Poems by Mark O. Decker

I Will Bring Joy

I want to sing, 

a song of life, and

rhyme the words 

that fly like kites

from mind to page, and 

page to mind;

I want to bring

the joy I know,

to all I love, 

so I can show

how deeply moved 

i am

that you are here with me, and

i, with you; and,

so I shall;

Listen, and you will hear 

the sound.

 

Sharing Pain

I’ll never not be your Dad;

Don’t ask me

to suffer in silence,

while you suffer in silence;

Talk to me,

let me talk, to you,

let me hug you, 

my son;

You are my son;

Are you numb,

you should be numb,

as I am,

as am I.

 

Modern Day Siddhartha

Think back to the joys of child and grown-up toys;

simple joys, joys sweet, a few annoy;

Some run into us like a truck, some, from people we meet;

How can anybody know what is inside a boy’s heart

who listens to the beat, of life,

listening from his fingertips, and tiptoes;

Who tastes what others smell, who lives through it, to tell 

the heaven, and the hell, of the journey;

Like a modern day Siddhartha seeking love and elusive perfection,

without knowing its rhyme or diction,

often finding fear and friction,

having not just two, but three or more roads to choose;

Did no one tell us they were all good choices,

could no one stop the confused and tattered voices,

that appeared at each gate’s entrance;

Now, looking back, it all seems so tame, a distant remembrance;

Where did the snarling lion go,

the vicious viper that moved so fast, yet was, in fact, so slow;

It melted away, like ice on a summer day;

I guess that’s just the way it goes, and goes, and goes.

 

And, Then We Sail

Young man, on the ropes,

beaten, bloodied, but standing,

still in the ring, ready to fight; and 

fight to win;

Give the young man some water,

get him to breathe deeply, slowly,

put a little vasoline on his forehead;

Tell him, “you are winning!”,

remind him, he’s been here before

when he was two, four and twelve,

back when he believed in Santa and his elves;

Show him the front door, through which he arrived,

tell him he’s welcome, this time, to stay;

“Put your feet up, rest awhile”,

a good, long while and let me see that smile,

oh, yes, that really good, real smile; and,

now we go for a walk,

a short one, or it could be for miles;

I can’t walk there in your shoes, but

i’ll come there, with you, in mine;

We’ll refresh our minds on the do’s and the don’ts,

the wills and won’ts;

Then, we sail.