Promises made

promises broken

buried in a dark cloud

it rains lies and

fear

and I am alone

as always

unable to solve

the problems

of my mind -

the self-destructiveness

so vulnerable

appearing so cold and distant

in my solitude

so many tears are shed

yet none see nor hear

it is not allowed

for I am steel

(rusting away)

I am stone

(crumbling)

I am alone

©2014 Michael Shelby

I Thought

I thought I saw you
          walking down the street
          driving in your car
          slipping around the corner

I thought I heard you
          in an infant's cry
          in the gently falling rain
          in a quiet stream

I thought I saw you
          in the light of the day
          in the dark of the night
          in the mirror of my dreams

I thought I heard you
          calling out in a fever
          whispering in the eye of the storm
          in the rustling of the autumn leaves

I thought I saw you
          reflected in a drop of rain
          in the blooming of a rose
          dancing along the edge of a rainbow

I thought I heard you
          in a beggar's sorrowful pleading
          in a symphony of absolute silence
          in the shattering of a broken heart

I thought
          once
          long ago
          we were lovers




©2011 Michael Shelby

Forever Broken

Dead 

inside

heartbroken

so many times

missing pieces

until 

finally

not enough pieces

to mend

never again

whole

never again

broken

© 2011 Michael Shelby

On The Death Of My Father

We were never close,
you and I;
the walls between us -
so thick, so high, so impenetrable;
the words you could never speak,
the anger burning me up from the inside,
that, with a letter, cast aside years ago,
finally buried at a simple "I'm sorry";
now, you are but ash and memory,
and I've many miles yet to walk.

©2010  Michael Shelby

Winter

With each degree drop in the temperature,

with each flake of snow that falls from the sky,

another stone weighs on my shattered soul;

buried under a fallen wall of dreams,

hope suffocates.

©2010 Michael Shelby

For PLG

Like  leaves fallen in an October wind
dreams came not to fruition
rather a drought destroyed harvest
fouled by granary rats

Roads leading not where I started
ending not where I stopped
taking me places not intended
places not imagined

Not to be bound and shackled
my boots always near the door
searching for true love
fleeing commitment

Songs of restlessness and rambling
tales meant for open highways
crossing half a nation seeking you
leaving to return a broken mind

Near four decades ago
did you blow out of the dust bowl
claimed by love or
doomed by the needle buried in your arm

©Michael Shelby 2010

And You...And I...

And you...
what private hell enslaves you
bound by lies
within walls of self-deceit
which are the demons that inhabit your dreamscape
nightmares you scour from your memory
a darkness that dwells within
a darkness just behind the facade

And I...
bound by chains of self doubt
bound by expectations
unreachable
demons lurk
nightmares walk along side me
no drug to ease the pain
I must go on
alone
rejected and replaced

©2010 Michael Shelby