Destination

Destination

I want to go somewhere

Exotic, beautiful, wondrous

But the problem is I would have to go

Travel, drive, fly

Hours of monotony

Mounds of money

Time

Isn’t this the modern dilemma?

You are told life is all about an adventure

But there is a price to be paid

So I get to choose to be a nothing

Or a somebody who is exhausted and broke

Discovering that all of these travels 

Aren’t always what they are made to be

If I don’t change what is really going on

Within

I have to go beyond this time

Touch eternity

Eternity traveling in me

All these things take peace to see

Peace to hear

To know

This is where I want to go

12/30/18

Eyes

Eyes

Listless, wandering ship

Deep and darkened ocean

Infinite in its mystery

Forever in its awe

Sails limp and ineffective

Outside of the trade winds

I am nothing but a drifter

I cry out for help within

I hear nothing but the swells

The call of the depths

For just one more soul to devour

I hear a shuffle behind me

It is the half-blind, half-crippled deck hand

Beginning his daily routine

I don’t have to look to see him

I can smell his terrible odor

And I grow angry that he is there

Interrupting my thoughts and prayer

I long to see the eyes of God

To know some way out of this disaster

I hear nothing but the swells

The call of the depths 

For just one more life to devour

The deck hand begins to scour

Begins to scrub

The endless stain of salt and crumb

Off of the heart of the boat

I turn and look

He is peaceful, content

No sign of dour, no harsh intent

No complaining

No, he’s humming an old sailor’s song

“You there, sir” I call out to him.

He raises his face to me. 

One eye completely white 

A past trauma no doubt

The other a blue-green just like the sea

He answers not a word

He only looks directly into me

Just like the sea

“How can you go on like this?” I ask

“How can you go on in this vain repetition

Humming along, singing a song,

All the while we drift into nowhere?”

He continued looking into me

At this point I’m feeling quite ashamed

I don’t even know why

There’s something about those dichotomous eyes

That brings the entire universe into order

Finally he speaks

“I simply live in the now

Where I plant, where I plow

Is simply where I am

I trust the winds will guide me there

Though we cannot see the air

We know that it exists

Now…see the rustling in your hair…”

Twas true

As we talked there was a gull that flew

There was a presence of the breezes

The sails began to flicker but I wasn’t sure of what to do

I looked inquisitively at the deck hand again

“It’s ok, my son, it’s ok. The captain will make all things new.”

I then began to see

The answer to my prayer for God’s eyes to see

Was looking right into me

Was kneeling on the deck

Washing the crusts away

My ship was on its way.

12/22/18

Rescue

Rescue

I could spend the rest of my life feeding this monster

For when I starve it, it doesn’t go away

So either way I seem to be a perpetual roommate

To something that is destructive to me

Right in the midst of making history

Right in the midst of a changing tide I decide

To go back into the darkened waters again

Another swim

in the ice bath of indecision and doubt

Then a rout of the accusations begin

So another swim

I just keep going deeper and deeper

The sounds of happiness are outside in the back yard

Children running and playing

Speaking of things completely insensible

Yet of reality all the same

They are not naive nor are they ignorant

They are simply more aware

Of the life that is flowing through their hearts

The sounds of the music grow stronger

The chords bring meaning and wonder to me

They progress towards the oceans of deeper

Where light is in the depths of the sea

It was the laughter that made all the difference

It was the joy in the running that came

It was the smiles of playing innocent children

That brought me right out of mundane

K, Duane Carter 9/26/13

Shine

The light of color is so bright

It is almost easier to look at the death

It’s almost easier to look away

Than to stare at the beauty of brightness

What is the origin of this frightened mess

Which ignores what is right before our eyes

Why would we rather seek the dirt

Than know the life

Yet there is hope

Even in the darkened shadows

New life is appearing

See, you really have no need to rid the world of darkness

You simply need to shine your light

It is always beautiful

12/16/18

I wrote this after finishing the book "Daring Greatly" by Brene' Brown.

Stay

I typically write free verse poetry. I can write the classical styles of poetry, but I’ve just always enjoyed a more free style of writing. Today, though, I had a song going through my head. It was Bruce Springsteen’s “Philadelphia.” I’ve always loved this song, and my favorite part of it is the captivating and haunting tune and rhythm of it. So as I had it going through my head, I had some lyrics come to me and I thought, “What the heck. Let’s write a song.” So here is “Stay” and it goes along (mostly) with the tune of “Philadelphia.” 

