October 2, 2009
Choices
What intercollection of life-events
Brought us to this place?
If you or I had missed a turn
Would we find our lives enlaced?
Amazing when you give it thought
How the cards had to fall
To position us for this moment
To press forward or forestall
The decisions that we make today
Will shape us for tomorrow
Will they bring us happiness
Or fill our lives with sorrow?
For the path we choose to travel
Is filled with possibility
But to act on how we feel right now
Is our sole responsibility
Copyright © 2001 by Jake Olden Shy
January 24, 2009
New Life
Searching a sea of confusion
Lost with no land in sight
Forcing a love became an intrusion
To a heart sick from the fight
Safe at home with my new life
Enjoying the freedom today
Contentment found without a wife
A mind no more in disarray
A simple life I have found
With my children a new home
Priceless moments now abound
A new chapter to my tome
No strings and no attachment
The decisions are my own
No more a bank account overspent
A savings slowly grown
No one to ask permission
No one must I consult
Indecision is lost to attrition
Independence the result
I need no one to share my bed
For sex tends to confuse
A heart so easily is misled
Snared within the ruse
As heart and mind find concert
With regret I am resigned
For one I did not mean hurt
Has found her love declined
Copyright © 2000 by Jake Olden Shy
November 1, 2008
Solipsistic View
I am responsible
For all that happens
To me. To you
As well I am the cause
Of the good and bad
In your life. I
Am the end-all, be-all
Of your existence.
In me you place
Your trust and devotion.
Your life in my hand
I give or take.
The world spins on axis
At my whim. My thoughts
Bring rain or shine
To the hills and valleys,
The cities and towns
Of this great land.
Great because I say so.
Or if it’s my wish,
Impoverished.
The trees grow, rivers flow
Upon my command.
This is my world.
Copyright © 1999 by Jake Olden Shy
August 10, 2008
The One
Up till now I’ve made excuses
To stop love from progressing
But experience and past abuses
I had been suppressing
Afraid to build relationships
Not wanting to be hurt
Fear before my heart eclipse
Romance I would subvert
I would not let them close to me
A reason for dismissal
Would come to me, conveniently
Rejection in epistle
I now can see my motivation
The truth it has revealed
I hope that with this affirmation
My heart will soon be healed
You may be one to succeed
To remove the knife
And stop this bleed
And bring me back to life
Copyright © 1999 by Jake Olden Shy
July 28, 2008
Troubled Soul
My heart seeks companionship
Can I no longer love?
Reluctance holds me in it’s grip
Distrust fitting like a glove
What have you done to me?
Stop fucking with my mind
In your wake of misery
My heart left undefined
You’ve left my heart in desolation
With your torrid web of lies
In these words an accusation
This work is my emprise
Have you ever been aware?
My sanity you stole
Your web holds within it’s snare
My heart, my mind, my soul
I find this lover’s trinity
Can’t seem to come to terms
For one I share affinity
Is dead…left for the worms
My mind stands before me
A gauntlet, my protection
I’m begging now to be set free
Grant love’s resurrection
Alas, my heart remains imprisoned
Until this trial is through
My heart receives a new commission
That plainly comes to view…
I hate you!
Copyright © 1999 by Jake Olden Shy
July 15, 2008
Kids
Torrid fighting in the hallway
Stomping feet, a slamming door
Soon their tempers will allay
Soon they’re friends once more
This is certainly nothing new
We’ve all been there before
As a child my tantrums threw
Was frustration, nothing more
Today’s parents don’t understand
The feelings of their kids
Disputes oft settled with a hand
Families are on the skids
Fighting helps attain maturity
Parents provide direction
A healthy child is a surety
If you teach them with affection
Don’t be ruled by your emotions
First seek to console
You will reap your child’s devotions
If you practice self-control
Copyright © 1999 by Jake Olden Shy
July 12, 2008
In Timelessness, Eternity
In timelessness, eternity
What becomes our destiny
Our lives are insignificant
In the vast unyielding void
No matter how recalcitrant
Death we can’t avoid
What lessons can we glean
While looking through the past
The future is unseen
The die have not been cast
Our actions in the here-and-now
Will write the page, you see
The seeds we sow; the fields we plow
For our posterity
For what measure of man’s history
Will our mere existence be
Our propensity for hate and fear
Or rather joy and laughter
Will certainly not be reckoned here
But in the hereafter
Copyright © 1998 by Jake Olden Shy
