But will you say you loved me more or less,
If someone were to ask you years from now?
When I am spent, my mortal fortune lost,
My spirit gone beyond that distant row?
What would you say then to a dearest friend?
Would tears or smiles gesture that refrain?
How would you comment on my journey’s end?
Or would your heart with silent doubt restrain?
Still, if you love me less, I feel it not
And if you love me more, what matters this?
—For love requited is the love that’s sought
And more or less unequals wedded bliss.
My hope is that we love in equal part—
I love you with my life and all my heart.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

I kissed the lips of beauty then that night
And ran my fingers through her lusty hair,
I held her body in my arms so tight
And bared her bosom—made my cheek lie there,
So drunk with passion I did lay in bliss
And smothered so, I floated like a cloud,
I shuddered sweetly, leaned into the abyss
And satyrs smiled while angels screamed aloud;
Then God did frown while Satan danced about—
The sun turned black, the moon a bawdy blue,
The stars fell from the sky beyond all count
And scorched the earth into a crimson hue;
But when the morning came my dear sweet friend,
God did forgive, and Satan did amend.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

In my heart burns the fire of the ages:
Life is not life where we no passion find.
‘Gainst chains of enmity my passion rages
Consuming wholly—all my golden time.
Yet where is better spent this tender youth
Than in pursuit of you my love, my all;
And where in life finds one a greater truth
Than love—true love—which lifts the heart in thrall?
Oh dear sweet lady, hear my soul’s sure strife;
I love you deeply, more than you can know;
I love you truly, even more than life—
Between then and now, beyond the veil I go.
Yet love and passion are but two edged swords—
Betray me once—these sacred lines are words.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

Come with me,
Where sweet day dreams on lazy days
Can take your spirit miles away
And lay you down in fields of hay
Where sweet birds sing and soft lambs play.

Where floral fragrance fills the air
And not a soul can find you there
And warm sunshine smooths back your hair;
True solitude beyond compare.

The soft refreshing summer breeze
Soon filters through the aspen trees,
Then finds a golden rod to tease
And wrestles flowers from bumble bees.

So deep and clear the turquoise sky
As cotton clouds go floating by
A lonely eagle banks on high;
Serenity that makes you sigh.

On bed of clover soft as fleece
With daises twined into a wreath
These blissful summer reveries
Can soothe the mind with inner peace.
Come with me.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

The ocean’s trapped between two banks
And nowhere can it go,
Its riches owed to vast expanse,
Its depth and endless shore.

The mind is like the ocean too
As landlocked as the sea,
With nothing but to sit and muse
Abstract reality.

Its wealth is measured much the same
In depth and breadth and reach
And every thought it ever thinks…
Mere pebbles on the beach.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

Let us walk upon the beach
Tossing pebbles to the waves.
Build castles just in reach
For the rising surf to raze.

We will watch the setting sun
Drown itself within the sea.
Like a phoenix on the run;
Rise tomorrow from the east.

And in time the night will call.
Slowly, swiftly, silently;
Purple twilight over all
Beckoning to slumber deep.

We will sit upon the sand.
Build our fire from debris.
Burning beacons on the land;
Flickering eternally.

You will sit there by my side,
We will share a cup of tea.
Probe the heavens far and wide,
Contemplate eternity.

And in silence we will roar
Sharing secrets of the mind.
Castaways upon the shore–
Heart beats at the edge of time.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

The world at times may laugh and sneer,
The anger sneering to the bone.
But choose not then to shed a tear,
For in this world you stand alone.

Sometimes false friends do beck and call
To join them in a frenzied feast.
Be careful if you go at all,
For you may be the luncheon meat.

And blood itself may thicken too,
And spill itself upon the ground,
And curdle with the morning dew;
What crimson red, now sickly brown.

Know then thyself with logic clear.
Do not in fate thy life bemoan.
Beware the sympathetic ear;
For in this world you stand alone.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

Shall I wait for you in spring
When the buds are on the trees,
When surrounding forests ring
With the songs that robins sing.

You will come like summer’s breeze,
Floral odors in the air
Discerning senses not displeased
By your subtle charms released.

Dressed in white a maiden fair
On your lips a cheerful song
Purple flowers in your hair
Snow-white shoulders soft and bare.

You will come before too long,
In the garden, short my wait,
Patience makes the heart grow strong
Whispered prayers cannot do wrong.

Kind and cruel as such is fate
That we meet in fantasy,
Nonetheless I shan’t be late,
I’ll unlock the garden gate.

You will join me for some tea
In the garden’s shady cool
Promise me eternally
That our love will always be.

We will walk beside the pool
View reflections in its glass,
How could but a lonely fool
Capture such a precious jewel!

Sweet day dreams the time will pass
By the cool crystal pond,
In my arms I’ll never clasp
Such an airy angel lass.

Of this reverie I am fond
And with patient love I’ll wait,
To you does my heart belong
‘Till my very soul is gone.

Kind and cruel as such is fate
That we meet in fantasy,
Nonetheless I shan’t be late,
I’ll unlock the garden gate.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

I saw the answer in a star,
A message clear though from afar.
A twinkle in the dark of night;
A spark of hope, a gleam of light.

So crystal clear it said to me,
Just look with care and you will see,
The answer to that which you seek,
The prize of life laid at your feet.

You need not chase the butterfly;
Or climb yon mountain peak on high.
Or swim the ocean wide and blue,
Or ford a raging river through.

You need not build a pyramid,
Or worship gods carved out of wood.
You need not travel far and wide
To know the secrets of the tide.

The answer is quite simple then,
Why seek that out which lies within?
You are a prisoner of your mind;
The answer lies within this rhyme.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

Crimson curtains drip with blood,
Wretched creatures rise from mud,
Bony fingers stem the flood.

Slimy slithers slip and slide,
Joining others who have died,
Decompose and form a tide.

Brutal beasts around you teem,
Yellow fangs in moonlight gleam,
Walk on water thick and green.

Livid corpses rise and speak,
Wormwood coffins groan and creak,
Vilest odors from them reek.

Hairy figures lurk and loom,
Lunatics shriek at the moon,
Dancing spiders fill the room.

Purple shadows on the wall
Ripple, then begin to crawl,
Horror, horror can enthrall.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.