If anyone out there has some good tunes that need lyrics, let me know. Once I have a tune in my head, I can make the lyrics fit. Who knows? Maybe we’ll win a Grammy some day…

Stay

I wake up to the sunset

The day was dead and gone

I thought about the hills

That used to be my steadfast home

As the daylight of my eyes 

Slowly slipped away

I thought about the future

Thought about yesterday

But couldn’t stay in this moment

Couldn’t stay in this moment where I am me

Couldn’t stay in this moment

Couldn’t stay in the place where I am free

The darkness seems to tumble

Through the bright and golden fields

It seems to overtake everything in its wheels

I know I cannot dwell in this place

This place that isn’t home

So I gather up my children, prepare to roam

Can’t stay in this moment

Can’t stay in the moment where I cannot see

Can’t stay in this moment

Can’t stay in this place where I’m not free

Don’t know where this road is going to take me

But I know I share it with you

Don’t know where this road is going to take me

But I know that here with you, here everything’s new

I sense the shadows falling, the coming of the rain

I can feel the cold and listlessness of the autumn rains

I stare into the doorway, looking for the shore

But all I see is sunlight and nothing more

I’ve gotta stay in this moment

I’ve gotta stay where I am me

I’ve gotta stay in this moment

I’m going to stay where I am free

Going to stay in this moment

Going to stay in this moment

Going to stay

Stillness

Stillness

I need days like today

Quiet

Dark

Raining

Cool

Pain surging through my lower back

With every little move

So stillness is the order of the day

No frenetic activity

No urgent motion

Just quiet sitting listening to the waters flow

Just listening to the heartbeat grow

Toward a restful anticipation of good

I sense these things amongst the woods

The forests of soul and spirit 

I hear the beckons, I might be near it

I might be far away

Yet I would know nothing of anything this rainy day

Without the colors of the quiet

Autumn leaves outside my window

Bright reminders of brighter days

Shorter, still

I gaze out from the windowsill

There is always a spring after the winter

My soul for so long broken, splintered

Now the humus is ready for growth

Up into that never seen, never known

Up into all that has been known by the ancients

Up into all that is made to be me

I see the stately redwood trees

Are still with steadfast smiles

They’ve never moved an inch, a mile

Yet they know the vastness of the oceans

Because they understand the life of stillness

Quiet

Dark

Raining 

Cool

I have a day in wisdom’s school 

I have a day in the stillness

And I am so grateful for it

11/27/18

Freedom's Choice

 Freedom’s Choice

Such startling contrasts

Often get our attention

We often question why

When pain and suffering enter in

Yet in the midst of all of that raucous din

We seem to forget to ask why

All the beauty and majesty are there as well

Sometimes as small as the hermit crab’s shell

Sometimes as grand as the redwood

Sometimes in the message of a flower pastel

Who despite the presence of blackened death nearby

Simply shines on in all of its glory

Maybe I should learn the lesson here

Maybe I should hear the story

In spite of circumstances, war, or shame

I can still go on, living my name

Reveling in my freedom to choose the good

11/18/18

Hope

Hope

Today I felt the heavy pain of the land

Entire forests burned, charred

Entire mountains with blackened scars

The leaves of the valley oaks dulled orange

Not from autumn skies

But from death

Demise

Destruction

Yet then there is this

An angel in the skies bringing life

Color

Salmon and periwinkle

Coral and slate

Her arms outspread to tell us all

All is not lost

In fact, Nothing is lost

The light shows nothing but goodness

Displaying it clearly

A clarion picture of sweet restoration

Suddenly all the pain turns to hope

Hope lifts up joy

Dancing together to the sounds of new life

The flowers are coming

The forests are coming

The animals are coming

Light and life, they are coming

Nothing can stop their singing, their songs

We have felt the dark stinging of smoke for so long

Yet here we are in the crimsons

The blue

The incredible hue

Of sheer beauty

Everything will be restored

Better, even better than ever before

The songs will always carry over the waters

11/3/18

Molting

Molting

I keep coming back to this well

And every time I find it dry

But I keep coming back

And I keep coming back

Empty

Empty 

Emptiness 

There seems to be no word association

With Emptiness

Because when there is nothing there

There is nothing to associate with

Just like everyone else’s search for eternal bliss

Mine seems to be sorting through laundry

Making car payments

Daily grinds

These thoughts that come forward to my mind

Are gut wrenching

But so Blase'

I think I’ll go and find a tray

Filled with bright hors’d oeuvres 

A sporty car to drive the curves

To navigate the way to nowhere

I sit here in the smoke and stare

Into this long and deep abyss

It is the clouds and skies I miss

They do make such a difference

I grow tired of this poetic inference 

That leads me to this same empty well

I’m ready to let go of this shell

Let my soft insides be revealed

I could be loved

I could be peeled

But at least I would be me

Divorce

Divorce

I am filled with vengeance

I have been since my youth

I do not like it there

It rises up against my will

No, it does not

I have trained myself to accept it

Now I choose to simply reject it

Every time it screams my name

Vengeance never solves anything

It simply creates a snowball of hatred

Rolling down an eternal hill

Growing, growing

In its potential for mass destruction

I will choose the sunlight

I will take hold of one ray at a time

The snow will melt

Spring is coming