Foolish Romantic

Foolish Romantic

What need the world of fools such as i,
cars, money, and intimacy simply pass me by,
scoffed at by every twinkling eye,
and in the end merely left on the sidelines,
saddened, alone, and shy.
Every success reserved for hardened hearts,
or the blessed, and the grand,
or the ruthless desperado's at the start.
Not a glance, nor a simple kiss to cherish,
left only this island of solitude on which to perish.
No trust from the good,
who see the darkness in my eyes,
nor from the bad,
who try to hide their bitter lies.
Left to walk this razors edge,
a scornful rancour,
heaped upon a truculent pledge.
I walk alone,
the edge grows ever sharper,
i cannot stop,
a choice made ever darker.
Though sometimes in that dark,
i make my mark,
a searing second sight,
of resplendent futures,
dazzlingly bright;
yet now, just now,
this loneliness seems to me too much to bare,
without a soul beside me to even care,
how, or why, or even where.
A simple caress, a gentle kiss,
and all the sensate intimacy i miss,
A cost so great, this cut so deep,
the chosen fate seems all too steep.
What need the world of fools such as i,
a foolish romantic,
couched within a never ending sigh.

© Richard Michael Parker 2010

IF

IF

If I were a planet how would I exist,
would I understand my balance,
when threatened, would I try to resist?
If I were a river that flowed to the sea,
would I move so I may rest,
when damned, would I let it be?
If I were a man who molded my life,
would I reshape my destiny, when defeated,
would I look for a wife?
If I were a fire, stoked to burn true and bright,
would I lick at my mentor,
when dowsed, would I burn through the night?
If I were a poet in the arms of life's love,
could I fly by myself,
would I dream from above?
Yet all that I am,
may be seen by your heart,
for 'IF' is the course,
where this love's set to start.
  
© Richard Michael Parker 1997