By: Greg W Ruoff

And then there was cold-
blistering and indiscriminate-
even the smallest of my worlds have become prey to the deep freeze.
Sadly I do not seek warmth..
instead, I shed my skin leaving me colder.
The pain exists though I've settled into comfortably numb.
I seek refuge in the grey sky...
...and then I sleep-
deep I go into the place where the horror can't hurt me.
Here is the battlefield where my demons and I face off-
war by little war I dominate.
They can't touch me now...
another day victorious.
And so I wake to find another piece of the sun shining down on me*

By: Greg W Ruoff

I've seen the faces of men who haven't seen this face
the hardened circle of this very time and place~
A slow tick from my watch, the world keeps time
a second behind yours but a minute past mine~
I dissect myself to find the one and single piece
second by second my only wish, this release
to find the core, the place where you and I
celebrate life and the meeting of our minds~
and to have you feel my struggle, that's all, I feel yours
you bleed through me as I sweat through your pores~
but we funnel off into our own place of content
the same distinguished place of our own resentment~
the biggest pain comes from that space in between
the gap we bridge in our minds that no one has ever seen~
I reach out to you in this grey and lonely place
to find the warmth of your being and nothing but empty space*

By: Greg W Ruoff

Opportunities passed - like time,
minute by minute.
And when the winds of change brought clearer skies,
I saw...and I believe.
The highest power has brought this memory of you to perfect light...
...and the shadow of milestones marking wrong turns has now gone away.
Regret's end ... the dawn of something beautiful on the horizon.
So join me as we walk into our future of everything bliss...
You, me and our common lust*

By: Greg W Ruoff

Everything that seems to be ... isn't.
A sick feeling - love and disgust meet for the first time.
I put myself on the line to meet the challenge of every day~
Disoriented, I bury my head in my hands and pray
"Take me away ... far away from here"
What's in store for the grounded and found
but a hollow step into a place of uncertainty?
I scream.
Please deliver me to the place where I meet the half...
...the half that killed my evil and left me kindness.
Why must my honesty be exploited in this place of truth?
Show me my pain and the deliverance I dream of.
You could be what you can't be now...
... a product of the Divinity I see and trust.
We both reach~
We grasp for the time and place we each need to be...
...but have not yet met.
I worry not that we could unite,
but fear most that the distance could leave us nameless*

By: Greg W Ruoff

Here I sit.
"Down In a Hole" I play.
I too would like to fly
but my wings have also been denied.
Emotional somethingman to "Nothingman"
I sink into my chair.
Like moths to a light they surround me~
but none of the right mind or perfect buzz.
I now sit in "Silence" with Ms. McLachlan.
Silent except for the sound of my tears falling.
Why am I crying?
I'm not.
I'm rejoicing for the memories I hold~
reflections of time spent~
yet still I question where it all went*

By: Greg W Ruoff

Alone
A symbol of well being, a state of mind.
Positively seeing myself~
Identifying. Getting closer to the future.
Separate from the world, separate from my past,
separate from everything that made this pain last.
I swallow my pride and search for better things~
search for simple pleasures and the happiness it brings.
Foolishly tardy to objectively see my human error...
and so it shall be
Inspiration
Determination
Confirmation
of my efforts to make change.
A quest for purpose, a place in time.
A quest for reason, not just rhyme.
Striving for a better tomorrow full of hope
and once lost souls, now found,
quietly weeping tears of joy and optimism*

By: Greg W Ruoff

Tired eyes ... tired mind~
but still, my heart beats.
I can feel myself
and feel that my heart...it aches.
I once picked up the pieces
to put myself together~
but again I'm falling apart...
...falling apart at your very feet.
This place where you dwell
is the neighbor to my personal hell~
but I have found salvation...
...a ticket...my ride outta here.
I've been to hell not once,
not twice,
but one time for every scar on my mind*

By: Greg W Ruoff

Set the stage, play the music loud and dance to the melody while the song still plays.

Smell the flower that crosses your path and take a seed with you to plant elsewhere.

Travel far but leave your heart at home...it needs you back.

Build a bridge that others can also cross and never burn that bridge down.

Move freely like the wind in your own direction, but don't blow the roof off those that house your freedom.

Honor and love your power of purpose ... it will lead you to your dreams.

Love back those that show you love ... they are few and far between.

When all rhyme and reason is dead and gone, look to the sky.

Life is short and memory even shorter, so stay in mind by making an impact.

Show the world what you're capable of ... you never know who's watching.

Respect yourself and love your place in this great existence*

By: Greg W Ruoff

Inspired by my Spirituality, I seek bliss of a new kind.
Believed through experience and perfected by failure, I choose my paths...
and I walk them.
Lined with layers upon layers of fable-like trials,
I move steadfastly into uncertainty.
In the shadow of the approaching storm
I persist and I weather~
It will pass and leave me basking in truth's sunshine.
Far from my dark, winding trail
is the pretty, well-lit path,
though not the course to my final destination as fate has dictated...
seldom is.
I hear the faint song of the distant traveler,
but not the words.
I cannot connect.
Not now,
maybe never.
But the tune is music to my ears*

By: Greg W Ruoff

Tonight, on this very night, the night of January 7th, 1999, I made love with Nature for the very first time. I danced with the energies all the while admiring their stunning beauty. I realized that much of what appears to be hard on the surface is really soft inside. The words "pay more attention" echoed loudly through this beautiful world not more than a foot from my face but infinite in its Spiritual marvel. I wonder at this moment in time if the words would grace the paper like the experience has graced me. I have seen. I believe.

