Poetry by Marino Leyba

An Injured Bird
By Marino Leyba

Red and slippery. Watching cheerleaders. Teasing flames. They speak with a cold glint.
The dark winter night, there have been dreams. Thunder rolls through me. I spilled my soul into the lake. The trees bow their heads. It’s a free for all lit with candles. I am a wick in the dark. Underneath the winter clouds sort of pink. An injured bird. Who will make it back?
Kiss the earth and be joyful. I’m back! Back with the wordplay! Back like the summertime when the birds play!
Touch me! Feel me! Yes it’s still me!
Simplicity, clarity, did you really think they would bury me?
If I must go, you must wait awhile. Wait! I need a smile.
Rosebud – theme of the centuries. Don’t move to quick and don’t be surprised if they still mention me.
Time flies yet greatness never dies, it multiples.
One apology and if you didn’t take the time to acknowledge me — acknowledge me!
I’m beyond the best! “What does that mean?” “I never rest!”
Brilliant, coherent, you can almost hear it in my lyrics.
Desire for resolution, graspable meaning, ownership.
I’m shaking the pumpkin! Isn’t — that — wonderful? I’ve worded something so different.
“What is your style of writing?” “Terrific!”
New ideas and a variety of critical points of view. Everyone seems to like to point the finger but nobody likes when it is pointed right back at you!
The poets job is to listen as attentively as possible, then put it all down on paper and show you what is really possible. The nuts and bolts of society, without our songs, our lyrics, you probably would die inside. Think about it!
Some writing is to enlighten, others to take you to Epiphany, and others to remember lost loved ones like my Grandma, Laken, and my dead cousin Tiffany!
Into the dazzling void as I produce you one more work of art, as I sing you my love songs, tell you my stories, and pour out my bleeding heart.

Fly Again
By Marino Leyba

Your poem inspired my poem.
It was like a little bird that found its way home.
Your poem was like a bird flying in the wind.
My poem was a little bird that knew he could fly again.
A bird may fall from grace.
A bird may fall from space.
Yet it always has the chance to fly again.
It always has a chance to touch the sky again.
Your poem inspired my poem.
It was like a little bird that found its way home.
Your poem was like a bird flying in the wind.
My poem was a little bird that knew he could fly again.
A bird may fall from grace.
A bird may fall from space.
Yet it always has the chance to fly again.
It always has a chance to touch the sky again.

Story of Life
By Marino Leyba

The story of life, where some people want to do wrong and some want to do right.
It is always a riddle, a puzzle, and something complex.
In the story of our lives only God truly knows what will happen next.
How we can all fall and stubble, if we stay on the ground too long we might become homeless and yet that is never the same as being humble.
The streets are made of concrete yet that is our jungle.
It will never be safe, it will never be sound, so we must navigate day my day, and pray we are still around. Another day above ground!
It has always been really just about our fight for survival. I feel bad because I’ve watched some people lose their minds and become idol. It’s like a tidal wave of bad luck, but if you don’t do something about your situation you will forever be stuck.
Try and try as we must, pray and pray we never get hushed. Life is a rush!
It never slows down and in the end we only get one go round. It’s nothing like a merry go round, and…
At times it’s ok and can even be fun, yet life is really like a rat in a maze trying to get done. A few days of sun, a lot full of rain, a little bit of snow, and a whole lot of pain. Life will never leave you unchanged!
The best we can do is try to make it through each the day. Try not to complain, help a few people along the way, and remember to pray. Life is life and we can only ourselves change a bad day into a good day.
We have the power and we have the skill but sometimes we fumble because we don’t have the will. Never surrender and never stand still!
The story of life, where some people want to do wrong and some want to do right.
It is always a riddle, a puzzle, and something complex.
In the story of our lives only God truly knows what will happen next.

Until I Get It Right
By Marino Leyba

I fight through the night — trying to see the light. —What is my life?! — What is a billion?! — I drown in the feeling! —
Ten thousand oceans, ten thousand waves! So fearful yet we all act like we are not afraid.
All fall like a blade! I mean like the grass — we can’t even comprehend — we can’t even grasp…
…the meaning!
My fears and my flaws! Perfection I keep dreaming! — Demeaning my self! — I’m broken but then again aren’t we all?! — Don’t we all need some help?! —
— I try to be an example, but when I do, I fall because my best is just a sample. — I’m scrambled!
— Why can’t I get it right?! — — I won’t give up, yet I always seem to lose the fight. —
— Love me, hate me, judge me, please except me as I am even with all my ugly! —
I’m bubbling! I’m melting! — Somebody help me! — I’m the opposite of wealthy!
I’m broke! — I’m broken! — Blown to piece’s, yet some how left hoping!
— My life has been so very tragic! — Some how way worse off then the Titanic! — The damage! — — I can’t manage! —
— Yet I fight through the night! — — I fight until I get it right! —
— What is our lives?! — What is a billion?! — We drown in the feeling!—
Ten thousand oceans, ten thousand waves! So fearful yet we all act like we are not afraid.
All fall like a blade! I mean like the grass — we can’t even comprehend — we can’t even grasp…
…the meaning!

Ungrateful, Unthankful, Savage Beast
By Marino Leyba

Is nothing good enough for you?! Is nothing alright? Can’t you just be concerned and content with your life?!
Cry, Cry, Cry! Complain, Complain, Complain!
Are you insane?! Do you even have a brain?
Even if you ever got everything you could want in this world, it would still never be good enough!
Why are you that way?! Don’t you have anything to say?!
Why do you act like the whole world owes you? When actually it owes you nothing at all!
A sense of entitlement!
A sense that everything is owed to you!
Do you even know how you sound? Do you even know why people don’t want you around?
You think you are doing good, yet you are doing more harm than you think!
What do you really want?! What is it that you need? Survival or greed?!
Are you not capable of being grateful?
Can’t you just be thankful for the air that you breath? Or the eyes that you have to see?
Everything is not about you, neither is it about me! Yet you still don’t see!
Ungrateful, Unthankful, Savage Beast!

I Think I Know
By Marino Leyba

I should soon say goodbye least I should miss the chance. My vanishing act or yours perhaps?
We all understand our role. We all understand our fate. But wait…
Can we just all touch our palms and dream until dawn?
Weary with so many mixed desires.
We all long to go yet we all want to stay. The smell of the blackened earth and the fallen rain.
The pain!
As it was in the beginning.
We all want to go back. Creatures floating in the future, lucky to still be intact.
Could we remain?
What little is left will not satisfy. The cold nights, the worms beneath our feet will suffice.
I think of you and I grow quite.
My life has became so clear. I feel it, then I feel it disappear. Blue and white everywhere.
It was her idea, the flying thing.
My wings fell, someone nailed her to the cross.
Alone in a house. Alone in the mountains. A dark stranger comes. I am restless!
I think I know what you want. I think I know what you came for.
I should soon say goodbye least I should miss the chance.

Just Call Me The …
By Marino Leyba

I’ve been gone but now I’m back/ Go on and feel the flames/ I’m sorry I went away.
A fox in the snow/ A fox that don’t know/ My sin’s enough to bury me/ and yet I won’t go.
They try to put it together/ but still there ain’t no body better.
A superstar in the making. The world is slowly shaking. So tell me what it is you’re taking? Your trying to ease the pain/ we’re dying all the same/ Enough of the hypocrisy/ I came to bring the rain! I came to bring the pain! I came to bring the truth! A living legend in and out of the booth/and yet they still want the proof?!
Only then bring the smartest! Only then bring the greatest! Where are all of my haters? I don’t got time for them/ so I’ll see you later.
They try to say that I’m outy/ While let me snow you what I’m abouty/ The king is getting roudy! Preparing for a comeback! Preparing for the contact!
I know they really want it/ like ghosts in a house that’s haunted! You know I got to flant it/ My flow is like a tonic/ energized and bionic/ Heaven sent and not demonic/ The girls on the dance floor/ You know I already got it / because I can drop a top hit/ and they know how to spot it! Decades in the land of the forgotten/ And yet I’m still I am a top ten/ My flow is still a popin/ New poems you know I’m dropping! Competition is low/ but so they can just copy/ They try to duplicate it/ yet they don’t have the motivation/ so they do it a little bit sloppy/ As a matter of a fact I think I’m top three/ minus two until the pop me/ Dawn Juan or you can just call me the pape.
I’ve been gone but now I’m back/ Go on and feel the flames/ I’m sorry that I went away.
A fox in the snow/ A fox that don’t know/ My sin’s enough to bury me/ and yet I won’t go.

In The Zone
By Marino Leyba

Active, sit back and watch me acclimate, I’ve been here for awhile yet my minds still great.
Rise and shine, take my time then take back what is rightfully mine. Align with the stars and my future, I’m not new here! But it is a new year.
Reshape the landscape — to be great — you have to plan great. Cloud nine, I’m going back to Cali, the coastline. You are rocking with the most fine…
Sweetly, completely, discreetly, competition may or may not beat me! Either way it is indisputable, unrefutable, dedicated to the lady’s inside and outside that are beautiful. And to all those who hate on me, my deepest apologies, my heart and all my feelings poured out in my anthologies, my genealogy, born of technology.
A spectacle, acceptable, the best to flow, sensual.
It is an emergency, can you feel the urgency?
Who really knows what is conceivable, achievable, the things I’m about to do are unbelievable.
Is it because of the time I dedicate? I meditate then after awhile you can see me levitate.

Down by the River
By Marino Leyba

You heartless girl, leave me alone.
Half floating, half submerged, under the water, ravelling and unraveling. Hungry beyond want. I need to eat, but what do you want?
Too pretty for your own good. I am always on guard, yet you look so good. I can’t dissociate myself from you — And even if I could…
I’m always down by the river.
Pretty one enlighten me then come dine with me. Oh, the ecstasy of self-surrender.
Slowly emerging into the street, shattered ideals, but do you remember what it’s like when eyes first meet?
Absorbing need in the soul compared to being favorable.
The reason why… A long deep sigh.
I must confess you are the best. Nevertheless it is something soothing to be undressed.
Let the world whisper and insinuate. What is great is great and what is fake is fake.
Yet let there be happiness, and if there’s not, there’s always another chapter after this.
Half floating, half submerged, under the water, raveling and unraveling. Hungry beyond want. I need to eat, but what do you want?
Too pretty for your own good. I am always on guard, yet you look so good. I can’t dissociate myself from you — And even if I could…
I’m always down by the river.

Beautiful Lady
By Marino Leyba

I see a lady beautiful as can be, the way she carries herself really affects me.
She is beautiful on the inside and on the outside as well.
She drives me crazy!
I love her face, I love her eyes.
Her smile is something special, it really brightens up my day.
Pheromones, her smell is intoxicating!
I long to see her because she puts a smile on my face.
Grace when she walks and style in how she talks. All the things I wish I had in my life. She could or could not be someone’s good wife.
I would never try to mess that up, yet I would really like to have someone like her in my life.
I know something good when I see it, I really think she is great and I mean it!
I can’t say her name, yet I believe she knows who she is. A beautiful lady on the outside and within.

So My Apology
By Marino Leyba

Dad I’m sorry you have been feeling really sad.
I’m sorry you have felt isolated and alone.
I’m sorry I can’t call you on the tablets phone.
I try yet it don’t work.
I try yet the phone is a real jerk.
I want to talk to you a lot of the time, yet I can’t because the phone is losing its mind.
I’m not sure that it has one but they say that it does. I guess its because…
Of AI — or the technology.
So my apology!
I feel really bad and I feel really sad, yet because you can express your feelings in a poem, that makes me feel really glad.
It is good to write down how you feel.
It is good to express yourself to heal.
Life can make us Ill.
Yet it is just another day.
Sometimes they are happy and sunny.
Other times they just want to make us run away.
A self vacation is good sometimes.
A time to reflect.
A time to dissect.
Give yourself enough time, than time will correct.
Dad I’m sorry you have been feeling really sad.
I’m sorry you have felt isolated and alone.
I’m sorry I can’t call you on the tablets phone.
P.s Dad I really love you and miss you. I could not sleep last night woke up at 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00, I prayed for you because you came to mind. Sometimes I don’t want to talk to anyone too. Sometimes I don’t even have the words for God. Sometimes we just need to be alone for a little while. I think this new generation calls it “me time.” Anyway loved your awesome poem Dad, but more than that I love you because your awesome. Please take care and know that someone cares. That is me! I hope I can call you soon yet we will see if the tablet wants to talk to anyone. Love you Dad.

Crescent
By Marino Leyba

So far… My works of art, I mean my heart, all my feelings in the dark. Have I been successful? Have I hit my mark?
So far…
My work has been published in; Prisoner Express, Fortune Society, The Beat Within, Minutes Before Six, and Prison Health News.
I choose to continue to win and never lose. I may sing the blues, yet I always have something new. To yourself and your heart always be true.
Time decays and breaks, and slows, no matter what you must continue to grow, you must continue the show!
I know…
… Nothing can stop me but me. I’ve traveled the sea’s. I’ve been a king. I’ve been a peasant. I’ve lost and gained everything!
Life is never what you expect, yet you can always change your course and redirect. If you want it, you must earn it, your respect!
I’ve put in the time, I’ve rehearsed each line, I gave you the secrets and knowledge to be successful and to shine. Each line of mine penetrates a little more each time.
You are not worthless, believe in yourself, you have a purpose, you just need to stop and reflect. Correct!
Even though you know life is not fair, never give up, continue the fight, continue to shadowbox the air. Show the whole world you will not be ignored and that you were here!
Pain, sweat, and tears, the struggle of almost being taken under by your fears.
Yet it is no surprise the real always rise, beat back the tides, spread your wings and fly. Saved the best for last, so it’s your time to shine!
So far… My works of art, I mean my heart, all my feelings alone in the dark. Have I been successful? Have I hit my mark?
I hope so…

You Whispered Nothing
By Marino Leyba

On the table two fragile glasses. A bottle wrapped in a towel.
I remember the moonlight. Every city! Every night! The ways your thighs made me cry.
The room where it happened. Starring into my two hands.
I kept everything! You Whispered nothing!

Taking Shape Now
By Marino Leyba

I came to a self-realization. A harmonization of…
The moon.
The language is excellent. The epic poems it writes.
You need to know the song of the blessed one.
The Santa Fe moon is awake now.
The vision is coming true, the world is taking shape now.

She
By Marino Leyba

Life brought you here —
She was underneath me.
We moved ever so slightly.
Wetness everywhere, the whole world delicious.
In a white room without time.
Only the thin blue horizon.
Lonely in the mountains.
Nearest the presence of God.
Catch me again in the moonlight.
I want the blessing of your lips, beneath the apricat tree.
My brave train rolls forward as it must.
Each picture consider as she stumbles.
To talk easily with me at last.
She…

Hostage
By Marino Leyba

Fog and night- driving. Left hand grips the red roses, hurry to what is important.
How unspeakably beautiful, but that means little now.
The words that passed. In between acts…
Freedoms just another word. In the dark…
“Am I pretty?” “Am I smart?”
“Am I all you dreamed of?”
At night she knows… She can feel the heaviness.
So deep!
Fears arise within, rise up, stalk the halls, hold me hostage.
I Can’t move because of the wait of the ocean.
Freedoms just another word.

Fluorescent Blue
By Marino Leyba

The tide keeps rising. The water grows deeper and darker.
Swallowing imaginations. The shifting shadows of the world.
Great turbulence. The water murmurs, the river god emerges from the swirling foam.
Fluorescent blue, floating naked on a raft. Disappeared and then a laugh.
The tide keeps rising. The water grows deeper and darker.
Swallowing imaginations. The shifting shadows of the world.
Great turbulence. The water murmurs, the river god emerges from the swirling foam.
Fluorescent blue.

Seasoned
By Marino Leyba

Motivation beyond recognition. Jumping through the hoops to be the greatest. Your plan has to be fool proof.
Beat the statists, be honest, sincere, and realistic.
If you dream it, you can live it. Give it all you got! Don’t waste your shot!
Don’t miss your chance! Take your failures and mistakes, and make them dance!
Life is full of all kinds of pitfalls, but you can still overcome them, you can still sit tall.
It is not over until it’s over! Go through the seasons, January, May, August, October. You can carry that boulder! And if you can’t take it, lift it up and break it, but never mistake it for weakness!
You can over come as I have! I’ve been the strongest and I’ve been the weakest. I have been at the bottom but because I refused to give up, I know where the peak is! “You reap what you sow,” now reap this!
A whirlpool of success, I’m not done yet, I said I will be the best!
And if I’m not for some unknown reason, remember all the advice I gave you throughout the coldest, darkest seasons. Motivation beyond recognition because I’m seasoned. You say we can’t do it, while just give us a reason!

Zelda
By Marino Leyba

My heart is weary. My eyes are teary.
I am so exhausted from being alone with all my thoughts. Swords and flowers surround me, plunging deep, I am drowning.
I have built fires at night just to keep the light, just to keep my life. I shall tell no lies.
Carry me in your hearts, keep me alive in the dark.
Don’t let my tormentors consume my soul! Don’t let me go… I long to see the light, Lord knows the dark is cold.
They have changed me, I am not the same. Who can understand my pain?
I protected myself from the outside world. I have recalculated how to live, How to get through this.
After all that I have felt, I melt!
I am hesitant to paint with a broad brush. I am not an empty shell, I am not lost!
I am a normal person who has the same fears as everyone else. To be alive is to be fragile, so that is why I ask for help.
I am searching for the missing puzzle piece that will snap into place. Sadness and grief, only a few of the storms of life we must face.
Celebrate the beauty and sadness of being alive. You are the reason I survive. I shall tell no lies.
My heart is heavy. My eyes are very…
Carry me in your hearts, keep me alive in the dark.

Plunging Deep
By Marino Leyba

Each line of mine penetrates a little bit more each time, Each poem reveals my wreaked spirit, my dashed soul. Locked in a cage, so close, yet so far from home.
My life has some hope, there is a rebirth. I’m sorry I had to leave earth.
I climbed so many mountains. I have seen so many peaks. At each summit I thought I would plummet, yet I learned so much from it.
My heart is…
Plunging deep, my wife knows, I am losing sleep, A Shepherd, I feel like I am losing sheep.
My arm’s are tied behind my back. I wonder in my heart of heart’s if I will make it back?
Poetry is the name of the place where I found myself.
I go by with each year, I pour myself out like a waterfall with each tear.
Dripping, dripping, is my consciousness slipping? I am holding on to something, there is something I am gripping.
Take my heart and rip it out, take my life and crush it, leave no doubt!
I can not fly but each line of mine penetrates a little bit more each time.
I can live with myself, I am ok with myself, I love myself.
I have taken my failures and turned them into lessons, I don’t mean to sound cliché, yet everyday is a blessing.
I practice being myself, I feel bad because so many people still need help.
I have new eyes to look though, I’m sorry if the hurricanes came, If the fires burned, if the earthquakes shook you.
Plunging deep, my wife knows, I am losing sleep, A Shepherd, I feel like I am losing sheep.
My arms are tied behind my back. I wonder in my heart of heart’s if I will make it back?
Poetry is the name of the place where I find myself.

Contradictions
By Marino Leyba

I don’t want to be alone, I’m in my city yet I’m so far from home. Like a cloudy day and a sunny day at the same time. Contractions of a paradox, doing bad but I’m still fine.
Just try to figure out things like that, It’s like being a fighter but then you don’t know how to fight back! The sky is whole, and yet the sky is cracked!
I don’t want to be alone, a king without a throne, or a king without a Queen, is that really anything?
Feeling like you got it all together, yet everything is falling apart, you’re sick and you don’t know how to get any better.
I’m young and I’m old, I’m free and I’m sold, I’m hot yet I’m cold, I don’t listen, yet I do everything I’m told! I’m silver, I’m gold, I’m decay, I’m mold. I’m loved by so many people yet I feel so alone!
How can there be so many contradictions in life? I’m in the dark yet I’m also in the bright light. The sun and the moon at the same time, Yet that don’t make any sense?
I’m in the past, the present, and the future all at the same moment. I have the title belt, it belongs to me yet I don’t own it.
What could it all mean? I’m in this reality, and I’m also in a sweet dream. Contradictions are so nice, I mean so mean.
I don’t want to be alone, I’m in my city yet I’m so far from home. Like a cloudy day and a sunny day at the same time. Contractions of a paradox, doing bad but I’m still fine.

