Listening to Water and Wind

I was born in a valley among mountains
And not too far from the sea
Mountains and rivers and vast water scapes
Have formed the very heart of me.

My music is wind whistling in fir trees
Splash of bow-waves as they fall
My colors those of rainbows and sunsets
And tree leaves when autumn calls

I’ve panned the gold streams of the Sierras
Trapped and hunted the Continental Divide
Made bows and arrows and long knives
I’ve carried ready by my side

My life is now more than half over
What’s left of it I’ll surely spend
Adventuring a-wave and a-field
Listening to water and wind

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

And I Never Recovered

I was young,
I was strong,
I was smart,
I was driven,

Then I saw you
And I never recovered

You were glorious
You were exciting
You were alive
You were perfect

Then I met you
And I never recovered

Even now, with closed eyes
I still remember
Your scent
Your heat

Then we spoke
And I never recovered

I fell,
Into, under,
Your eyes
Your control

Then we kissed
And I never recovered

A future promised
An open vista
A life together
A life lived

But instead you left me
And I never recovered

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

Always Will

She Said: “Goodbye I must go away”
Though we have loved for many a day
And I love you with all my heart
It’s best that you and I should part”.

His soul screamed out though none could hear
The feelings and words it cried so clear
No sooner spoke than his heart caved in
While his mind began to wildly spin

If...Maybe…What about…Why
Round and round causing him to cry
Though it was right that she go away
It pained him more than he could say

As time passed on his wound did heal
Allowing him again to touch and feel
The love they shared as they do still
Always have…always will

© Copyright 1991 Marty Vandermolen

Evil and I have wrestled

Evil and I have wrestled
At times it’s been clear to me
Evil and I have wrestled
The winner’s been hard to see

Evil and I have wrestled
My task has been; throw him out
Evil and I have wrestled
At times he has won, no doubt

Evil and I have wrestled
Each time I’ve grown the least bit
Evil and I have wrestled
I simply refuse to submit

Evil and I have wrestled
But wrestle no more shall I
Evil and I have wrestled
Vanquished at my feet he does lay

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

Don’t Be Fooled

I don’t need you.
Don’t be fooled
By the quick sparkle
In my eye
Or the soft warmth
Of my voice

I don’t need you.
Don’t be fooled
By the flashing smile
Upon my lips
Or my moist breath
Along your throat

I don’t need you.
Don’t be fooled
By the delightful dreams
Invading my nights
Or the way I
Think of you

I don’t need you.
Don’t be fooled
By the pulsing beat
Of my heart
Or my trembling touch
Upon your flesh

I don’t need you.
Don’t be fooled
I don’t need you in my life
In my days or nights
No, don’t be fooled,
I don’t need you
I want you

© Copyright 1990 Marty Vandermolen

Far Too Few a Morning

Far too few a morning has found me
    Laying a-bed in a glen
Listening to morning breaking
    Out with its pleasing din

Near stream that babbles and gurgles,
    Water flow dancing with chill
Ice sound slipping and sliding
    Cascading down yonder hill

Stars fade into grey morning
    Blackness thins ever away
Before the golden sunlight lifts
    O’er hill a single warm ray

While a jay comes a calling
    Chiding me for lying in
Instead of industriously making
    Some morsel of breakfast for him

And nighttime’s tussle of friendship
    Of fox and deer and bear
Trade ranks with the day’s fellows
     The chipmunk, the squirrel and hare

Each thus morning I wake up
    I wonder why so long
Has passed since I last lay there
    Spellbound by morning’s song.

© Copyright 2016, Marty Vandermolen

How can it be?

How can it be
That mankind
Once master of
God’s beautiful creation
Has built of it
A cheap imitation
Of Dante’s Hell?

