aPoetsBlues

One Man's Dream

                                                   (please choose Full Screen mode for best results)

She shared the flavors of cuisine
She shared the colors; painting
She even shared her ice cream
As the poppies were blooming

She floated toys and fauna
She touched the sand and the sea
As her aura of Arjuna
Envelopes all around me

Before I stood alone
Like a man floating
In the middle of the ocean
On a barrel, trailing

She shared a time and place
From when youth was a race
Through the fields and the flowers
Of Monserrates grace

She shared her home and an edge
Both tender and warm
As I made a pledge
We began to transform

Most of all, she shared
Her arms and her heart
Of proposals endeavored
Like a ritual that is now annual

by Gary Hodges, Happy Anniversary Rita!

In Loving You

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In Loving you

I was able to see
The world Through
Your eyes

In Loving you
I was to fling, words
Such as these
On the winds of the East

In Loving you
I was able to cast
More words on to the rays
Of moon beams

To You

Love was once an affliction
Now, its a blessing
We first had to absorb it
In preparation for now

As if we once craved it
We needed to
Now, its ready to be given
As I give my love to you

In Loving you
This world of yours

by Gary Hodges, for Rita

Returning Home

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Many leaves have fallen
Many seasons have passed
Destines are cast

As if by some other power
With a missing that’s hour by hour
Day by day
And on and on

The road led to Hill tops
A view of a hearts mountain top
To the valleys
Of a longing unsurpassed

Then we met
Everything transformed and beset
And much has come to pass
Of feelings not known

As if returning home
From what I had become
This isn’t your typical missing
Or a familiar longing

It approaches the fall season
Like a storm and all these reasons
Blowing with the leaves
This way and that way

Tears run past
Of the sadness of what was cast
I never thought it would be, again
Then your heart began to sing

There is a peace in your love
This is the beauty of your soul
The seed, now, begins to grow
From something that was extinct

Rhythms of a heart beat
Softness, like a birds song
A nightingale cry’s out
Joy and sorrow weep

Together

by Gary Hodges

Credits: music by Vangelis, "Roxane's Veil".

A Trip To Portugal

A time more than a holiday
A meeting and a beginning
To a once in a lifetime romance

Tender, intense embraces
Much like the spirit of an adventure
Reaching an exotic allure
And a mystery of culture

This fascination encountered
Walking on two paths
One to her
Another, empath

This story of love,
Reaching from medieval times
Places and Palaces and the present
Monseratte's saudade is sublime
To the Music Room

Inspiring a proposal of matrimony
With perfect muses and graces
Accepted inside full vulnerability

She's protected by the sun,
Luna and the stars
From her heart, inside a song
Listening from my soul and from afar

by Gary Hodges, for Rita

 

Why I Love Her

If I could even begin to say
Or speak to this love
And what it means to me

This is what it would be;
Inside of life’s mysteries
And inside a former lifetime of longing
Which, is where I came from

With her
I found an even deeper mystery
Just by looking into her eyes

A commonality
That’s causes more curiosity
And no need to understand
I love her, just as she is

I don’t feel like I have to join
Anything
I don’t have to believe in
Anything
Yet, we believe in each other

There is a trust that comes
Naturally
There is an embrace that occurs
Naturally

All that seems important
Isn’t just that this is true
It’s the trust that’s completely
Present

Being ‘in’ the world
Is being with her

by Gary Hodges

Artists Credit: The Lost World - Jaroslaw Handrysik

Returning Home

On this forever journey
Many leaves have fallen
Many seasons have passed
Destines are cast

As if by some other power
With a missing that’s hour by hour
Day by day
And on and on

The road led to Hill tops
A view of a hearts mountain top
Then to the valleys
Of a longing unsurpassed

Then we met
Everything transformed and beset
And much has come to pass
Of feelings not known

As if returning home
From what I had become
This isn’t your typical missing
Or a familiar longing

It approaches the fall season
Like a storm and all these reasons
Blowing with the leaves
This way and that way

Tears run past
Of the sadness of what was cast
I never thought it would be again
Then your heart began to sing

There is a peace in your love
This is the beauty of your soul
The seed, now, begins to grow
From something that was extinct

Rhythms of a heart beat
Softness, like a birds song
A nightingale cry’s out
Joy and sorrow weep
Together

by Gary Hodges

Artists Credit: Otto Philipp Runge -The-Lesson-Of-The-Nightingale

Missing You

(Dedicated to Rita)

There is this remission
Of the obstacles positions
My foolishness is reaching
Your nurturing of my souls yielding
And the flourishing of illusion

I hear the rain dripping
Or are they my tears falling
To the ground and the missing
You make it all depart
I never want to be apart

Your love settles in my heart
These mysterious places, this start
I don't need help with what's not known
These unfamiliar feelings, formerly alone
And the unfathomable is complex

Any understanding is evasive
Yet, as it goes, its creative
Realization, if possible, unneeded
Do you see the night fall
A transparent blue, I recall

Even as my eyes dim
You show me things at its brim
Of this world, in its fire
Things I've never seen before
I can't wait to see you at my door

This love is essential
And merely a semblance
As we enter it with poetry and music
It may seem, at times, foolish
Yet, it softens us

In the colors of our imagination
This love stirs in our lives
A power to change
Our souls revived
Our hearts raised

By Gary Hodges

This video is my first one on YouTube. The pictures are mostly from Monserrate Park and Palace, Sintra Portugal, and from various sources; some are copyrighted. I do not intend to seek profit. Some were taken by me, the first photo, of the Sunset, was taken by Rita.

Saudade

 

A time more than a holiday
A meeting and a beginning
To a once in a lifetime romance
And a once in a lifetime of living

Tender, intense embraces
Much like the spirit of an adventure
Reaching an exotic allure
And a mystery of culture

This fascination encountered
Walking on two paths
One to her
Another, of a Portugal empath

This story of love,
Reaching from medieval times
Places and Palaces and the present
Monseratte’s saudade is sublime

To the Music Room
Inspiring a proposal of matrimony
With perfect muses and graces
Accepted inside full vulnerability

She’s protected by the sun, 
Luna and the stars
From her heart, inside a song
Listening from my soul and from afar

by Gary Hodges

Artists Credit: "Living and Longing", by Diane Varner

How Much Do I Love You

 
If you take the light of the full moon
and the rays of the sun

Then add all the earths oceans
and the sands of its shores

Then the waters of all the rivers
As they meet the seas

Here is where you will find me
Shouting at the moon
..."I love you" THAT much!
Yet, even more.

by Gary Hodges, for Rita.

In The Trees

We don't see what we are missing

Because we don't look
Into each other’s eyes

The silence isn't quiet
It’s because we aren't listening

The scent of the flowers
Pass us by
Because of the winds of time

The touch of the waters
Isn't felt, as it flows past
We've become numb

Your hearts feel sorrow
And mine isn't any greater than yours

Inside is where you'll find me
Inside is where I find you
Imagination is all you need

by Gary Hodges

Artists Credit: "The sun light of Forest" by weihua wei