promise of a mermaid dance

  You took a chance

  On my cocky stance

  And listened to my primal crow

  As the first girl in my midnight cave

  Invited to live with me underground

  You mended my shirts

  Of the holes from my play

  You dealt with my Lost Boys

  And the way we didn’t care

  I never wanted you to forget your life, Wendy

  That was Neverland and not me

  To die would be a great adventure

  But what I fear most is loosing you

  That’s why

  This silly boy tried to teach you to fly

  Just so you could go home to an open window

  Camelot Lost

   

   

  I never thought I would fail

  In my quest to be king

  But even Arthur lost the grail

  And peace could not bring

   

  Hail to the king, The Once and Future

  Leader of the Round Table of Knights

  Heal my wounds with bandage and suture

  Pray for the strength to carry on the fight.

  The Pattern

   

   

  Behind me I leave

  A path of wonderful women

  And a wake of pain

  That bares testimony to how human I can be

   

  Are rebirths supposed

  To be this rapid?

  How often must I rebuild

  Before I can settle in

   

  You all have taught me:

  Don’t ever promise not to leave

  I am so very human, I am flawed

  How very deeply I can feel pain

   

  How even my will can be suspended

  How sometimes, I am just not enough

  I have fond a pattern

  Next time, it is my turn

  Lost on the Wind

   

  You made me a man with nothing to loose

  I can go and leave nothing behind

  It’s not the way I would choose

  No ties that bind, just too much on my mind

   

  Just some clothes and personal baggage

  Walking down a deserted street

  Telling myself that I can manage

  Counting down to my next heart beat

   

  The only thing planned is the next breath

  Letting life take me on its flow

  Heaven knows that I don’t do death

  I’ll tell you where I am when I know

   

  Don’t ask me for directions yet

  Because I haven’t gotten there

  But it’s a safe bet

  That I’ll do it with flare

  Give Me a Girl

   

  Give me a girl with flip flops she can kick

  off her feet so her toes can wiggle in the sand.

   

  Give me a girl that wears cargo pants with pockets

  all over so she can keep the little and simple things close to her.

   

  Give me a girl in a tank top that shows the curve of her neck

  and leaves the sweep of her shoulders bare for soft kisses.

   

  Give me a girl with a smile that comes easy to her lips,

  but still makes me work for the pleasure of it.

   

  Give me a girl with eyes that blaze like the sun

  or reflect like the moon with equal ease.

  Eyes that will shine from the rocks to always guide me home.

   

  Give me a girl with a true heart and a playful soul.

  Give me this girl so I can give her me.

   

  I will give her me as best I know how.

  With an honest heart and a soul that knows how to fly.

   

  I will give her me with eyes that seek the light in the dark,

  and always find the way back to the shore.

  Portals that let her read the inside of me.

   

  I will give her me with the want to turn up the corners of her mouth

  and the drive to keep her laughing into the night.

   

  I will give her me in the silver on my chest;

  for all that I have been and all that I will be.

   

  I will give her me with my hands held open

  to use in our play and in our love, to hold her tight.

   

  I will give her me with my feet bare so that I never loose touch

  with the ground that we build our world on.

   

  Give me this girl, so I can give her me.

  Give me this girl, so I can give her me.

  A God’s First Smile

   

   

  When the history of man was first committed to the page, it was written that she was the direct product of God’s first smile. As it turns out, that is a horrible falsity. God’s first smile was a direct product of His first viewing of her essence.

  What is Between

   

   

  I am not a knight in shining armor,

  And you are certainly not a maiden in distress,

  But there is this dragon between us

  And I think it’s time that we laid it to rest.

  Salvage

   

   

  “This is what’s left of me.” He said holding up his cupped hands for her to see. Cradled in the palms of his hands were tangled pieces of meat, some bits of bone, and an odd glittering matter spread through out. “It’s not much, but you are welcome to it.” His eyes closed and he smiled gently as she pushed a glittering bit about with one slender finger. She had cornered it between the knuckle of his thumb and a bit of bone.

