James Babbs

Before the Sun Goes Down

before the sun goes down
I want to start drinking
by the time it gets dark
I want to be drunk again
I’ve got two bottles of cheap red wine
and several cans of beer
chilling in the bottom of the fridge
when I look out the window
I see the birds fighting over seeds
from the feeder in my neighbors’ back yard
and I wonder
what it would feel like
if I were able to fly
knowing
no matter how high
I managed to soar
eventually
I’d have to come back down
I pour the wine in my glass
before taking a drink
and I remember
how I kept telling her
over and over again
just because
someone says they love you
that doesn’t make it true

 

 Love Is Not a Butterfly

So I’m writing this just to let you know
In case you might have been wondering about me
I’m still here
Living the unraveling dream
I’ve been drinking cheap red wine
And cold bottles of dark Irish beer
Searching for one thing or another
Inside every single bottle
But only finding an emptiness
Each time I reach the bottom
I’ve been practicing my dying art
One line at a time
Because
I want to find the madness
Before the madness finds me
And there’s still something beautiful
About the way the stars look at night
Even when I’m out there alone
Gazing up at the sky
And I can hear the wind blowing
Sometimes
I think the wind wants to tell me something
But I have to listen very carefully
In order to understand
What the wind is trying to say
There’s a darkness at the end of the road
And an overwhelming silence
That seems to eventually
Seep into everything
Love is not a butterfly
And my heart has lost its wings

 

In Love

I don’t know why
I keep waking up
thinking about her
after so many years have passed
its been happening now
for the last three or four days
we were only together for a few months
from the early autumn
until the following spring
she had three children
and an angry ex-husband
and these sparkling blue eyes
her teenage son was always getting into trouble
he didn’t like me very much
she told me
the only good thing
that came out of her marriage
were her three kids
then she laughed and said
and of course
this beautiful house
I always liked the sound of her laughter
and the way she pushed her hair
from the side of her face
she never let things get her down
she still believed in love
and I knew how much
she wanted to be in love
I guess
she just didn’t want to
be in love with me

 

James Babbs likes the night life but he doesn’t like to boogie.  James has written hundreds of poems and a few short stories over the years and has even had a few of them published.  If you happen to visit the internet you may find something he has written.