Alone In My Head
By Marino Leyba

Taste me — If you need me — A little fire — a little higher — Beautiful melody — Reflections of self can inspire —
I love you even if you never love me back, Even if the sky falls and everything we build cracks. You have always been like a dream that’s come alive, a little too late, even after I died.
Magical, Miracle, Lyrical forgive my of my sins, forgive me of my past. Thank God nothing is forever or else we would never last.
Sparking the flames just to try and elevate the pain, walking on the cold dark streets alone at night underneath the pouring rain, regrets of all the tired played out things I used to calm.
This life is not for me, as a matter a fact I think it is for nobody. Yet we are all trapped in a maze, crying, screaming, begging to be alive again! So many years, yet they all feel the same, trying to keep a smile yet the sunshine never came. Someday things might change yet for the moment we are trapped in a cage.
Exposed to light yet it feels like our light inside has died. I am not legendary inside, I’m barley…
What’s the the word as I deliver? I shiver icicles, it’s snowing, to wear your heart on your sleeve means it is always showing. I tried to keep you far away from me yet you always come back. To say goodbye is not goodbye because we can never truly gain the things that we lack.
Running in circles, Running these laps, Running until perhaps we collapse. Nights I can’t sleep, I’m scared to let go, become more insecure as I slowly grow old. Look at all these fingers pointed at me, because of my mistakes, failures, and all the things I wanted to be.
Wrestling with myself and all my imperfections, I just want to be left alone but I guess you didn’t get the message.
I don’t love these haters, yet I don’t hate them either, it is getting cold out, can someone please bring me a heater?
The moon is slightly hanging in the sky, I feel like I’m that guy because I am always asking why! I miss my lover, my friend Laken, my uncle sam, my mother, and my grandmother.
Precious stones left all alone. Waiting on the Messiah but will he show? I sit here alone in my bed, too many thoughts alone in my head.

Not Again, Until…
By Marino Leyba

I didn’t hear no complaints in the mist of this… A wish, it’s like this…
— “Whatever,” — pull it together! —
I can only say I’ll try, “open up your eyes.”
We’re going under, “no worry,” no wonder.
Look at all the bad cards we were delt, “We’re nothing but skin,” But what about all the pain that we’ve felt?
It’s getting real and I can’t conceal the way I feel, but somebody else will!
Call this true religion because we can’t stay focused. We the people have no real vision but don’t listen to me, I know nothing, I’m locked in a prison!
Go head and push right through me, Then later tell everyone, and act like you truly knew me.
They say… They say a lot of things, but just because they do don’t mean you won the lotter!
Beautiful strangers, I can’t get enough of you. The depths of your unconscious minds. From a distance I watch, Yet I’m slightly going blind.
The hole keeps getting deeper and more narrow. I think we all need a hero.
Looking in the mirror they never believed me, They don’t want the truth, they want a fantasy because it’s easy.
Years and years will pass until they finally ask… “Why it took so long for the sky to finally crack?”
I’m so far from being perfect but every time I try you rub it in my face and try to make me feel unworth it, unearth it!
I really can’t take it no more, you’re breaking my core! Is that what your actually waiting for?
Lord knows I’m dying for some company, yet every time I get a little bit, You pull out an Uzi and start to dump on me. I don’t quiet understand it. Can’t you see I’m already damaged? How am I suppose to manage?
Yeah, yeah, I already know you got nothing to say, You just like to sit back and enjoy the wicked games that you play. To escape all this pain I’ve been through, I’d happily jump out the world’s tallest window. Not really! That would be silly! Yet it is killing me inside, you put on a smiley face and straight up tell the world a lie.
So many people pretend to be in love with me, Then when I am down for the count they always start crushing me.
Outcast, unforgiven, once I was the chosen one, Not again until I’m risen.

?
By Marino Leyba

What is this? I’m terrified but I can’t resist.
Beautiful stranger you got me feeling stranger. The broken pieces of my heart saying, “Danger!”
What if I don’t resist? What if I devoted myself to you? What if I gave you a kiss?
I know this ain’t the right time, yet you know you got the right lines. Underneath the moonlight skyline.
Beautiful melody’s, sweet music to my ears.
Is the moon awake now? Does the wind yet whisper?
The last enchantress underneath a flight of smoke. A hundred eyes were fixed on her, underneath her spell!
Down by the river her lips pouted. The four winds exposed, the opportunity arose! She was one of those souls born to make chaos cosmic. A single process.
Swift and tender, what is her tender?
Thinking of herself, something she desired. The ice and fire! “Undress me!” she said to someone, someone she never met!
In the mirror forbidden, and not yet forgiven.
What is this? I’m terrified but I can’t resist.
Beautiful stranger you got me feeling stranger. The broken pieces of my heart saying, “Danger!”
What if I don’t resist? What if I devoted myself to you? What if I gave you a kiss?
I know this ain’t the right time, yet you know you got the right lines. Underneath the moonlight skyline.
Beautiful melody’s, sweet music to my ears.
Is the moon awake now? Does the wind yet whisper?

All Bathed In Gold!
By Marino Leyba

I forgot she had achieved some fame. Conjuring tricks like ancient Egyptians. The irresistible one!
She was too concerned with her own perfection to ever think of admiring anyone else. A little wonder, she set me deep into silence.
A whirlpool of thoughts, the clarity? The rarity!
The whole world had changed! The air confused with sweet babel.
Somehow she did not care, oh, my dear! She was smoothing out her hair! Vexing me, futuristic texting me!
A confusion of feelings. Two hearts stirred to their depths!
She lived for admiration!
A garden of white roses, a little lake with blue water lilies. Tongues of flames in the dark! “Are you sure?” “I’m sure she’s hitting her mark!”
Her temper is sweet, and her character without blemish. The most desirable! Sheer delight! Try as I might… I can’t help my sharp appetite!
Yet she flaunts it, she knows that I want it! To be honest I might just be the fondest!
She has may adorers, yet there love is a verse, mine is the chorus!
“What chance would there be for you?”
Exclude her from your horizon! Ignore her! Take away your love for her!
A passionate indulgence — a fiery rapture! Bright eyes, light feet, dazzling to all beholders! I get it!
Swept by desire, a lightning flash, struggling as she whirls past!
An inspiration, a glow! I know, I know…
Pretty gestures, her effect, playing with you as a cat plays with a mouse! No ordinary lover I suppose?
Her radiance, her beauty captives the soul. I promise she’s all bathed in gold!

Something Wrong With Me?
By Marino Leyba

I feel like… I can’t have this on my mind. I’m not giving up until I get my respect this time. Feel the heat, feel the rain, a volcano, a hurricane. Immortalized through the pain and time. Hit and miss as I shine because what is mine is so divine. Slow love while I pour out my heart and soul in every line.

Melt with me, watch me decay, hunted like a ghost until the day I fade away. You are rocking with the best, in my casket, in the cemetery surrounded by tombstones is when I’ll finally rest. How many different leaves have to fall? How many people have to sit down and recall? How many times does a man have to rise and fall? I seen it all! I had nothing, gained everything and lost it all. The end is where I start. Alpha and omega. A bluebird with an eternal song in his heart. You will always find something wrong with me because I’m not perfect, yet I still give you my art. Call it foolish, yet this pain and despair, I rule this. Hammers fall on all my broken pieces, sit back relax while I show you what the oceans deepest deep is. I don’t even like to think about it, yet tragedy is a part of me. The gardener of flowers or another brain lobotomy? Sit underneath my broad grey sky. The ashes, the phoenix, the Holy truth delivered as I slowly rise. Another golden, brownish, fallen leaf. Have you ever had to carry a tremendous amount of grief? Candles burn before the alters, they flicker, they falter. I told you I would never be perfect. I’ve made mistakes, but so have you, so does that mean there is something wrong with me?

I feel like… I can’t have this on my mind. I’m not giving up until I get my respect this time. Feel the heat, feel the rain, a volcano, a hurricane. Immortalized through the pain and time. Hit and miss as I shine because what is mine is so divine. Slow love while I pour out my heart and soul in every line.

Where I Stand Today
By Marino Leyba

Where I stand today is not the same as yesterday. It’s cold, I’m growing old, yet my heart is still gold. I suffered, prayed for one day of comfort. I have missed my grandma, I have been hurt. Why do I feel this way? It don’t stop, it don’t quit. I remember each hit, I’ve been spit. Is this it? The end, or a new begging? Even when you aim for perfection I’ve found out we are constantly still sinning. Perfume sweet at night, the things we try to ignite, I need a light. My dreams are elusive just like the sky. This may come as no surprise, Yet I’m stronger now then I was then. Burn the memories, then start again. Holy kiss, my only wish… To elevate. I’m falling down just like the rain, ashamed of my past, I apologize if I still complain. What is wrong with me? Are we all just meant to fall to pieces? Who feels just to feel the deepest? Someone please show me what sweet release is. I gave you my soul for at least a day, I have no money so it is the only way I know how to pay. My home feels lost. I know the cost of pain. Give it all you got or get out the way. The things it takes to be great, to clear your name. I am not the same, so go on and take everything! When I’m dead and gone, I promise I will still live on. My flesh may be destroyed yet my body will see God.

The End
By Marino Leyba

Let it fall! What? The sky! The world is coming to an end it’s almost time to say goodbye. The flood is coming yet it ain’t water. Father forgive us because we surely don’t know how to live. Even as innocence, there is no innocence even as kids.

Look at our thoughts, look at our flesh, all consumed with how we can be the best, but in a boastful way. Wash us until we are clean, until the evil inside us goes away. Last days, the prophecy, drop the world on top of me. You know I tried, you know I cried. A river of tears, we cannot overcome the world alone, look at our fears. I’m sorry if I’ve been soft spoken, yet I don’t know how to help all of my pears. Broken and depleted, mercy and rest I need it. So I call out to the most high, a lot say they can help but in my experience most lie. I’ve tried to be worth it, but in the end I’m a fallen human who is imperfect. Struggle to grasp the wind, without the chosen one we can never truly win? I’ve been here since the start yet I’m looking forward to the end.

Let it fall! What? The sky! The world is coming to an end it’s almost time to say good bye. The flood is coming yet it ain’t water. Father forgive us because we surely don’t know how to live. Even as innocence, there is no innocence even as kids.

Life Jacket
By Marino Leyba

The still-unanswered questions. Somethings are beyond our understanding. It is too much, it is too complicated. I accept my limitations. Creating a spectacle, yeah, yeah, I’m not capable of defining what it is. We can not conceive the fleeting moments of life. Deliver me from nowhere, save me from nothing! I was thinking about her this morning and carrying a sadness around. We have absolutely no control! The small things in life are often connected to the bigger things in life. Are you aware of how our senses sometimes trick us? It makes no sense by all accounts. I was once a young whippersnapper. Now I am an old whippersnapper. Are we happy? Not particularly. Everyone’s awaiting the flood. We glare at the sky. We glare at the earth. I’m putting on my life jacket. I no longer want to feel sad about her absence. I miss her, I feel a hollowness in my heart.

The still-unanswered questions. Somethings are beyond our understanding. It is too much, it is too complicated. I accept my limitations. Creating a spectacle, yeah, yeah, I’m putting on my life jacket.

On My Way Tonight
By Marino Leyba

Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, I was on my way to see you tonight. I was on my way to lay my head on your pillows. I rode across the city, I drove through the willows. My love for you, it billows. Burning, yearning desire, my lighter, I love your eyes, your dress, your liner. Let’s take our time, pleasing you is the only thing on my mind. I want to go over and over, waterfalls until you want no more, or until we both end. I’m jumping through the hoops, you know you are my muse. Fair and beauty, come here cutie. My pleasure, my desire, perfumed kisses take me higher. Take my love, taste it, kiss it. I want to feel the rains of Eve. The fiery blossoms, the wild wind. Deep is deep, pleasure without speech. Your voice makes sweet perfume when you speak. I’m on my way. Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, I’m on my way to see you tonight.

Stencil
By Marino Leyba

All the things I’ve been through, it’s cold outside, can somebody please close the car windows? I don’t want no smoke, no cigarettes, or no endo. Will I ever win tho? I’ve sinned so… Let me get it started, the past, and the future, the present is where there parted. Regarded as foolish, dumb, and retarded, my life has been marked with… My heart wants to escape the darkness, I fall the most that is why I work the hardest, too much love so there is no way I could ever be the heartless. I may not be, yet I’m trying to be the smartest. In a poker game, should I tell you what my card is? I’ve been broke down, and twisted, my one chance at life, my shot, have I missed it? And even if I have, still be glad, there is still hope for you, wisdom, and guidance, this one’s for you, so open up your eyelids, the world is full of all types of nonsense and unneeded violence. I want peace in the world, yet we need silence from the loudmouths who talk way too much, the sad thing is they don’t even know what they are talking about. I admit my wrongs, made mistakes, sing my songs, then move on, I can’t right my wrongs until I’m finally gone, an imperfect human, yet only saved by God’s son. I’ve been afraid, I’ve had to run, been shot at by their guns, not the one, yet still chosen, to live life in a cell, is feeling frozen. All the things I’ve been through, I can’t even write them down with a thousand pencils, all the things in life not to be, laid down in this stencil.

Dislodged Forever
By Marino Leyba

Pieces and pages of my life. Where I want to be is the day yet I’m trapped in the night. Under the winter spell, contradictions, it is as cold as hell. Storms of passion, sleepless nights, crumpled up leaf paper is my delight. Keep silent, the Autumn sky, the brilliance is blowing nigh. Soft flames, old names it’s all the same yet different. Delicious I’m having visions. Searching for the perfect rhyme, to flourish, is it a crime? Hold my breath, a bunch of flowers, my own death, cutting edge. Every form of love, anguish, and madness. Who really is the saddest? I swallowed every poison, I’ve reached the unknown, I’m so close, yet so far away from my home. I get closer, yet I move further, the breeze tugs at me. Get down on one knee, the sea is where I long to be, seaweed tangled beside me. The one I’m searching for, where is she hiding? Gold wings, my dreams, disfigured leaves. I want to hold on forever, yet I’m like a handkerchief waving goodbye, skating on ice. Shy, delicate and slender, the realest real or the greatest pretender? Raking up piles of dead leaves from all the fall trees. Old Testament when the world finally collapses on me. Dying, trying, to find out what it all means. Icicled trees, it swallows me up, the autumn, the winter, the scattered leaves. Waiting to be resurrected when all matter leaves. The sound of the bell, dissolving mist when I finally leave hell. The frozen sky, the wintery spell. I had to sprint just to catch up, but was it enough? The steak knife, the goodbye? I let you say you were the good guy. Deep creases of vexation, years of sleepless nights, to save world after what it has done to me, can you imagine the deep-rooted hesitation? Yet here I go sacrificing it all again, as restless as the clock, speeding home in reverse, hoping I don’t fall again. Who can be that ray of light? I’m hungry for, I’m longing to save the night. Dislodged forever, my uphill battle, my endless fight.

Only Once
By Marino Leyba

Pretty little words — — I only want to do it once really bad — I can’t stop thinking about what we once had — I spent a long time breaking promises. Feeling deep in my feelings — Don’t be surprised, deep blue eyes, once in our lives, I knew you were mine. O sleepless heart, there you go again, making nothing but art. Worldly passions, drunk on love, what is it baby girl that you’re asking?! Lily-white brilliance, tell me if you feel this, the realest? I’m jumping through hoops, I’m bending over backwards, I know you love the way I attract words. A musical tongue, and if I lay it down on you, I know you’ll be sprung. My motions, like the ocean, and its tide, I can take you low, or I can bring you high. Put the two of us together, and I promise you it can’t get any better, I wrote you at least a hundred love letters. The taste of your lips, your eyes, the way that you walk, shaking your hips, I love all of your tricks. I’ve been searching, working in the garden — — Baby girl, I want to go legendary status on your soul, you remind me of something that I’ve known, something made out of pure gold — The feeling — the rush — of when two tongues finally touch. Our hearts on our sleeves, only once in a lifetime, baby girl, I got what you need.

Smile My Love
By Marino Leyba

Smile, I smile, the spark between us is evident, maybe even heaven sent? Watch as I slowly emerge from the dark blue sea, now it is time to see the things we can be? My heart is locked, yet maybe you have the key? Happy and free, the things I’ve longed to be. What about you? What about me? Beautiful soul’s, hearts made of gold, reasons to believe, what are some of the things that you need? Some unconscious yearning, an intense emotion, evolution of light, a zealous burning? I’m good at learning. The perfect moon for love, heart shaped doves. Smile, I smile. It is evident, you were heaven sent, my love.

Cold, Cold!
By Marino Leyba

Amber wheel, under the flames, the sun, the opposite of the moon, the star’s, gorgeous at night. She’s wet from the blue pool, the glittering water. I’m being torn in two different directions, save the world, or save the girl? A box that’s to heavy to carry, forced to believe, I fall by the act of trusting people. Naturally, I wanted to believe, the cold winters eve, I lay in a puddle at her feet, oh dear me. Loneliness makes the autumn seem deeper, don’t sleep on this one, the sleeper. Albums of dreams, wheels on the clock, tic toc, tic toc, like I’m running out of time, like the world is slowly dying. Panting heavy like somebody’s lover, rest in peace to my dearly loved grandmother, ripped to shreds like the whips that whipped Jesus until he bled. My life story, nothing but pain, the silver moon, the railing rain. From a distance I watch as the world slowly stops, yet I still can’t get across to you, I sent a rosary just to get a cross to you. My car door opens, I fall in, cold, cold, winter again.

Petrified
By Marino Leyba

Some say I won’t rise this time. I’m petrified! Underneath the moon like the ocean at night. The wind is my home, my longing, my plight.

My endeavor, working on myself and becoming better. My letter, the girl in my sweetest dreams, I’ve never even met her. Clever, I await your pleasure, treasure on a rock by the creek, my love is a vivid picture that’s deep. Watching through the green thickness of the grass and the willows — it billows. Waking me — shaking me — shaping me like delicate gold, the footprints on my sheets, my soul has never been sold. I long to be like a warm breeze until the day I get old. Some memories pleasant and some are too painful to share, the best of the best wine I swear, reflections in the mirror. I stare weightlessly behind it, everything pure and eternal until I find it. Find what?! The secret, the frog in the rain, the moment of legends, the reason that I came. Bitter coffee, dusty streets and the fame.

Some say I won’t rise this time. I’m petrified! Underneath the moon like the ocean at night. The wind is my home, my longing, my plight.

Sanctuary of Love
By Marino Leyba

Breach the caste walls, enter through the cleft, the aperture. Perforate the front doors. Go to the sanctuary of love. Pay your tributes. Voluptuous are the people of this world. Lascivious, libidinous, lechers, wanton. Ecstasy is all they seek. Thick forests of delight. The flat lands. Venery by day and venery by night. Licentious, searching for the portal, the hollow, the sheath. Pay your tributes at the sanctuary of love.

