Kenneth Traisman

Falling in Love, or Breaking a Fall

"Hold fast to dreams," advised Langston Hughes.

We know what happens when they die.

A poet or a lover would confirm the view:

"Life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly."

Do live dreams fly in a "widening gyre"?

Would poet Yeats claim that's the way it is?

Is it dangerous for dreams to fly higher?

Solar soaring proved fatal to Icarus.

How do living dreams manage to land?

Do they hear a falconer calling?

The last thing I did was reach for your hand,

Except for the falling, the long falling.

You pushed me from the highest building.

My broken wings couldn't stop the killing.

Let Love

Here is my expression of love with but

One quote, from the Beatle Paul McCartney.

In love we know not how, when, where, why, what.

Recall the lyricist sang, "Let it be."

During the darkest of times, let it glow.

During the coldest of nights, let it burn.

During sunny, summer days, let it grow.

Can true love be taught or learned, caught or earned?

No more so than the sun was taught to shine

Or distant stars earned the right to twinkle.

Shall I question why I want you to be mine?

How I'm charmed by your smiling eyes' crinkle?

Include all that among life's mysteries.

Love writes our future from our histories.

The Twang Is the Thang

The twang is the thang.

It makes my heart sang.

Less auld lang syne,

More k.d. lang.

I get a music pang

And wanna get a bang

Out of a fangled gang

With a tangy banjo.

Dang, I'm thangful

For a twangful

Of star-spangle

Twangy jangle.