A barred owl starts to have his say
from a lone ridge not far away
just as the shadows start to merge
and east sky fades from blue to gray
informing me it's time to go.

Go home now, my tired bones urge
before the dimmer stars emerge.
Time to leave these woods behind
ere daylight is completely purged
taking the quarter moon in tow.

I've found what I came here to find
a quieter more peaceful mind
in lands that pay me little heed
nor make allowance for mankind
yet tolerate me even so.

EPIPHANIES

I let my silence speak
what words fail to tell…..
meaningless is the flow
of metaphor and rhyme
when you only see
a shadow of me
in space and time.

I wonnder at life's mysteries
and seem to wander too deeply
into myself
only to discover
there are no epiphanies

.

Once,
so long ago now, it seems;
Every thing touched
& everywhere
that I turned,
her scent permeated
both air & skin.

.

I feel your joy mamma,
as in the morning sun,
light strikes the diamonds on the trees,
their dripping
makes a music for my thoughts,
shakes bare bushes down below,
as when you too,
went out in morning's air, rejoiced,
took deep breaths, filled your lungs, 
and doing so filled your heart with songs
of happiness, so glad,
not mad you'd say,
just sensing all around,
allowing nature to whisper,
thud, in notes of natural things.

What of love, true you say
Over the ages
I’ve read in many pages
folks trying to define love
in its myriad forms

Some say its infatuation
others it’s lust
many think about it as
singular sex

Moms love can hardly be so included

But in two human beings
of a certain age
and opposite nature
love springs like a fountain
from mid oceanic water

The wind hums a lullaby
In the heart of a forest
Deep asleep.
A brook flows
Like cymbals played in tranquility
Accompanied by the lovely silence
Of reverie.

The trees and the flowers
Sway in the gentle summer gust
The reeds by the river bank
Play their lovely flutes
- Echoing on and on.

The birds on the old branches
Chirp sweetly
Along with the toads
On top of lily pads
Floating on a pond
Deep in slumber.

To be beside the sea
mind and body in harmony
listening to the sea’s symphony
a water creature is me
feels like heaven ought to be

I waited for you
all my life

like the darkness
is my day
you are my planet
I'm just a moon

I love you
as certainly
I'll never
love again

These dark things
I shelter in my mind
fearing to reveal
and to lose control

You've asked me why
and repeatedly
how I love you
and when I fell

My only answer ?

I waited for you
all my life

The Life That I Have

The life that I have
Is all that I have
And the life that I have
Is yours

The love that I have
Of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours.

A sleep I shall have
A rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause
For the peace of my years
In the long green grass
Will be yours and yours and yours.

Leo Marks

Today I'm taking back my power
And I want to let you know
I'm no longer yours to control
Its time for you to go

No longer will I think of you
I will not speak your name
You've brought nothing but pain to me
And unimaginable shame

But I realise now that its not me
Who should feel the guilt and blame
Because its you who made the choice
To hurt me like its just a game