Today, I am honored to present the work of Marshall J. Stephens, friend and writer.  I am grateful for both his friendship and the talent with which he weaves his words.  Enjoy friends and readers.

 Grumble

These are the days when we say
We could have done so much more
The lean days, the poor days
The days where all that’s in the soup is stone

These are the days when we wish
We’d made better use of the time
Cared more carefully for our coin
Ate the scraps instead of trashing them

These are the days of no excuses
No forbearance or delay
The check has come due
Your empty wallet was not consulted

These are the days in which
Focus becomes sharp
Needs shout down wants
And subsistence becomes hope enough

These are the days of empty plates
Just patterns, no crumbs
Bedtime stories end in a full belly, now
And you no longer doubt what you can stomach

These are the lean days
To be followed by finer ones
Where children snicker
At how the old folks worry so

Love, we has it

It’s as if I have the quill and you the pot of ink
and together we write a love story on linen sheets.
Nothing revolutionary,
a tale told and retold since the invention of motion,
but worth repeating none the less;

Nothing is cliche while it’s happening to you.

The first act is all frenetic fingers fumbling
and lips wet and busy,
but the second act goes much deeper.

Repetitious, perhaps, in it’s development
but knowing what comes next
does not dull the impact, the impact, the impact
of the events.

The climax arrives in two meanings and for one moment
the world goes on mute;
There is just you and I and the denouement;
Sentences of only smiles, punctuated by giggles and
beads of of well earned sweat.

It’s as if I have the quill and you the pot of ink
and together we write a love story on linen sheets;
a tale I wish to read over
and over
so long as you are there to relive it with me.

 
If you wish to read more of Marshall’s work please visit his site. Go ahead, you won’t regret it.