Pages From John

Poems and Short Stories

  • I Lash, I Lash, I Lash

    Blame must be found to soothe my pain.

    For I will tell you now how the world spins.

    It is in a way that creates my fate.

    It must be the reason, I say, I say, I say!

    And then due to my lack, I lash, I lash, I lash.

    I tell you, blame must be found for the way things are.

    It is why I have made the choices again, again, again.

    It is the system, my neighbor, and my crazy past.

    Yes, I know so much more than how the world twirls.

    I also know where it should move and how!

    If only I were in charge of that strange fabric. 

    And yet it is not so, and so I lash, I lash, I lash.

    Getting nowhere closer to where I want to be, I lash, I lash, I lash.

    Until I finally see a dirty mirror, I lash, I lash, I lash.

    Seeing the blame, I lash, I lash, I lash.

  • Wide Open Spaces

    Looking forward to wide open spaces

    I feel constriction from a lack of walls

    Hoping for consolation on faces

    They stare blankly as I walk through the halls

    Is it all for nothing except a game?

    Is there really a prize healing shame?

  • Sandcastles

    On turbulent shores and windy skies,

    Opulent palaces begin with humble mud pies.

    Some with buckets and some only with hands,

    Many with blueprints and a few without any plans.

    Built up with different visions in mind,

    Sticks, shells, and feathers are enshrined.

    No matter how many towers or wings are constructed,

    The complete demolition will be conducted.

    So it goes on a visit to the beach,

    The sands smoothed out with the ocean’s reach.

  • The Torches Being Handed Down

    I can see a series of torches that have been lit across the world.

    I can see the high flag of love and freedom being unfurled.

    Unsure if we created love or if love created us…

    Or are we just confused love turned treacherous? 

    The echo is heard across every country and creed and time.

    But similarities are confused in each attempt at the elusive rhyme.

    Oh what mystery is beheld in the imagination of the soul.

    A fraction of infinity, not apart but the entire whole.

    The torch means nothing without the cold, surrounding dark.

    Dark is our challenging friend and wants to walk us through the park.

    The legacy protects itself through the voices of the broken hearted.

    All of the brave ones that looked at love and decided to get started.

    For love is the only work that makes you truly you.

    The personal uniqueness of our love is reality’s clue.