So I Choke
By Marino Leyba

I jumped into the rushing river I can see it then it disappears It is cold and I shiver After the rain is gone it reappears
I awoke in middle of the night — With these thoughts! — Am I going to be alright?! Three shots — and I’m still alive
The only explanation! What makes sense to me I’m a sick hospital patient! I’m too tense to be… Here is the rest of me.
The devil arrives in smoke He’s got a beautiful voice I can’t breath so I choke
How much do we turn toward the allure God and His agents What are we here for?
We all have to live with this doubt — It’s a part of faith What is he talking about? I’m keeping you safe.
Freezing and shivering I have nothing on My flow—My delivery I can’t stop until I’m gone.
Self-expression I’m creating a spectacle This is my lesson I reflect and so…
I’m not capable of defining what He is I just had an experience All I know is that He lives
I jumped into the rushing river I can see it then it disappears It is cold and I shiver After the rain is gone it reappears
I awoke in the middle of the night — With these thoughts! Am I going to be alright? Three shots— and I’m still alive.
The only explanation! I’m a sick hospital patient! I’m too tense to be… Here is the rest of me.
The devil arrives in smoke He’s got a beautiful voice I can’t breathe so I choke.

Between The Twilights
By Marino Leyba

Unknown, unwept, forgotten We never met and yet look at what we brought in
Between the twilights
Sigh’s tear-wet eyes The day approaches In between the twilight Cast aside, dropped from the sky A thin disguise Watching the moonlight— — Perfume roses say goodbye So far Worshiped a star
In between the twilights

Friend
By Marino Leyba

I need a friend Smiling faces all around yet most pretend I stop just to start again Call me by name Be with me through the dark Help me out with an umbrella in the rain The demons seem to linger longer I need a friend Some to make me stronger Help me become who I want to be I want to grow tall just like the trees I need somebody I am not just somebody Yet a friend can be anybody

Make It Through The Night
By Marino Leyba

The way I feel is like a fire That is almost burned out. Coals flashing, giving off a little bit of light, Remains of firewood yet it does not burn as bright.
It is getting cold out, the wind begins to pick up, the tree’s leaves are changing colors And falling to the ground. I don’t know how to feel while you Are not around. I can hear the wind whispering It is all coming to a close. The world around me now feels froze. A hurricane is how the pain feels inside. I’ve tried and I’ve tried! I fell through the ice! I’m freezing and cannot get out of this lake, By the time I do, I can’t help but shake and I shake!
The way I feel is like a fire That is almost burned out. Coals flashing, giving off a little bit of light, Remains of firewood, Yet I might not make it through the night. Make it through the night!

Her Love
By Marino Leyba

Mountains dark blue and green the trees, the sky Clouds up high Spiraling Trust me you wouldn’t believe her beauty Unless you see it for yourself It feels like… It feels like home. The positive energy, the upward emotion It is a charming place to be The creation place of my poetry In between The soft, the tender The unknown The forgotten Tear-wet depths of The flower The hole in the dirt The holy waters The place of worship Of pain Of stain The loving of The waterfalls The deep ocean The warm waters of The vast sea Her love.

Butterfly
By Marino Leyba

Can I talk to you? Can I signify what is possible? What is a good way to start a conversation? Say hi! Don’t play shy. Butterfly! Maybe it is the gentle rain outside. Maybe it is the rhythm of your heart. Something in me wants me to give you my art. Gorgeous mountains, beautiful waterfalls. Pretending not to notice, yet you got everyone feeling hopeless.
Wait maybe I know you? Maybe I met you before?
These rainstorms remind me of… You have the perfect timing of…
I consider myself a poet, A verse worker. You must be from heaven Because I know you don’t work here.
Wait! Let’s back up. Start again.
Can I talk to you? Can I signify what is possible? What is a good way to start a conversation? Say hi! Don’t play shy. Butterfly! Maybe it is the gentle rain outside. Maybe it is the rhythm of your heart. Something in me wants me to give you my art. Gorgeous mountains, beautiful waterfalls. Pretending not to notice, yet you got everyone feeling hopeless.
Wait maybe I know you? Maybe I met you before?
These rainstorms reminds me of… You have the perfect timing of…
I consider myself a poet, A verse worker. You must be from heaven Because I know you don’t work here.
Wait! Let’s back up. Start again.
Can I talk to you? Can I signify what is possible? What is a good way to start a conversation? Say hi! Don’t play shy. Butterfly!

Of The Ocean
By Marino Leyba

I took your picture! Somewhere in between the dark and the light. Nervous I admit. I recognized the perfect opportunity to — — To offer more information than necessary.
Heartbroken. It makes no sense to me.
I emerged onto our block. I approached our front gate. Eager to right my wrongs.
—What happened happened, there’s no changing it. The silence is like the wind stirring willow branches. Nostalgic rain — these rainstorms remind me of… …Waterfall memories — —
“Stop grieving!” — “That is not a decision!” “I will always be holding on to you!” “You will forever be in my heart of hearts.”
Goddess of the ocean. I took your picture!
Somewhere in between the dark and the light. I was looking for a better vantage pointy, A high level of emotional maturity.
I was blown away!
I was thinking about you this morning. I walked on a mountain, I lept out of bed, I held my breath. I took your picture!
My longest, most steadfast… … Goddess of the ocean.

Lonely All The Time
By Marino Leyba

It’s so lonely. Even when I am surrounded by a lot of People, I still feel so alone. I walk around and talk to everyone In the room but at the end of the day, all the conversations feel So empty and without purpose. I really just want to be whole Again. I really just want to be home again. I miss the smell of Roses. I miss watching the sunsets. The trees changing colors in The fall, the breeze in the spring, the heat from the summer Sun. These are the things that use to help when I felt lonely. Now I just feel lonely all the time. I need something that is real. I’m tired of all the small talk. I’d rather just sit and listen to the Birds sing. But there are no birds here, just jail birds that can’t Fly, can’t sing, can’t do anything. Loneliness is the worst disease to have in the world. Even though it does not kill you, it sometimes makes you wish It could. I love life and I love people, I just don’t know why I don’t Seem to connect anymore. I’m tired of being alone. I’m tired of Not having a place to call home. Maybe I will figure it all out One day, someday?

I Have A Hunger
By Marino Leyba

I have a hunger but it’s not for food. It’s for something much Greater. Could it be for freedom, could it be for success, could it be for love? Try all the above! Yeah, sure, I love good food, I really wish I had a hamburger Right about now. Yet I’m hungry for so much more than food! We have been Deprived for years from so much, I mean so much! I wish our justice system worked better, I mean more correctly! For starters, I have been done wrong by them, yet since I am a No buddy, and I have no money or political connections, I am, what’s the word? (Screwed!) I am hungry for true justice. I also wish that the prison system had more purpose other than Us rotting away and getting sick. I have a hunger for change, like Martin Luther King Jr. had a Dream! I want to truly see the good in life and, in people, I truly believe It is there! I believe we can make the world more fair, but we Need to put away the hate. What does it truly mean to make America great? I sit in a small dark cell and wait! I have a Hunger for something better, I use my voice to spark the flame That will save the world.

My Mission… My Story
By Marino Leyba

Soft words being spoken as her heart withers before me.
Time warped as memories change the story.
Back to the days when I was young and dremt of glory!
On the battlefields!
Enemies! Opposition! Dreams of overcoming the fierce competition!
My mission…
Stay alive, overcome, outdo, and survive!
Who am I before I made a name for myself? Just another man on the cold streets of… …Asking for help!
I must win at all costs, because if I fail, I end up just another man on a cross.
A martyr! Everything inside of me says, “fight harder.” “Think smarter.” I wanna be larger than life!
So I hang on through the darkest of nights. I survived being attacked by their guns and their knives.
I desperately know only a few will survive. Yet I want to be that one to make it back alive!
Time shifting!
She whispers sweet nothings into my ear as I’m patiently listening. She reaches over with her sweet lips and starts kissing me.
I never knew life could be this good without any missions.
My days of glory, those were only a short vision. She makes me realize what it was I was really missing.
But now back to reality!
I’m in the dark, cold, corridor and all I can hear is them yell at me!
I’m beyond enemy lines!
Still trying to survive! Truth be told, I might not make it back alive.
Tell my family and friends that I tried.
The opposition is relentless!
Every word I wrote you in that love letter, I meant it!
I wish there was someway to tell you I love you, yet there is no way to send it.
Memories of better days, glory, and the story that quite hasn’t ended. My mission, my story, I leave you to amend it.

Heart
By Marino Leyba

In essence I’m trying to take my words high-er.
Inspire!
I admire the way you start.
You get a posse and then try to take deadly aim at my heart.
For years I’ve made nothing but art.
I’ve shown nothing but heart!
Yet you still try and pick everything apart!
You got me asking myself… Why do you keep coming after me in the middle of the dark?
Remember when we were young and we used to just sit in the park?
You would trade words with me and pour out your heart.
Yet that feels like it was several lifetimes ago.
Every memory buried in stone!
The world is much smaller than either one of us ever could have thought.
Remember when we learned ever little thing we were taught?
Oh, how the times have changed. The big beautiful blue sky turned so grey. I wish every word would fade away…
I wish we could go back to the start.
If I could do it all over again. I’d still give you my heart!
You will always be a part of me… More than you can ever believe.
It’s always been you that I need.
I’ll paint a picture but in the end, I need you to believe!
Believe in something! Believe in love! Believe in angels sent from above!

Telepathy
By Marino Leyba

Telepathy! Walk and take a step with me. I cross the sea yet I feel like there is nothing left for me. Can someone stand or take a step for me? I would walk with you if you walk with me.
So talk with me and spend some time, express some words and share your mind. I’m sharing mine in every line. It’s evident as I dispense. Pour out my soul, Nothing more and nothing less. The conversations of who’s the best? The question of when I’ll finally rest? Telepathy! I can’t help but feel you haven’t got the best from me. Pour out myself until there’s nothing left of me.
I say I don’t care what people think, yet I hold on to every word so desperately.
Critics, opinions, and what I think will probably be the death of me, But for the moment I’m blessed to be…
…Consumed in conversations like some are to ecstasy.
Telepathy! Reading thoughts unforgettably! All the skills yet not the time to be a real celebrity. My dying words, “Remember me.” Some love, some hate, some envy me! My friends, my foes, some in between!
It’s been way to hard mentally. Time hasn’t been a friend to me.— — So please don’t read my thoughts no more, telepathy! — —What would happen if I gave you my heart, my soul, what’s left of me?— — In the end I fear I’d still be nothing more than a mere memory. We all got something inside us saying, “Remember me.”
My thoughts, your thoughts. Telepathy.

Waiting For, To Be…
By Marino Leyba

I stated off like everyone in life does. I had all the potential to succeed, to be successful. I listened to the advice that was given to me, that was passed down by the elders. It was so amazing to watch as I achieved just by doing what they told me to, and what not to do. I rose to the heights.
I was excelling at a rapid rate. I had the world in the palm of my hands, I was so close to having all my dreams come true. I almost had my cake and was able to eat it too! “Sometimes life does not play out the way we plan it.” I planned life well, yet it’s like I said.
I had big dreams, I felt like I would have achieved them, I probably would have, but then I fell. I like that saying, that, “we can fly to close to the sun.” I feel like I was flying higher than ever just before I was shot down.
I wish I could tell you I had a fairytale ending. The family, kids, and wife, yet it’s just the opposite. I am in a cage, trapped, waiting, lonely, longing.
You see, I spend my time locked in a box, inside of another box. How do I feel? How I really feel is, it’s kinda like being a damsel in distress, expect I am a man and I don’t wear a dress. I feel hopeless at times. I feel like I’m locked away in a castle waiting, hoping, wanting for some lady, for some woman to come and save me, rescue me!
I’m waiting to be to be rescued, but I’m afraid I won’t be, I guess it’s just a good dream to have at night, an escape from my sad reality. I am a good person with a good heart, Yet I’m painted as everything I hate in life. I don’t know if I’ll ever be rescued or saved? I just know time is ticking and it’s wicked. I’m in the land of the forgotten. I’m just waiting to be saved, rescued.
All my hopes, dreams, and ambitions piled up with the years and my tears. I feel like I would do whatever for whomever rescues me, saves me! In the end, I know we are all just lost souls and we all just want to be rescued.

The Final Dream
By Marino Leyba

I don’t know if anyone writes in cursive anymore, it might be a lost cause. A cause that is not worth fighting for, a cause that is not worth writing for!
I’ve seen the sun, I’ve seen the set. I bet not everything is how it is supposed to be. Why are you so far away, why are you not close to me?
The sky is falling, yet I am rising, summertime lightning.
A riddle to try and solve, watch the clock, the throne, as I desolve. Fairly, dear me, time to climb the mountain tops, to sail the seven seas, to be free, to feel the sea’s breeze. The sand is quick as I fall to my knees.
A thousand times I fall, yet I return, Holy water so I don’t burn. The way I learn is quite unique, It’s quiet here at my highest peak.
I can finally relax, I’ve done my time, I paid my dues, I gave my tax. That candles wax, the twilight sky. The question we must all ask is, “Who am I?” I’m shy at times, yet very brave, the things I’ve lost, the things I’ve saved. Who paved the way to make me great, I’ve drank the juice, I’ve crushed the grapes. Outdone myself, outpaced my fate.
The final chapter, the final scene, summertime ice cream, the final dream.

Forget Me Not
By Marino Leyba

When I am dead, my dearest. Don’t forget me, forget me not. No flowers at my grave, for the colors are brighter now.
Miss me, like I would miss you.
Memories frozen in time, for a moment we were together, for a moment you were mine. Remember our reflections and our final lines.
By the shady cypress tree, you can confine in me. At my headstone, you can spend sometime with me.
Remember me and never forget the day that you loved me, the day that we met.
Twilight dreaming, I shalt not rise this time. Remember me in the seasons, in my prime. Remember me in the winter, spring, fall and in the summertime.
When I’m dead, forget me not.

Cali is Calling Me
By Marino Leyba

Could this be an ocean breeze? A sudden dream? California is Calling me!
Walk on the sandy beach shore, feel the breeze, the palm trees and more.
It has been so long since I’ve been back, it has been so long since I’ve dreamt that.
Baby close your eyes, picture the the pink skies. I’m in a small log cabin, baby come inside. I know its been a long ride, back to the southern side.
— The fireplace is burning nice and slow. — — The land that was forgotten, the summertime and the snow. — The perfect gentleman to put you in the mood.
It’s been so long since I’ve been back, it has been so long since I’ve dreamt that.
Now tell me how you’re feeling? I know, I can hear the sounds in your feelings.
I like it all, Summertime, winter, spring and fall. Could this be my rebirth? The way I leave earth? A sudden dream? Pay attention because California is Calling me.

My Bird Song!
By Marino Leyba

I decided it would be better to be a bird. I felt her thrumming heart, I was in love. She worked her magic on me.
— There are more than eleven thousand species of birds in the world. —
– My birdsong; — Its purpose; — To attract a mate.
The females are listening closely. The Blue Mountain, the Waterfall Fountains. My intention is to take it slow.
The rarest of the rare.
What is your name? The name that only you know?
Do you dream? Do you laugh? Do you cry? Do you have fears, passions, fantasies?
I wonder?
I crave your beauty, your strengths.
Mourning dove, song sparrow, blue mountain bird. You sparked my interest again. In the valleys, near the streams.
I watched a raven soar in the moonlight, in the night sky.
The mockingbird, the canary. I’m very…
Accurate and precise. Listen to me sing in the mourning or in the evening light.
Bluejays or red tailed hawks. My bird song never stops.
— Its purpose; — To attract a mate.
The females are listening closely. My intention is to take it slowly. My birdsong. The rarest of the rare.

Dark Matter/A Feeling
By Marino Leyba

I have this feeling… The feeling that the universe itself is something I might take hold of.
I spend my days removing stars from the vast picture of the night sky. They are too bright, too loud. This is not my job. Every time I think I understand what it means, it becomes immediately clear I do not!
I have this feeling… This feeling I belong to something remarkable, something much bigger than myself, something much bigger than all of us. When I am done putting things into perspective, I realize I have plenty of time, then I decline.
Only a vessel, we are all only a vessel. All of us will leave ours behind.
Used up, battered, tormented, forsaken, I shake and…
My one reget: I wish I could have done more for you.
I have this feeling… My heart hurts, I imagine I hear her voice calling in the summertime, in the autumn, in the spring, in the winter.
It is snowing, the wind is cold, there is no place to go. My soul feels like it is in a black hole.
I think of her, I breathe deeply, I close my eyes because I have become sleepy.
I have this feeling… My heart is unraveling, my mind is time traveling.
A girl is breaking open her rib cage and inside is a galaxy. I feel deeply connected somehow. Is it dark matter?
I have this feeling… The feeling that the universe itself is something I might take hold of. I spend my days removing stars from the vast picture of the night sky. They are too bright, too loud. Every time I think I understand what it means, it becomes immediately clear I do not!
I have this feeling…

My Missing Dream
By Marino Leyba

The stars in the night sky are glistening — —I know she is out there somewhere, Yet is she listening? — — My missing dream! —
I whisper my sweet devotions while the candles on my night stand are flickering.
—I ponder as I sit and and look yonder, her love is a gift and it I won’t squander. — I can hear the cries from her lonely heart, I know we have never officially met, yet we have been too long apart.
The truth is I didn’t understand the meaning of the dream until I realized what it is that I need. Close your eyes, say a prayer and begin to dream.
The females are listening. The stars in the night sky are glistening. I know she is out there somewhere, Yet is she listening?
The one I claim, the one who can set my heart aflame, the one who I am longing to know, to know her name. I whisper my sweet devotions while the candles on my night stand are flickering.
— I’m searching for her — — My missing dream — —Is she listening? —

It’s Not All About Me
By Marino Leyba

Water falls while I try to stand tall. — The sky is clear and blue. Why do I spend so much time thinking about you? — I’ve seen the sea, I’ve been a king, I’ve kissed the ring. Finally I understand it is not all about me. — I found the key. —
Let me see… I see a garden full of flowers, the vivid colors, the perfurms, the powers.— Let it soak in, let it devour you with grace, the beauty of the world, let it put a smile on your face. Finally I’m home, the place I longed to be.— Finally I’m free!!! I’ve carried such a big burden— everywhere — I’ve been buried — I’ve learned — and… I know something new grows out of the dirt.— Always remember to spread love and not hurt. We are all so very unique, together we can grow, together we can reach our highest peaks. The skylines, mountaintops, summits, may we never fall, may we never plummet. To the stars with our scars!!! Let us rise and become wise, share what we learn, let the next generation take their turn and rise. Become more complete, only in a letter until we finally meet. Always remember, “it is not all about me.”
Water falls while I try to stand tall. — The sky is clear and blue. Why do I spend so much time thinking about you? — I’ve seen the sea, I’ve been a king, I’ve kissed the ring. Finally I understand it is not all about me. — I found the key. —

Long Before The Darkness
By Marino Leyba

Long before the darkness eased, the colors drained, and the wind picked up. I began to hallucinate. Laughing hysterically, I was unable to summon the words. I felt scared. I was an emotional mess. The city turned on me, everything I’d known, all that I had done for her, forgotten! Some things don’t pay off. I risked it all to give her what she wanted, yet it is never enough. They always want more! An endless hunger! Near the end I realized I was acting on…— — My response was from all the traumatic experiences I’d been through. A misguided attempt to save myself, to save the world! If only I could escape the spacetime continuum. I know you are eager to assume we are all alike, yet we are not. The earnest go-getter, the one who put everything into it, the flows better! Long before the darkness, I began to hallucinate. It would come and go as it pleased. It’s not that I don’t have actual words. I do! The city switched on me, double-crossed me! My point of origin had vanished somehow. I wouldn’t understand it until nearly a decade later. Mindbogglingly, you think you know somebody until you find out you don’t. Unwanted, unloved, angry and ashamed! I am wanting stability! I believe I regretted telling her all my secrets. Long before the darkness, the colors drained, and the wind picked up. Nerves over took us, authorities would assume we were crazy or even criminals. Life experiences, plenty of reason for paranoia. Eventually sleep deprivation turned us loopy. One stormy evening after a blur, impossible decisions were made. In retrospect it seems obvious that my distress was a response to the traumatic experiences, the city! Like poisonous fungi after the rain, long before the darkness, the colors were not the same.