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

They Shoot Horses

Fractured

Broken

Disfigured

Destroyed

Beyond healing

Eternal pain

So why not me

 

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

Collapsing Crystal Castles

You approached me once
    Sparkling glowing heat that lit me afire
You loved me once
    I blazed multi-hued colors against lonesome darkness
You told me goodbye once
    While I danced among our collapsing crystal castles
You left me once
    I have yet to survive the shimmering slashes endured

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

Silvery Moon

Silvery moon
Shimmering light
Weave for me a dream this night

Silvery moon
So bright above
Dream for me someone to love

Silvery moon
Bewitcher of time
A place in which she will be mine

Silvery moon
Of dreams fulfilled
Keep her here, til my heart is stilled

© Copyright 1992 Marty Vandermolen 

My Day Will Come

My day will come
I’ll fade away
Without your hearing
What I should say

I’ve lived my life
As it should be
A part for you
A part for me



And though I go
As I do chose
You have not lost
You do not lose

And I remain
As I would be
Free to embrace
my destiny



Which never was
Long life sought
When time instead
Experiences I bought

Existence may ease
Your pained heart
But if I only exist
We’re already apart



Let me remember
Me tall and strong
Long and lean
More right than wrong

And while I did
What income demand
It never was part
Of my life’s plan



Which began with love
and longing toll
To share with you
My secret soul

The joys I brought
The art I dreamed
The words I wrote
The inspiration beamed



Its what I created
And leave behind
That measures my life
Weathered and lined

Not how long
Spent on spinning rock
Nor how many times
I wound the clock



I chose to live
Short, racing pace
Panting, wheezing
I’ve run my race

And I’ve looked
Back at rising sun
Happy with what
I did and done



I’ve lived my life
As it should be
A part for you
A part for me

Now that you’ve heard
What I would say
My day has come
I’ll fade away

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

Morning’s Feet

Morning’s feet sneak

               Silently into night’s

                              Lingering languid dreams

 

Insistently drawing apart

               Velvety protective shadows

                              Shining crystal beams

 

Shatter fleeting fears

               Brilliant awareness rips

                              Asunder fragile seams

 

Freeing life’s forces

               Recharged venturing forth

                              Until improvement seems

 

Assured within daylight’s

               Apparent overwhelming challenges

                              Solution often beams

 

Morning’s feet echo

               Soothing mindful thoughts

                              Drifting into dreams

 

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

Father's Day

Once, I stammered the sound “dah’
That utterance represented one of the twin stars of my universe
And with it peace, and comfort, and security encompassed me

I tried to walk, and talk, and stand
Exactly like HE did, straight and tall and strong
So that,  I too, could become a man, some day

I worked, and learned, and sweated, and feared
That I could live up to the very same shining example
HE cast among my brothers and I

But, my shoulders were too narrow, my back too weak
Yet HE shared support and compassion, and structure, and hope
To retake HIS measure, and reshape my foundation

No matter how often, or with what flourish I failed
HE stood by, never to excuse my failures, but to guide my future
And to place the tools for growth again within my hands

It fell to me to find the seeds of strength
That HE had sown and to learn
To nourish and harbor, and prune, and toughen

Then, I heard the stammered sound “dah”
Uttered forth from one of the twin stars of my universe
Every day since I have asked myself; What would HE do

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

I Can’t

You came to me one sunny day and
I can’t stop thinking of you
You made my heart race so
I can’t be near you
You whispered to my soul but
I can’t speak with you
You form my dreams of beauty yet
I can’t look at you
You crushed me in leaving while
I can’t stop loving you

© Copyright 2015 Marty Vandermolen 

The Will to Run

My time has past
My day is done
I’ve lost the will
To race and run

My love for life
Has bled away
Leaving me drained
Both night and day

While once I rejoiced
With coming morn
Each sunrise now finds
Me filled with scorn

For my time has past
And my day is done
And I’ve lost the race
And the will to run

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

Shady Place

Fir tree hangs
O’er slanting slope
An afternoon bed
I dearly hope

Cool damp ground
Thick dry duff
Dappled light shade
Bark coarsely rough

Strong roots grip
Granite faced wall
Trunk leans out
But doesn’t fall

Years gone by
And years ahead
Shady place to
Rest my head

© Copyright 1996 Marty Vandermolen

Lightening Struck

You

My life was planned,
surveyed, mapped, decided.
My goal was clear,
focused, disciplined, precise.
My time was scheduled,
allocated, weighted, efficient.
My love was embraced,
woo’ed, delightful, enchanting.
My success was certain,
steady, rewarding, spectacular.

