The ultimate desire

Have you ever wanted something so much, but you just couldn’t do it? For some people, that desire could be finding a boyfriend/girlfriend, finding the perfect job, or the perfect church. As humans, we all have a number of desires, some of which are fulfilled, others that go tantilizingly unfulfilled.

My desire is to get rid of this stinkin’ writer’s block. Hold up. I know what you’re thinking. "Bret, you’re a writer. That’s what you do." Yeah, yeah. I know. I write every single day, it seems. But I’m not talking about the kind of writing I do for a living. Or the kind of writing I do for fun like this blog. I’m talking about the kind of writing that used to be my passion -- poetry.

Growing up, that’s about the only thing I would write. It began in junior high, when I discovered my love, and talent, for writing poetry. In fact, I believe in another life, you know one in which I actually had some musical ability, I think I would have been a singer-songwriter. But over the past several years, I just haven’t been able to develop good poetry. I believe it’s a combination of the fact that I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my poetry, combined with the other fact that I’m always writing something, that I just can’t seem to find the perfect words anymore.

The desire is there. The production isn’t. Hopefully, I’m going to change that. I know my wife would love that. So, in a desire to will myself back into being a skillful poet, I’m going to post some of my favorite personal poems over the next couple of weeks (assuming I can find the list that I have saved to a desk somewhere in this house) for your enjoyment. We’ll start with the last poem I remember writing -- Remember When.

Do you remember when
We could do as we pleased
Without a worry or care
To bring us to our knees

Do you remember when
Innocence was the name of the game
You and me, being carefree
But now it’s just not the same

Do you remember when
We’d take late night walks
Or just sit on a swing
As we’d cuddle, laugh and talk

Do you remember when
I tried that thing call romance
Whispering sweet nothings to you
Even as you refused to dance

Do you remember when
You amazed me with your brain
Casey Jacobson, MJ and UNC
When you still thought I was sane

Do you remember when
You could stare into my eyes with love
Without a doubt, right then and there
I was in your hand just like a glove

Do you remember when
Things began to change
What was important became lost
Priorities became rearranged

Do you remember when
All I wanted was to please you
The only thing that mattered
Was my heart and yours too

Do you remember when
We both said ’I do’
That 2 p.m. sun was so hot
My friends still want to sue

Do you remember when
Things were so easy
How did we allow
Our lives to become crazy

Do you remember when
I said I’d be here forever
Think I could live without you
That day will come never

Do you remember when
I said I love you
Don’t ever forget
Because you know I still do