  “Perhaps,” she said, “we can save most of this.”

  “Perhaps,” he answered, but the single tear gave away the lie that he really didn’t think so.

  The Corporate Blues

   

   

  Walked in late today

  Saw that it was casual Friday

  took off my tie, undid my collar

  left my pants on so the boss wouldn't holler

   

  I’ve got the corporate blues

  walking in worn out black shoes.

  Breathing in and out with heavy sighs,

  bags like marbles under my eyes

   

  If I’m lucky there will be a fire drill,

  then I could go outside for a brief thrill.

  Or maybe the servers will crash

  and I can sit and do nothing while I earn my cash

   

  There are files and folders piled all around me,

  stacked up like the Berlin Wall ironically,

  a no mans land as far as the eye can see.

  I try to recycle the rejects in hopes of saving a tree

   

  There is a jam in the copy machine

  and when I fix it, my hands won't come out clean.

  Oh I’ve got the blues of the corporate variety

  I can't read my book in front of clients of notoriety

   

  There’s a watch dog that reads all of my e-mail.

  If I sell of the company secrets I’ll go to jail.

  The 20th floor doesn't even have a view

  but the sun light teases from the window when it comes through.

   

  Well, I don't get much sleep and I don't eat much more.

  In the morning I shower and stumble out the door.

  I just tell myself I am doing it all for you

  and that is how I deal with my corporate blues.

  Warder

   

   

  I’ve sworn my oaths to see this through to the end
br />
  Under fire and under steel I am sworn not to bend

  But I’ve taken wounds and I’ve lost a lot of blood

  I am staring up at the sky broken in this pool of mud

   

  She is out there somewhere in the midst of this

  Dodging the best she can Death’s Kiss

  But it is my sworn duty to keep her safe

  Even now the bond does not chafe

   

  I have to make it to my knees, that is the goal

  It is going to take every thing I’ve got to crawl out of this hole

  This pain is blinding me; I need to focus on one action at a time

  They want to take her life, but they will instead take mine

   

  I do not have the strength to get her out of here

  But I will die trying to get her into the clear

  In the face of danger there has never been a woman braver

  When she needs me the most my will shouldn’t waver

   

  My right thigh is broken, and my ribs are bent the wrong way

  I need to pick up my three feet of steel from where it lay

  Knuckles gripped white on the hilt; lift it up no matter the price

  No time for an honorable salute, just parry, feint, and the final slice

   

  Light give me the strength to cut a path through this melee

  She can not afford to have me delay

  I catch the sight of her as another arrow takes me in the shoulder

  I stumble toward her, my feet feeling weighed down by boulders

   

  There, I have her in my arms and lifted to that bleeding shoulder

  Carrying her out will be my last act as my blood runs colder

  We make it to the edge of this battle; and I fall to my knees

  That’s it, blackness, and I know what the wheel weaves

  Study in Alteration

   

   

  Phoenix fire flashes from feathered feet for forgotten forest phantom fears

  Tipping together tired tormented tethered toads toward tortured tears

  While whistling wombats wonder what wanders without worry

  Behind bucktoothed beavers behaving badly back-flipping beyond being blurry

  Hurricane Brandie

   

   

  We were three weeks

  Out of Bombard Sound

  When the man in the crows nest yelled

  “We are hurricane Brandie Bound!”

   

  Give me full sail

  And keep the life boats handy

  The buckets ready to bail

  Because we’re plowing into hurricane Brandie

  Real

   

   

  I didn’t have the heart to tell her

  That I’m not the man that she thought I was

  That I am barely as fast as I claim to be

  And only strong because I pretend that it is so

   

  I’m not the hero that I wanted to be

  And the difference from me and the villains are unclear

  I haven’t changed this world a smidge of how I say

  And my words do not dent the course of events

   

  What would she say if she knew the weakness?

  If she knew the pain that I wrap around my heart to make it beat

  How will I stand on my last days knowing that I deceived everyone but myself?

  The wind blows and I am not supposed to be cold, but I
Shawn Graham's Novels