Beyond the Realm: Thoughts from Within is a collection of poetry that expresses human feelings of friendship, love, faith and even delves into the dream, or subconscious state of mind. The author's use of metaphors, similes, and imagery lends an interesting perspective to many of today's complex emotions. A number of the poems add an intriguing element of mystery as to the true intent of the author's message, thus offering the reader an opportunity to reflect upon their own interpretations. A section at the back of the book does explain the theme behind a selection of the poems and aids in understanding some of the author's expressions.

Beyond The Realm

(Thoughts From Within)By Jude A. Brattoli

Trafford Publishing

Copyright © 2012 Jude A. Brattoli
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4669-6837-0

Contents

Introduction.......................................xiLet's Talk.........................................1Speak No Evil......................................2Healthy, Wealthy, And Weird........................3A Friend In Need...................................4The Counselor......................................5Love Always ... Isn't All Ways.....................6Dream States.......................................7Color Me Blue......................................8Overlap............................................9P Js...............................................10R.O.T.U.M..........................................11Why?...............................................12Instant Replay.....................................13I'll Be Alright....................................14From the Heart.....................................15To You.............................................16Sleepless Love.....................................17Love Trance........................................18Looking Glass Lie..................................19A Winter Wish......................................20A Distant Love.....................................22Love In The Air....................................23Mercy..............................................24The Way Eye See It.................................25Stampede...........................................26On Deck............................................27Plea Of The Trees..................................28A Note To My Sun...................................29The Winter Warlock.................................30Stones.............................................31Life Cycles........................................32Rap It Up..........................................34Clouds.............................................35Black Rain.........................................36The Temptress......................................38The Note...........................................39Dark Angel.........................................40Brain Storm........................................41Hide And Seek......................................42The Cyclone........................................43The Empty Realm....................................44Dedicated..........................................45Ship Of Jules......................................46Dear John..........................................47The Passage........................................49The Poe M..........................................50Without A Trace....................................51The Sapling........................................52Lyf Is Short.......................................53Noon...............................................54Time Clock.........................................54The Scar...........................................55A Fade In Time.....................................55Set Sail...........................................56Destination Unknown................................56Above And Beyond...................................57The Man In The Chair...............................58Transparent........................................61Stone ColdVisit....................................62Beyond The Senses..................................63Connect The Dots...................................64Hunters In The Haze................................65Full Circle........................................66A Test Of Faith....................................68The Abyss..........................................69Changing Tides.....................................70Encore.............................................71Ashes to Ashes.....................................72Voodoo.............................................73The Reception......................................74Raspberries........................................75Beautiful Thorns...................................76Through Child Eyes.................................77Safe Harbor........................................78Author's Explanation of Poems......................79

Chapter One

Let's Talk

Too often we find that we're set in our mind,
Thus creating an altercation.
If I see things your way and you likewise, mine today,
Then we establish communication.


Speak No Evil

Ask me not of politics,
For I'll corrupt your mind,
But I'd gladly scratch your back
If you're willing to scratch mine.
Discuss not the sexes;
It is a battle without end.
If one finds himself outnumbered
There's no stand to defend.
If you speak of justice,
You may stand alone,
For I haven't enough money
To be the first to cast a stone.
Please, preach no religion
That you'd have me believe.
I can't add to its basket
When my hand's not received.


Healthy, Wealthy, And Weird

Red dye number five;
It's a wonder we're alive.
Don't smoke. Don't drink.
It's a wonder we can think.
Eggs and fat and bacon grease;
More bad things we must decrease.
Let's watch our weight and cholesterol.
You can take a pill for the rest of it all.
Insecticides and pesticides ...
It's all a bit of suicide.
Smog, pollution, and acid rain ...
We live in fear and live in vain.
Decaying birds and mosquito bites,
Allow billboards pop up overnight.
Radiation and microwaves ...
By our own design, we are slaves.
Let's take a moment to catch our breath,
For we haven't lived, but accepted death.


A Friend In Need

What difference has changed your perception of me?
Would you stand bar against all I could be?
Would you steal my thunder, or shadow my dreams?
Would you cloud my visions with deceitful schemes?
Do you blow on the flame of my heart's desire
To let yours burn alone, brighter and higher?
Can you speak without guilt, your words of repression,
To dull my senses, like an act of aggression?
Deny me not life's quest to succeed;
For you measure by points, profits, and greed.
Don't pollute my ears with your talk about rules;
Lest we alter or bend them, we alone stand the fools.
So mute not my words and allow me speak free,
For together, one voice, perhaps we'll agree.
Don't misunderstand; there's no need to defend.
All that I ask is that you just be my friend.


