Unknown Answers

I couldn’t fall asleep last night

I was twisting and turning

And turning and twisting

Getting tangled up in my sheets

And my blanket 

I would twist and turn

In a restless motion

Of flipping and adjusting and readjusting

I was thinking about her so much

Wondering if she felt the same way

Did she like me?

Like I liked her?

Was I back in time?

Was I in High School again?

Or are these just the games of love?

That we all play?

Should I pass her a note?

Beneath the desk?

Should I tell her best friend?

That I like her?

Should I smile at her?

That kind of smile that indicates,

“Hey, I like you.”?

These are the games.

These are my questions.

I hate to play games.

And I hate games played.

But what are you supposed to do?

When you’re in love.

And love is in you?

These are the unknown answers.

And the answers I seek.

So give me a sign.

And I’ll give you my heart.

© 2015 David Greg Harth

2015.10.20.11:51:26@200NYC

Unrecognizable

The crimson darkness has fallen upon us

I have vivid memories of you

Courting you with everything I’ve got

With an ammunition of poetry

Lying next to you on the Great Lawn

Beneath the galaxy of shimmering stars

Penetrating your wetness deeply from behind

Your hands pressed up against the cold window pane

The crimson darkness has fallen upon us

We lost our child to a storm of resulting emotions

You moved so far away from me

Coital cephalgia still infiltrates daily

Voices of you scream a haunting echo

In the empty chambers of my heart

I was intoxicated with infatuation

Blinded by your secret allurement

The crimson darkness has fallen upon us

Liquid dripped from your inner thigh months too early

We were bound for complete sadness

Our eyes turned to unyielding stone

Everything failed and came to a complete halt

As we battled for each other's existence

Off the bridge you desired

You walked on and I fell deep

Turned once more

Your lips parted slightly

As if to say one last goodbye

The shadows swallowed you whole

And you were gone

As the crimson darkness has fallen upon me

I have become unrecognizable

© 2014 David Greg Harth

14.01.30.03:12:41@130BklynNYC

Unvisited Locations

This space is often vacant

A hollowness which craves to be occupied

In the left atrium there is a huge area

Your wails can be heard in the empty cave

Echoing the dreams of hope

In the right atrium there is a tremendous zone

So vast, the blue oceans of the world cannot fill it completely

The left ventricle continues as an open field

Readily available for a new inhabitant

The right ventricle, a cloudless sky

Aching to encompass each floating cloud nine

Each connecting aorta and connecting pulmonary

Pumping the great warmth that makes me who I am

That trickles to the tips of my fingers

Of the hands that will hold you on any sunny day

And keep you warm on frigid nights

These are the unvisited locations in my heart

They are reserved for you

Come claim them

© 2012 David Greg Harth

12.06.05.13:07:09@550NYC

Unleash

Reveal the lion inside me

Let me roar an echoing proclamation

I’ll make shadows run for cover

As birds take an early migration

Water will flow upstream

Our ventricles will fill with hydration

The ground beneath us will quake

Swallowing our hearts with a radiant palpitation

End the eternal search

We have found our salvation

Allow these feelings to validate

Secrets turn into affirmation

I stand before you

I stand before everyone on this earth

I stand before every member of every nation

With my deepest declaration,

I proclaim –

Unleash my heart!

© 2011 David Greg Harth

11.11.11.18:40:59@323NYC

Unlock

With a wooden spoon, stir the tea

In a hidden safe, put away the key

Venturing into the unknown

No more days of being alone

Inside your heart I’ve started a fire

You’ll never forget my eyes of sapphire

No sense in blocking the unconventional

These emotions are multidimensional

Delete the borders and erase the distance

Surrender to your own resistance

I’ve escaped the artificial

Everything with you is beyond celestial

We’ll orbit the sun, the moon, and the stars

This warmth heals our internal scars

Our breathless silence shall pass

My affection for you will last

As witness to my eyes

I’ll harmonize your midnight cries

Put away your defense

Hand in hand we shall commence

This love is now for hire

Have I found a repeat buyer?

