Poetry by Marino Leyba

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.