The Counselor

Take to my shoulder when your head grows weary,
That the burden of your grief may rain upon me.
Be it my hand you grasp when you have fallen
And I will rescue your dignity from doubters.
Allow my eyes see what darkens the doors of your mind.
I will light the way and lead you to safe passage.
May my voice be the words you strain to speak.
I will herald the message and you shall be heard.
Give me authority to extinguish your anxiety
And allow my deeds defend your desires.
Trust and believe, that in the loyalty of your friendship,
Lies one who will guide, defend, and protect you.
For I am your shepherd, your strength, your shield.
I am the consigliore.


Love Always ... Isn't All Ways

And the signature read, "Love Always."
But just yesterday, you took friendship away,
Yet the signature read, "Love Always."
I sat reading a note, from the past that you wrote,
And my mind wandered the path of our youth;
How we climbed apple trees, with bark skinned knees,
And sold lemonade from a cut up cardboard booth.
Whispered winds echoed childhood friends,
With secrets we promised in pact;
From faded years we grew, but still somehow I knew,
Our friendship, through change, was intact.
While thumbing a page, I awoke to my age,
And behind this child I no longer can hide;
But what words did I say, gave you right take away
The one true friend in whom I confide?
Thus, I struggle these words so frequently heard,
And we so freely write without thought;
So, if it's all just the same, I'll sign only my name,
As "Love Always," remains written for naught.

Chapter Two

Dream States

How mysterious be this state of mind,
In which the subconscious does subside.
Thoughts and deeds, in visions unwind,
And reality with fantasy collide.


Color Me Blue

I stand taller in blue,
With my shirt colored sky.
On my chest is a mirror of respect;
Its words reflect why.
There's a logo in thread sewn to my arm,
Cross-stitched in silk to protect it from harm.
A dark navy tie hangs round my neck.
I have a nine at my hip; I keep it in check.
I'm famous on stage, in red and blue lights,
Yet, I stand alone in darkness tonight.
I wear a dark hat on my head
To hide my deep thoughts,
But my eyes tell the story
Of a dream I have wrought.


Overlap

You returned yesterday, as though you had not a care;
My white rose of beauty, soft and fair.
We walked side by side; you and your game!
Teasing my love; have you no shame?
I walked you home, this white knight and his maiden.
I held back the wolves; kept you safe from the dragon.
You coaxed me draw near with a smile of grace.
To my arms you did fall in a lover's embrace.
A passionate desire burned like a fire in rage.
Dishonorable be a kiss, for I'm now twice your age.
Guilt overwhelmed me though I had you alone.
I belong to another and have a child of my own.
What cross-rip in time, or tunnel through space,
Has returned me here to this moment and place?
In a tumbler of glass sift the grains of sand;
You faded away and slipped through my hands.
The past and the present, in an electrical scheme,
Slumber in the mind and short circuit the dream.


P Js

No hands, nor feet, just hooded shapes;
Float before me like window drapes.
A faceless shadow hovers near.
What be this apparition that I fear?
Whispered words, in foreign tongue,
Forewarn a fate yet to come.
Outstretched wings take to flight.
Is it angel or evil? A damning plight!
A nightly menace of haunting scheme;
I'm unable to awaken from this dream.
For they are not man, but perhaps the beast;
Here for my soul, the Phantom Jackals feast.


R.O.T.U.M.

Beware! For you have not foreseen my warning.
Better for you that you grow ever conscious in
your mind and deeds, least you befall ill fated.
For I will find you, unsuspecting, in your weakest
sleeping hour, and like a plague, I will blacken your
world and take from you all you once held as sacred.
A darkness of evil will consume you, so great in power,
that you will cry out to be rescued, even upon Satan's wings.
I am not of his realm, nor yours. My presence possesses the
ability to pass through the corridors of all time and dimension;
fantasy and reality, memory and thought, emotion and spirit.
I am the energy of all that is unholy, the force of collective sin
from the beginning of time, and dark shadow to the secrets
of the eternal soul. I am the everlasting dream of torment.
I am Rotum.


Why?

Why is it emotions should run so deep?
Memory, like rain, pours down while I sleep.
Visions of you are the photos I keep.
Attraction, love, and lust intertwine.
Desire is the fruit that grows from its vines.
The taste on my lips from yours is like wine;
So why is it bitter, when recalled so kind?
Sweet passion be poison, in the guilt of my mind.
My conscience is the chains and the ropes that bind.
My spirit cries out; be steadfast and true!
But the suppression of honesty I can not do;
And why is it wrong, for me to love you?
Unsettled, I wrestle with commitment and faith;
But long last the night in fear of the wraith.


Instant Replay

Yesterday's voices and deeds unwind,
Over and over in the back of my mind.
The indecision of choices taps in my brain;
Like the storm out my window, down pours the rain.
Each flash of lightening is a fleeting thought.
Thunder echoes its replay in this game that I've wrought.
My past is a river and I trapped in its wake;
Memories flood in and the levee breaks.
Time lapse photos unfold like flowers.
Repeating snapshots fill restless hours.
My words return, to burn in my ears,
As recorded regret to capture my fears.
I request a time-out to post a yield,
But my subconscious controls the plays on the field.
Rewind, fast forward, pause, and play;
No stop, or eject with instant replay.