My heart is yours, I will never sever

Take it and occupy it forever

© 2011 David Greg Harth

11.11.10.24:11:43@130BklynNYC

Uncharted Territory

For over three decades

I have treaded in the ocean

I have surfed each available sea

I have searched multiple continents

And I have scurried lands far and wide

With each nautical map I follow

My sails have always led me towards you

My bow always pointed me towards you

Each direction given

Each wind blown

I was just a lost man on a voyage

Now found

In this uncharted territory

© 2011 David Greg Harth

11.10.31.12:55:59@130BklynNYC

Lost In On And On

Soldiers marching forward

Across the battlefield

A monopoly of mines plague these hills

Shoes soaked from a yearlong sweat

Still, we march on

Dark clouds roll in

A thunder cracks and divides sky from ground

The rumble of drums shamble in the distance

Without warning

I’ve become a martyr without asking

Lost

I carry on

© 2010 David Greg Harth

10.12.20.15:57:50@550MadisonNYC

What Must Be Done

Demanded from yesterday

An old oak tree wilts atop the hill

Cold winter came upon us

Set forth this bone chill

Decapitated crow scowls

Thin ice cracks below feet

Dead leaves scatter in the wind

Soulless about to defeat

Distant church bells chime

An echo of sadness sweeps across frozen land

Funeral procession marches

Boat across Styx isn’t even manned

Desolate unknown graves blanket us

Alienated from mother’s womb

Hollow wooden coffins contain us

Vacant heart is sealed in a tomb

Damaged bricks form a facade

Footsteps in mud lead nowhere

Failing to see the door ajar

Plummeting into a spiral of despair

Dangerous falling of fate

Home now; empty of life

Sparse and silent of rhythm

Bled from head to toe with knife

Descent into depths of loneliness

Burned by a beloved’s deception

Nailed by foot, nailed by wrist

Born of immaculate conception

Damned wings are delicate

Ground caught daily tears

Soaked earth flourished

New trees sprout for years

© David Greg Harth

2010.12.17.09:42:10@550MadisonNYC

In Honor

Look carefully at the warrior I have become

Loyal, selfless and true

Back and forth, I am not quite through

I appear before your next inhale

I disappear before you exhale

I am the air you breathe

I am the wind that carries you

I elapse time between you

I create history beside you

I am the ground that rattles beneath your feet

I am the battle that rages in your heart

I am your unconscious decision

I will reveal my destruction and courage

My addiction, dedication and strong will

It is my destiny, my passion, my instruction

I am noble, brave, and fearless

I am exiled from your world

Filled with power, I come in death

I defy categorization, gravity, and emotion.

I conquer your heart, and become your love

I protect the innocent

Care for the aged

I spawn the non-existent

Cherish the forgotten

I pass through inanimate objects

Drift above cloudy skies

And in a moment’s time

I am gone without a trace

© 2010 David Greg Harth

10.12.15.24:43:11@130BklynNYC

Alone

This is a poem, a note, a letter, a declaration to all those who have been alone.

I want you to know, that I’ve been alone too. I’ve been there. To that darkest region. To that deepest part. To the edge. Where its only you. Where nothing is left.

I want you to know that I’ve been alone. And when you are alone, I am alone with you.

I want you to know, that when you’ve stood on that subway platform, contemplating your slight bend forward. Contemplating if your entire body will spin when the train hits your head or if your body will fall off balance and onto the tracks. Contemplating if its better to jump long before the train reaches you or to jump right when it’s in front of you. Debating if you’ll only get a concussion or if you truly will end it all.

I want you to know, that when you’ve done all the research. When you’ve figured out a way to purchase a gun or to get a hold of a gun. I want you to know, that when you’ve finally reached that point. When you are sitting alone. And only you and a winter cascade or summer breeze encompasses what’s left of your life. When you sit with the gun in your lap and you debate if you’ll pull the trigger of the gun with the barrel in your mouth or aside your temple. I want you to know, that when you are alone at the moment, I’ve been alone with you.

