Charlie lives in the sleepy border town of Calexico, California .  He has four children and was once an English teacher.   He has kept himself busy free lance writing for a local newspaper, creating horrible origami projects and enjoying his children.  Current favorite poet is Charles BUKOWSKI . 

A WEIRD LOVE SONG

  My lips embrace yours
 And I dream of heaven
 And how I low balled the angels that sold me the charm 
 I used to make you laugh and 
 Make you fall in love with me
 To make you feel safe in my arms
 My lips embrace yours
 And wonder if I would love you like Barrett-Browning said 
 When you stop being hot, if you gain weight, or more when i am dead
 My lips embrace yours
 And I wonder if I have revealed too much
 When I talk in my sleep
 Because if you ever found out 
 About the wet dreams i had about your  sister, you wouldn’t think of me as respectful and such 
 My lips embrace yours 
 And I am hoping, that you stay 
 With me forever, like you promised after a long night of drinking
 When we made lots of drunken promises, and got matching tattoos, what the fuck was I  thinking
 My lips embrace yours 
 And I’m praying that you remain by my side
 Even l when I grow old and I defecate on myself, 
 Or will I find out that you had lied 
 When I can’t remember the what, the when or The Who
 And why my underwear are at my feet, and you are on your knees, doing what you do
 My lips embrace yours
 And I can’t stop from laughing 
 Because none of this 
 rings a bell 
 Until you prove yourself to be a keeper, I can’t ever tell
  
 ..if I can love  you with all my heart 

I GET LOST

 She is non-traditional
 but loves it when you give 
 her red roses
 She hates that I display the 
 pictures she gave me, 
 of her in rock and roll poses
 She is a progressive girl
 But she is humble, and she shows it
 Her face turns red, 
 and she looks so disappointed 
 when she tries to deliver a joke, and she blows it
 She’s smart yet vulnerable
 Strong and sentimental
 She loves her music loud and distorted,  
 but when she plays the piano 
 she prefers the passionate instrumentals
 Her laugh is contagious, 
 her smile will melt your heart
 And when she is disheartened, 
 she becomes distant
 So close and miles apart
 She is honest but not without her secrets
 She is a kind soul, but not 
 Without flaws
 She is calculating in her spontaneity
 but hates to grasp at straws.  
 But what I love most about her
 Is the Incredible beauty 
 that she possesses..
  
 She isn’t afraid of the dark, 
 her curiosity Is unbound
 And when I get lost in her eyes
  I never want to be found 

TIME FOR MOURNING

(PART 4 –  THE TRAGEDY OF CRAZY BEAR)

 When he woke up, he was surprised to see that his mother was still asleep
 It was strange because she woke with the sun and the birds
 Singing and gossiping with each other
 She would have breakfast waiting for him nearby
 And she would be telling a group of gathered children
 A story about how the sun and moon once danced together in the same sky, 
 or some other beautiful story about our culture
 But she was still in heavy sleep
 So he let her sleep…
 No more than a handful of days had passed since his mother fell ill, 
 and her aging body could not fight as hard as it use to, she slept most days and 
 Could barely muster the energy to move about as freely as she use to 
 so, Crazy Bear performed his tribal duties quickly 
 So that he could run to his ailing mother 
 Crazy Bear loved those moments he spent combing her hair, making her laugh and simply holding her hands 
 He would tell her of his day’s events:
 About hunting, gathering of the crops and reseeding, about a girl he became smitten over
 but then, when he would run out of things to say
 There was an unnerving silence that made him sick 
  Because his attention always found its way back to his mother's condition
 He knew that she was dying
 And soon, she would not be present in his world any longer
 “Don’t be afraid, son
 I can feel your world is falling apart, but it is such a small part 
 You have so much life left ahead of you,” she said 
  
 "I never told you how much I am grateful to you
 For everything you have done for me," Crazy Bear muttered, 
 as he spooned another sip of soup to her
 I have never told you that I love you with all my heart 
 and that you are the most beautiful woman in the world
 I thank you for giving me Life and that you have always been my hero
 I do not think myself less a man because I was raised by a woman
  You have been strong enough to carry your responsibilities along with mine, 
 I could not have ask for a more blessed childhood as my own 
 At the end of every day, I have never lacked or wanted anything more than what you had provided me
 I only wish that you could see and hold- with those arms i ran to every day, my ownchildren, because I cannot teach them as much as you have taught me
 They will never meet the most special person in my life
 I wanted to tell you that I have kept my promise to you
 I have given my heart to someone I want to marry and have many children with
 I have seen how love can fill a man with vigor and tangible hopes
 She is magic and good medicine for me
 I trust her with my life, mom
 I have kept my promise to you
 “I know, my son.  I know,” she said
 “She is a beautiful bride for you. I am so proud of you”
  
 He struggled to keep his composure, trying to swallow the ugly pain in his throat
 That did not allow him to breathe
 “I am going to miss you..” he mumbled
 And he put her hands on his head
 he cried on her lap, 
 until the mourning doves sang 
  
 Even though Crazy Bear knew of the cycle of life
 ..Nothing had prepared him for his mother's death
 The tribe watched with tearful admiration, as Crazy Bear carried his mother atop a cliff that overlooked the valley they called home
 He buried her there
 So that she could always see the sunset
 Like they did many, many
 Times together
 And he stayed with her, for 3 days before he finally came back down 
  
 Nobody said a thing
 Because these were times of mourning