My son the rock star is going to play Las Vegas where all of the secrets stay
But he likes secrets knowing he has come From family with more secrets than some Pezzo novante up there on the screen: Family business (you know what I mean) Bobbing and weaving making a living
We have a little problem forgiving
Not always pretty it can get gritty But it is understood we must look good Just mind your manners in the neighborhood Eyes open mouth shut where night spends its days No one knows anything (maybe crime pays)
I am the white sheep of my family Fredo... the poet... this misfit you see But still I remember never forget And are my children of the blood (you bet)?
So I will write my poetry (just never mess with me) And if you like it or do not we are polite: agree?
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 27, 2005, 5:52 am
Silent Singing Which Cannot Be Stilled
I cannot fail to find the night is filled With magic bursting at the seams of sky With silent singing which cannot be stilled With beauty so intense it makes me cry
The wonder of it all so great so small The universe within my hand as I Bounce on the spacetime fabric like a ball And though I have no wings embracing fly At one with all with everything the tide Of time takes me on one hell of a ride
Do you believe in miracles tonight? The spacetime fabric is our trampoline Let go and fall and bounce: it feels so right Just try it once and find out what I mean
And we will never again want to go Where they only think but they never know That they cannot know since they cannot feel The difference between what they believe To be real and that which is truly real I want to spend the night and never leave
Let go and fall and bounce: it feels so right And your mind too will find the night is filled With silent singing which cannot be stilled You will believe in miracles tonight
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 26, 2005, 10:19 pm
Feline Celibacy: Some Idiot Will Say This is Not a Sonnet
Have you ever been tempted to say When pursued to avoid being rude That you are gay Though you are not To get away No matter what?
There is this one: when I think of her Though I enjoy the opposite sex I wish I were And wish I could Escape her hex Be understood As celibate with a big fat cat Be left alone and leave it at that
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 26, 2005, 7:13 pm
Never Write Honestly? (Apparently!)
(Your attention please: The following poem is a JOKE; please do not attack nor analyze me! Thank you! +Stevie)
So many have said so much about me I cannot write anything anymore Without imagining how it will be To be lectured until I start to snore
The super-duper patriots moved on Giving up on me no doubt as hopeless I rejoice at this relief I confess But here where it is darkest before dawn As I wait for my last book to be born I shudder to anticipate the morn And the scrutiny of shrinkadoodles Should I post a poem on OthersPen
Only my three kids and Freddie Noodles Understand me I guess and get it when I write from my heart (which I was taught was good) And practice my art (now so misunderstood)
Dear analysts: calm down! As I leave town For a little rest I wish you the best (And before anybody else has a cow I must struggle to write something silly now)
I will try to keep my feelings to myself And shut them up in books for a dusty shelf
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 25, 2005, 3:19 pm
Soon
I remember hearing my mother say Of herself "it is all over for me" I knew it was true as she spoke that day When my mother became a memory
I used to feed her ice cream with a spoon She said "now we are both of us crazy" I can see her broken smile in the moon And hear her cry when midnight is hazy
I will go and be with my mother soon I was so disappointed in this life No future now no hope no love no wife Fifty at last and alone with my past
Just one more book and then that will be all Each moment brings me closer to release The wind will teach this leaf to fly this fall This beaten beating heart becalmed to peace
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 24, 2005, 9:52 pm
The Moon is Made of Dreams
for lovers
Though the footprints of mere man are marked into it Though thoroughly studied and scrutinized these years The moon holds magic and nothing can undo it Not dust and rock but lovers' laughter lovers' tears Above all else it seems the moon is made of dreams
The stars are frozen tears the moon will melt my heart Tonight all nights our years reflected in our art If I should die before I wake my soul shall take The memory of the moon to eternity Forevermore the shadows of the moon and me
Above all else it seems the moon is made of dreams
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 24, 2005, 6:26 pm
Transcendental Sonnet #1412: Two Cowards
He called me a "sociopath" Since he could not spell polymath Not that he ever heard of it Being a blowhard full of sh*t His protege tried "predator" No one had called me that before But this rooster and his booster
Two monkeys swung down from the trees To spread their sociopathies Small predators large cowards these Two losers who would be writers Gossiping bantam cockfighters As fate honors me to my face Two cowards sow their own disgrace
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 24, 2005, 12:47 am
The Relativity of Reality
What I thought was the moon was a bare bulb reflected In wavy old glass in the window of the bathroom Whereas the actual moon was neatly bisected Flat on one side when I ventured outside of the womb Which is this place and saw it floating there in the sky
Finding this comforting I was glad it happened I Made that mistake or I might never have gone outside This is the sort of thing which takes place when worlds collide Light bulbs with flat-sided moons apples with red balloons
Then I ask: Is it analogy or is it me? Then I know: It is whatever I want it to be
I love the relativity of reality!