I want you to know, that when you’ve been to the base of a large bridge. When you figured out a pathway to reach the highest point. When you calculated the time it would take to get up on top. When you realized you’d have to wear layers of clothing to make sure you’d be warm enough on top to have a collective thought to jump. I want you to know if you’ve made it to the bridge’s end. And you were looking up. Just about to climb. And you thought nothing was left. No hope, no love, no friends, no enemies. When nothing but water surrounded your echo below. I want you to know that when you are alone at that moment, I’ve been with you.

I want you to know, that when you’ve had a knife near. When you’ve rid yourself of a mobile phone. When you’ve swallowed the car key after you’ve driven yourself out to a remote area. When there was no direction and no exit. When you were about to gorge yourself. So your pain was so vivid you’d hope you’d wake up from the nightmare of life. And at that very moment you pick up and carry on. And walk forever to the nearest hospital to only lie to them why you’ve swallowed a car key.  I want you to know, when you are alone then, I am with you. Alone.

I want you to know, that when you’ve been washing your clothes at weeks end and you realized that the gasoline will never come out and you’ll have to buy a new favorite shirt. When you realize it’s not the smartest option to execute your own death in your favorite clothes. When you realize it’s harder to burn oneself alive than most other methods. When you sat alone, covered in gasoline with a match nearby. When all was silent around you but the terrible pain in your heart continued to beat a fateful drum. When you were alone then, I was with you.

I want you to know, that each, method of suicide that you thought of, I probably thought of too. When you are alone, I am alone. And when I am alone, perhaps I’ll get a letter from you. And our bullets will fall like hidden angels to the ground, clanking as they hit the pavement.

© 2010 David Greg Harth

10.12.13.12:19:47@130BklynNYC

Opa (Version #6)

The phone was ringing.

I heard it from the other room.

I ran to pick it up.

I thought I'd get it in time.

I only heard it ring four times.

I picked it up.

You weren't there.

© David Greg Harth

10.12.07.15:13:18@550MadisonNYC

How We Fall

Starts with one taking note

Of the other’s reproduction

Of the other’s seduction

Starts with one taking notice

Of the other’s stride

Of the other’s narcissistic pride

Starts with one taking notation

Of the other’s plump lips

Of the other’s curved hips

Starts with a symphony

An exchange of climactic harmony

Starts with a sail set free in the wind

A tryst where two have truly sinned

Continues with a gaze at beautiful eyes

A trace of fingers on soft thighs

Continues with midnight calls

Until finally heaven’s rain falls

It’s how we fall

Like a river running wild

Like a mother bearing child

It’s how we fall

Like an exploding volcanic eruption

Like a heart free of corruption

It’s how we fall

When your soul becomes my soul

And my soul becomes your soul

We have fallen

© 2010 David Greg Harth

10.12.06.11:50:14@550MadisonNYC

I See Your Name

I see your name

Come and go

Come and go

Monday,

Tuesday,

Wednesday,

Thursday,

Friday

In passing, On the list

Come and go

Come and go

But that’s just it.

You are only a name now.

Not a person.

© 2010 David Greg Harth

10.09.24.11:14:37@550MadisonAveNYC

Up

In the darkest midnight hour

Under the cover of blackness

Beneath the full moon’s scattered fingerprints

Drowned out by the rumble of approaching thunder

In the shadows of love’s past

Hidden among the forgotten and lost

Muffled by an echoed plea

Silenced with a concealed drum

Behind the defensive guard

Soldiers regroup and reload

The wall goes up.

Thick ropes are pulled

Iron gates are lowered

Water is emptied from the moat

Replaced with molten lava

Last chariots are escorted across

Bridges are destroyed

Staircases crumble to the ground

Ladders are burned to ashes

Catapults are dismantled

Instruments of flight are demolished

The wall goes up.

Released from the chamber

Now escorted back

Through violent storms

Through raging seas

To the frozen tundra

To the deepest depth below

Far below the obtainable surface

Far beyond the foreseeable future

Stolen and broken it was

Stronger and thicker it has become

The wall goes up.

