I walked into Tolkien’s Night.

With a gaze of warm and cool.

Each stroke and step is well in sight.

Nearer the deep end of the pool.

I came back from Tolkien’s Night.

With a look less cool than hot.

Each time, there is something new.

It’s more like being more than not.

I was walking in the shadows.

Cause I kinda like the cool.

Mama never liked the heat that much.

And would walk right past the pool.

I’m not inclined to leave that fast.

Sometimes, I like to stick around.

Spent some time there in the deep end.

Where some sinners felt they drowned.

There are sharks, and there are minnows.

There are vices, keep us froze.

I saw you dancing with your demons.

Smiling, spinning on your toes.

In the darkness, there was laughter.

In the night, I heard you cough.

I changed gears, started walking.

Was my time for stepping off.

I’ve been working on this nightmare.

The kind that smiled in your dreams.

So many ways to tell a story.

And not much is what it seems.

Was told a story that was kinda sad.

It was short on facts that just didn’t add.

Smiled inside, I think my cover was blown.

I didn’t hide. I think I heard a groan.

I hung my head, you know I didn’t see…

If that groaning came from them or me.

Cry some tears. Can hear that groan.

Things are bad. Can I give a loan?

Anything more than the weather is nice.

I just nod my head, and I don’t think twice.

Sure is nice. Sure is sad.

Oh, poor you. You have it so bad.

Sure is nice, yeah, if it don’t rain.

Can I help you? Sure once again.

I got through the rough patch.

Nothing ventured, little gained.

I’m feeling a little underwhelmed.

And yet, so much needs explained.

From the outside looks like nothing.

Like a bum that’s lost the gold

However, all these inner dealers.

They be juggling, bought, and sold.

Someone cleaned the cupboard.

Naturally, you did come to mind.

But the silence tells another tale.

And the truth is far from kind.

Destruction of society.

They seemed to have a plan.

Bringing down the patriarchy.

Can’t say that I’m a fan.

There is something set in motion.

There’s a crash that’s going to bend.

All that happy, joyful cheering.

All that smiling is going to end.

Just be careful what you pray for.

Just in case your dreams come true.

There is something fast approaching

I don’t think you’ll like this new.

There was something in the water.

Not icecubes or alcohol.

Was something in the air last night.

Felt like Rome before the fall.

There were whispers in the shadows.

And fear upon the vine.

I checked the beach for trespass.

Was just you that crossed the line.

The stars were out in fury.

Burning bright in yonder sky.

I had so much to tell you once.

That time has passed us by.

She said she took the measure. But it came a little short.

It sounded much like confidence. Without the backing or support.

You know I had the warning. It was right there on my tongue.

But she wasn’t much on listening. So, no words were spoke or sung.

I was in the mood for silence . You could say all words were moot.

And she had that look in her eyes. If she had a gun, she’d shoot.

Sometimes, it’s just easier to turn and walk away.

To be the bigger person and get to live another day.

The movie has no soundtrack.

That was playing in my head.

The theme was for the living.

The plot was for the dead.

It’s a story of hereafter.

Like the myths a child’s told.

Equal portions tears and laughter.

You get the girl but not the gold.

The Sunday rains came early.

Damp Sidewalks Saturday night.

The stylish got out umbrellas.

To see the brawl tween left and right.

The jabs that started early.

Are more for show, dramatic flair.

The internet is all the rage.

With so much noise so contraire.

There’s a shortage here on blue dye.

And the one that makes hair green.

All the battle plans have strategies.

That don’t offend or seem too mean.

I went home and locked the castle.

In fact, I never left the moat.

I just fired up the drawbridge.

And just let those voices shout.

She was an unusually beautiful woman, with long black straight hair and olive skin, somewhere between 30 and 40, with agitated and insistent eyes.

She said that she grew up on a farm in Vietnam and that she was the middle child of 5 and that they grew up poor and that she lives in the moment and not in the past.

I knew I had to have her. The feeling swept over me like a tsunami at a flood in some strange exotic locale where palm trees sway in the breeze. I am focused, and the world is on fire, everywhere except for me and mine.

UPDATE:

Wife