"The Treehouse"

 The Treehouse √

Welcome to the treehouse mansion

Where the tree becomes the stanchion

Sturdy life, it grows in strength

Far beyond the platform's length

Through branches wide the house will flow

Up and out the love will grow 

The leaves that ease the Summer's heat

In winter, leaves, Sun’s warmth won't meet

Upon the eaves, watch life burst free

When, once, you build upon a tree

It holds you in its arms so wide

The structure seems to burst with pride

Without or with prosodic scansion

Welcome to the tree house mansion

" The Iron Will"

 The Iron Will # √

Make of this an Iron Will

To bend, not break, with diamond drill

The eyes, they laser to the sight

Through all the froth, then to what's right

The Iron jaw chews brittle glass

And makes of pain a thing of past

" The Travelers"

 The Travelers √

Once the day was folded up and, then, been put away

The travelers toasted final cup ‘fore ambling on their way

The weary Dream donned raincoat pale, the darkened road to face

Staid Principles' so well-worn cloak was slowly shrugged in place

They trudged along together then, at quite a lonely pace

Both broken rhyme and deepest ruts were oft the dismal case

Along the darkened road there stood gloom’s shadows here and there

The massive mound of rocks looked vaguely like a well-worn care

A tree of disappointment seemed like end of all that's known

They slowly moved together as they heard a ticking moan

But, what was that they saw ahead, a traveler on the road

They brightened just a little, then, for good he seemed to bode

Ah, bright Heart, in tattered tails, you comfort all you see

The aching back of Principles from bitter drudgery

And saddened eyes of tired Dreams that sheltered from the art

Did lose their pain, forevermore, in presence of great Heart

" The puzzle"

 The puzzle √

Each day I pull the puzzle out to see just where I stand

Solve the riddle, find the clue, see where the pieces land

And, in one day, there's so much change, to take the breath away

I spend a day and brightened night, to find the piece to play

Curiouser and curiouser, I find it all to be

For from the heart and out the mouth, remains of what I see

Some days, the whole thing seems so clear, all answers to decree

And, then, a poof, they pop their top and all is gone, they flee

I scratch my head, once more, in thought, it's there and, then, it's gone

And, what of all that silliness I danced upon the lawn

There may be more within that dance than all those thoughts so deep

So, skip that silly pensive brow before it makes me weep

The pitter-patter of the rain, the soft brush of the snow

Its simple answers hold more truth than I will ever know

This was written before the puzzle made any sense.  I was so close at the time, though.

" Everlast "

 Everlast √

1976

Stray stars streak through my mind and pass

With soft impressions, Everlast

Unto my mind is given thought

On all that is and all that's wrought

The periled depths both new and bold

So fill my mind to end the cold

To take the chill from unknown paths

Gain summer's warmth in Everlast

And, as my spring accepts its winter

The mind shall know and not be hindered

Just as my future routs the past

I’m off, again, to Everlast

A golden, open breezy field

Within the dream, my fate is sealed

Oh, Lady Luck, you're cards, don't deal

For Luck is not the sword I wield

Defense is open-armed, I clasp

All patience gained from Everlast

Fantastic as this thought may be

I now, and well, can clearly see

'Tis but a part that’s but a start

For, now, alone, so stands the Art

Away, again, so neighs the heart

Bright wondrous fields that never part

For all that’s seen and all that’s past

Is only part of Everlast

This was written so long ago.  I was still in school.  It feels like a different millennium and it is.  First rhoem.

" Grand "

 Grand √

It stands outright, in regal sense, with loyalist proportions

It sings a note of recompense that's lost in the distortions

A sparkle there, is littered here, and, with it, goes the sky

Bright moon sends shadows round the scarp evoking winsome cry

To seize upon the windlass sheet and pull with all your might

No crush will craze the troubled heart from tears of sudden sight

Swing out upon the windlass' rope and sweep onto the fore

Reach far above the mast to sky, beyond the ocean's roar

You'll sway into the lunar light of pinnacle's repine

For bursting forth from shadow's depth will come the grand design

" A fairy tale "

 A fairy tale √

The mind, it slowly shatters

As the dawn blows thoughts my way

I sweep up all that scatters

Like the jacks from someone's play

Those lives and all the epic tales, patina on my heart

Stars and moons and all else pales, replaying their own part

Are all those lives, a fairy tale to keep my soul afloat

It's just a guess, 'twill never fail, as song surpasses note

But, one thing that is surely true

I'm wrapped around with love of you

All lives, from start to blessed end

The will for that will always mend

And will's foray will never bend

Our heart and soul, the final blend

" Realms of amazement "

 Realms of amazement √

My mind is shattered by the times and by the tales I've told

Through ages and the augury, deep shards these eyes behold

My breath, I catch, from time to time, as all goes whizzing by

With blinding light I see so clearly, then, so nearly fly

Transcendent, now, the will as one, the strength is of the heart

The trials come, the tests won't end, if life, you still take part

A juggernaut, I think myself, I too, go whizzing by

The blinding light, I see so clear, sometimes I nearly fly

As I think about it, pretty much all of these rhoems were written before I had a clue what was wrong.  I  was still searching.  I'm impressed!  I really think the rhoetry somehow led to solving the riddle.  It's just weird.