© 2010 David Greg Harth

10.08.26.14:34:31@550MadisonNYC

Attacking The Eaten

As if there was something left on their bones

We scurried to them

Their piles of bones so crisp and bare

We felt so famished and close to our own death

We were motivated to find one lasting piece

A little chunk of flesh left for us to eat

But nothing was there for us

Just bones and bones and bones and bones

© 2010 David Greg Harth

10.08.23.15:01:21@550MadisonNYC

So Easily Forgotten

I was whisked

Uplifted and uprooted

That tornado came pounding at my door

No matter how I denied its entry

It still entered with such commanding force

Powerful to knock me from my stable stance

Spin me hundreds of feet into the air

Landing miles away from my origin

Now at a different location

With no sense of home

And no direction

No one knows my name

And no one recognizes my face

I am forgotten

© 2010 David Greg Harth

10.08.23.14:21:37@550MadisonNYC

Gasoline

It struck me

As I was leaning against the gas station wall

We're on this road

Traveling together

But I had no idea

Where our destination was

I did not wonder

I wasn’t worried about directions

I wasn’t concerned about routes or boulevards

I wasn’t looking at the compass

And I wasn’t noticing where the shadows fell

We filled the car with gas

We cleaned the windshield free of dirt and bugs

We filled our snack bag with Twinkies and coke and chewing gum

And we admired the low gas prices at this small town gasoline station

The air here is crisp, as if a rainstorm just passed.

I can see rainbow swirls of gasoline in recently birthed puddles

The fresh scent of the pine trees behind the gasoline station infiltrates my nostrils

And you call to me, signaling that you are ready to go, ready to depart, ready to move on

So I leave my leaning position against the gas station wall

Leaving a slick muddy footprint from New York

With keys in my hand I walk towards you

And I asked, “Do you have your keys?”

With your answer,

It struck me,

We’re on this road

Traveling together

But I had no idea

Where our destination was

© 2010 David Greg Harth

10.08.20.14:54:44@550MadisonNYC

North

Waking up in July has new meaning

I wasn’t expecting to break out of this dreaming

I’ve been with blue and I’ve been with brown

But in your ever-changing hazel I could certainly drown

I’ve been one to write a poem or a lengthy letter

But times like this are so rare, they are so much better

I’ve never started like this at ease

Who knew that you had the keys?

I’ve alerted the sun and I’ve alerted the moon

Each is primed to inspire as I look forward to spoon

I’ve been learning and I’ve been listening

Growing closer, I cancelled my waiting

I’ve even put cupid on hold

As these feelings begin to unfold

I’ve been known to run or duck or dive

But for this one, I’m willing to let it thrive

I’ve never been prepared for such a glow

It is this one I will cherish its grand flow

I’ve opened the door

Now ajar, yearning for more

Waking up in August is missing

It is you that I miss kissing

© 2010 David Greg Harth

10.08.13.01:13:38@130BklynNYC

Happiness (Happiness on the Avenue)

I didn’t know happiness

Until the day I met you

In fact, it wasn’t the day I met you

But perhaps the 2nd day I met you

We were walking up the Avenue

I glanced over at you

And that smile of yours

Smiling and laughing at something I said

That’s when I discovered happiness

Everything before that, that wasn’t happiness

You -

You are happiness

© 2010 David Greg Harth

10.08.10.17:08:31@550MadisonAveNYC

Another Day Has Descended Upon Us

My journey was long

From earth’s end

Through raging fires and horrid winds

Through endless seas and darkened skies

But I came forth

Out from the capturing forests

Out from the suicidal cliffs

Out from the swallowing deserts

I came forth

Because I heard your call

Your voice of reason

Your soft whisper

Your echoed song

Time is beginning to stand still

World’s rotation is coming to a stop

Everything is shifting, twisting and turning

But now that you are here

Everything makes sense

Everything matches

Everything is synching

This day is here

And this day shall not be forgotten

© 2010 David Greg Harth

10.07.27.15:24:00@550MadisonAveNYC