
But will my life play the same tune
Or will it break the droll harmony?

I may be in over my head here...
(Have I lost my mind to think this?)
I may be swimming too far out...
(Have I already gone too far?)
I may be loosing my grip soon...
(Did I really ever have it?)
If I keep hanging onto this cloud...
(If I keep finding faces in the clouds...)

Twilight of the Soul

Did you see him sitting all alone
With his back to all he'd ever known
Did you feel his breaking heart alone
As pieces fell from his soul?

When the sky grew soft and ashen white
And the earth became too cold
When his eyes were clouded with the sight
And time grew unsteadily old

Footsteps on this lonely path
It's alright, he's walked here before
He'll walk it some more
He's slowly slipping to the floor, to the door

Hidden far beneath his smiles
He cries beyond your sight
And he's gone for too many miles
And it all comes down to tonight

Breaking hearts make no sound
We break them easily
Shattered glass makes no sound
As this body breaks free

This mirror grows darker now
As this path winds to its end
Turn these eyes from themselves
Or will there be one less ________
If he only had a __________

Untitled Soul

You may have noticed
You may have seen
That these last few poems
Lacked titles or meaning

But maybe you saw
Maybe you caught a sight
That hidden deep within them
Are a sign and a fight

A three way battle
Over a worthless plot
A raging whirlpool
Sucking each tittle and jot

Where the world grows flat
And the sky turns sick blue
At the end of the bare road
Will it be them or you?

What is this meaning?
You think you know, but do you?
Reread them if you dare now
And if you catch it what will you do?

Give them titles, see if you can
When the meanings come together
Will you be able to stand?

The words are drying up now
They grow together fast
When we figure out how at last

The excuses like creeks in the summer
Are beginning to blow away
As things get hotter and closer day by day

Are they merely empty poetic musing
Meant to be misleading and
Confusing

Or has a part of me leaked from my pen
What will you do then?

Less is more, so they say
So less I say then day by day

Where does this winding river flow?
As far down it as you will go?

The end draws near for someone's dream

Though endings aren't as bad as they seem

Can you taste the rain in the air

The good things coming before they're there

Coming to take away this care

Where

You'll fare

Better as you dare

Your heart to bare

Take care

Beware

Where?

There.
.
.
.

.

.


.

You toy with me at every chance
A fleeting butterfly always out of reach
You flit between my fingers and the cracks in my heart
Weaving in places few have known

I cannot trust this sandy base
I cannot build upon the wasted land
I dare not let myself take a breath
When you get this close to me

Shackles weigh upon my legs
They stop the race before it starts
Where certain roads are pleasant paths
Their ends are far from the distant sea

I cannot let this feeling grow
But yet, perhaps, just a little while more
Perhaps, perhaps, playing with fire
Will not burn me, if I keep control

Can I keep control of my heart and desires
Would I want to, once my feet touch this slippery road
I dare not breathe when you're this close to me
Will I go my life, breathlessly by your side?

These childish thoughts, baseless and primal
Dwell in the darkest caverns of my primordial soul
Where the flesh rules king over my feelings
I will not descend into this dark hole

To fight the moment and triumph the instant
To have farther vision then the here and now
To persevere through fear and momentary desire
That is what set humans apart from the beasts

But sometimes that beastly nature still rages
And threatens the sanity of the celestial city
And in the midst of this war across my natures
I can only hold my breath when you draw near to me