Letters unread on a dust pile,
Fading photos collect on the sill.
The dried stains of dead tear drops
And the old soul still waiting to be filled.
A house that now lies empty.
Musty and silent its’ cold halls,
And there the haunting memory of
Music and words.
Though to the soul no longer it calls.
The desolation of dawn with no sunrise
To accompany the memories held there.
A promise of love entwined in a kiss,
The annals of heartache laid bare.
© Copyright Stephen Duffy 1997
On rocky shore, by tinted lake,
Beneath a cedars ashen bough,
On soft grass we lay and spoke of stars,
Beneath a sky devoid of clouds.
In the welcome warmth of the noon sun,
We drank wine, and ate blue cheese and bread.
And spoke in terms of smiles and life
And there tender words were said.
It was at that gentle moment,
There beneath the cedars shade,
That unspoken bonds were gently forged
And visual promises made.
For time can only pass us by,
And passing days, they bring the end,
When love must surrender hearts,
When lovers fade to friends.
© Stephen Duffy 1997
Music was drenched by her beauty,
The sun blinded by her eyes.
The clouds wept at her laughter,
For her the swallows fly.
Summer surrenders her blossoms,
Autumn offers her fruits.
Winter coats the world in crystals,
For her beauty is the truth.
© S. Duffy 2002
When time slows down one faithful eve,
When we share love in a final embrace.
Loves rosy glow shall be warm on my face,
As the blessings of stars we receive.
With the rising of passions, our hearts in the sky,
I will whisper soft words in your ear.
Of how I shall hold you so desperately near,
Until the lost eons sail by.
With tender caress and cotton soft kiss,
I shall seal our one love to all ends.
To last an eternity until all Heaven descends,
And the seas quench the stars with a hiss.
I could hold you forever, though time is too short,
For now you are bound in my heart.
An eternal bonfire to scatter the dark,
The beautiful Queen of my court.
© S. Duffy 1998
Is it not an agony of no purpose
When you cannot help but want
That which you no longer can have.
When you can but pine for the loss
Of the thing you once held dear.
Is not this ache a part of the beauty
Of being human and being fallible.
© S. Duffy 1997
That a kiss could be so enthralling
Was never knowledge to me.
That one could feel so lost
Within a waking dream!
With lips like satin honey
You gently press on mine.
Numbing me with tenderness
As would sweetened summer wine.
That I could fall dumbfounded
Beneath your delicate spell
As your silken skin moves against me,
My desires you gently quell.
As a sweeping wash of water
I’m submerged beneath a tide
Though the waters do not dampen
They fuel the fires inside.
Your kiss is like a gateway
To a land of hopes and dreams.
Where all is fed and bathed
In sparkling, trickling streams.
Your kiss could be the night time,
Slipping quietly over day.
Your kiss removes the winter,
It warms the frosted days.
I never saw the change that came,
That silver came from gold.
Never dreamed a burning flame
Greyed and died out in the cold.
Paid no heed to changing times,
Ignored the change days brought.
Never heard the church bells chime,
Ignored the battles fought.
The petals of that red rose,
Have now fallen to the floor.
As love does come, it too soon goes,
And behind it seals the door.
©SD 1996
A penny without a pauper, an artist without his brush.
The surf without the beach beneath, the reed without the rush.
The sun without the little moon, an umbrella without the rain.
A plaster without a wound to dress, paracetemol without the pain.
A bottle without a drunk to nurse, a carpet with no floor.
A house without a sheltering roof, thick walls without a door.
Kindling with no coal to light, cornflakes missing their milk.
Socks with no feet to love, a spiders’ web without the silk.
A match without a smoke to spark, a glass without the wine.
Clouds without the sun to block, a clock without the time.
These I was before I found you, all these before you came,
I am happy now, in love with you, an umbrella in the rain.
©SD 2001
With summer waning, autumn growing still.
I sailed across the darkened sand, wandering at will.
Amid the wave and wind I walked, your image in my mind,
I searched amid the rocky crags, a resting place to find.
There I sat in silence, staring out to sea,
A gentle voice then asked of you and what you mean to me.
I answered, “She is many things.”
The reply echoed in my head.
The gentle voice it quizzed once more,
This is what I said:
“She is the pearly stars
In a darkened island sky.
Though gentle as a mountain deer,
Timid, free and shy.
I compare her to the secret seas
With mysteries rooted deep.
Her voice like those of angels
One hears when deep in sleep.
Her aura like the spirit
Which smothers autumn lands.
The subtle touch of spring time winds
Is the magic in her hands.
She can be like the rising sun,
New with each day born.
And too a sweet reminder
That roses grow with thorns.”
When all these words were spoken I turned back to face the sea
And once again the gentle voice, it softly spoke to me.
It asked did I speak the truth as waves gently lapped up on the shore.
I answered, “Yes, she is this and simply so much more.”
© SD 1995
Your pain can echo through me, caverns vast and black,
I receive the love you present to me, I humbly send mine back.
I observe the firmament nightly, my treasures of the sky,
They fail and die in light of you when seen through loving eyes.
Dreams we share them always, visions to come true,
For eternity our love should live, forever me and you.
©SD
Words Unbidden 