To All Who Sleep

this winter's night the town is silent
dead as autumn's fallen leaves
to all who sleep, the hours are fleeting
(clocks are given hands of thieves)

-- c.j. noel

Embers

I'll find our fire despite the storm
          And I may fail, but I'll have tried
                    For those old embers never died
                              Three years have passed, and still they're warm
                                                              
                                                            -- c.j. noel

The Reason Why

I lost you once, but this I vow:
I'll make you mine again, or die;
And I don't know the when or how,
But love is all the reason why.

-- c.j. noel

You are my Recurring Dream

If the heart can dream,
Mine dreams of you;
Has my dream a chance
Of coming true?

Must the words we said
Three years ago
Stand against the love
We yearn to know?

-- c.j. noel

Lost and Found

"But God commendeth his love toward us,
in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
-- Romans 5:8


I was losing my direction,

Like a compass spinning ‘round;

Yet before I sought Redemption,

By Redemption I was found.

-- c.j. noel

Soldier's Promise Broken

I'll return when the fighting finds an end
And this long, dark road leads me home again
I'll return from the wars of distant lands
And I'll hold your face in my shaking hands

Oh I'll return, I'll return...


-- c.j. noel

Drawn in Ink

You I cannot erase,
Though I've honestly tried;
For I drew you in ink,
And it instantly dried...

-- c.j. noel (2010)

Recklessness

Though reckless hope is often hopeless,
I fell for you -- and still I fall.
Oh, loveless life is truly lifeless!
For you I risk my heart -- my all.

-- c.j. noel (2010)

Blame

I pulled the trigger,

But you loaded the gun.

Our love was the victim;

Darlin', what have we done?

-- c.j. noel

Nothing is Free

Won't some gentle spirit show kindness to me?
I've traveled far, and far I've yet to go.
I'm hitching my way to a town by the sea
Where lives a girl whose love I used to know.


-- c.j. noel

Weeping Willow Tree

Here, beneath this weeping willow tree

I daily wait, yet still she never shows;

Once, her summer eyes shone bright for me, 

But now a winter wind forever blows.

-- c.j. noel

(There's a Difference, You Know)

We're either falling or we're flying;
One is living, one is dying.
My darling, rush we ever faster
To the heavens, or disaster?

-- Cleveland Noel (2010)

Correspondence

You stole from me, my darling

You’ve stolen my heart from its cage

My love is yours, my dearest

(I’ve written it all on this page)

You stole from me, my darling

You’ve stolen my breath all away

I'll write to you, my dearest

(Some words are too honest to say)

-- C. Noel (2010)

The Legend of Meghan the Platypus

Oh, Meghan was a platypus who wished to be a unicorn
So she could brag to horses all about her epic spiral horn;
But Meghan always felt depressed and just a little bit forlorn,
For she was still a platypus -- ‘cause that’s the way that she was born.
 
But into Meghan’s pond some random guy poured lots of toxic waste
And Meghan didn’t like the smell, and really didn’t like the taste.
The toxic mix of chemicals was with a funky substance laced
That caused a spiral horn to grow on Meghan’s head with greatest haste.

And very soon she was transformed into a unicorn complete;
She even had a flowing tail, and horse-like hooves upon her feet.
She bragged to horses ‘bout her horn, and they all thought ‘twas pretty sweet.
She also noticed that she’d grown an appetite for grain and wheat…

So Meghan is a unicorn. She rides the rainbows in the sky!
It is by far the greatest dream of all the lowly platypi
To be like her; but ev’ry time a platypus has dared to try,
It has not grown a spiral horn. Instead, it’s grown an extra eye... 

-- written 26 October 2010 by Cleveland J. Noel (me!) for my friend Meghan's birthday.

Time, Time, and Again

Time --
They say it's the cure,
That healing will come
If I'll give it some
Time,
But I'm not so sure;
Your love was a lie
That seems to defy
Time,
As questions endure
Of wrongs we would mend,
With power to bend
Time,
          time,
                   time,
                            Time and again.

-- c.j. noel

Childhood Ghost

I was only a child, but my eyes told the truth
When I saw the dark ghost in the hall
For he ran past my door in the dead of the night
Like a shadow of nothing at all

Three Years in Nine Lines

I tried to tell myself the lie
That this old love would surely die
But now I know I can't deny
That I still care for you

I know we said we wouldn't try
A second time, so darling, I
Don't understand the reason why
I love you like I do

{Oh can't we start anew?}

Chapter 1: True Love (is Not a Decreasing Function of Time)

{I'm lost in hopeless love undying
Love that time will never kill
My dearest, it's no use denying
That I love you, always will}

-- c.noel