I’m Lost and Broken

I’m lost and broken

It’s simple and true

totally empty

and useless I’m so blue.

I’ve lost my dreams

and my life goals,

like a ship lost at sea

and crashing on shoals.

I feel less than a man

a mere shadow of my core,

so out of step like

a hammer without Thor.

How did I get here

where have I been,

am I being punished

for many a past sin?

I found the job

the seed of my dreams,

now it’s all gone

because of others schemes.

It was a job

I had never done,

I applied myself

and my guests had fun.

I gave it my all

and even my heart,

but because of my passion

It was doomed from the start.

Some others told me

I’d never last

because I worked too hard

and I was too fast.

But I took the time

to be my best,

and it in the end I thought

I had passed the test.

I was happy at work

with a smile on my face,

and I returned each day

at a faster pace.

I don’t understand

why it upset some so,

that I often came whistling

and the same way I’d go.

I thought I would inspire

and others would follow,

but instead they resented

their souls so hollow.

Gary Cramer

May 18, 2009

Judy

Of the one or two women

I’ve seen with Lee,

none have made and impression

as this lady on me.

Your sweet and kind

with a heart so true,

may all your dreams

bring happiness to you.

In search of a gift

to celebrate your day,

this bottle of wine was

the best in every way.

You’re each of such quality

that only improves with time,

like a miracle of nature

that’s mellow and fine.

But of all these things

what’s greatest to me,

you make a friend happy

my best friend Lee.

May the hands of time

hold us all to the end,

allow me the ability

to call you both my friend.

Gary R. Cramer

August 21, 1980

Kitten

It seems so long ago

that our paths did cross,

then some years later

there was a sense of loss.

All those many days

of walking her to school,

one of several males

each ogling like a fool.

In each of our heads

the same thought must be there,

she was a special treat

we all had to share.

Her eyes of deep brown

and hair a similar hue,

and when she glanced

there seemed only her and you.

Her laugh was so real

though a hint of sadness,

her smile so warm

to drive you to madness.

I recall the silly games

like spin the bottle,

my heart would be racing

with a full opened throttle.

Each time it spun

either her turn or mine,

my thoughts would scream

maybe this time.

But as I recall

it was not to be,

we never entered that closet

together in the dark to be.

I’m not sure where or when

because I was most smitten,

but from out of nowhere

I started calling her Kitten.

It was so many years later

that fate stepped in,

and to this day still

I recall our shared sin.

Still I remember

the touch of her skin,

even the scar on her back

that made my mind spin.

It distressed me so

to think of her pain,

I hated the scalpel that

had cut her without shame.

From deep within

I sensed a soul so frail,

hidden from all

like a prisoner in jail.

I recall our time shared

so covert and heated,

sometimes prone

other times seated.

Each time we parted

my soul was shaken,

thought I intended to give

I felt I had taken.

Such a sad woman

though short in height,

I wished to give her

such total delight.

From time to time

I would hear her sigh,

and I’d have visions of this angel

gliding high in the sky.

Now once again

our paths have crossed,

no fault of our own

shared time was lost.

With no goal in sight

and with no intent,

just wanting to regain

a friendship to some extent.

Gary R. Cramer

January 30, 2013