AUTHOR’S NOTE
Why must we always feel the need to explain emotions … even good ones? If one is smiling then someone will undoubtedly ask, "What are you so happy about?" And likewise if you shed tears then someone will ask, "What is wrong?" It is like the norm is to have that dead pan straight line look of utter boredom and apathy to be left alone. You have to maintain a subway passenger face.
Emotions are tricky devils aren't they? They mess you up. They interfere with normal day to day activities. They cloud your reason. They delude your thinking. I have always been full of exaggerated and sometimes deep emotion. Everything is urgent, powerful, and dramatic! I wonder if that is the price to pay for having a creative and imaginative mind that never stops. Either way, I wouldn’t change a thing. I like these parts of me.
The dark side of emotions can be difficult, but as Stevie Nicks says, “You have to survive the nightmare to get to the dream” And I think she would know.
It is part of life to suffer. Everyone does it. Pain is the great equalizer for us all. People feel it in different ways ... express it in even more of a variety of ways. There is no right way to do it although some will tell you differently.
Sometimes pain is a wake-up call. Sometimes it sets about change that otherwise wouldn't happen. Sometimes the pain tells us to listen, to be quiet, and to find ourselves again in the stillness. And sometimes pain is to be shared with a fellow traveler on a crossed path, which is one of the reasons I write.
It is all a part of the human experience.
Thank you for purchasing my book, “kaleidoscope of colors.” I hope you enjoy reading my words.
Robert A. Cozzi
KALEIDOSCOPE COLORS
His desires
Of kaleidoscope colors
Rise to meet
The rainbow of common truth
JUMPING OFF THE SHELF
The steps in front of you
Used to lead right back
To the same old promises
You kept on the shelf
But this journey launches a new beginning
Unlike the missteps before
Because this time
Each step leads to
An open door
MY UTOPIA
Searching out
Trying to find another to fill a void
And then
When found
We shower each other with
Love
And once deep commitments are made
It allows two people
To move as one
Merging
Until
If one bleeds
The other soul hurts too
This is my dream
THE STREET ARTIST
The spray paint spills
Crimson and cobalt onto the wall
Complexities shown in demanding lines, angles, and zigzags
Begging to capture
Someone’s eye
TWIN FLAMES
The complexity
And simplicity of our frequency
Is astounding
Measuring heartbeats in minutes
Within a moment
We are two in separate lives
Living out separate moments
But still we roam
Back to one another
DROWNING IN WORDS
When the words come
Everything else
Disappears
The suffocating room
Fills with air
And intense emotions
Overflow
Flooding everything
Until I am drowning
In words
THE WALK
The late September sunlight
Swims into our daydreams
As we walk together
On a quiet path
Covered with
The first fallen
Red and orange leaves of autumn
Branches crackle beneath our feet
Our destination is unknown
Silence ensues
And no words are spoken
Occasionally
We catch each other’s eye
And smile
I love how we don’t even have to talk
To enjoy each other’s company
We both chuckle
When our silence is interrupted
By the high school marching band playing up ahead
Their musical echo fills the neighborhood
And keeps us company
As we make the turn for home
PRIVATE PERFORMANCE
My spirits lift
When I hear the intro
And imagine the artist
Raising their instrument
And playing
Just for me …
MYSTERY
The table lies as it was left this morning
Oatmeal becoming stale in its white bowl
The spoons fogged with the residue of food and breath
The chairs pushed haphazardly out at angles
The green sneakers still lie by the door
Laces untied and one tipped to the left side
As if someone was just about to pull them on
The pages of a book flutter in the stale air
Until even the back cover flops over with a thud
Losing the place of the person whom was surely
About to return and softly flip its pages
Where is the life that once held this place in its lively and determined grip?
ROBERT AND JEROME
Our friendship
Was the most beautiful surprise
Because in the beginning
We were anything but friends
But as the time passed
We began to understand one another more
And an artistic bond was born
The kind that is so hard to find
Now that the days we had are gone
I live in silence every morning
Since you died
Because my days always began
With our morning conversations
Turning slowly
And looking down at my paper
There are no words
I can write
That can save me
Because I am broken
And I’m pissed …
No more laughing with you
No more pictures or drawings of yours to see
No more deep conversations
No more mutual inspiration
But if you were here now
You would tell me,
“Open your eyes, Robert and let go of the anger.
Be the man I once knew.
And keep writing, creating and loving.”
So here I am
Writing …
Living the life of an artist
The very lifestyle that saved us both
I miss you every day
And hope that one day
We can meet again …
CAST OFF
The cellophane personality
Of a disloyal lover
Puts his thoughts
In disarray
But with precise
Dictation
Their words are spoken
Declaring each their stance
Leaving his illusion
Of love
Broken
And his heart
Cast off
As bait
In shark infested waters
SCREAMING HEART
I wonder if you can feel
The heart that screams out your name
In the middle of the night
From the outside edge
Of your dreams …