" Transform "

 Transform √

The power in all beauty and the honour of the soul

Will build the life to something well beyond the keeper's toll

Fling out the hand and toss a spell to raise the life at stakes

The clouds upon horizon speak and wonders what it wakes

The power in the Traveler will stand the test of time

So deep within the magic to transform the world in rhyme

As steps of thunder rock the world to bring the final fates

Stretch out the willing hand to her, the heart no longer waits

No tolerance is left here for the shirking and denial

It’s time to rise above the past, transform this lifeless trial

" Petals"

 Petals # √

Bright petals of the day are strewn across my winding path

So, step and pick them up, just once, and smell the season's laugh

And, as I wander through this life, I pick the petals more

For there, alone, is where the life is on the path to soar

" Picturesque"

 Picturesque √

There have been times within my life that seemed so picturesque

That left in mind an imprint of a complex arabesque

A feel, a smell and pattern left across the fields of mind

All senses are arrayed to swell the heart and later find

A vision, blinding, in its gift to take the breath away

Triggered by a sight or scent or song I seldom play

A song in heart that sings a sigh that only my heart hears

A surge of soul that slumbered deep across the spanning years

Perchance to waken at the slightest hint of something past 

That thunders through the senses with full weight and fully massed

Eternal sighs, again, might be a phrase that I could use

But, breathless, from the memory, the word that I would choose

All beauty binds a way of life that captures as it sends

It happens just so often now, I wonder what portends

A hint of things to come?  Of pure beauty's final race?

I staggerdrop and wonderfall at thought I might embrace

That all of life completes the dream, reflected in a face

" The will of the wind"

 The will of the wind  2 √

The will of the wind has something to say

When it comes to the bending of trees

But, think what you will, at the end of the day

Mankind should not bend as it please

It's nonsense to think and throw up one's hand

Behaviour, so clear, unbecoming of man

Now, dignity's armour will come to the fore

And bring down the house and make of it more

The will of the wind will be lost, at the last

The bending of will, just a thing of the past

" Golden sounds"

 Golden sounds √

To hear the children's easy laughter

Or, silence of the night

Should hold the will for ever after

With will for all that's right

Allay the crippled thoughts of man

And bring him here to see

The ways to learn, un-crippled stand

At last, so boldly free

" Springtime"

 Springtime √

The murmurings of spring attend the world tonight

Such breathless feelings singing of the wild heart and delight

The white has turned to green and red

Snow's gone without a trace

The flowers burst up in their bed

Life quickens to the pace

I remember when my abode experienced winter.

" The growing day"

 The growing day #? √

From time of dark, before the light 

Until that time day triumphs night

I sit within my woods and watch

The glory grow in sylvan notch

I take the time to watch in wonder

Daylight build the world asunder

The signs of day are slowly coming

As subtle as a thrush's thrumming

No doubt can be, you'll watch too long

For lovely as a thrush's song

As first momentous glimpse of light

That tolls the end of blackest night

With vaguest glance, the world is etched

No depth, no tint, just briefly sketched

And, then, the slightest silver slips

Upon the world to touch the tips

And sharpened edges come to fore

But still in gray from star to core

So slowly, all along the depth

The thief along the border crept

To steal away night's deepest black

He enters through a narrow crack

Behold, for now, the day will start

And coal and char will now depart

It is beginning of events

That lead to wondrous day, immense

I tremble, now, as night relents

But, sun has yet to cross the fence

Yet, now the world begins to form

In shades of gray, no colors warm

Still, whether it is spring or fall

No way the eye can tell at all

There’s still no color to the leaves

As, night to day, does slowly ease

And, then, a hint, the softest brush

The barest tint comes with a rush

Now lanes of light pass through the trees

Untouched, it taps me on the knees

As welcome as a morning breeze

True morning's here, at last, to seize

Wow!  I just realized how much of a double entendre this whole poem is.  Unfortunately, it remains dark.  So, I've never reached even the third line.  Just that true morning I would like to see, though I would certainly watch the day grow until full light, if given the chance.   Waiting in the dark is getting on my nerves (annoyed, not freaking out).

This rhoem was actually written while sitting in a sylvan notch.