The Apostrophe
By Marino Leyba

Allow me to allocate, I might be great without the hate. Aspiration to meet my fate, I wait patiently at the gate.
A top the scene, these giant copycats are copying me. My clothes, the mantle, I hear their babble, totally baffled.
Don’t take the bait, don’t wear the cape.
As I look out my window I see the deadly blackwidows. I know you’re lonely but please try to avoid their ceremonies. The chatterbox, the chores, when does the nonsense stop? The calamity?! The coherent tragedy?! I’m curious, mysterious, vicarious, delirium. Diagnosis why do you keep enduring them?
Distinguished name, distinguished fame! They try to be yet we are not the same. An Epiphany so let me be. Let me go, let me flow, you already know I’m more than exceptional. The best since… Whoa!

Near A Cemetery
By Marino Leyba

A lovely night sitting under the bright. We waited for the sky to disappear, castle-like headquarters. As far as I’m concerned, I could die at any moment.
Low-key she disappeared from the world. I was barley figuring out my position, my style. I have this uneasy feeling I will disappoint her, that I will let her down.
My résumé… A writer, so you know I have to right her. Up in flames, a lighter.
I prefer quite if I’m going to be writing all day long. I try my best to stay strong. I can’t shake this feeling that she’s gone. Moms gone!
The absence! I finally realized the reality of loss. Oh, my God I am so lost!
The black bear, the spotted deer, the brown squirrel, I lost a piece of my world! I can’t talk about my failures, my regrets, my losses, the increasing number of my loved ones lost.
All I seem to see is dark thunderclouds, showing any sign of weakness, any sign of vulnerability is not allowed. We behave as though we have unlimited days to sit quickly with our loved ones. The cold hard truth is, “We do not!”
— Relocated! — I hate it! — The pain has only made me more motivated.
Sitting near a cemetery. Please help me to understand another enormous loss. The giant hole in my heart, the undying pain in my art. The feeling of something missing all the time. The snag in my throat. The feeling of hating when people die, the little sky.
A lovely night sitting under the bright… As far as I’m concerned… I could die at any moment.
I can’t shake the feeling that she’s is gone. Moms gone!
A dark thundercloud, I’ve lost a piece of my world. Sitting near a cemetery. I can’t shake this feeling.

Sand
By Marino Leyba

The water is moving swift and fast. The wind is blowing the tree branches back. Fire is consuming up the land. From the earth we came, from the dust we shall all return back to sand.
— I don’t know how to feel right now. — — I’m feeling naked — naked and alone! — I’m just trying to find my way back home.
What is a matter? Overwhelmed, broken hearted, shattered! Family matters?!
It is not all about self. The world is on fire, flooding, we can all use some help.
Don’t just stand there and watch us burn! Don’t let us drown! We are being cared away with the wind. Do you hear that sound?
The water is moving swift and fast. The wind is blowing the tree branches back. Fire is consuming up the land. From the earth we came, from the dust we shall all return back to sand.

Shakespearean
By Marino Leyba

As time goes by… I feel the wind. What brilliance!
I’m trying to seek the light. I’m trying to do what’s right. Humility has not always been my best ability.
I have a variety of sobriety. I have anxiety. Society?!
I once was unforgettable, undeniable! Now I ask questions like, “will I die alone?”
At the penitentiary, I’ve spent a little more than a quarter century. I once was at the pentacle, save your stories because we are not identical. You must have delirium, I’m taking my vitamins, I’m rare like cerium.
I hate having to keep up with appearances. Let me tell you what my biggest fear is. We don’t talk like we used to. Flower girl, Liberian, my work… Shakespearean.
As time goes by… I feel the wind. What brilliance!

Tiny Dose
By Marino Leyba

Just one tiny dose/then I’ll be your most. You got me feeling like/feeling like you’re my overdose. Just one tiny dose/then I’ll be your most.
They say you got the right stuff/They say you play hard to get/If love is a battlefield than your love I won’t soon forget.
Pursue me with eyelids/ I want nothing but silence/ You know that you’re mine when/ Both of us climax/ The perfect alignment/ I’ll be your assignment/ We’re working with time and/ You can be my personal diamond/ You know you’re a ten/ but baby girl let me times it/ Your perfection girl/ And the soul reason I rhyme it/ I just want a taste/ An overdose and then I’ll die lit/ With you by my side/ You know I’m going to try it. We’re going to the Marriott/ We’re going to the Hyatt/ You know that I’m so high when…
Just one tiny dose/then I’ll be your most. You got me feeling like/feeling like you’re my overdose. Just one tiny dose/then I’ll be your most.
You got me feeling like part two to my story/and part three to my life. Baby girl I’m overdosed on you/and you could me my true light. My truest delight/ take me to new places/ take me to new heights/ The inspiration for everything/ the soul reason I write. Set me alight/ and make me feel so right.
If love is a battlefield than your love I won’t soon forget.
Pursue me with eyelids/ I want nothing but silence/ You know that you’re mine when/ Both of us climax/ The perfect alignment/ I’ll be your assignment/ We’re working with time and/ You can be my personal diamond/ You know you’re a ten/ but baby girl let me times it/ Your perfection girl/ And the soul reason I rhyme it/ I just want a taste/ An overdose and then I’ll die lit/ With you by my side/ You know I’m going to try it. We’re going to the Marriott/ We’re going to the Hyatt/ You know that I’m so high when…
Just one tiny dose/then I’ll be your most. You got me feeling like/feeling like you’re my overdose. Just one tiny dose/then I’ll be your most.

Another Beginning
By Marino Leyba

Really this is about our fear of being vulnerable. The quite passing of time. Missing it all, missing so many milestones. A spiraling of mourning, of grief. The day is wasting. The mood is shifting, a gravel path, a worn road. The light from the east falls. It follows, then… We all get old, it is unavoidable. The coldest days in the park. Near the ocean, near the clouds. Life is funny. Up here the air is thin and crisp. My heart aches, beyond heartbreak. Only twenty-five, I already feel like I’m running behind. I can’t help but feel like I’ve already missed the lone train that would have delivered me to my dream life. Perhaps we want too much? Perhaps we want to impress others? The end of one season comes suddenly, like a tree crashing onto a highway. The world is the same, yet I feel like it is not. I have so many secrets and depressed emotions, the human condition. When the time comes to let go, I let go. Part of me wants to stay, but even if I linger, it would only delay the inevitable. I will fade back to dust, Memento Mori. The unmistakable sensation of a page turning, of one chapter ending and another beginning.

We All Get Old
By Marino Leyba

I long to be near strangers. I feel like I have been lost to time. I have a lover’s quarrel with the world.
I want to show you the world through my eyes. My thoughts are louder than the birds. I am kissing strangers in the street.
I am absolutely starving for physical sensations. There is a beast in your head.
What is the validation that life and perspective can change. I am in an apartement filled with lit candles and a view of the beautiful gardens outside. I am so home sick.
Latin: Memento More, “Remember you must die.” “Who cares!” We are only ever temporarily well, temporarily able, and temporarily young. Accidents, illness, and old age will be a part of our lives at some point, in our bodies and in the bodies of those we love. It follows, then… We should expect… We all get old.

Too Many Thoughts
By Marino Leyba

Awake half past night, can’t sleep, too many thoughts have been brought to light. I feel anxiety, I sit and think quietly. Too much is going on in the world again, too much, I’m lonely and need a friend. No one truly cares in the end, we are all so alone, I look up to the stars and miss my only home. Tear drops fall in my mind, I was once on top, ahead, now I’m slowly falling behind. The clock tic’s to midnight and we can’t rewind. Sitting, thinking, drinking, I thought the world was once mine yet now I am shrieking. I don’t know what my true purpose is? I don’t know what I was made for? Lonely blue tears fall down my face, I am afraid for… The youth, the next generation, I do not know what comes next, what evil manifestation? I want to help make things great but I’m afraid because it might be too late. Awake half past night, can’t sleep, too many thoughts have been brought to light.

Oh, Mortal Soul
By Marino Leyba

The hills melt like wax. As far as the east is from the west. We are dust our days are like grass, They disappear so fast. The wind passes over and we are gone. Who hears the groaning of the prisoners? Our days are like a shadow that declines, Minutes Before Six we slowly lose our shine, Then we fade away. He weakened my strength in this way, He shortened my days. Bless the Lord o my soul, There is still so many things that I don’t know. Forty years long I grieved, Forty years long it took until I could see, Until I could be free. A thousand shall fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; Yet it shall not come near you. The secrets of the most High, Only with thine own eyes… Remember how short your time is… Three-score years and ten if by reason, We are all only hear for a short season. Number your days and apply your hearts oh mortal man. Our flesh and our heart faileth The wind passes over and we are gone. The hills melt like wax. O Mortal man.

It’s Unavoidable
By Marino Leyba

Precisely. A social-Justic issue. The guilt of doing something for yourself is astronomical. We all fear death so much because it’s unknown, even though it is the one thing in life that is certain. Really this is about the fear of being vulnerable. We believe vulnerability is bad and that we should be independent beings that don’t need anyone. Yet we are all so needy. It’s a real crisis. Each individual has a body that is going to fail at some point. It’s unavoidable. “Did your brush with possible demise transform your thinking?” “It certainly made me understand the brevity of life.” I am a collection of cells and chemicals and processes that could go awry at any time. Believing in the infallibility of the body is a luxury I no longer have. We cannot build solutions on injustices. It’s inhuman. It is not possible to fix the problem once and for all. We need solutions that are above all humans. I don’t think there is an alternative to that. Still I think there are reasons to be optimistic. I think that is where we have to focus. Otherwise we will lose heart. There are levels. I can’t exaggerate. “So you’re saying the crisis can’t be averted?” It’s unavoidable.

Cold Without Your Love
By Marino Leyba

Once I briefly fell under the spell of the river. I was between two lakes. You seem to have me fooled yet again. A living leaf grows here – my dear – I swear. I ward you off and you still you return. I ward you off and you still continue to burn.
I move closer, then you move farther. You move closer, and then I move farther. Why is it always hit and miss with us? We reach the end only to start again. You got me on my knees pouring out my heart again. Back in the studio, pen, and paper, making art again.
History is the only thing that counts. It unfuls and then… Welcome to my world. Can you hear the sound? There is a river, I take my clothes off, dive in, and then I shiver.
It is cold without your love, yet I am still here. Far enough to feel forgotten, close enough to feel important. I pick up the phone, I call, and then I abort it. Just like a child’s snow angel, I feel frozen.
Once I briefly fell under the spell of the river. I was between two lakes. You seem to have me fooled yet again. I move closer, then you move farther. You move closer, and then I move farther. Why is it always hit and miss with us. We reach the end only to start again. It is cold without your love.

The Soul Reason I Write
By Marino Leyba

Time has made me easier to charm. When the wind arrives, I am in touch with a magic that has not lost it’s power. Obviously, I see the peculiar desire to claim words as my own.
What drew me out, what loosened my tongue?
I once was guarded like a glamorous pearl.
Now writing has become my second pleasure.
I’ve become, more elegant, more composed, more formal. The mystery of style, a dreamlike atmosphere, something like Alice in wonderland, Blue Nightingales, a willingness, and complexity to know the night more clearly. Listen to the pianist play brilliantly.
Sometimes you need to end where you began. My most honest critic, my dearest friend. I want to have my cake and eat it too!
No point in talking about it, the only way out of pain is through it. Thrust back in time, precious memories, the soul reason I write.

Authenticity of a True Artist
By Marino Leyba

I have always been the underdog. Ever since I was young, I have had to be sure of myself. Some people just have that star quality. I give different versions of myself so people know that I am multifaceted. It has always been about becoming stronger, having a voice, being unapologetic. Am I falling or flying? Tell me the truth no lying! Feeding you the best, buried in the west, my heart is still needing rest. You will always feel the authenticity of a true artist, and a true artist will always find their voice Regardless. A human touch! Read between the lines and hear the unspoken truth. I have always found a way and now… There is no more holding back. The sight of God! Like I have all the answers. I am sorry, years ago I felt like I did, But that was back when I was still a kid. I am stunned on how fast it has gone by. I have always been the underdog. The long sigh! I feel like I know who I am, maybe for the first time in my life. It is pleasing somehow, it feels good, the clalm acceptance of small discoveries. Ever since I was young, I have had to be sure of myself, the feeling stays hovering. A true Artist! You will always feel the authenticity of a true artist, and a true artist will always find their voice Regardless.

Something That Is Holy
By Marino Leyba

What ridiculous fools we must be? —The water shimmering in the twilight— the colors— — — Pinks — lavenders — orange reds. — —The vast sky — the glimpses of…—
—We are all so curious about everything.— —We are all pulsing with fear and love.—
— In the storm of life — we all find one moment of calm. —
—Eyes closed, open, vulnerable, fully exposed.—
—Our colors are washed out by the sun.—
—We are all building castles in the sky.— The truth is we all must die.
—Everything uprooted, then cleared away.— —It is all so beautiful then we all have to fade away.—
—The crisp blue sky overhead, the absence of her and what she said…— I remember the handwritten letters, the stuffed animals, the candles.
—At dust — — that August — I would sometimes come up with grand ideas about how to save the world— the repercussions — to no avail.
—Hours pass and so the minutes, as the hour glass empties we all diminish.—
Heavy tears began to roll down my face, I made a comment, “No one wants to be erased.”
Mourning doves or Morning love? —The rain falls down as you already know we are all sent from above—
—The females are all listening closely.— —A champion sound.— —Something that is Holy.—

To Recapture The Past
By Marino Leyba

My feelings are displaced. A whirlwind throws me into space. I’d be lying if I didn’t care about what the critics thought…
It’s probably easier to be apocalyptic. Spooky vibes, Ghost stories, whatever. I was an artist once.
You can’t stay at the top forever, but when you are there it feels like forever. Clever. No clocks because I can’t stand time. It stole so much from me, I can’t lie.
Longing, hoping for a response. I am an outsider watching in on a séance.
This is far from simple. What!? My life!
A gaping hole swallows up my soul. Misery is all I seem to know. Wait, wait before you go…
May I have this dance? Dust to dust, ash to ash.
My thoughts laid bare, unspoken. Baby girl help me, I’m chocking.
Thunder and rain, here we go again, lightning in a hurricane. Serenade me just to feel the pain.
Here I stand where I began. Just trying, dying to pick up the pieces that are blowing in the wind.
Nothing is shocking, nowhere is safe. From my coffin I peak out, my coffin is safe.
We all live in a house built of cards. A trickle in time, life is hard.
These are longer my thoughts. A song, a poem, something you forgot.
Finding me is not hard, yet it ain’t easy. Open your eye’s and look through the seasons. Do you see me?
Nostalgia a sweet fragrance. My skill was once unmatched yet I long to go back, to recapture the past.

It’s’ Always Those One’s
By Marino Leyba

[Screams] I am awake in this infinite cold. Bam! Hit straight in the face with a wooden stick. I am knocked out cold! All alone.
My flaw was trusting everyone, I let down my guard. I woke up chained to a wall in a dark room with just a sliver of light shining through a hole in the roof.
I am afraid! I do not know what will happen next. I’m not sure if this is the end or not? Is there a way out? I hear a crash and a few shots, a car is burning off.
I can hear footsteps in the distance. They sound heavy and drag as someone slowly approaches me.
I think I am in the…
I’ve been kidnapped!
But by who? Who could it be? I got enemies. A lot of enemies.
I don’t try to make any, they just seem to appear as soon as seem to excel. Well is this my fate?
Wait I could try to figure my way out. Doubt! That is what hits me before she approaches. I should have known.
The person I trusted the most. The one I shared all my secrets with.
It’s always those ones.

The Magic Of Creativity
By Marino Leyba

A patch of sweet corn, a drought, a cool spring, ancestors, wildlife, forests, rivers. Allow me to introduce myself as I deliver… Kindness is the magic of creativity, the blue mountains, the sacrad abandoned places.
How can we live a good life? Appreciate our world! Experience it, experience its natural beauty, be a friend. We all can benefit, mentally, and emotionally. You will all be amazed at the things outside of you.
We were born to be good, we have a compassionate instinct, a compassionate heart. We have emotions like; gratitude, joy, amusement, compassion. Help us survive and build. When we encounter something beyond our understanding, it can make us feel small and insignificant.
Looking up at the night sky I feel overwhelmed. It occupies my thoughts, it is also uplifting and freeing. Tonight look out into the brilliant night stars and remember this… The people we love are the most precious things we have.
A star from my universe is gone.
You don’t have to be present to keep loving someone. The birth of happiness is love. You don’t even have to be alive.
The big, gigantic, infinite makes me realize we are all just great cosmic dust. It can be frightening to think about. Some people freak out when they think about it. It is beyond our understanding. I struggle with that.
Art liberates us, it can inspire, amaze, even humble us. I’ve been humbled.
A patch of sweet corn, a drought, a cool spring, ancestors, wildlife, forests, rivers. Allow me to introduce myself as I deliver…
Kindness is the magic of creativity.

P.I.A.L.P/The T.O.T.I
By Marino Leyba

Navigate the prison system. Fight the waves. Stay on the charted course. Men and women go into prison young, wild, strong, only to succumb to sickness and demise. It’s an unpredictable world.
Bitter cold, a prison cell, hot as hell, mixed emotions, a feeling of being out of place, out of breath, out of space.
There is a tremendous pressure trying to conjure up the strength.
Half-asleep, half-awoken, in all reality utterly broken.
Spending a long time with the prison walls. Look in the mirror of society and all they see is prison flaws.
Lost and confused, unsure of what to do.
Bound in chains, contaminated. Unforgiving, forever hated.
A modern leper, a diseased outcast descending into the deep. It is so hard to see the light, it is so bright yet snuffed out by the darkness, the heartless.
A thousand years or more… The Strom breaks my heart until I can see no more. The darking sky.
I am drifting on a current. It is hard to think things will get better. One always wants a better story.
The tip of the iceberg. A better life is just out of reach. Dim lighting, the mood feels unfixable. Buried alive, all us, sisters, brothers, fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters.
The opportunities for growth denied for decades. Wasted talents, wasted years, misery, pain, despair, with the corrupt in charge life can never be fair.
Prison is a lonely place. Just the tip of the iceberg.

Bird’s-Eye View
By Marino Leyba

We are all flawed humans, scribbling some notes, begging for mercy from the divine, our time! A complex topic. Looking down from a bird’s-eyes view. The ability to remember the past and think about the future, for better or worse.
How do you elevate your status in a group? How do you get along with others? Do you have the theory mind? The ability to imagine things from the perspective of others.
I remember crying out for help once when there seemed to be no way out of the hole I had dug myself into. All I can say is that, where I couldn’t fathom a solution, God found a way out.
Reflection, the opportunity to see ourselves more clearly.
Who are we? The people who made mistakes. I mean haven’t we all?
Searching so hard for any sign of a connection, still search for the right way to say I’m sorry.
We are all flawed humans in virtually every kind of environment. I have been around for a long time. Scribbling some notes, begging for mercy from the divine, our own time! A complex topic. Looking down from a bird’s-eye view.

Life Is Full Of Opportunities
By Marino Leyba

Out of the moon shining night that covers me. I finally overcame the darkest night. And, yet, I can not forget the passing of my tears, the lonely nights, the long wasted years.
Where should I begin? Ah, wait, where is my red colored pen? “When you are going through hell, keep going.” Never give in! The blue flames may dance and move in so many different ways but I promise you, if you don’t give up, and don’t give in you will be amazed!
Do not buckle with the heaviness of the world. If you stay strong and don’t give up you may find a beautiful pearl. Be… Be humble for we are made of the softest earth.
I believe we have what it takes, I believe we are equipped with what we need to overcome this curse! Ever since I was young I often wished I could save everyone. I still wish that!
When I look back and I reflect… I only know what is behind me, I never know what comes next! Call me a dreamer, I still believe her. The stars in the sky, Ariana Grande has got me believing God is a women, then I come to my right mind!
Move forward one step at a time until it is a habit. If you really want something, if you really want to be great, all you have to do is reach out and grab it. Determination will prove to the world you can be great, and that you are worth more than your weight in gold. At least if nothing else, this is the advice I was given, this is what I have been told.
Diamonds in the ruff, determination is a must! To be successful is to be loved. No more sitting down, I’m standing up! When it seems like there are no doors or pathways to where you want to go, make them! Life is full of opportunities, all you have to do is take them.