Lightening Struck

My success was interrupted,
staggered, shattered, destroyed.
My love was soured,
draining, deadened, destructive.
My time was chaotic,
corrosive, devoid, appalling.
My goal was lost,
foundered, fractured, adrift.
 My life was lost,
tormented, dismal, worthless.

Left

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

Our Blood has been to Battle

In remembrance of
Uncle Melvin Lynn Applebury
Great Uncle Herbert Vander Molen




Our Blood has been to Battle



When danger has haunted good men
     And violence has held dark sway
Our blood has stalked the bad lands
     Rebuffing Evil’s way

Our blood has been to war
     On hill and plain and bay
Our blood has been to battle
     For them today we pray

Some served and came back
     Sadly others had to stay
On foreign soils nourished deep
     Where forever they will lay

Forget them not because they gave
     Their life’s coin to pay
Evil back into its lair
     So Good has one more say

© Copyright 2016, Marty Vandermolen

In Death I'll Depart

Once I had it all figured out
I was country with suit, tie and wingtips polished
Wealth flowed naturally to me

You shared a piece of my soul
I finished your smiles, and you purred my contentment
Love was our electric circuit

You turned lovely day to stormy night
By sending me away you ripped out my heart
Crushed my confidence, my future

I have lain lifelessly numb ever since
Fearful to feel once again, to love and yearn
Until in death I'll depart  

© Copyright 2013 Marty Vandermolen

Once I was happy

Once I was happy
Love was new
Life was bright

Then true motives revealed
That I’d been misled
Lied to, abandoned

Foolishly I tried to retrieve
The crushed dreams and
Rebuild the commitments

But the foundations were sand
The pillars were salt
And the roofing was mist

I struggled on
Shaping and shoring
Giving and bleeding

Until the structure was whole
But soullessly hollow
And endlessly cold

Now I am grieved
Drained and dying
Looking forward to release

© Copyright 1996 Marty Vandermolen

Heed the Ground

In life we pound heel prints
Deeply set in the dusty trails
Of our wayward past

While all too often we leave
No boot toe prints set firmly
Pointing our future destiny

Thus the trail behind tugs backward
While the trail ahead’s sadly unsupportive
Diminishing our very promise

Heed  the ground beneath your heel
Point toe firmly down your path
Control your life’s accomplishments

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

The Life We Long For

There’s the life that we long for
And there’s the life that we lead
For one of them we dream
For the other one we bleed

But our dreams seem infirm
Smoke riding the wind
Of harsh confused moments
That force us to bend

While the day to day life
We are bound to lead
Rips open our veins
And so we bleed

Our goals and our energy
Our loves and our lust
Out on life’s too often
Unfertile dust

From when we’re born
to when we die
We delude ourselves
with artful lie

Of whom we are
and what we’ve done
Of challenges met
and successes won

To you I say
Be not self-deceived
Reject the life you have
The life you lead

Cling instead to dream’s
Fragile airs
Live you dreams by day
Without any cares

And while your end will come
As all ends do
By living your dreams
Your regrets will be few.

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

To Bryan

“My Son” he thinks with a glance at the boy,
Heart skipping a beat, bursting with joy.
For he sees the cracks in the boy cocoon
And knows a man will be emerging soon.

“My Son” he thinks, gazing through tear filled eyes,
“You’ll soon be soaring your own blue skies,
Leaving me behind, never knowing how much,
I’ll miss your voice, your laugh, your touch.”

“My Son” he thinks, cold hand on his heart,
“You and I, too soon, will have to part,
For the way of the world is cast in stone,
And each man must tread his path alone.”

“My Son” he thinks, with senses dead,
“The day will come that I most dread,
When we will grow apart, as we must do,
Without your knowing how much I love you.”

Copyright © 1997 Marty Vandermolen All Rights Reserved

For Fame and Glory

When I was young I dreamed there’d be
Fame and glory just for me

Then it seemed as I traveled around
No fame or glory was to be found

Now from my child’s eyes I know
There was truth in my dreams long ago.

