THE MEANING OF LIFE

It was very still outside,
As darkness settled slowly,
And the stars poked pinholes in the sky

He gazed up at the heavens,
And pondered his existence,
As the evening's sounds drew quickly nigh

A life filled with regret,
Of things never accomplished,
Of heartaches both imagined and surreal

Nothing ever flourished,
With his underhanded schemes,
He always got the raw end of the deal

But this night was very different,
He felt a higher power,
Something that addressed all of his needs

He couldn't quite define it,
But it was, oh, so otherworldly,
For now he felt compelled to succeed

He'd been touched by the divine,
He'd discovered life's big secret,
Something that he'd share with all of us

As he stepped onto the street,
Poised to impart knowledge,
He got his goofy ass run over by a bus

Copyright; EGHarne

HOMELESS IN EUROPE

Sittin' on a rock in the middle of a field,
Polishin’ off another stolen meal,
The days go by…

I watch the clouds roll in from the West,
With a pain in my gut and an ache in chest,
Lonely…

And the wasted years have taken their toll,
Once I found an open grave and laid in the hole,
And felt the raindrops…

And the only woman to see my scars,
Stayed long enough to break my heart,
Autumn…

I watched her die on a Christmas day,
In a dank shit hole near the Champs-Élysées
And the wind blew…

And I wander through this vacant land,
Waiting for a smile or the touch of a hand,
From anyone…

So think of me on days like these,
When the snow falls and the rivers freeze,
I’ll be here…

Copyright; EGHarne

JANE & BOB & THE FLOOD

Jane and Bob saved their money,
Bought a house by the river and hoped for the best,
But neither one expected the weather to change,
So they watched it float away with all of the rest

They sat on the shore with tears in their eyes,
Remnants of the past mingled with the fish,
A letter from upriver beached near Jane,
On the outside it said, “Sealed With A Kiss”

Jane took out the pages, the ink was faded,
But the writing – a woman’s – could still be read,
And the endearments which spewed from line after line,
Were obviously the products of a lovesick head

The dinners romantic; the sex, just great,
His soothing words had eased her pain,
The end of the letter said she’d love him forever,
And desperately pleaded for…Bob to leave Jane

Jane lives by herself today,
Way out in the country with the horses and cows,
Her family worries ‘cause she’s never talked,
About the day the flood took Bob and the house

Copyright; EGHarne