A Purpose
By Marino Leyba

I never was anything until I fell for her Now I’m one of the most powerful kings in the world as I wield the Sword, The power of Excalibur
What does it take to be great? The lady in the lake The rise and fall of the oceans in my wake
The knights of the round table The strength of their legends and their fables The power to change everything and to be Able to bring balance to the tables
What is it like to have the power and the ability to foresee how the World ends? The magic of Merlin!
I’ve been fighting so hard and so bravely Yet in the end, I’m afraid because she can only save me
I never was anything until I fell for her Now I’m one of the most powerful kings in the world As I wield the sword The power of Excalibur
What does it take to be great? The lady in the lake The rise and fall of the oceans in my wake
The sword in the stone The path to true happiness The path that leads home
I never was anything until I fell for her Now I’m one of the most powerful kings In the world as I wield the sword The power of Excalibur.

The Moonlight Helps Me Think
By Marino Leyba

Moonlight I cannot see you by day, only by night. Yet your light is bright and gives me hope by night. I love to stare up at the sky and see you shine. The blue and white rays make feel not so afraid.
You bring me comfort and make me feel calm, like everything will be ok. Yet at the same time, you make me feel sad and alone. Moonlight you make me miss my lover, you make me miss my home.
Here I sit underneath you, I reflect.
I know the moonlight helps me to think, to be correct. When there is no moon high up in the sky, when there is no warm light by night, cry. I need moonlight to guide me through the night, I need moonlight to make me feel alright. My life feels like I have been in the dark for awhile, desperate and lonely, I have not seen a friendly smile.
The moonlight sometimes feels like my only friend as it shines through my window. Moonlight is something special for me as I sit in my cell, it makes me believe in something, even while I am now living in hell.

The Silver Lining Song
By Marino Leyba

Silver Lining in the sky. We all want a silver lining. Life can be so hard. We want something to look forward to. I watch the clouds, I know they come and go.
Some bring rain, some bring snow, but I want to see the sun, I want to see the light, I want a silver lining, I want to know that everything will be alright.
I don’t know if it will be, but at least I have hope. I have hope for the future, not just for me but for the whole world. Maybe I’m wrong but I will do my best to keep hope, to sing the silver lining song. I want to see it and I know you do too.
Maybe we don’t see the silver lining in the sky in this life, but maybe we do. Who really knows what the future will bring? For the silver lining that we all want to see, I sing.
Sing the song with me and have hope, dream, and dream, even if for now that is the only way we can see the holy light, that long-sought-after silver lining in the sky.

Master Piece of My Heart
By Marino Leyba

I stay on top of things There is no one stopping me I am out topping me
I am outside by the best diner I see you and your black dress, your best liner I rhyme but you’re blessed lighter
Spark me, I’m in the dark sea Black, blue and royal purple, Sit back and watch me burn slow The best rhythms, the best flow, a left soul
Right me or wrong me I am but a ghost longing Emotions are bombing
Suffocation look at my creation
A master piece of art What more do you want when I gave you my heart?
I put everything into it! The rain, the storm, I have been through it I have lived through it! As a matter of fact, I have lived for it.
I stay on top of things There is no one stopping me I am out topping me.

Reflectivity
By Marino Leyba

Reflectivity, making origami is my activity The world is falling and it’s riveting In my dreams she keeps visiting
A living legend, I need her! A living legend, I believe her! Now manifest and be here!
Clouds float on by as I wait for you A mist in the air, she is so close I can almost feel her here
I need your help You’re the one thing in life I cannot live without I try not to doubt myself
I know you are out there somewhere, Yet I seem to get no reply I know, I cry, I spread my wings, I try to fly!
It seems like we are worlds apart I’m afraid because we both come from a broken heart The meaning of life My creative edges The authentic art
Destiny, fate, wait the finished project will be…
Reflectivity, making origami is my activity, The world is falling and it’s riveting In my dreams she keeps visiting
There is something that leaves me incomplete I march to my own drum, my own beat I withstand the cold, the heat, Yet I know there is someone I must meet I’m up beat, and my tempo, I can’t stop, I can’t let go until she says so
Reflectivity, making origami is my activity The world is falling and it’s riveting In my dreams she keeps visiting.

Spark of Motivation
By Marino Leyba

I don’t know what to do or Where to start? So I will give you everything, I Will pour out my heart! I will make something from Nothing, I will give you my art! Imagine me alone in the park. Imagine me alone in the dark. I can’t give up, so I will become Your motivation, I will be your Spark!
That ray of light, that day from night!
You have to plays every card You are given. Make the most out of what you Have or else you are not really Living. Never say never and never play The unforgiven.
We are not quite out of the Woods yet. But we will be!
It’s never over as long as we Can still see. It’s never over as long as we Can still breathe!

The Ability To Feel Spectacular
By Marino Leyba

Sheesh, how will I sleep, how will I hibernate? I need a Valkyrie. Who will love me? Time to reflect.
The winter snow fall feels my heart. When someone close to you dies you don’t just lose that person. You lose the shared conversations, the shared understanding, the time together.
We look at a flower and appreciate its beauty. Transformation, out of it comes epiphanies, insights arrive, everything changes. It’s like a ruch of cold water. You look at the world one way and suddenly you see it in a new way. Refreshed!
We are not alone! There is something special, an indescribable feeling when we move together in unison. When we are in a flow state distractions disintegrate. Time melts away, its delightful.
Transcendent art, be the spark, let it stir your hearts. Connect the dots one by one. Do an act of human kindness. Moral beauty is moving. The days are short and eventually, we must all fall asleep.
I could take a break, I could consider my options, I could continue to ponder uncertain futures. Edge toward steep hills, let them catch up to me, Collide! Long sigh!
Yet I will try to keep it simple as I write, I am a product of my time. An original point of view, you must really sparkle to be unique. Daydreaming on the porch again. Memories of people remain.
I have been wrapped up by the rain, driven off by the snow. I am drunk and dirty on the things I do not know. Some sort of an outcast descending, self possessed, something exotic, better than nothing, better than the best.
See the bright colors flying high, the purple and white. Betrayal, remorse, recourse. All the pieces to the puzzle to maintain the insanity, we find escapes when we can.
A collective of society, I gesture for you to join me. A series of posses, here in the moment.
I need some love, I need a hug. As a writer I need a quiet space.
After being unable to find me. Look for me! In your dreams I’m still time traveling. Amazing and wonderful the mysteries of life made more complete over time.
Let your soul catch up with you. Mine has finally caught up with me. Pulsing in and out, something like wings, down by the springs. A commonplace occurrence.
You always want to talk about the ending. It seems like a fair question but what about the beginning? One’s needs must be met. The door opens and I begin walking. Anxiously watching.
You know how it is when you wake up from a dream. It’s winter and all night the snow has been falling heavily. My desire for higher altitudes. Perhaps I have begun to associate with the gods. The ability to feel some type of way. The ability to feel spectator. I am moving on. We will all soon be gone.

Indescribable
By Marino Leyba

I stop only to start again. I long for elegance, like that of the pink lotus. The girl in my dreams, No matter how great I become she will never even notice.
Originality, a soul poured out at sea, I long to be.
Undeniable, even with my abilities there’s no way I can ever fly to you.
Oh the things I wouldn’t try to do.
I’m empowered with just my thoughts, just like the great waterfalls, I fall a lot.
I’m a little weepy, at the same time a little bit sleepy.
The way I feel is indescribable, I somehow hope this journey I’m on is survivable, but in the end I made a promise I would die for you.
It’s really flattering the distance one would go for love, earth shattering.
I stop only to start again. Self-determined my art is my only friend.

Listen
By Marino Leyba

Listen as the Golden/Brownish leaves fall from the trees. Listen as the wind blows away each year, listen to all my dreams, Listen to all my tears. Listen to every form of love, every form of anguish, every form of madness. Listen as I swallow up every form of poison. I have become all things to show you all things. The supreme sufferer, the great criminal, the unholiest dammed, the supreme savant. What more do you want! I have reached into the unknown. I have traveled a great distance, I have become so far away from home. I will die while soaring. I will die above the clouds, I will do much more than what is allowed. A visionary poet dancing before you! I spin and I whirl! Listen before I leave this world.

What A Tragedy
By Marino Leyba

The wind blows through the weeping willows, So many restless nights so many unused pillows. Can you imagine a life without purpose? Can you imagine being forced to nothing? To becoming worthless? A garden full of dead flowers, the seasons change, become cold, and so fades our powers. My hand is shaky, my thoughts lonely, my soul escaping. I cannot save my loved ones. In this life they say you only love one? What a tragedy!!! The way a candle burns out! The way life can turn out! Ash to ash, dust to dust. The feeling of knowing that nobody is going to save us! I don’t mean to sound so depressed, yet I’m so sorry for this wicked land, this filthy mess! That means me too — I’m not excluded — the whole entire world is so polluted! We need a cure, we need an answer! Someone to fix this mess, to cure this cancer! The wind blows through the weeping willows, So many restless nights so many unused pillows. Can you imagine a life without purpose? Can you imagine being forced to nothing? To becoming worthless? A garden full of dead flowers, the seasons change, become cold, and so fades our powers.

Home/Lost And Found
By Marino Leyba

Cherish quiet moments, they create little worlds of their own. Santa Fe New Mexico is my only home. A private life along the riverbank. Lost and found. Like all places, it is complicated, flawed, and beautiful. The complexe history, so deeply connected, yet no one really knows the mystery. Heavy stories, a place that doesn’t exist anymore. The power of the elders is real in that way. All our fates are linked. One winter it was extremely cold. We are kindred spirits, fellow outcasts, out of place where we should feel at home. It is raining and I am walking up a long steep hill. If someone loves you, they accept your frailties. We follow paths through tunnels of thick green trees, low stony walls, slick with rain. All the ways I failed you. I’ve read that attention is a form of devotion, then is Santa Fe New Mexico my pond, is it my ocean? You were my longest romance. I just want to be in nature with the trees, flowers, and soft life-giving dirt. A reminder of how tenuous our time is here on earth. My entire universe blown to bits. How do you describe your life? Home is always the impossible subject, multilayered, and maddening. The street lamps bathe her like giant stage lights. Cherish quite moments, they create little worlds of their own. Santa Fe New Mexico is my only home. A private life along the riverbank. Lost and found.

August is…
By Marino Leyba

August is the beginning of the end. A king is born we can pretend.
The green trees leave’s in their full glory, summer is almost over then back to the seasons that are always snoring.
It has been a long time coming, you can hear the cool river water drumming, can you hear the grasshoppers humming?
Memories are made in this month that stay for a lifetimes even past ours.
The grass is green, everything is so beautiful, just like a lazy dream. August ice cream!
The weather is at its peak this time of year, yet it will cool down real soon. The beginning of the end, the summer always ends too soon.
The golden sunlight creeps through the trees, everyone comes out in the evening breeze.
I remember the scent, I love her so much, I never want August to end. A king is born we can pretend.
A time for celebration, a time to reflect, August is over too soon. September is next. Yet for now let us enjoy each others company, let us reminisce. August is…

The Most Beautiful Flower
By Marino Leyba

Where is the softest, loveliest, most beautiful flower? Where does she lie, where can see be? I wish I could find her.
Watching the wind blow the grass and sleeping willows. I know she if the softest soft, softer, than the softest pillows.
She must have beauty inside and out. I have been to a lot of beautiful gardens yet she has never been found.
I know her petals are the deepest red, I know she comes from the finest soil. I have heard rumors, I have heard legends that her love is the most loyal.
The birds dance around her as well as the bushes and trees, the hummingbirds and the bees. Her love is not given away, I know it is reserved for a king.
Her smell is intoxicating like a fresh breeze, sweeter than candy and the best dreams.
I don’t think you understand. I am looking for her. I am trying to find her.
I have heard that dust swirls in a golden blanket around her. She is said to be softer than velvet.
I am searching the summer green mountains and the plentiful valleys. The colors are beautiful to behold; Pinks, blues ,reds, yellows, purples whites, yet I am not in the least moved by the other flowers.
My heart cries out for her alone.
Where is she? Where can she be? Where is the softest, loveliest, most beautiful flower?
I wish I could find her.

Into The Water
By Marino Leyba

Slowly but surely, the picture is coming into focus. My condition is disturbing. I am absent. Sucked into a vortex, I disappeared, then reappeared. I am between two lakes.
Listen, come closer. My eyes track lights, movements, shadows, reflections. I move close, then far, then closer, then farther. I reach the end and then I start again.
Every landmark speaks to me of loss. Bound to nothing like a small pebble. In search of what? The wind alone.
My heart has never found a home. Night after night, grazing like a deer on berries and roots. In perfect harmony with nature and then they shoot.
Old romanticism still rules. My species, my tender, dreamy, talkative species.
Your eyes are delicate like dust, your hair is soft, my heart is crushed. Conjoined with eternity and then we are hushed.
A heart in love is a heart in bloom. It begins and then it ends so soon.
Out of the water, into the water. You have distracted me with your strangeness. You have fooled me. You have caught my attention yet again.
Plants burst out of the cracks. A living leaf grows, by reality I have been smacked. Once briefly, I fell under the spell of the river. Into the water, out of the water.

The Mighty Nam
By Marino Leyba

Look up to the sky. Do you see the clouds? Do you see the light?
Can you see the sun of man appearing in the clouds? Can you hear the thunder coming down? He is coming down!
We are in the last days, it is not just a prophecy! My story is not that important, it is all about the one who resides on the top of me.
Who’s that?! Who’s that?!
Jesús Christo but you already knew that. He is the truth, the true that!!! My chance as a human I already blew that.
But Him, He saved us, and He raised us, never ever has he played us.
You might take this lightly, but I promise He is coming back like fire, like lightning. Exciting!!! Pen to paper, last days writing.
Be healed, be sealed, in the mighty name of Jesus! You may not think He does, but I promise you He see’s us. Best believe us! Everything around, He gives us, hope is just a call away, He frees us. One more time, what’s his name, the mighty name of Jesus.

All For You/The Reason I Came
By Marino Leyba

When the sky is falling, love is the closest distance between two people.
I’ve seen the world fall apart, I’ve been in the light, I’m still praying I make it out of the dark. I give you my heart, it is made of gold, I know, I know, the dark is cold.
I just want to make it out of the rugged sea, I want to breathe.
Glass like sea with a hint of green, I feel like I gave you my all, I gave you my dreams.
A heart can be broken, yet it will keep beating just the same. You are the one I do it for, you are the reason I came. I am covered in a mist, I am covered in the spring rain.
The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do. It’s true! “It is never over until it is over.” This much I know is true, this much I know I do for you.
Until my time runs dry, until my heart stops, until my mind can not reply.
When the sky is falling, love is the closest distance between two people. I may barley be alive, yet in my heart I still keep you.
I know I do not need to explain, yet you are the reason I traveled so far for, you are the reason I came.
A heart can be broken, yet it will keep beating just the same. You are the one I do it for, you are the reason I came. I am covered in a mist, I am covered in the spring rain.
The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do. It’s true! I do it all for you.

A Thousand Tomorrows
By Marino Leyba

Time, we are immersed in its flow, We hardly give it any thought.
It is always leaving a stream in its wake. The promises it makes us.
Sometimes tomorrow never comes. We stare blankly into the uncertainty of the future of a thousand tomorrows.
We can’t take back all the time we squandered, Yet we look yonder.
Carry a memory, carry a legacy!
Time can not be held or captured, yet we all wait to be caught up in it, rapture!
With time we gain experience, with time we become more serious.
As time passes things around us change. The leaves on the trees change colors. In time we grow old, lose Fathers, lose Mothers, sisters, and brothers, even spouses, and lovers.
Once time is gone, we can’t get it back.
Time is precious. It is passing by swiftly, quickly!
In time we have healing. In time all things are seen, all things have a revealing.
Time is about memories!
Time represents days, months, and years.
Time we are immersed in its flow, We hardly give it any thought.
It is always leaving a stream in its wake. The promises it makes us.
Sometimes tomorrow never comes.
We stare blankly into the uncertainty of the future of a thousand tomorrows.

The Possibility Is There
By Marino K. Leyba

I have not come to be the greatest just yet…
At least not my version, the Aversion. The indisputable, the irrefutable. Why is there always so much scrutiny on my ship? I am the captain yet there is always so much mutiny.
I have not come to be the greatest just yet…
But I will be… I will be glorious, I will overcome the world, I will be victorious.
I am a force to be reckoned with, I am not ignorable, I laugh because my competition is adorable.
I have not come to be the greatest just yet…
But watch my delivery, Last of a dying breed, I believe in shivery. I believe I can overcome my captivity with Positivity and Creativity. My Productivity!
I have not come to be the greatest just yet…
But I know I have the ability, the stability, the flexibility, The possibility is there…
The task at hand is rigorous, yet I remain vigilant, I am vigorous.
My goal is gettable, the table is settable, I will make something for you glorious, truly Unforgettable.
I have not come to be the greatest just yet…
But bet.

A Long-Winded Way Of Saying…
By Marino K. Leyba

Vast stretches of silence punctured by… What is worth saving? What is worth burning? Suffering alone is a hard place to be in. I find myself in a psych ward Under the care of an unethical psychiatrist. During the darkest days of my depression, I believe she accompanies me. My heart has exploded. Past-life memories, I put a lot of time in, that is pretty darn hard to dismiss. Near-death experiences, looking for meaning in life. We all come at it from different perspectives, Ultimately, I hope that we can all find meaning or create meaning in our lives. No outsiders, yet by nature we are all outsiders. One more round! For the championship! Until one by one we lights go out. Pause to pose on the stars. As we age, as we dwindle, as we each look out our lonely windows. I decided to join her at her sweet beckoning. Curious? We talked about immortality. It’s fairly close. A ghost. That is just a very long-winded way of saying, I’m probably going to have to wait until my next lifetime for…

The Sky Lightens
By Marino K. Leyba

At the end of November, the gray sky lightens. They recognize me, The taker, The bringer. Always drawing things into its orbit. The things contained within. A masterpiece of sorts. A haze appearing, an apparition Blown by the wind. Like a casket made of windows, you see everything! Disappearing, gone from the world for Decades. What we hate the most is… Listen to the wind blow. A doorway to another dimension. I make the door open wider. Fascinated by what fascinated her… Smoke from a cigarette rising slowly. Staring at the cemetery outside. We all believe we can dig our way back. The past disappears and then reappears. Swallowed up by a hurricane. The wind changes direction. During the last years of my life, I wandered into November, the gray sky Lightens.

That’s Life
By Marino K. Leyba

The sky seemed closer. We stared at the stars. It appears impossible to us that we should Cease to exist. That’s life! Funny like that! What are we other than organized dust? When the spark goes out, what we call the Beginning is often the end. Kissing her affectionately. Who? Life, my wife, the pleasure, The pain, the joy, and the strife. You can cut the tension with a knife. “Your future’s all ahead of you,” or so they say. Death the inescapable mark so I pray. Throw yourself down, gnash your teeth, Curse the demon. Does it not seem too good to be true? Perhaps? We all think we’re too important to be snuffed out like candles. To our next meeting then. Step by step, the hidden key, the moon illuminating eve. The sky seemed closer. After the death of a loved one, do you ever truly find closure? We stared at the stars. It appears impossible to us that we should Cease to exist. That’s life! Funny like that.