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 23, 2005, 8:23 am
Dark in the Park
Lynx-like tufts of hair festooned his ears His cheeks were covered with carpet tacks He unselfconsciously wore his years As green turtles wear shells on their backs
His teeth were brown and silver and gold It seemed some spiders had spun his hair And he never came in from the cold But he brought it with him everywhere
And who he was I will never know But then nobody else will either He repelled but fascinated so Was here nor there yet both and neither
When he looked in my eyes I could see That he was blind but had left behind Back there somewhere all complacency He was completely out of his mind
How I have tried and failed to forget His face as he emerged from the dark That night so long ago in the park Maybe someday I can but not yet
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 21, 2005, 9:02 pm
On Time
for Franziska
I questioned the clock but It struck me as it stuck To its tick-tock story That it never knew what It was ticking about
So why should I worry About what something thought Which never stops to think Tick-tocking to the brink?
I went away without The certainty of time I know what it will say Tomorrow as today A pleasant mocking chime
It cannot stop to ask But answers on the hour Relentless in its task Mechanical with power
Ordering the lives of Those who are not in love
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 20, 2005, 8:33 pm
Out There Where the Sun is Shining
There is hope for me and I can feel it Tears to diamonds refining Destiny unfolding to reveal it Out there where the sun is shining I can make a deal with fate and seal it With a kiss forever just like this
I can see my life is changing Healing growing rearranging Things are looking up for me and so Wish me luck my friends now as I go Tears to diamonds refining Where it shines out there for me I know:
Out there where the sun is shining
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 20, 2005, 2:47 pm
Transcendental Sonnet #1411: April Come December
Forgiving is easy forgetting is not Some people tell me and they say it is true Your life has shattered now and a jagged shard Is all you have left now so what have you got?
From one shard to another both things are hard Nor do I have a clever answer for you I cannot explain but I can share your pain Because it is my own: you are not alone
Forgiving and forgetting cannot be done Without the grace of God the forgiving one But we remember April come December And when these my words you see remember me
April come December souvenirs of spring In the dark days we remember everything
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 19, 2005, 7:34 pm
Sorrow's End
You ask me to forgive you I cannot I am doomed to relive you
You forgot Me but it is so hard to Forget so easy to regret
I cannot forgive you: not yet
Only grace can erase your face Only by faith can I be free Of your madness and cruelty
May God forgive and grant the grace I need to leave where nightmares feed Upon my heart upon my art
I will forgive you when I can
When grace will mend at sorrow's end The miseries of mortal man
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 18, 2005, 10:53 pm
The Little Book of Lance
As the Little Book of Lance comes out No braggadocio for me The self-promotional spout and shout That do-si-do of vanity Strikes me as base buffoonery
But celebrating inwardly Quietly then this book will become In transcendental victory My handbook and my vade mecum
When I go out I can show it to Friends when I meet them and maybe you In the way my mother taught me Modestly and with dignity
And may the arrogant relent If I have seemed so I repent Pride has chased but has not caught me For first and last I am but dust
Though I could never tell you why I write my life down since I must I live I write and then I die To give The Little Book of Lance a chance
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 18, 2005, 5:43 am
Walk
It is the intention Of God for me to live Divine intervention Comes quietly to give Me reason in season To continue my quest My duty to beauty The brightest and the best
When my way is shrouded In shadows of the night When my day is clouded I walk by faith not sight
And in the end I will not fail And I will get up when I fall For watching just behind the veil Is one who waits and knows it all
Since he has walked this way before And there is none who loves me more
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 18, 2005, 12:11 am
Never Never Go Back There
Last night with sad eyes lighted by moonbeams Which seemed not for me I lay discouraged Here as my empathic cat lay on me Face to face and nose to nose hoping he Could purr me into better brighter dreams
Now my eyes embrace the sun encouraged As I blink into light I hardly know Having languished in the shadow of death These years: I will dry these tears even though I have no certainty of heartbeat breath Nor of tomorrow ever coming yet I remember life but will not forget What it was like to live among the dead
Life my libation hope my morning prayer I will embrace love as my daily bread And I will never never go back where The dead things hold sway to bury the day No I will never never go back there
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 17, 2005, 5:59 am
Forget
I lie here utterly lost in decay Feeling as though I were already dead As one by one my friends all turn away Leaving me to fate in this narrow bed This haunted house the only home I know I cannot leave them laughing when I go
Not this time as it all comes crashing down Around me just as Uncle Jack once said My only consolation is that he Forever will be far away from me Because if there exists a place of grace And I get there I will not see his face His mocking smile and his bully-boy style Would have no meaning and be out of place
But what do I know and where can I go? My life was lived as though in outer space A silent vacuum where no one could hear Me and where no one wanted to be near Me: it is enough it is too much now Forget what you see forget about me
I just want to sleep... to forget somehow...