By: Greg W Ruoff

In the midst I see myself - Alone
Alone but not lonely.
And then I realize
all that I want has gone and left me
Her spirit is here ... here with me
But her image is just a memory
Shortness of breath ... my body tingles, my eyes swell up
I sit here ... a mess
And trying to find reason
in my problem that has no answer
VOID
VOID
VOID
VOID
VOID
VOID
VOID
Staring at the wall I'm searching for
some semblance of thought
My emotion has commanded all other senses
I'm yearning
My stomach ... gone
My body hollow except for my thoughts
My best friend and my greatest foe
You baffle me, bewilder me, amaze me, arouse me
and give my feelings an identity
that was once John Doe
I am yours ... we are one*

By: Greg W Ruoff

Only time can heal the deepest wounds
Like the tides that shift from the changing moons
And facing the day next, it holds true
Another day here is another day through
And scars will form as a picture in time
One without reason, one without rhyme
But the truth is found in the heavenly skies
A place that's void of these earthly lies
And oh what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive
But the pain that's felt is small in size
To the piercing cries in Jesus' eyes
As He hang up high on the lonely cross
For our years of sin and our years of loss
But we must not break from the weight we're dealt
For He knows the pain and hurt we felt
The day we found our lives had changed
Forever and ever been rearranged
It's a step uncertain and surely hard
To find some love from a love so marred
By things we cannot change or affect
But we move on and let the good Lord direct
To the place He has for us to find
A place to forever leave our troubles behind*

-God bless you mother-

By: Greg W Ruoff

I look and see before me a new breed~
A breed sown from the perfect seed
in a time where growth is more than a want,
more than a need
but a passion...
an inspiration...
to find the most beautiful flower with the sweetest fruit,
and to pollenate it is the dream.
I lust to bleed from the prick of your thorn
as its color excites my senses~
and the very trickle of it arouses me into a relentless pursuit
to share the river from which it flows.
I have picked you
not to be tossed in with a collage of other pretty flowers
but to admire you...
alone,
swimming glorified in your pool of water~
And I smell you at dawn and at dusk
to remind me of the wonderful times I have just shared with you~
This is the marvel that keeps me coming back.
Open your petals to my world and I will shine down upon you~
and may this inner peace of uncertainty
that we have together graced
be your constant reminder of me.
Open your heart...
I am not a demon.
Let me in...
I'm knocking.

By: Greg W Ruoff

Show me your face...
the face of uncontrollable passion~
and we will connect as we've connected before
We lace ourselves together in rhythmic motion
channeling energies of lust from one to another
I feel gratified as I seek out your orgasmic liberation~
They say magic is mythical
but this myth is validated by that which they cannot be a part of.
Our magic is real.
Our magic is you & me.
Our magic just is.

By: Greg W Ruoff

There was once a man who told me 'take it to the top
Spread the word like disease and don't ever stop.
There's only one way to make change...you got the power'
I sat there and listened to him for like an hour
It wasn't every day I was on the same page as another
But I felt the vibe with him, my brother.
Age was no matter...we wanted the same things
What love, peace, unity...what it brings.
It could never happen is what I used to believe
until exploring wisdom's gift that I received
on that night in '95, I thought I'd never survive
but was given second chance to stay alive
and push on, sharing the truths I now see...
the only real means, the only way to be free.
I wanted to hug this guy cuz he related
to the struggles and desires that I boldly stated
as I sat there at the bar, high on the stool.
Quickly he discovered, I wasn't a fool
just a man like him, living each day
looking around, finding a way
to make the best of a relatively bad situation...
looking to the Spirit to guide us through His creation.
And like a river, keep moving along
this is why I write this, this is our song.*

By: Greg W Ruoff

Some say goodbye
others say I'll see you soon
but I won't see you soon enough
I think of you as I hear this tune
To make you feel my love
is why my time was always free
for you and all the things you are
but could not ever see
I saw your world, the world you saw
I saw it far and wide
but saw it from the inside out
for that world I almost died
Hang me up but hear me out
you hate to know what's true
Believe me then and then admit
I saw the world inside of you*

By: Greg W Ruoff

Knock on my emotions
like a door they stand firm
and the weather, it changes
though still I change not~
But I will rise to the challenge
to be softened by your presence
and moved by your touch
I smile once for each breath you take
and travel infinitely into sweet dreams of you
Many have tried to soften me
and many have failed
but you my darling
have loosened all the bolts
that anchor my willingness to try
to my need of being needless
And so secretly I hunger for desire
and lust for deep passion
of the one and only kind that you have shown me
I see what I want now
and get it I will
But know that I will miss these great days
when I leave them behind*