The Moonlight Helps Me Think
By Marino K. Leyba

Moonlight I cannot see you by day, only by night. Yet your light is bright and gives me hope by night. I love to stare up at the sky and see you shine. The blue and white rays make me feel not so afraid.
You bring me comfort and make me feel calm, like everything will be OK. Yet at the same time, you make me feel sad and alone. Moonlight you make me miss my lover; you make me miss my home. Here I sit underneath you; I reflect.
I know the moonlight helps me to think, to be correct. When there is no moon high up in the sky, when there is no warm light by night, I cry. I need moonlight to guide me through the night, I need moonlight to make me feel alright. My life feels like I have been in the dark for a while, Desperate and lonely, I have not seen a friendly smile.
The moonlight sometimes feels like my only friend as it shines through my window. Moonlight is something special for me as I sit in my cell, It makes me believe in something, even while I am now living in hell.

The Source
By Marino K. Leyba

From my point of view. I sensed He might have the power to rescue us, perhaps rescue us all from our lonely, isolated lives in the dark. “Don’t get them started.” “Oh, do get them started.” The sky above us is so bright.
I’m afraid I might not make it! Yet there is hope for you!
My mother looks worse day by day. I am unworthy and still I pray. I took it all in, life, death, everything! It would take me decades to understand God’s plan.
At the time it hurt, I pulled away. Dismantling everything the world told me, trying to get rid of all the lies they sold me.
The tall grass begins to turn white, and so is our life. As the night grows darker, the light in the box glows brighter.
I count the number of people I’ve know who are now locked inside the earth. I reminisce my birth, my curse. I am convinced He is the only way.
My mother looks worse day by day. I am utterly unworthy and still I pray.
Touch a leaf and know that life is brief. Behind each piece of work is an artist who pursues their craft. What is your approach to existence?
We are all so very helpless in the end.
Who supported me, who sponsored me, who sacrificed for me?! I intimately know the source.
From my point of view. Relief washes over my weary soul. Now she stares at the watercolors He painted.
The work shall not be wholly lost.
I sensed He might have the power to rescue us, perhaps rescue us all from our lonely, isolated lives in the dark. “Don’t get them started.” “Oh, do get them started”

The Graveyard of The Atlantic
By Marino K. Leyba

What is left of mine to take? I’ve already gave you everything! Embarrass me, put me to shame! There is nothing left to claim.
A silent chamber, I’ve already lost all I am because my life was in danger. My beating heart’s contents torn out, I’m afraid because I’m dead, my soul is worn out. Please examine all the azaleas, tell me that death doesn’t faze us.
— Everything is swallowed up by the sea, The things that we all long to be. — Who is truly free? — — Not you, not me! — — Only one has the key.
I don’t want any more people to slip into the ether. I don’t want any of us to meet the grim reaper. Arise oh, sleeper!
Look at the fallen leaves, look at the way death makes us grieve.
At birth we learned to breathe, yet even though we have lived life, we still cannot see!
What is left of mine to take? I’ve already gave you everything! All my loved ones, me included, Death we all cannot escape.

The Voices Yet to Be Heard
By Marino K. Leyba

Somebody pointed a gun at me. I’m having dreams, like getting shot.
I keep getting anxious.
It’s like I am not able to trust Anybody at this point.
The world has taken a toll on me.
Anxiety, depression, feeling sad And hopeless.
Listen! Who’s going to have my back? I was trying to suppress the feeling of Having a gunshot right next to my Head, of having a knife held to my throat.
I keep running into problems.
Hiding, afraid of uncertainty, and the Threat of violence.
I keep surviving!
Isn’t that the purpose of life?
Survive at all costs?
I can still remember sitting on the Floor, thinking that when I die, I will ask God for all the answers.
How are we supposed to respond to Things that seem impossible?
High stakes deal with truth and Justice, life and death.
We are the voices yet to be heard!
How do you view the world?
Were you shaped that way?
Some people are always trying to Right their wrongs.
We don’t live long enough to do it.
We all have hearts of gold, yet the World is cold.
— We are…
— We are haunted!
We know about despair and dark Alleys, dead ends.
This is just a glimpse into the lives of Some of the people you know, some of the things we’ve seen.
— Some of us are known for telling the Truth to the world!
— For examining why bad things Happen to good people!
— For sharing the grief that comes with sudden violence and mourning the empty space once occupied by a Loved one.
— We are the voices yet to the heard!

What We All Want
By Marino K. Leyba

You don’t look like anyone I know. So, who are you? Me I’m just dreaming up my next adventure. I enjoy storms but hate chaos, sit back and watch as I paint the world with bright Crayons — We all die and yet we all come back. Unconditionally love is what we all want. The home where I lived with my mother and my brother. Blue gems glittering, black-and-white snapshots, and my truest thoughts. I want to be there. Can you forgive me? Reflections of green leaves, autumn months, The wind whispers, the light rain. I want to engage in back-and-forth conversations. To convey beauty, hard truths, questions, irony, sorrow, joy, and laughter. What is my next chapter? My next book? Look! I stepped forward, now I look around, I have always meant well. Skill, talent, character, we all get old and age, decline, and decay. I can’t repay everything I owe; However, I feel like I’m doing right by her. Little by little, I drain out, every last drop. So much has happened in the last decade. When will my heart stop? My tree is now sixteen years old. I planted a garden; I planted a seed. A red wood forest. My song, my chorus is endless. Watch the wildflowers, a ceiling full of stars, the moon illuminating, what we all want, The world is ours.

Worth Acknowledging
By Marino K. Leyba

We all want a private life along the riverbank. A hundred year guarantee against failure. A deeper understanding of the world around us. Do you always have the feeling of having missed what happened, or what is happening? If you are gone too long, you don’t know what is going on. I think I am worthy of acknowledging, with being present with Other human beings that I cherish. There is freedom in dreams! From the very beginning we struggle to survive! I want to be a good man, a great son, but that’s hard to pull off while I remain gone. I miss the beauty of the marshes and rivers. Is it quite where you live? I always wonder what will happen next. I always worry about something, so I guess that is why I always take deep breaths. There is almost always a stream. There is almost always a dream. Keep the river on your left! Just take the information in. Let it sink like a stone. A clean slate, a life force, a longing to go home.

Lift Me Up
By Marino K. Leyba

Your love is like music to my soul. The birds fly up high, you show me the things I do not know.
Music has the power to destroy or to help us grow. (A seed planted) There is power in the words, a type of spell, It can take you to heaven or to hell. Music when I rise and music when I fell.
Every breath I take, every upward motion, every mistake that I make. Music can determine your fate.
Your love is like the music that is in the air, even when I am far away, you are always near. Your love is protecting me, your music is resurrecting me.
Just like living water rising up in my soul, the birds fly up high, you show me the things I do not know. It is written on my heart just like a melody, All the sweet, beautiful things you keep telling me. Lift me up with your music and please help me with the way I use it. (A seed planted.)

Leave It as It Is
By Marino K. Leyba

I am not the writer I used to be. My words, my memories are failing me. My broken heart is breaking again. I can’t tell anyone why because I don’t have the words. A heavy blue, sentence by sentence, word by word, Letter by letter, I’m trying to get to you.
Too many thoughts in my head, alone with the stars in the sky as I lie in my bed. A rare wildflower. Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. It can never be quenched. It can never change.
Let’s keep it simple. My death is patiently waiting for me. One night awaits us all. How readily we all ignore the beauty all around us. I may look like I’m loitering, but I’m not. Every day I know I could be shot.
Lead me to he promised land that I still don’t quite understand. This life is not mine, all of us are just volunteering throughout time.
A rare wildflower. Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it.

Our Justice System Is Broken
By Marino K. Leyba

Write until I’m right, I keep looking for the light, but the world is not right, I try and I try, I die and I die, I cry and I cry. I’m so low and I long just to be up high where the birds fly. —This is not my life! —This is not right! It’s kinda funny yet the corrupt justice system is just about money.
I cannot understand our justice system and the people behind it. Truth, fairness I’m still trying to find it. The nativity scene with Jesus please rewind it, the world is truly blinded.
Know matter what I say, No matter what I pray, the world will not be Ok!!!
A play, a pretend, I just want to see the messiah return, I just want to see the end.
—Everything is so out of place, I feel so alone like I’m in outer space, I need some space, I need a place!
—Somebody help me, somebody save me! This place is making me go crazy!
—A prison, A cold dark cell, —Where is heaven on earth, when this place is hell. —A wicked spell that won’t be broke, the American justice system is a joke.
—Biden, Trump, pardon me, no pardon for me? —I am not one of the elect?! —Where is my respect?!
I don’t understand. I’m a good man, A man with a good plan.
I was a success, yet there is always someone who wants to silent the best. The pillow, the bed, the grave is the place where I’ll rest.
We cannot make sense of this corrupt world. We are way to tense, we cannot keep our emotions bottled, they will not stay in a tent. Bent but not broken! What in the world our world leaders smoking?
I’m confused, we got the drive, the abilities, the techniques, why do they want us to lose? Bleeding, alone, black and blue, all bruised! Depleted, hanging on by a thread, yet not deleted! A prayer, a hand, some help the lord knows we need it!
Can anyone really hear me? Dear me!!!
I feel… I feel so much. My spirit, my soul is so crushed, I’m hushed by all the injustice, I no longer believe in just justice.
Too many lies, open your eyes, open your minds. Society can’t you see our justice system is broken? It only works for the rich and powerful, the one’s with influence, the rest of us are all left hoping.
I know every once in a while they try to throw someone in power under the bus, But the cold hard truth is they are never really treated like us. Disgust is what I feel, the middle figure to a Justice system that is not real!
I know it is not every judge, or every district attorney, or even the public defenders, but some of them practice a lie and are nothing more than pretenders.
I’m sorry but there is a good amount that don’t care or even know what they are talking about. My God they need help, we need help!
Pardon me, give me clemency, give me a remedy! Let me breath!!! Our justice system is broken!!!

Unholy Water
By Marino Leyba

The sky is dark, the clouds are loud. The rain is falling down. I am under a tree, no one is around. Will I drown? I can’t hear a sound. The rain storm is a hurricane now.
I can’t see a thing, I see a tree. I remember a girl, I gave her a ring. Now I am in the heart of the storm and I can’t remember a thing.
My mother, sister, brother, father, daughter. I am surrounded by high speed winds and unholy water.
Will I make it back or is there no more going further? I heard her…
She said, Don’t give up just yet. ” I reminisce and then I forget. I made a bet that I would come back better than before. The rain falls, the wind blows, and then I realize that I am still here, When I should be no more.
I can’t see a thing, I see a tree. I remember a girl, I gave her a ring. Now I am in the heart of the storm and I can’t remember a thing.
The sky is dark, the clouds are loud. The rain is falling down. I am under a tree, no one is around. Will I drown? I can’t hear a sound. The rain storm is a hurricane now.
My mother, sister, brother, father, daughter. I am surrounded by high speed winds and unholy water.

Special Powers
By Marino Leyba

My red pen is my friend, it is a Fiery sword to me, a bright light, A life line to the world, it is like having a special power with unlimited ability to create. It can create life, death, love, hate.
It means everything to me. I have used it to write love letters, lyrics to songs, verses of poems, storys. I have even used my pen to try and gain my freedom. I reminisce with it, I cry with it, I fly so high with it. I create worlds, I escape realities.
I have used my fiery pen since I was young. I recall the first pen I ever used in school, its color was baby blue. I used to just scribble with it and write all over the place, any piece of paper, any blank space, yet Now I truly see the value of it, I see its true worth, it is worth more than the shiniest gold. My pen enlightens my lonely, forgotten soul, it is something special to me, it makes me feel whole. I need it like I need oxygen, I should take it everywhere I go. I am truly weightless behind it, if I ever lose my pen, I pray to God somebody finds it.
My Fiery pen makes everything feel pure and eternal. My pen has the power to resurrect, or it has the power in essence to burn you.
It really gives me special powers. My pen.

Collapsing House
By Marino Leyba

The wicked wind keeps blowing.
I am trying to excel, let me tell you how I feel right now.
The strong house is falling apart, the roof is caving in, the Floors are collapsed in, Outside the white fence has lost its color and it is leaning Sideways.
There used to be a picture on the wall, it was a masterpiece, now there is nothing at all.
The glass windows are all broken, there is trash all around, the weeds are overgrown.
There is a post but the mailbox is gone, the foundation is cracking all along.
I don’t know if any of this can be repaired, I am trying to fix it, yet I’m sacred.
Everything seems to be going to hell. Is there any help, is there any spell?
I used to be good with a nail and a hammer, I used to be able to use a shovel and a hoe, I used to paint the fence white and plant a beautiful garden and watch it grow. But now I feel too old.
I hate to let things go but I don’t have the strength, I don’t have the youth, I don’t have the help, I just don’t have the drive. I bend over backwards but damn, I’m barely alive.

Run Child Run
By Marino Leyba

The leaves are spectacular in the autumn time, right before the Winter comes, the trees change there colors. Golden/Yellow/Brownish.
The cold is like no other, I wish I could say I survived, but I Can’t. I have been bruised, bartered, and beat. I have felt the utter cold, and the extreme heat.
I kept making art. I kept spilling out my flowing heart. In the end even perfection falls apart.
A masterpiece laid bare. An open book, a life to share.
I built a house but nothing is meant to last. I thought I had the answers, I thought I could outlast.
Yet I found out time always beats us, then death is there to greet us.
The seasons… This is the way our lives go by, we are young, then we die. I have tried to do the best I could. I have given it my all, we all fall, like fall. I wish I could…
There is only so much a man can do, it’s true, I tried to achieve the Impossible, I tried to catch the glorious bright sun. I feel like it is over, like it is all done. Run child run, for your time is limited, and as soon as you get going Good, it is done.
The leaves are spectacular in the autumn time, right before the Winter comes, the trees change there colors. The cold is like no other, I wish I could say I survived, but I Can’t. Nothing lasts forever, so run child run.

Mud, Muck, Sludge
By Marino Leyba

Okay, Okay. Mud, Muck, Sludge. Some small blemish that changed everything that brought her Pleasure. What happens once someone’s dreams collapse? A barn of yarn, a mind unraveling. Surrounded by strangers. Can the world get any stranger?
An old soul in this land of dreams and wishes until her heart gives up. Okay, Okay. Mud, Muck, and Sludge. She has aged since her… The notes on the sheet music. She wonders, stepping into a Puddle.
Okay, Okay. There is no other word for it. The weight made her hobble. A muddled melody, a broken Record. Can you hear the pieces rattling inside her?
Mud, Muck, and Sludge. Some truth can’t be filtered. Okay, Okay. Mud, Muck, Sludge.

Can’t You See We Are All Connected?
By Marino Leyba

The Dark Gray Clouds of the Unknowing, We go into Darkness, into the Foggy Realms, We meet God in silence, the place where Distractions Are not allowed.
It is a Deeper Level of Connection, One with the Universe, with Self, with Reflection. Transcending Words, Resurrection!
When I Speak, I am not Speaking to myself, I am Speaking to the whole world! I Want this to go Beyond language, like when the wind blows through the Tree’s leaves, like when the wind blows on the beach, the sea’s Breeze!
I am trying to reach some type of peak. At the summit I feel weak, some might say unique or Special. I am trying to Elevate and bring the world to A Whole New Level.
Butterflies in the skies, the transformation of when the Caterpillar goes inside its cocoon and the old self has died.
Snowfall soon turns into rain, and rain makes everything new again. Colors, Oh, the Colors of the spring time, the blossoming of the Flowers, The Green trees, the Beautiful Way the birds sing.
Can’t you see we are all connected? I hate being disrespected, It happens daily, yet I will not be a victim of Slavery.
We all crave community and friendship. Yet hate is the only thing that threatens to end it.
Come talk to us, Come walk with us. Before you judge us, come get to know us. Quit talking about change and come and show us. Can’t You See We Are All Connected!
The Dark Gray Clouds of the Unknowing, We go into Darkness, into the Foggy Realms, We meet God in the silence, the place where Distractions Are not allowed.
It is a Deeper Level of Connection, One with the Universe, with Self, with Reflection. Transcending Words, Resurrection!
When I Speak, I am not Specking to myself, I am Speaking to the whole world! I Want this to go Beyond language, like when the wind blows through the Tree’s leaves, like when the wind blows on the beach, the sea’s Breeze!
I am trying to reach some type of peak. At the summit I feel weak, some might say unique or Special. I am trying to Elevate and bring the world to A Whole New Level.
Butterflies in the skies, the transformation of when the Caterpillar goes inside its cocoon and the old self has died.
Snowfall soon turns into rain, and rain makes everything new again. Colors, Oh, the Colors of the spring time, the blossoming of the Flowers, The Green trees, the Beautiful Way the birds sing.
It is a Deeper Level of Connection, One with the Universe, with Self, with Reflection. Transcending Words, Resurrection! Can’t you see we are all connected?

No More Pretending
By Marino Leyba

Fire falling from the sky, the world is slipping and I…
I don’t know what to do, it’s true. The end is coming, the end is near, My biggest fear. Will I be left behind, will I still be here?
So far gone, the game is almost over, and no one has won.
Don’t you see the confusion in the streets? The devil is well and alive, everyday he eats.
We all need a savior, we all need a season. We all need Jesus, heal the sickness, the sorrow, The diseases.
Stop all the games, no one is good, no one is without blame, Only one name.
Broken, depleted, almost deleted is our world.
It is all burning to the ground, True Justice can not be found, Just revenge. Does the evil ever stop, Does it never end?
I read in a book it will, but it will continue until…
All things will be deceased, not all things forgiven, and not all Things will find peace.
Such a sad ending, the truth is God is real, no more Pretending.
Fire falling from the sky, the world is slipping and I…

Confessions
By Marino Leyba

My thoughts keep running past me. I’ve seen the rain fall softly, the earth Cries as I sing a song that is sad and off key. I used to be a living Legend but now all the crowds do is mock me. Everything is foreseen, A summers night, A winters dream. Unbending light, I can’t pretend tonight. Luminous, what mood is this? I feel like what room is this?! Are these my confessions? Apparently! Bury me! Or at least my thoughts. The taste of strawberry cake, I forgot. Blue skies and goodbyes. Will everything get better? When pigs fly! I’m sober yet I promise I feel so high. I need to be rescued by snow white! My confessions! My curses! My blessings! I feel like the best in… Open up the portal then let me step in. I searched for it, maybe greatness, I was birthed for it , yet… Life is not always what you make it, guess we just learn from it.

Sorry
By Marino Leyba

I ask questions but seem to get no reply. I ask questions and wonder why we all must die?
I ask questions yet get no answers. What is the fastest way to hang from a rope faster? Master of insanity, Why do you stay so mad at me?
I seem to be alone again, All by myself, No home again. I could use a friend, I could use some help. I am barely here after all the pain that I’ve felt.
I’ve felt like ending it all, Yet for some unknown reason, I keep standing tall. What is behind this supernatural force? What is on this course? Of course… It must be God, It may seem odd, Yet I know he has a plan. I may not always understand, And things may never really be grand, But here I stand. At the end of the world!
I’m sorry I am a sinner like most, I may fall, and fall, yet as I do, I make a toast, to the Father, Son, and holy ghost.
I can’t be perfect, Yet I try, I can’t save the world, I am not Jesus Christ. I’m just an ordinary guy. I pray I’m worthy, Yet I know I’m filthy, We are all so dirty. Whoever says they are not is a lie. For all of humanity I lay awake at night and cry Long sigh…
My final goodbye or maybe not? Will I be in the rapture, Left behind, Or shot?
So much for not having a dramatic ending. I wanted to elevate the world, but I’m afraid, Because the world is truly ending.
Prophetic writing, A whirlwind, the book of Enoch, Christ coming in the bright clouds like lightning. The whole reason for my gift, The whole reason for my writing, righting…
Sorry I can’t be perfect. Sorry I can’t make your life worth it. Sorry I can’t move heaven and earth with…
I’ve felt like ending it all, yet for some unknown reason, I keep standing tall.