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 17, 2005, 12:22 am
Transcendental Sonnet #1410: Before September
I have learned the hard way There is no tomorrow Sufficient to this day Its own joy and sorrow
And if tomorrow comes And if the sun should rise Blow trumpets and bang drums To celebrate surprise
But do not depend on It: today is not gone Yet: this might be our last Moment before September
Today might be the past Which no one will remember
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 16, 2005, 5:49 pm
A Thank-You Note for Someone Who Cared
I was sick unto death with despair And I looked for someone who might care Looked everywhere but no one was there Except for my son and also one Who has many better things to do But chose to care for me: that was you
Alone in a lonely universe Some disappointed and made it worse One dumped his hostility on me But my son was here and you were there For me for grace can be anywhere And I was dismayed to be betrayed But not by you: your friendship is true
I have a new book coming out soon My son did the cover art the moon Water and fire the earth and the sky And you read over each one of my Poems with a sharp eye every day I thank my son and K. A. M. J. In the front of that book: take a look And you will see what you mean to me
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 16, 2005, 4:59 am
Refreshing
All the middle-aged fancy folks have calmed down now (Including me) A teapot-tempest come and gone It is only you who get me through this somehow Swimming through a night of sludge knowing that the dawn Will bring another day of you another way A better brighter fresher way for life to be
And you and only you give me the light to see Through the misunderstanding and the la-de-da The basic barnyard bullsh*t and the blah-blah-blah Of people who are weak nor think before they speak (Including me) Adults are idiots you see But really there are no such things: we all are kids
Our superegos are disused we use our ids And heaven knows wherever we go the ego Must always be front and center especially Whenever it comes to poets and poetry The greater the ego the lesser the talent too That is why it is so refreshing to be with you
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 15, 2005, 7:39 pm
Kiss of Death
I got out with my soul Still under my control Or at least not under Hers which is a wonder Considering how she Controlled the rest of me
Succubus! I made it Out alive and paid it All back in blood and tears The worst and best of me Those high and haunted years And I still have my soul
As for the rest of me Such as my heart my mind My health I had no choice But leave all that behind And the sound of her voice Will haunt me all my days
Always always always
Oh shattered yellow rose Does he write you poetry? In Swedish I suppose Do you ever think of me?
That which is dead can never die No hope of ever turning back Oh yellow rose now turned to black Take this my kiss of death goodbye
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 15, 2005, 3:58 am
Succubus
I slept all day and made coffee at midnight I see some of you think that you are lovers Never mind love it is life for which I fight So go get 'em boys but a shadow hovers Just over your shoulder as you grow older
I know how it is for that same shadow haunts Me too just like you: but ...I know what it wants
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 15, 2005, 2:53 am
Uncle Jack Called Me an Invalid
The thing which makes of me an invalid My individual residual Of what was done to me* and what I did Disables yet enables me to be Of a peculiar perspective to see The most unusual as usual
By which the invalid is made valid Each breath and heartbeat and tick of the clock An unexpected miracle of grace
Blessed are those who can forget like God Whose healing forgiveness serves to unlock All of the doors which are slammed in my face A validated invalid if odd I continue my daily pilgrimage Validated in an invalid age
*(done to me by Uncle Jack)
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 14, 2005, 3:14 pm
Wait
How long does it take to live Down a past for which I grieve? Would it be better to give Back my gift of life and leave This fight? Would God then forgive My desertion we believe To be murder even though It is my own life I take Having made the choice to go? Is this a choice I can make?
How much is enough at last? Everyone speaks of the now But the future frightens and I cannot escape the past My now is a no-man's-land State of suspension somehow Between being bound and free I am ready to die but Frozen by my fear of what Has been is and is to be
Since only one knows my fate I will trust in God ...and wait
+Steven Curtis Lance
Copyright MMV
Aug 13, 2005, 8:36 pm
The Moment of Pure Being
The eternal conundrum finds Existential resolution When loving hearts to troubled minds Speak peace be still you are not ill It is just that you must let go Embrace the light be still and know
Who fights with fate can never win Acceptance of mortality Is offered as the master key And those who take it then begin To live each day as though the last Transcend the future and the past
Now is the only solution
For only in the now is found The secrets of the universe Where one has been where one is bound And rich poor up down better worse Mean nothing to the moment of Pure being which is life is love