© Copyright 1986 Marty Vandermolen

To Be a Leaf

Softly wind sighs through the trees
Pushing, jostling, pulling at leaves
Urging them to “let go”; take flight
Drift on down from lofty height

Ultimately each leaf obeys, sets sail
Floating through sky, soft and pale
Dancing and slipping through autumn air
Set upon a journey with no thought or care

Oh, how I long to be a leaf
Freed from my bonds and my grief
To rush, and dance, and skip o’er the ground
Chasing change, adventure found

©Copyright 1986 Marty Vandermolen

The Wishing Well

I stand before a wishing well
And wonder of wonder’s that be
Of all the things one could foretell
My dreams came true for me

Granted wish takes more than a penny
In this well built by old elf
No matter what type, it won’t take money
Into it you must throw yourself

Most often when the throwing is done
So long the soul falls it is lost
Failing to escape back into the sun
Such a terrible life-crushing cost

But as I said, my dreams came true
While falling through space and time
My soul found and merged with you
Now I can call you mine

1. © Copyright 1994, Marty Vandermolen

A Chance to Ring

With smiling eyes you asked of me
How would I like to be wild and free
Free as a clear cool mountain spring
Free as the sound of church bell’s ring

I respond to you that I would not
Want the battles a mountain stream’s fought
Nor hour on hour of lonely time
Awaiting my next chance to chime

Instead I would wish to be free as a dove
Spreading my wings to soak up your love
That I may come to where you are
And follow you like my guiding star.

© Copyright 1993 Marty Vandermolen

The Life We Lie For

There’s the life that we long for

               And there’s the life that we lead

For one of them we dream

               For the other one we bleed

Our youth and time, our love and lust

               Out on wind-swept, barren, rocky dust

From when we’re born to when we die

               Deluding ourselves with artful lie

Of whom we are and what we’ve done

               Of challenges met, and successes won

 

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

Her Beauty

True beauty is not in a woman’s face
Rather it is her presence and grace

The way she moves with deep set pride
Flowing from a warmth held deep inside

Of the love she shares with those held dear
And the joy she spreads to all those near

 © Copyright 1998 Marty Vandermolen

Bury Me Not

I’ve lived my days in sun and rain
Climbing hill, crossing windy plain
I’ve paddled river lake and sea
Outdoors I grew and searched for me

My joys have come from what I’ve known
And how the land has shaped me grown
Into a man strong and proud
Confident, capable, seldom loud

A day will come when my eyes will dim
I’ll walk no more, so grant this whim
Leave me here when my time is due
Among the things I loved to do

Bury me not ‘neath the cold cold ground
Dark and wet and six foot down
Scatter my ashes up here instead
On sparkling lake lite evening red

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

The Last Childhood

Somewhere
in the not too distant past
boys
and girls
ranged free  

Outside
through meadows
of wildflowers
and
grasses

Spinning wheels
and spokes
pumping
legs
and lungs

Fish hooks
kites
kittens
campfires
night hikes

Rustling through
autumn leaves,
packing snow balls
dreamily dancing
through springtime showers.

Free living
free growing
baked by sun
tempered by play
straightened and true

But Now Shackles
are penned
on each child
before
they walk.

Electronic games
tracking devices
simple-minded
feel-good
entertainment and education

Have sucked
the youth
out of childhood
and we are
the weaker for it.

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen 

She is My Past

Once, I fell in love.


The bond was joyful

The bond was strong

The bond was mutual


But


It was the wrong time.

It was the wrong place

It was the wrong reality


She is, only, a part of my past

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

Youth

My shadow once
Danced across peaceful
Moonlight summer meadows
Up rock strewn
Soaring mountain passes
Effortless endless miles

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

So Fast

How can
it be
that

Most weeks
pass so
slow

Yet life
passes so
fast

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

I'll Die This Day

I’ll die this day
With setting sun
Life’s lap’d me
I wasn't done

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen

Scatter My Ash

Lay me not beneath the ground
Nor o’er my head set stone
I’ll want no visits when I’m gone
Preferring to rest alone

You’ve better things for which to do
Than shed o’er me a tear
My life is gone, yours still burns
Embrace it, passionate, and dear

Buy me not a casket strong
Nor tiny plot of land
I’ll use them not, either one
They just will not be manned

Spread me instead ‘neath cloudy sky
Or over sun-kissed ground
Where nature will come to pass me by
And sooth me with her sound

So, scatter my ash in wind and rain
On yonder hill, or grassy plain
And there I’ll rest quite happily
From now on through eternity

© Copyright 2016 Marty Vandermolen