What’s Next?
By Marino Leyba

Suspended in the air, to live life without a care, To live life without a tear, rare. They fed me to the lions, yet like Daniel, I’m still here. Survival of the fittest, I thank God I am alive even though I am on Satan’s hit list. What is this? Saving grace, I shouldn’t be here, Yet because God is good at saving face. I was washed up and depleted, I was gone, off the rails, Deleted, yet like David and Goliath I was not defeated. Like a Michael Jackson song I had to beat it. Beat what? The odds… The odds of me not coming back, Yet like Trump, I have had one of the greatest comebacks. Historical, real life stuff, nothing made up, nothing metaphorical. Have you ever seen someone fall from grace, or someone fall from space? I have! I have fallen from both, just when I should have given up, Just when I should have had no hope, when I was about to be hanged from a rope, I float. It should not be surprising, it’s not because of me, but him, By his grace I keep surviving. I don’t think he is finished just yet, Just bet and see what happens next. My ticket to the pearly gates has been signed at the x. He parted the red sea, so let’s see what’s next.

Morbid
By Marino Leyba

I’ve been up all night in a trace like state. What was I expecting to find after being isolated for so Long? Anonymous faces, all I taste is… — My taste is tasteless — I live in another orbit, one that is morbid. The style shifts to… — Don’t linger too Long – You can’t stop him — The man is too strong — — There are always way too many naysayers — Why do you think I throw nothing but haymakers? — Portraits of hell, of not living well, welcome to my Lonely prison cell — — Stop all the posing, all I drink in this dark Cave like place is green poison. — Here there are all manners of Outcasts — Broke down records — The things I can only pray to outlast — — Thorns from weed like plants Growing — Can you feel my soul, slowly, Slowing? — — Am I too real? — Am I too chilled? Marked by the lines of laughter, the Crevices of pain, the uncertainties in Life, you already know my name. —Resist the temptation! — — I am older now than they were then — — To look away, then look again — — My only friend — My wayward pen — I’ve been up all night in a trance like state. What was I expecting to find after being isolated for so Long? Anonymous faces, all I taste is…

Uncharted Waters
By Marino Leyba

I’m so disturbed by the beautiful butterflies who pass by in the sky. Why do the powers that be want me to die! A strange wind is blowing, my ship has set sail, to Uncharted Waters, I’m going. I will not be shipwreck this time! No giant kraken is going to get in our way, a treasure we are after, a Treasure will be… You see black beard don’t got nothing on me! A living legend, the villain you all want me to be. An outcast that will out class your best ships, a pirate’s Life for me, give me the best wench. It is treasure we seek, my sword in my hand, the wind on my cheek. I got a crew who has nothing to lose, and everything to prove. We are hungry, yet not for food or fortune, not even for fame. We want justice, but the one world order don’t believe in the thing! We have set sail with only one thing on our minds, to be heard, Even if it leads to the end of he line. This is what it is like to sail to worlds end. The black mark on my hand, a curse on you if you don’t Understand. I’m so disturbed by the beautiful butterflies who pass by in the sky. Why do the powers that be want me to die! A strange wind is blowing, my ship has set sail, to Uncharted Waters, I am going.

Under The Enchanted Sky
By Marino Leyba

Dance with me under the enchanted sky. Dance with me as the stars sparkle bright, as the Beautiful butterflies fly high. I want to lie with you in the green grass of eternity. Light up the world with beauty, brighten the heavens, Burn with me. Be my queen and make me complete. On the magical night that we meet, Let it be like no other, become my invincible lover. A flower blossoming in a sweet summer’s breeze, a Holy goddess, a silent prayer that brings me to my knees. I want to feel it deep in my soul, bring me to the brink, the Place of the unknown, a place where I lose all control. My final destination, the place where my lonely, broken, heart, finally finds a home. Let the leaves on the trees slowly change their colors from green, to yellow, to brown,to Gold. Dance with me under the enchanted sky. Dance with me as the stars sparkle bright, as the Beautiful butterflies fly high. I want to lie with you in the green grass of eternity. Light up the world with beauty, brighten the heavens, Burn with me under the enchanted sky. _____ Mi amor

Just Another Animal In A Cage
By Marino Leyba

I am an abused beast, Coaxed into submission. I am waiting for the moment they make me perform Again. I long to be out of my steal Cage.
What is it now? Time to take center stage! I have photographic memory of all the pain. The way they make us train!
Cruel and unusual, insignificant Creatures! The night is perfect but for what?! The stars in the sky are shinning like Diamonds, yet I can’t see them for I am under the spotlight again.
Just another animal in a Cage, my rage is because of a broken system. To my loved ones who are gone, let the world know I send my Love to them and that I miss them.
You can never paint a perfect picture without Inspiration, yet you try and label us all the same and Cage us in. I am an abused beast, Coaxed into submission. I am waiting for the moment they make me perform Again. I long to be out of my steal Cage.
What is it now? Time to take center stage!

The Streets
By Marino Leyba

Let me make you some tea. Survivors and homeless swarming the streets. Society on the verge of losing touch with reality. The future is uncertain, nobody knows what is lurking. Hanging on by a thread, the cold hard truth, afraid to get out of bed. Traumatized, each imploding in a different way. Streets of ice and mud, politicians don’t know what to say. Tortured souls, it hurts, I pull away. I am at the center of a photo staring off into the distance. What is happening to society? What is this?! The sound of wind moving through, communicating in its own way. The evening is growing darker, the universe has me afraid. I feel everything, the smoke is rising, the wind picks up, nothing is surprising. I wince, then weep a little. Then a lot. I’m just waiting for my shot. Let me make you some tea. Survivors and homeless swarming the streets.

The Greatest Poem
By Marino Leyba

The greatest poem I ever wrote. What shall it be called? Water falls from the sky, the clouds above cry when I cry. Have you ever drank coffee, have you ever drunken tea? I have it was good it was nice, I have had it hot, I have had It with ice. The birds sing outside my window, some of them sit on a tree branch, some of them fly high. Have you ever wondered why we live just to die? I heard about a man who over came death, a man who lives In the sky. I’ve heard of eternity, I’ve heard of the pearly gates. But who knows what really waits? Sing me your song, sing me your tune, stare up at the sky the Stars and the moon. Hear the universes lullaby.

She Beckons My Soul/An Embrace
By Marino K. Leyba

Her lips pouty.
A lovely creature.
She evokes a sensation of wavering
Between anticipation and apprehension.
She spoke to me suggestively, seductively.
A human goddess.
My lips on her neck, my hand on her breast.
The eyeliner.
Something begins to open inside her.
My poet-self grows bigger and stronger.
She doesn’t mind, she wants my attention.
Lips pressed together, hearts pounding, bodies touching.
A smile on her face.
Alluring, long-length flowing hair, she beckons my soul.
An embrace.
She wants what she sees, what she thinks she can get.
I feel connected to her, waves of desire wash over my body.
Risque fantasies.
Naked in bed, her head on my shoulder.
Her lips pouty.
A lovely creature.
She evokes a sensation of wavering
Between anticipation and apprehension.
A human goddess.
The eyeliner.
Something begins to open inside her.
She doesn’t mind, she wants my attention.
She beckons my soul.
An embrace.

Water Is The Girl
By Marino K. Leyba

Flipping through a million expressions,
Her face is gorgeous.
Water is her name, she is not
Someone you meet in your day-to-day life.
She is sitting by the fireplace,
The flames are burning brightly.
Trying to stay awake longer,
She struggles nightly.
Like everyone else,
She started from the bottom.
Selling chocolates at traffic lights to be able to make money
Was only a steppingstone.
Writing, broadening her horizon,
It is always a surprise when…
She stays committed, if there is a target,
She is sure to hit it.
She is constantly searching for ways
To uplift those around her.
Talking about what it feels like to die and come back,
Aren’t you glad you found her?
She disappeared and
Essentially vanished from the world.
On one blustery October night she reappeared,
Water is the girl.
She tells me she is “excited,”
No wait, I mean “timeless.”
She is always soft-spoken and sweet,
Someone I wish everyone could meet.
She moves with tremendous grace and precision.
She said to, “Get up and go somewhere,
Or else you are not really living.”
Confessions for her antics, she has been around the world,
She survived Titanic.
She was and will always be a hopeless romantic.
Flipping through a million expressions,
Her face is gorgeous.
She is sitting by the fireplace,
The flames are burning brightly.
Trying to stay awake longer,
She struggles nightly.
Like everyone else,
She started from the bottom.
She disappeared and
Essentially vanished from the world.
On one blustery October night she reappeared,
Water is a girl.

My Letter to The System
By Marino Leyba

I am so desperate!
I am alone, downcast, and forgotten!

I feel very weak!
I am down by the creek!

I can’t quite get to the cool water.
Father!

Help me!
I am so thirsty, help me, society, don’t just curse me!
I used to be amongst the great,
Now I live with the worst things!

“Innocence and justice?!”
Please forgive me if I don’t trust this…

I have done more than my time,
I have been done wrong, and I am still trying to find the silver lining in the sky!
I am slowly rotting away, I am slowly dying.
Decay!

I am not the bad guy!
I hate how the world lies!
Tell the truth and set me free!
Judge me right and let me be!
Let me breathe!

I am begging, pleading!
Humanity, do you see me?

Can you hear me?
I am in the pits of hell and I am burning!

How can you not!
I have always done the right thing in life, yet maybe you forgot!

There are people who depend on me, people who need me!
Being locked up when you shouldn’t be ain’t easy!

I am alive yet it feels like I am barely breathing!
What I am needing…

I want to have faith in the world, but I continue to get no reply.
I am sure there is good out there, but in the back of my mind, I feel like I am being ignored, and like some of you want me to die!
I know some of you want me to try!
So I try!
I cry!

I don’t know how much more of this insanity I can take!
Wash away my soul and erase all of my mistakes, prove to the world my innocence and wash me in the lake!

I Don’t Think You Understand
By Marino Leyba

The waves come crashing down as they repeat, the sound of the ocean is deep.
The water is cold as it pours and it pours, the rain is coming down more and more.

I am drowning!
I don’t think you understand the things I have had to do to try and relieve the pain!
To keep my head above water, to survive the strain!
Do you know what it is like to be forever stained?
Let me explain.
I got blamed for the death of my dame, I am not the one to blame, yet I suffer all the same.

How do you ever get over the death of someone you love so much?
How do you overcome the lies that they say, the hate that can crush, that can break you?
I hope they never mistake you…
I have always been real, I will leave the fake to…

My pain is an ocean, my heart is worlds away, I have always tried to do the right thing, but right now I don’t want to stay.

I have been done wrong and that is the reason why I stay singing the same song.

I cried, and I still do, it has always been hard to prove my innocence and it is still true.

All the wrongs that have ever been committed, yet for this one thing in life I deserve to be acquitted.

In the night, I still cry, I don’t think you understand…

The waves come crashing down as they repeat, the sound of the ocean is deep.
The water is cold as it pours and it pours, the rain is coming down more and more.
I don’t think you understand.

Every Relationship/Love And Desire
By Marino Leyba

Love and desire
In every relationship, there is a fire
Feelings of uncertainty about commitment
Fear of rejection
Disappointment
The key to having a loving relationship is coming from a loving home
The way to find love is to become love
Love and support
Nurture
Be gentle, caring, sharing!
Feelings of safety, contentment, and appreciation
This is what infects my dreams
To have a new beginning
A creative spark
What does that feel like?
It’s like a caterpillar entering its cocoon and emerging as a butterfly
Something beautiful and grand
Do you understand?
A beautiful girl is my weakness
For love, I am the weakest
I have true admiration
Devotion!
I am vulnerable. I am left open.
My abilities are starting to awaken
There are endless opportunities, yet I only want one
Can you be that someone?
Can you find me?
The days may be bountiful and full of so many gifts
A white rose underneath the sunlight
Her essence is the symbol of purity
To me, the heart of a woman is dear to me
Love and desire
In every relationship, there is a fire

Open Door
By Marino Leyba

I am rising just to see how far I can go
What is it I want?
A heart of gold, the dark is cold!

I am on the mountaintop far above
The evergreens, the magnificent land, the rough sea!

Summoned, why do you keep demanding me?
I am the captain of my own ship so no one is commanding me!

I will tell you where I have been as soon as my train pulls in
I stop then I start again
The universe and my art are my closest friends

The dark blue clouds seem to surround me, the mist comes down softly,
As nothing seems to be able to stop me

My origin is Genesis
Where is my one true nemesis?

I am running circles around the competition
And the sad part is I haven’t even started my mission
Yet I am at the mission, the church
I feel like I have what it takes to move heaven and earth
I think I can, I think I can break this curse!
What am I working on?
An amazing verse!

Snowflakes are falling down on my rose garden
Pardon my manners, I am about climbing,
So I am using all ladders

How high can I get before I am deceased?
I think I have what it takes to master all that reality throws at me at least

Or maybe something a little bit more
But who knows what is in store?
All I know is that I am running through
Each and every open door

Yearing
By Marino Leyba

A bike ride to the other side of
town, a girl with blond hair, a pool
and an ice skating rink.

A car drive minutes before six
a hand reaching out toward mine, an
embrace, a passionate kiss.

A falling in love, a romance, the
sweetest thing
The snow falls yet they are warm
Inside spring.

Nothing lasts forever, just like the seasons
That begin and end, so therefore their
love, yet love never truly ends.

Wait for / Phoenix
By Marino Leyba

The road I’m on …
My soul seems gone,
Like the wicked wind when it whispers
Sweet nothings into the air.
It appears and then it seems to
Disappear.

Poof and then it’s gone!
A love, a romance, the sweetest song!

It’s exactly like when the final
Golden/brownish leaf falls from the last
Autumn tree.
It’s like the longing for nostalgia, to
Be home, to be free!

Something wicked comes and I can
not see.
Something wicked comes and I know
It’s for me.
I’ve eaten from the forbidden fruit.
I’ve been to the garden of Adam and
Eve.

I’ve watched the rain fall and
Flood the earth.
I’ve traveled a great distance
Just to prove my worth!

When the storms came, I remained.
I stayed looking in from the outside.
Like the dark gray clouds above I cried
When nobody else cried.

The road I’m on…

It feels like I’ve just begun.
It’s foggy out and I miss the sun.
Has my path split, is it finally done?
My jog?
My walk?
My run?

I hymn, because it was foretold I
Would be the one
But is that true or am I just
Another one?

I don’t want to sink in the sand.
I want to be great like the way
The Egyptian pyramids still stand!

Can I make something greater than
Myself?
Can I create something that will out
Last the test of time?
Pour out my heart, my soul, give you
The best wine?

Without the grapes!

Do watever it takes to transform,
Burn with all the black and gray
Ashes to be reborn.

I’m calming before a great storm.
Be still, then tell me this type of art
You can wait for.
 
My Heart Stops
By Marino Leyba

Seven O’ clock is this when my heart
stops?
I can’t see, what is it this time,
what does eternity have for me, I’m
sick of being inside this box, all I
hear is my concise talk, I’m a good
person, but personally it doesn’t even
matter, my dreams have been stolen,
my soul has been battered.
I’m shattered as the tears run down
my face, I miss my mom but she’s
in another place.

I’m shook, too much this life has
took, I’m spooked.

End of a chapter or end of an
age, I’m enraged with the lack of
the justice, trust us, is what they say
as I fade to gray.
Thunderstorms are coming from the
north, my hearts locked down at the
port of no entry.
The rains fall but I’ve been here
for a quarter century.

I wish the fires would engulf me
from the west, I wish the hurricanes would
Come for me, so I could finally rest.

I wait on the ancient ones return.
I wait as the wind blows each
Year.
My vessel is destroyed, my mind is
deployed.

Self-concerned, I’ve cared too much, so
this is how my house is burnt to
dust.

Candlelit, the wind flickers my being
inside, I feel like it, I might just
quit.
Hit and miss as death comes down
with its sweet kiss but for one more
moment let’s reminisce.

Seven O’ clock is this when my heart
stops?
I can’t see, what is it this time…

Children of the Grave
By Marino Leyba

I feel like a child of the grave,
yet I know this cannot be true
because of the Messiah I am saved.
The price was paid, the road was paved.
I escaped my eternal fate,
now I wait to see heaven’s pearly gates.

I was not that bad in life,
yet I was never a perfect angel.
The devil devours, and our souls
he would love to strangle.
Because of Christ, because he dangled!

We have that hope,
I may never be perfect in life
but at least I know
I will not have to hang from that rope.

Because of Adam and Eve’s behavior,
we all need a Savior.

You may find it hard to believe,
yet the ancient one loves you,
and all he asks is you confess and believe.
The creator of the universe, he made everything,
just look at the beautiful birds and the bees,
all of nature, all of the trees,
the land and the seas.

Although at the current moment
you may feel like you are buried in a tomb,
just know that even when you feel
like you are a child of the grave,
there is always hope that you can be saved too!

In my heart of hearts
I know if you confess and believe,
just between you and God,
you will be free.

Deep into the Night
By Marino Leyba

The part of her that had been my lover, my wife, my true love, the love of my life.
Deep into the night, the sight of blue flowers.
I felt compelled to get into the tongue of the river.
I took my clothes off and plunged in.
It is cold and it is winter, the water is ice and I shiver.
I couldn’t believe this thought, the unreality of it: I was in agony, destroyed over her death.
It made me question the fairness of the world, the existence of God, the nature of my own existence.
To express loss on this level is to cross a boundary.
To express loss on this level is similar to one drowning.
Perhaps we can love too deeply?
In my grief addled state, the story seemed to be about something else completely.
Deep into the night, the sight of the blue flowers.
This loss would mean something else entirely.
Too much love, too much sorrow, I am expiring!
Sometimes a story is not about anything except what it is about.
I understand that I am not going to get her back, that I will not have her for all the days of my life.
So many ways of crying tears, so many kinds of tears.
We act like all losses are equal.
But they are not!
Most of you know nothing about me, yet you make grossly inexact comparisons and hope that they will do.
Suffering is a disease.
I wait, naked, and alone in my bed feeling myself levitate from the pain.
I took my clothes off and plunged in.
Deep into the night, the sight of the blue flowers.
I dove under one more time.
Too much love, really too much love.
The part of her that had been my lover, my wife, my true love, the love of my life.
Deep into the night.

Mountain Tops
By Marino Leyba

My heart is heavy.
I feel all but complete. I’m an endurance runner that hasn’t reached his peak.
Mountain tops look far away as I stare up from the valley.
How does my journey end? Can anyone tell me?

I’m climbing, looking for a diamond.

The terrain, the heat, the cold, the rain. The pain!

It’s rugged. I feel like I won’t finish, then I remember I’m above it.

I was made for this!
I’ve been trained for this!

I know it takes me a little bit longer to overcome the obstacles.
I’m optimal.

So choose wisely, even when I’m down and out.
I can still be surprising.

The sunshine always comes after the thunder and lightning.
What it takes to paint the perfect picture is frightening.

Pain, sweat, and tears; the struggle of almost being taken under by your worst fears.

I’m just like you, a human who’s imperfect, working on improvement.
Praying to God I don’t lose it!

I shadowbox the air as I run, continue to keep my pace even when some would love to see me come undone.

I’m struggling, I can’t lie, but the race isn’t finished so I fly.

Controlled breathing, approaching the end and beginning of another season.
I’m headed to the place where the crystal sea ends.

It’s been an unexpected journey, I’ve lost time, made some mistakes and I’m still learning.
There’s a passion inside, a hunger, a fire that keeps burning, enduring.
Just when I think it’s out, it keeps returning.

My heart is heavy.
I feel all but complete; I’m an endurance runner that hasn’t reached his peak.

