Joshua Graves' Poetry

"UPDATED ON December 16, 1999"

Thanks to everyone who enjoys and relates to my poetry.

My Newest Poem

My poems

Hole in my Soul

Sitting on the beach, digging my feet into the sand
Feeling a cool breeze while the moon lights the land
Thinking of you, wishing I was whole
For I am handicapped; I have a hole in my soul.

Sitting alone while the waves pound the shore
It is calm outside, but inside resides a war
Conflicting feelings for a love I've been without
My life, loneliness is what it's about.

I lean back, gazing up at billions of stars
Without the interruption of people and cars
Longing for a woman with the rest of my life to spend
In the book of life, a love for me was not penned.

I fall asleep on the beach, never to awaken
Swallowed by a wave, my life was taken
As good as my life was, I paid the toll
I died unhappy with a hole in my soul.

One Soul Apart from Madness

Madness befell the land of Evil
Whose people praised deceit and terminated the gospel
Evilites drank Satan's drink and idolized his sacred herbs
And longed for women with fiery hair and magnificent curves
Madness had turned their hearts to coal
Except for one outsider by the name of Soul.

Soul was a man with an incredible love for God
But from no other king did he get the nod
The Evilite king cast Soul out of his city
But it was the king who had Soul's pity
Defeating the pressure of Evil's madness
Alone with no other, Soul was left only with sadness.

Blind

Waking up one morning without the gift of sight
Looks and outer beauty are no longer your delight
Finding your way to a mirror to primp your hair
Until you realize there is nothing there
You are surrounded by darkness, as thick as the sky
To the world you have known, you say goodbye.

All your life, you've judged on looks and style
Admired long, flowing hair and a beautiful smile
You picked your friends from the good-looking people
Fashion and style came before living simple
Personality and beliefs did not matter
It took money and popularity to climb the ladder.

Now you make a long journey through your home
A twenty-second walk becomes an endless roam
You think of your friends, and how mindless they now seem
They, too, judge by looks and style, while the ones you down, gleam
Searching for a way to leave your past life behind
You find a gift, the gift of being blind.

My Favorite Poems by Other Authors

"There Will Come Soft Rains" (by Sara Teasdale)

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound

And frogs in the pools singing at night
And white plum trees in tremulous white

Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire

And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly

And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn
Would scarcely know that we were gone.

"Miracles In The Snow" (by Brian D. Schmidt)

Through the transient fog of the dark winter night,
peered haunting blue eyes with their soft glowing light.

The powerful stare with its brilliance and intricacy,
brought on a shivering response full of caution and mystery.

They seemed to float through the air with great charm,
in an effort to announce that they meant you no harm.

Yet as subtle as the movements had tried to be,
an eerie feeling of desolation abruptly took over me.

As I fell to the frozen, unforgiving, forest floor,
I noticed those two eyes had been accompanied by two more.

Soon their were three enchanting pairs upon me,
watching and listening, gliding through the trees.

With one final shiver the dark night became black,
I knew as I slept, that I would not be coming back.

I dreamt of a thousand things that night,
mostly about a past I wanted to fix and make right.

The bright morning sun was the next thing I saw,
which followed by the touch of a rather large paw.

And after providing a steaming kiss on the nose,
the wolf disappeared, and I arose.

In the snow at my feet, there were paw prints all about,
and the surrounding outlines of the bodies, which helped keep the winter out.

The howl which followed, echoed forever it seemed,
conveying the heartfelt message, "you are important to me."

"DeathTide" (by David Fowler, a friend of mine)

Walking along the midnight shore
Wishing that time would be no more
Living a wasted life of lonely years

Seeing the world just pass me by
Feeling the rain fall from the sky
Hoping the storm will hide my silent tears

Trying to make it through each day
Finding it hard to see the way
Thinking of running straight into the sea

Wishing I never learned to swim
Drowning in sorrow by moonlight dim
Knowing this dream would be too good for me

Hearing the sound of the crashing wave
Knowing it's too late for me to be saved
Remembering Destiny started me down this road

Wondering how long till they'd find me there
Knowing that no one still would care
Hoping that this will release me of Life's cruel load

Timing the waves as they run their course
Searching for one with deadly force
Planning the rest of my life in great detail

Feeling the wind as it fiercely blows
Hearing the thunder as the downpour grows
Hiding my tortured screams in the stormy gale

Running as fast as the wind will allow
Knowing it's right that the time is now
Not caring if they know just how I died

Tasting the salt water on my tongue
Feeling the ocean fill my lungs
Welcomed into the arms of the great DeathTide

"The Lone Wolf races wild and free" (by Susan Harris, a friend of mine)

The lone wolf races wild and free
Alone in nature is where he longs to be.
Away from humans chained by foolish ways
Wild he runs though the wind and the trees,
on the air there is a breeze
it sings of freedom and peace,
but also of loneliness, alone he is safe,
for alone is at ease, but dare I say he longs to please?

Alone he ponders; he breathes in the air,
often wondering who put it there
full of wonderings he seeks to find
answers to his questions, raceing in his mind
.........but suddenly he is happy, someone is there;
his questions leave him in their care
under the moonlight he will still race,
The wind will still blow upon his face
All that is good will remain with him,
all that is great has now come to him
for he is not alone as he used to be
Someone has found him -
it is she.

"Can you Feel the Love Tonight" (by Elton John and Tim Rice)

There's a calm surrender
To the rush of day
When the heat of a rolling wind
Can be turned away
An enchanted moment
And it sees me through
It's enough for this restless warrior
Just to be with you

Can you feel the love tonight?
It is where we are
It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer
That we got this far
Can you feel the love tonight
How it's laid to rest
It's enough to make kings and vagabonds
Believe the very best

There's a time for everyone
If they only learn
That the twisting kaleidoscope
Moves us all in turn
There's a rhyme and reason
To the wild outdoors
When the heart of this star-crossed voyager
Beats in time with yours.

My Poetry Archive

Adjusting Winds

A Heavenly Night

A Story of Sorrow

A True Love

A Walk in the Clouds

Away

Blind

D W C

Darkness Will Come

Days of our Lives

Deep Blue