Her heart is breaking
A child, the prayer unanswered
His heart breaks for her

Copyright © 2008 by Jake Olden Shy

Laughing, clapping hands
Happy squealing squeaky shrill
Granddaughter at play

Copyright © 2008 by Jake Olden Shy

The cold winter wind
Chills deeply to my bone
Sunshine does not help

Copyright © 2008 by Jake Olden Shy

The oppressive sun
beating down
on a forgotten southwestern town

Empty streets echo
against forsaken framework
A ghost town

I’m standing
with squinting eyes bleeding
red and watering

Dust blowing and tumbleweed
rolls as wavering heat rises
from cracked and broken earth

A slowly approaching figure
familiar in form and gait
clad in shadow
as yet unknown

Slowly solidifying
stopping in staunch stance
a hand quickly slides death
from a holster
and erupting fire
initiates thick red explotions
within my chest

I’m propelled rearward
hard to unforgiving ground

Lying still
as life seeps from gastly holes
in my plagued torso

Quietly the cloaking shadow
separates from the figure
and dying I stare
into wide innocent eyes

My son

Copyright © 2004 by Jake Olden Shy

Because

I care for you more deeply
Than one heart can conceive
This feeling of affinity
Seems like make-believe

My heart has found surrender
My life a new emprise
In beaming stars of fireflies
Dancing in your eyes

Now love lights upon my heart
Flitters like a butterfly
I’m asking you to be my wife
And smiling in reply

You say, “yes!”

Copyright © 2002 by Jake Olden Shy

Love moves
to the music
in my head
A slow dance
across the floor
Oblivious
to the world
as we glide on
wings of silk and satin

Love blooms
like a flower
in my eyes
Borne of summer
sunshine and springtime rain
Unfolding pedals
spread a crimson vision
of bright vibrant passion

Love permeates
my sense of smell
A wholesomeness
in the sweet aroma
of baking apples
in the kitchen
on a brisk Sunday
afternoon

Love reacts
to my touch
A pleasant pressing
of your lips to mine
The sensefilled shudder
of your body
encased
within the splendor
of desire

Love is savored
A familiar taste
on the tip
of your tongue
A fine wine
that stimulates
the palate
and warms
the soul

Love is
in the sound
of your voice
A whisper
in my ear
“I love you”

Copyright © 2001 by Jake Olden Shy

The clock reads one a.m.
Sleep is hard to find
My mind in pleasant mayhem
She’s my state-of-mind

Her image on my dresser
Constant capturing my gaze
Does she know how much I miss her?
In my life the role she plays?

From extended conversation
Her voice lingers in my ear
Our laughter an elation
Longing brings her near

What is this compulsion
I find within her eyes
Defined by this emotion
And the promise it implies

Copyright © 2001 by Jake Olden Shy

Each year the saddest month
Approaches like a thief
Robbing my tranquillity
Leaving me with grief

I need not tell directly
The truth within these lines
Thirty-one days of sorrow
Held in it’s design

The first full month of autumn
The leaves began to fall
She left that cold gray morning
I can vividly recall

The tail lights fading quickly
Her car speeds up the road
My eyes are deep and misty
A tragedy bestowed

A kiss absent is fading
That was our last good-bye
I thought it would be different
We vanished with a sigh

For we talked of reuniting
A tomorrow coming soon
Discussing the arrangements
For the moment opportune

In our youth we didn’t notice
The wishful thinking of our hearts
Now our memory is fading
The dissolution starts

In short time we simply fade away
She’ll rarely cross my mind
Until the anniversary
Finds me to remind

Early on the sixth day
My life’s dramatic turning
Though time erased the suffering
My heart still feels a yearning

The month within the stanzas
Of the poem you just read
The sum is a solution
Of my final clue imbed

Copyright © 2001 by Jake Olden Shy

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

Strolling through the seagulls cry
Approaching ocean’s door
A salty breeze blows sweetly
As waves caress the shore

Beneath bare feet
Cool calming sand
Our heart’s are beating
Hand-in-hand

A blanket spread before us
Together we lie down
Concern but for the moment
As we watch our troubles drown

Though darkened clouds are growing
Ominously overhead
And rain descends upon us
Nothing do I dread

For still the beach is glowing
As I lie there mesmerized
By endless smiles of laughter
And sunlight in your eyes

Copyright © 2001 by Jake Olden Shy