Commemorative Appreciation
By Marino Leyba

A butterfly has landed
Because of you volunteers we are granted
An outlet
We may be trapped inside a tomb
Buried alive
Yet because of you we survive
Through our mind’s eye
We are grateful
Thankful
We can’t really express it
You volunteers take your time to help us
Give hope when it is all but choked out
You could be doing other things with your time
Yet you truly care
You shine
In my mind
I’m thankful
I sincerely mean it
Because of you
Our dreams
We dream it
Humanity
We see it
It may not abound or be found in everyone
Yet through your actions we see the sun
You volunteers give hope to the hopeless
Thank you
Now we can focus
It takes someone really special
To give value to the downcast
You are our heartbeat
Because of you we outlast
Some of us could be dead
Yet because of some of the things that we’ve read
We fly instead
You have invested
In a caterpillar
Metamorphoses are taking place
To the volunteers thank you for being our saving grace

Genesis
By Marino K. Leyba

For the moment this pain, I own it, I’m
unable to control it just like the lottery
but instead of winning I make pottery

So please don’t bother me as I hit and
Miss, death comes down with its sweet kiss
But for the moment,
Lets reminisce of genesis, and my first
Kiss, the ones I miss, even my nemesis

So what’s behind that, I sent a
message to the world, but I get no
reply back

As I sit and think, I ask questions
Like will I sink or will I peak, I
Wink because I know my situation
Is bleak.

As I’m sitting by the creek, I can
Hear them doublespeak, my physique is weak,
My technique unique,
But I feel I haven’t slept in a
Week or so I think.

It seems like it, the road I’m on,
I know my dreams might split, so
Any change for survival,
Let’s hope it, I float with the
Omnipotent, anything
You wrote down he already wrote it,
So my advice, lets roll the dice, as
We hit and miss and watch death
Come down with its sweet
Kiss, but for the moment let’s reminisce,
This is my genesis.

Expanding my Horizon
By Marino K. Leyba

A mist, a soft breeze comes over me,
Unexpectedly.

I’m alone, and so far from home

I’m left open, I’m vulnerable to the
Elements

The skylight, the twilight.
I made a vow that night.
I made a vow to continue my search
I made a vow from the sea to emerge.

Brilliant flashed of light, Illuminate me!
A living legend, who can it be?
I’ve become distracted by their spectacle
I reflect, and so…
I call it “expanding my horizon”
My dreams go far beyond, where the
Sky ends
I feel the universe cannot contain me

There’s thunder, lightning, it’s raining, but
this is all just a part of my
painting

I can see, the sea almost changing
Bluebirds and red robins, I gave her my
Heart, so I am all in

At this moment in time, I’m fallen.

What this means, pictures and themes.
I’ll paint a million pictures with dreams.
Spark, imagination with scenes because
Everything is not as it seems.
Vivid colors, flowers, and trees.
I’ve got powers to freeze.
Suspended in time, I’ve been befriended
With rhymes.
I’ve been befriended with lines. I’m clever
At times, but I’m barely alive

Is it because of humanity? I’m glad you see because this worldwide tragedy,
Has caused me to become above average.
Averagely!

I still need help from a girl who
Can manage me.
Intriguing? I’m leaving the forest glade.
Ultimately, there’s nothing more to say.
Hours and minutes, my powers diminish.
Brilliant flashes of light, illuminate me!
A living legend, who can it be?
I’ve become distracted by their spectacle.
I reflect, and so…
I call it, “expanding my horizon”
My dreams go far beyond, where the
Sky ends

The universe cannot contain me.
There’s thunder, lightning, it’s raining, but this is all just a part of my painting.

My Life
By Marino K. Leyba

The clouds burst as I sit and reflect–
Genesis this is where I begin–this is where I start–my heart!
–Strip me bare until I’m left naked, until I am vulnerable.
Let the fires test me, let the elements come!
–I am no closer to home with each and every passing breath.
I am closer to home as my body decays and my soul is all that is left!
–You don’t know me and I would never expect you to–
Aurora Borealis, the sky is me and the way that it dances too!
I have the ability to reflect–and to constructively correct, to very few I owe my respect.
–Emotions are strong and always welling up inside me.
We all want to live forever, yet the cold hard truth is our bodies are slowly dying.
–For you at night I lay awake crying–
–The night sky and what it shows–a blanket full of stars, a soul that is all alone–a life full of scars–The waves come crashing down as I realize–there is no creation as great as ours.
–What we have already accomplished and what we long to be–this insecurity is too strong for me.
Time is infinite–lonely–borrowed, and it does not belong to me or anyone for that matter.
–To god I am incredibly grateful–
–To embrace something so sweet–I close my eyes at night and in my dreams we meet.
I wake up only to find out that I am surrounded by at least ten crumpled sheets of paper, fate is the girl in my dreams and there is no way I can ever escape her.
–There are so many things that I have not done–there are so many things that I have never said–
What does it feel like to be alive and walk around the world already dead?
–I can feel the south wind blowing in the north–the hardest thing for me in life is not knowing why it all falls apart–what is it all for?
–I am left wide-open–I am completely closed–exposed as I humbly watch my soul.
–I know there is still room for improvement–to be the best ever–I’m still trying to prove it.
I don’t need you to validate me, that would just be a lie–I know who I am even if I long for your approval until the day that I die–
–warriors, kings, and slaves–
We are all looking for the great escape.
–I defied death yet once more.
I survived being ship-wrecked by the seashore.
–My delicate soul is always reaching for completely new heights.
I close my eyes, say my prayers, and then I say good night.
–My Life–

Forever on My Own
By Marino K. Leyba

I won’t be here forever, I’ll be gone soon, I’m going to The Misty Mountains, the Valley of the Dark Moon.
Time is something like a black hole.
Hate is my enemy!
Never succumb to the bitterness.
At life I am the bitterest!
Snuffed out like a candlestick.
The flame, the wick.
I am like the moon passively awaiting the sun’s luminosity.
Create a portrait with your words.
Artistry!
There is no one I know working as hard as me.
I sit outside alone, looking at the stars.
Wild flames leaping around, no borderlines, my mind is sparkling.
I’m heading to a nearby creek.
I lay down in the river as my mind begins to peak.
I am a grape destined to be fine wine or an apple heading toward vinegar.
Close my eyes again and then I visit her.
Sandy shores around the Kingdom, the Sea and the Stars.
One with the universe.
I am moving earth!
I’m still looking for someone to rescue me.
Save me.
Maybe you could be my…
I close my eyes then I see my world.
I close my eyes then I see my girl.
Pretty wet skies, the rain turns into snow.
Priceless work of art, a glimpse inside my soul.
No one gets that far alone.
My newest obsession is perfection.
Dripping… Oozing… Soothing…
The heart of a rose is moving.
Cherry blossom, dancing girl, calm your mind.
Forever on my own, until the end of time.

My Religion
By Marino K. Leyba

“What is your religion?”
I mean–not what you know about religion, but the belief that helps you most. There is a Messiah born every day or so they say.
We believe what we want to believe, what we like to believe, what suits us.
We fall in love, adore, show admiration, worship, we are never satisfied, we always want more. We are looking, searching for a flicker of light in a darkened room.
Sometimes we let ourselves believe there is someone out there for us.
Fears of never finding someone.
I have them.
I would like to have a partner who knows…
Her smell leaves me intoxicated.
Her smile lights up my gloomy days.
A beautiful, vulnerable act of love.
My proposition, my position.
I’m afraid I would worship her.
I really am…
Realistically, statistically, I sit and watch as the birds fly away.
The clouds come in, it’s pouring, pouring down burning rain.
Exposed is my beating heart.
I am vulnerable to the elements.
I know them all too well.
Too naive, too deep, I close my eyes and then I fall asleep.
I have emotions, flames of eternal desire, passively awaiting love, passively waiting someone.
Thoughts fluttering frantically.
Words pour out so romantically.
Loyal and dependable when my heart’s on fire.
I find myself inspired.
I’m longing for…
My one and only true heart’s desire.
My religion.

Heart of the Infinite
By Marino Leyba

Amount to what?
Am I way too much as I attempt to touch the moon, the stars, the sky?
I seem to fly high before I die.

Dreams like in a whisper of the air, the leaves fall but I’m no longer there.
I seem to have become a part of the heart of the infinite; I poured out all I was, gave everything; it was all thrown into it.

So when I am deceased I know I will finally be at peace.
My promises, my words, my oaths to keep.

I wanted to make something that would last forever and I’m afraid I did.
I slid into the future, time traveled back into the past, dominated the present and showed the world I was built to last.

I have been on one unforgettable journey.
I have been to heaven and I have always been burning.

So many metaphors and not enough time.
I’m so enlightened yet I know my next line.

Now that is a hard pill to swallow.

Am I way too much as I attempt to touch the moon, the stars, the sky?
I seem to fly high before I die.

Dreams like in a whisper of the air, the leaves fall but I’m no longer there.
I seem to have become a part of the heart of the infinite; I poured out all I was, gave everything; it was all thrown into it.

The Inhumanity
By Marino Leyba

Justice!
Just us!
Even when we are innocent, they are always quick to try and bust us.

Turn up or turn out, truth out, the life we live I am not proud to talk about. Imagine being locked up and there is no way of walking out.
I am barely walking now…

Can you feel the chains?
Can you feel the change?
Prison life is so strange…

We are all just living inside of a cell.
We are not living well.
How are we supposed to excel?
There is no way of really living well!
You’ve heard of heaven on earth, well this place is hell!

Medical barely exists!
“Oh you are bleeding to death; here is a Tylenol; hope it helps with your wrist!”

All day, all we hear is noise and violence, and then they wonder why we lose our minds and pray for a moment of silence.

My eyelids hurt from seeing the same thing, and when I close my eyes at night to dream, it’s always the same thing!

“Slavery does not exist?”
“Mass incarceration is it!”
Why do you think so many American families are broken and left struggling?
The system is broken and the titles they are always juggling.

Why do the police love to misuse their power and make statements that are false; why do they deceive and utter untruths?
Why do they falsify, mislead, misinform, bear false witness, fiction, lies, myths, deception, slander – then resign and justify?

Why do the police always want us all locked up or they want us to die on the inside?

Kickbacks from how many people they lock up and for how many years they do.
They don’t care about any of our families or any of our tears, it’s true!
As a matter of fact, they don’t even care about you!

It’s really quite funny; to them it’s a job and it’s all about money and their fancy trips.
“Taze a suspect and lock him up and forget about him!”

They say we are the bad guys, but they never even look in the mirror.
I bet if they did, they might see things perfectly clear.

Prisons for profit, what does it take to expose true evil?
I swear!
What does it take to stop it? Please don’t shoot; I can’t breathe; can somebody, anybody stop it?
Pop, pop, then the bullets fall out of their pockets!

It’s kinda like they don’t care!
It’s kinda like they don’t care; all I ever see them do is harass people and act like they fight fair.

Cruel oppressive system, so many broken families and so many people that miss them!

Oh the injustice, yet all I ever hear them say is, “Just trust us.”

The inhumanity.
Fourteen year means fourteen scars.
Who can relate to a life behind bars?
A life like ours…

This is what a place like this will do to you. I apologize; I never meant to bring the cold hard truth to you.
Cruel oppressive system.

Fluidly
By Marino Leyba

I had to lose you to truly understand how much I love you.
I have placed no one above you!
I want to hold you and hug you.
You don’t know what it’s like to lose someone you love, until you lose someone you love.
It’s like a waterfall that’s falling seven times, the wind blows and within it is my mind.
The wind blows and I’m trying to rewind time.
The rain falls and those are my tears for all time.
The way I’m feeling, moving, is liquid, I’m quick with…
The thought.
True love, I will never, I forgot.
The truth is I love you a lot.
I’m just mad that I’m not…
I’m just sad that I’m not…
I’m moving fluidly, the thought of you is moving me, like the trees leaves when they dance in the summertime.
Romance in the summertime.
I’m in love with…
I am the summertime!
The clock ticks past me, I’m so tired of all the questions they ask me.
Why won’t they just let me be?
Let me sleep, I’m tired of being bothered with all their theatrics, theatrically…
I suppose there is no match for me.
Fire is hard to contain, it burns everything,
Unintentionally, even the rain, even if I win I still lose because I break even with the pain.
Even if you know my name, I am forever stained like glass windows.
I sit outside alone, heavy as the wind blows.
I love you and miss you, I wish you the best, I still have several giant holes in my chest.
I am cursed and blessed.
Forever immortalized as one of the best.
I had to lose you to truly understand how much I love you.
I have placed no one above you.

Apart From All Others
By Marino Leyba

As we grew older we learned in bit and pieces.
Time is compelling in telling stories.
– Forever –
Forever linked together.
Whisperings of fate and a chance, an encounter with…
Someone –
Anyone –
History would be made.
What else?
Love!
All else would eventually become earth –
Shattering.
What is our main objective in life?
Survival against all odds, adversity, and opposition.
Growing older –
A bit of lore wrapped forever in hushed secrecy and hazed memories.
Into the sunset.
That is where the story begins.
There are many things that are permanently etched on the mind and in the sands of time.
Albeit buried under the…
Prime, dare pursued by passion, a life well lived.
Even in defiance of…
…Time, is…
– Something admirable, bold, and liberating.
Romantic.
Embrace life, it is beautiful and tragic.
Embrace it!
Alluding perhaps, originality, the aura.
Worldly colors, a touch too earthy, too private.
What is love if not deep appreciation of each others bodies?
You don’t love someone for their…
Poetry, what is it?
It comes in bursts, it is subconscious thinking, a feeling.
It is just a measurement of…
– The inroads of intimacy, blossoming outside the city gates of…
Eternity –
My destined doorway is transformation, storytelling, memories and thoughts.
Back and forth, an event so important and memorable it changes time long after we are…
– Forgotten.
Even when it is gone, we are forever still here.
From afar, I knew.
– Love apart from all others.

Excruciating/Insignificant Creatures
By Marino Leyba

Obtuse.
No matter how much they scream and let loose –
Their dreams are too…

• They always seem to tie you up and cage you – they try to get rid of you and replace you.
• How can anyone ever feel gorgeous? I mean you used to live where the gorge is … was.
  Life will throw us some curve balls and even hit us with a couple pitches. A dull, dead weight.
  Have you ever had everything you had planned blown to bits?
  Stagnation!
  It’s kinda like a tree that fell in the forest that no one even noticed.
  A cold and sobering reality!
  A man standing tall and strong.
  He pretends to be strong and to bear it all alone.
• Inside he is crumbling.
• Inside he is uncertain, terrified, confused.
• Inside his is screaming HELP!
• But no one hears him –
  I fear the truth is much darker than meets the eye.
  It’s like a riot in your throat.
  Incarcerated in the deep South –
  Invision that there was never anything else.
  Sparks of curiosity about the outside world.
• Facilitated, humiliated – all alone.
• Try to figure out the rest later on.
• Motivated – the spark is gone.
  Excruciating/insignificant creatures.

The Same Storm
By Marino Leyba

August moon –
I could never be everything you want me to be –
She is the perfect fit –
What does she want from me?

Dream like state, celebrated, so delirious,
Salivated –
Cherry blossom, wild-mind, complexion unfathomable just like time –
I veered into the weavers’ dreams, where everything is not as it seems –

• Un-known – ability – bewildering –
  I am underneath the pearly skies – reassurance rise – the recurring tides

Fears of being along – a good heart, a broken home

Beauty exists in every being – –
I am still wrestling –

• My deepest thoughts
• All my haters taking shots
  They’re running down the silver fox –
  Swirling rumors –
  I’m on the cross –

Society is not built to care, I am naked, alone, and self-aware –

My soul is shaking violently
I could never be everything you want me to be –

I veered into the weavers’ dreams, where everything is not as it seems –

• Un-known – ability – bewildering –
  I am underneath the pearly skies – reassurance rise – the recurring tides
• It’s the same old storm again.

Thoughts in My Flesh
By Marino Leyba

All my sins and flaws
Silent prayers go unheard by God
These thoughts in my flesh
Trying to be perfect
It’s so hard to confess.
Weighed down by feelings of emptiness
Nobody around me, I am drowning.
Save me before it’s too late, nobody found me!
What does it feel like to be forgotten?
I’m barely alive.
I’ve been buried alive!
I am afraid I won’t make it out
A heaviness, crushing, overwhelming doubt!
Too much time on my hands, too much
Pain that I have felt.
In life I have given it my all
We all fall — I have been the good
Guy, but in the end it doesn’t even
Matter because we still die
I have told the truth, I have been
Imprisoned for their lies, I watched them
Sell my love, my life, my proof, from
Their booth!
I have told the truth

Tears fall from my heavy brown eyes
Its true thoughts of suicide reside
The sand slowly falls from the hourglass
And I realize I’m out of time!
I have been flawless in my delivery
One of the last real men, I believed in chivalry
Excuse my imperfections!
Please pardon my manners!
I am lost, alone, and I have forgotten all banners
If my heart stops, then so does the pain
If my heart stops, then so does the rain
All my sins and flaws
Silent prayers go unheard by God
These thoughts in my flesh after death are finally gone
Nobody around me, I am drowning
Save me before it’s too late, nobody found me!

Open to the Possibilities
By Marino Leyba

I’m at the crossroads with two different paths ahead of me.
A sliver of hope kept hidden in the secret chambers of my heart.
My path still has many peaks and many valleys.
Split decisions.
Two different ways to look at things.
Staring through my rearview.
Wondering what lies ahead?
Tomorrow will be better.
Dreams never die!
I’m holding a microphone.
The color of my car is baby blue.
Time means nothing.
Yet I’m still with you!
Rebalance the scales.
Whisper something sweet into my ear.
The best way to live life is to be open to the many possibilities.
All life passes by so fast.
A man’s hopes and dreams.
The transforming of the scene.

No Monopoly
By Marino Leyba

Under construction.
What is your function?
Fell down as the smoke rushed in…

Red flames.
New names.

A smoke screen.
Why can I not wake up from this broke dream?

Alone!
No home.
No one to call.
No home!

The clouds scream out loud!
The rain falls and heaven is not allowed!

Sink sand.
Drowning.
Weak and…

Another hurricane!
Another fire!
A whirlwind, and God I’m tired!

The smoke is rising.
Thunderstorms and lightning.
What you put in, you’ll never get back,
and that is frightening.

A sea of forgetfulness.
Promised land, and winds that won’t let you rest.
The north, the south, the east, and the west.

What can be found underneath all this rubble?
Nothing but trouble!
A goldmine was promised and hatred was doubled.

Stop and see.
This story has no monopoly.

Devil Devours
By Marino Leyba

It’s sad, yet…

…we are approaching the final hour.
The food has gone bad.
The wine has turned sour.
The good guys have lost all power.
The will to fight is gone like the twin towers.
The devil devours…

…what is left of us.
The sky is falling, it’s the death of us.
We cannot survive, even the best of us.

This is not just some more words to be spoken.
The smoke is rising, the final seal has been broken.

I wish I did not have to be the bearer of bad news yet the dragon is here and he has no tattoos, only a black heart and black shoes.

I wish you could all see the signs.
I wish we could all be more divine.
I wish we all had more time.
The wine…The wine…

…has been poured out.
There is no more now.

Sober is the mind state.
Why can’t we die great?

I mean look at all we’ve done.
Can’t we have some more fun?
The sky is black.
Where is the sun?
The chosen one?

I feel like we are forgotten.
The soul of society has become rotten.

We are plagued with insanity.
How can we win?
How can we defy gravity?
Too much depravity.

Humanity, falling apart like a cavity.
Instead of lend me a hand, you would rather laugh at me.

I hate the way the world works.
Why can’t we see clear?
No more fear.
No more tears.
No more years.

I don’t even know what we have left?
Inhale and take the last breath.

It’s sad, yet…

…the devil devours.