So, the third poem of the year comes from the Veteran Writers Workshop at wellness works where i, and 3 other Veterans are in attendance including another Marine – Patrick, Rick – AF, Terre – Army, and Leilani – our Writing Coach – Daughter of a Korean War Vet

a pause in life – a prompt by Rick

romance – a prompt by the Marine – kenneth james

” a pause in life & romance ”

12:44:09

sitting on the, well it is not a bed
the makeshift sleeping area for the industry of abuse
how can one fantasize to a better place

romance – like in definitions 7 and 9
i don’t know which dictionary they spilled from
but to wish so hard to be in a place that embraces your true soul

when the pauses come
the clocks stopped ticking
the clammer turned to blur
the ruckus in and out of the body melted
all in the sounds of numbed noise
the eyes only seeing white
no sadness, no worries, no fright
just stepping into the overwhelmed body
no focus
emotionally driven by pain
physical and or emotional non-stopping, no solutions, no ideas
PAIN

when coming to
i heard the rain in the heavier than pitter patter
battering on windows, on the ground, against the sidewalk with splashes upward and tumbled
i inhaled gobs of fresh air
as if coming from the oceans bottom
spit up from a violent internal storm
spewed from the belly of the earth
to the breaking sands
releasing to embrace my fumbled naked body

so i lay
from this place to that place
imaginary rays of sunshine glued to my card-stock
a tree swing swung in the moonlit tree with just the ghost swallowing gusts of wind carrying memories true
and what to do in that RIP – Art oasis, but to look at the flower in the midnights bloom
resting in it’s willowed-over state
and mornings brights to awaken it with the invigoration of the gift of adornment for all that it offers

we are the flowers in the romance of nature
we are blooming in life and in death
for all of what we have given in minutes or years
one lifetime at a time of contributions – both good and hopefully less bad

and for all the bad times of troubled soul
can we reach out to the world of those giving for a cure to our cold
boldly stepped to a coach in a room full of people
where i can barely say that i remotely fit in

but i used to, and i used to well
as the life of the party i would have been and was often referred to as
but when you have that experience that changes drastically how you relate and cannot relate at all
your soul – it is too my soul
in that deep fall

so the journey
trying to grasp at the intrinsic values of all that is given and all i become
all we become
in our total contribution to a life in a stall

a life that is on pause

still alive

good morning
and good afternoon
good to my self
good evening to all

beauty is not just those who have the desirable look
it is how we were who we are because of the interactions of those who are who they are with us
our love for self – the hardest journey
our love for others – in the easier to give ourselves to that of a life not our own

a life on pause
to look a bit to the natural romance
of natures life embracing us
of us embracing ourselves
so we can embrace others

in a pause of life

13:06:20

Eternal kiss

U.S. Marine Corporal, kenneth james
in hopes of making a difference in everyday art therapy

skid row Artist
po Box 401
Pasadena CA 91102

http://wp.me/P2HqKX-rF
Kenneth James