Category Archives: Poetry

Platonic Relationship

By lytspeed Posted in Original Poetry, Poetry, Signs o' the Times Leave a reply

Platonic Relationship

Plato strove within the grove to teach
His young students of life
How one foot in the soot and one in the clouds
creates balance and lessens the strife

In our walk on the block path of
Personal growth.
Still, we’re rarely aware that to grow,
We need both

A fiery desire for spiritual things and an
Eye to agreements we’ve built.
All too often we soften commitments to one,
And in the other plunge deep to the hilt.

It is easy and pleasing to stay on the ground
Ignoring the ways to higher self
Or hang out in the clouds with our crystals and shrouds
Putting Earthly cares up on a shelf.

I stand with my hand ’round a disconnect tag
Left by some gone electrical truck,
Blink my eyes, realize that I’m stretching to grow
But my butt is stuck firmly in muck.

— Stace Johnson, 1993

Moonlight Scarenade

By lytspeed Posted in Lyrics, Original Poetry, Poetry Leave a reply

Moonlight Scarenade

(song lyrics)

He sat in the dark of a cold city park,
Dried tears shining clear in the starlight.
As the full moon rose, he rubbed at his nose
And began speaking out to the night.

“If I talk to the Moon about my fears
Maybe she can put and end to these tears.”
Well, the Moon said hello and began to climb slow
Over a mountain horizion.

“See, there’s this girl I respect, and I feel we connect
On a level below the waterline.
She’s been a good friend, and I hope that won’t end
If I tell her why I’ve been cryin’.

I’ve told you now, Moon, about one of my fears.
Tell me, what can I do to stop these tears?”
The Moon held her say as she went on her way
Across a starlight horizon.

“I’m not in a place where I can offer with grace
The feelings that I speak of,
But it would be a sin not to let her in
On the fact that I’m falling in love.”

Well, he told the full Moon about all of his fears
But she did not a thing to end his tears.
Instead, the Moon said good night as she slipped out of sight
Beneath a valley horizon.

As he sat in the park, shivering in the dark,
He knew the risk he had to face.
Their friendship was strong, and he knew it was wrong
Not to put his fear in its place.

He called to the Moon that he’d face his fears
And get on with his life despite the tears,
But the Moon was long gone, and he looked to the dawn
Tinting the eastern horizon.

— Stace Johnson, 1993

Keepers of the Flame

By lytspeed Posted in Original Poetry, Poetry Leave a reply

Keepers of the Flame

(song lyrics)

Backed by candles and incense and a mystical romantic feeling,
I play my guitar as the flame shadows tickle the ceiling.
I picture your candlelit face floating there in the night time.
I didn’t want you to go, but to say so just wasn’t the right time.

Love as a candle flares bright in the eyes
Of people who want it to be in their lives.
It’s sweetness and sulphur and the scent lingers on
For years sometimes after the flame is long gone.
The wax runs in pools and is warm to the touch
But we mustn’t play too much
Or the candle will drown and the flame will burn down
And that’s what happened to us.

In loves from before I had gone with the flow of the moment,
Never knowing until love had died that my heart was in torment
Over things I had wanted and things I had dreamed that I let slip down the drain,
And I promised myself I would never be that blind again.

When our love flared I worked hard to make sure that this time would be different.
I strove to be sure what I wanted was clear from the outset.
But I watched it too close and became too intense and you pulled away;
The damage was done and the candlelight faded to grey.

Love as a candle flares bright in the eyes
Of people who want it to be in their lives.
It’s sweetness and sulphur and the scent lingers on
For years sometimes after the flame is long gone.
The wax runs in pools and is warm to the touch
But we mustn’t play too much
Or the candle will drown and the flame will burn down
And that’s what I did to you.

Now the candle wick smolders, streaming a sweet smoke of mourning
That mingles with incense circling your image before me.
I long to rekindle the romance and hold you tight in my arms,
But I don’t want to open you up to more of my harms.

Please know that wherever you go, there’ll always be part of me with you
Tucked inside your heart, giving love that will always renew.
Any time you need strength, reach inside and I’ll be waiting patiently
With arms open wide and a candle flame burning brightly.

— Stace Johnson, 1993

“Rent a Life, Johnson!”

By lytspeed Posted in Original Poetry, Poetry Leave a reply

“Rent a Life, Johnson!”

Wifephone crackles
inahurrygottagoloveyoubyeclickhummmmmm
Wifeless, Lifeless
Unfettered, Unfree
Wallowing in work while waiting, wanting wifeness
Taunting exhaustion, last bastion of
Confidence quakes, crumbles; wall falls
Jericho Johnson joins the Trumpet Tune Jejune.

— Stace Johnson, 1992

Agnostic Acrostic

By lytspeed Posted in Opinion, Original Poetry, Poetry, Writing Leave a reply

Agnostic Acrostic

Atheist is a garish word,
Glaring and harsh. I am
Not faithless; I find faith in
Oneness, though not “ONE TRUE GOD,”
Setting up the pieces like a
Toy train, a remote switch railmaster.
I find faith in inscape: interrelations and
Correlations between the many that are One.

— Stace Johnson, 1992