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Michael Benton Sep 2010
All the sailor's know the warning
of a red-tinged sunrise morning
Storm clouds are on the bay

Just as Sally knew the forming
as his rage began its swarming
Storm clouds again today

Others see something pleasing
and rebuff the ocean's teasing
Storm clouds are on the way

And they said she was mistaken
no beast was there to awaken
Storm clouds they do embrace

But sailor's know their business
as time has oft made them witness
Storm clouds that run their race

To her the truth couldn't be clearer
as she looked into the mirror -
Storm clouds upon her face

The sailor knows to dodge the squall
that morning foretells with its call
Storm clouds then pass them by

Sally was left to take the fall
when truth was denied by us all
Storm clouds then let her die

Troubles in life they take all forms
so listen well when told of storms
Storm clouds never lie
Copyright  © 2008 MH Benton
Michael Benton Sep 2010
You wear around your neckline
a lucid strand of pearls
but to think they hold your beauty -  
an error made by girls

Pearls do complement the woman
everyone knows it's true
but yet something more goes on
beyond what  pearls can do

See, a pearl can only focus
the charms you keep inside
yes, the woman is the secret
the pearls bring out with pride

For a pearl alone is nothing
just some small piece of grit
they only enhance the beauty
that's there before they're fit

So wear your pearls on the evenings
and look your very best
but the beauty lies within you
it matters not to how you're dressed!
Copyright © 2008 MH Benton

Composed for a niece to go with a string of pearls given as a gift.
Michael Benton Aug 2010
Lazily I slip along the mud bank, gliding with out a sound.
Low tide demands my interest to pass within the marsh.
Snakelike, I travel the path that time has set
I round each bend to wondrous creatures big and small.

Be it heron bird or turtle sunning on a stump, they greet me,
but only to a point – away they go!  I have disturbed their day.
Forgiveness is assumed as they flee to a comfortable distance.
We gain equilibrium of trust, the creatures and me.

Neither wanting nor fearing, we enjoy our moment of faith.
Again, the tide demands my attention as I touch upon the bank.
I bid farewell to my companions and travel down the way.
The next turn is calling, new friendships to be found.

Time grows short, as the day passes and the surge is rushing in.
Freedom from the banks has her price - I see the marsh no more.
Only the Spartina reaches above the waves, bidding me time to go.
I row now, home with a smile, for soon I will see my companions again.
Copyright © 2007 MH Benton
Michael Benton Aug 2010
Rising up above foam-crest waves
the Highlands call me home
Yes, call to me in Gaelic tongues
to leave my water’s roam  

Riding across waves of ocean's far
to reach this wondrous shore
I'll soon be there on ancestral land
known by lives before

Then nearer still, the waves reduce
I find a river wide
I sail within its Lowland shores
upon the Firth of Clyde

As stars reduce by the morning's rise
more wonders take their shape
I see cliffs all lined with moss and grass
that form this wondrous scape

This beautiful land with its rugged build
bids to me "come explore
and climb straight up to a Highland lake
then to the Upland moor"

So along the Clyde I sail my craft
and enter Scotland's soul
Like a Tartan's weave this water binds
a nation as a whole

To the North you see the mountains raise
so rugged and wild and free
To the South are hills with moors that roll
calling all "look, come see"

But it was the Clyde than won my heart
as I sailed to this place
For it opened wide, like arms stretched out
granting a sense of grace
Copyright © 2009 MH Benton
Michael Benton Aug 2010
The world can be a cruel and hurtful place
We blame fate, or Satan, or even God
All things that amplify
                 our own failings as human beings.

Fate does not deal in good or bad
It can bear no blame at all
All fate can do is point out
                our own failings as human beings

Satan then must be the source of such
But blaming him only furthers his cause
All the dark one does is allow us
               our own failings as human beings

Then God must do these worst of things
But that’s not the God I know
All God does is love and forgive us
                our own failings as human beings

The world can be a cruel and hurtful place
We blame fate, or Satan, or even God
All things but where the problem lies –
                our own failings as human beings
Copyright © 2010 MH Benton
Michael Benton Aug 2010
Endless sea-foam ribbons twist along the shore left by waves,
waves recalled into the sea.  Many waves, their numbers never to be known.
With a drunkard’s walk I trace their path at the water’s edge.
Though the path I trod leads nowhere, it still gives me direction.
My body follows my eyes, my eyes follow the foam, the endless twisting foam.

Endless sporadic emotions twist within my mind left by pain,
pains long ago endured.  My pains!  Too many to count, these pains that I have known.
With a drunkard’s folly I bring them back from my soul’s darker edge.
Though to do so helps nothing, it still gives me direction.
My mind follows my soul, my soul follows the emotions, my endless twisting emotions.

Sea-foam is the evidence of waves that once washed upon the shore.
The proof they did exist.  What more could you ask of a wave?  Nothing.
Emotions are the evidence that my soul is still there within me.
The proof it does exist.  What more dare I ask of my soul?  Nothing at all.
I do not follow the wave, nor do I the pain, sea-foam and emotions are enough for me.
Copyright © 2008 MHBenton
Michael Benton Aug 2010
Care not my love, of this distance between
'tis like two hands on arms reaching full wide
though no greater space will ever be seen
I still hold you near, as if by my side

For connected we are, as parts to a whole
with emotions of love, a life blood shared
Distance does nothing to weaken the soul
keep that in mind at times you are scared

A touch on the hand is known body wide
though it's only one hand at times involved
We are the same when our love is applied
love is our touch and distance's problem solved

Together in life our hearts beat as one
two souls entwined, our life-course is run
Copyright ©  2008 MH Benton
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