I'll Be Alright

Another night weeping in my sleep;
I awake cold and lonely in the deep.
But, you see, it's all these memories that I keep.
I see your smiling face above my bed
And gently draw my pillow to my head,
Trying to recall those words we said.

I'll be alright, if I can hold you tonight.
How real it did seem. All brought on by just a dream.
When the night time comes, I'm the lonely one, but
I'll be alright, if I could just hold you tonight.

I want to stay asleep for days.
Together, we could dream our love away.
Far from this world is where we'd stay.
These city streets are so unkind.
So many fools to love are blind,
But you're forever on my mind!

I'll be alright, if I can hold you tonight.
How real it did seem. All brought on by just a dream.
When the night time comes, I'm the lonely one, but
I'll be alright, if I could just hold you tonight.

I'll build a castle in the sand.
We'll walk the woods. I'll hold your hand.
Oh, why can't you understand?
Just a little longer, please!
Can't you see I'm on my knees?
But dreams have no sympathy ...
You gently wave good-bye,
But the morning's not nearly nigh
And again, I break down and cry.

I'll be alright, if I can hold you tonight.
How real it did seem. All brought on by just a dream.
When the night time comes, I'm the lonely one, but
I'll be alright, if I could just hold you tonight.

Chapter Three

From the Heart

This beating muscle, within our chest,
Simply allows us to survive;
But the emotion attached, to this organ of life,
Lets us know that we're alive.


To You

To you, I would give my eyes.
Now behold what I see in you;
An angel in disguise.

To you, I would lend my heart.
Its warmth you feel is a kindled love
In a fire you did start.

To you, I would open my mind.
Reveal the thoughts I have of you;
Pleasant, gentle, and kind.

To you, I would expose my very soul.
Discover its secrets and share with me
All the love for you I hold.


Sleepless Love

Once more again, I could not find sleep.
You on my mind
In visions so kind;
I looked upon you while you slumbered deep.
Did I tell her today, "I love you, my dear?"
Did I hug her?
Did I kiss her?
Or allow her fall sleep after cross words I fear.
Know this my love, should you awake before me.
May the wings of a dove
Carry to you all my love
If my eyes shut tonight and never again do they see.


Love Trance

Mesmerized and hypnotized,
I'm paralyzed, when by your side.
I can't disguise this love that lies
Within my heart; I just can't hide.
I'm in distress, I must confess,
By the power you possess.
Your tenderness and sweet caress
Are like the spell of a sorceress.
You're a fragrant breeze that I must seize,
Like springtime blossoms, through the trees.
In your voice I freeze. Say something, please!
For you bring this grown man to his knees.
You hear my cries, but you don't realize
I'm trapped by the magic within your eyes.
The binds that tie are in your sighs.
Holding you does tranquilize.
To my heart it's love's lance. With you, I took chance.
Forever I'm a prisoner within your love trance.


Looking Glass Lie

Fair princess, she stands before her looking glass,
But only a faded, pale youth does she see.
No suitor comes call, or beckons her heart's release,
And thus, she waits anguished and betrayed.
Scornful words to herself she speaks,
Lamenting lost years of wasted love.
Her heart's true desire in passion burns,
And in the vile darkness, of an evil moon,
Again she cries out into a silencing night sky.
Oh, lonely maiden, turn away from this deceitful glass!
Its twisted image is but a false reflection of thee.
For I have beheld thy royal radiance of grace
And wish to rescue thee from this illusive plight.
Choose not the poison set there before you,
But run to tower's open window and call to me;
For I shall shatter this glass of foolish vanity
And forever free your heart from its prison.


A Winter Wish

I lie awake these lonely winter nights
Beneath a deep, dark, bitter blue.
There's the wanting warmth of a fireside,
And passion's fire that ignites with you.
It's your tender touch and candy kisses
That allow this man forget his woes.
So, I close my eyes and envision you,
But with empty arms, my heartache shows.
I recall your soothing, yet hushed lullaby;
In my ear, you'd softly sing.
Forever your voice, like the gentle rain,
From winter, you brought me spring.
Heaven's magic beams from your eyes,
So in their view I want to be.
There's a healing power in your fingertips;
One touch sets my spirit free.
I wish you here with whispered voice,
But like the silence of the night;
I'm left within the cold and dark,
Awaiting answer of your love's light.
Ever so quiet, I strain to hear
That reply return from you.
But in the waning hours of unrest,
There's only starlight's changing hue.
What change of fate will daylight bring?
Can winter winds whisk you here to me?
If I awake to find you by my side,
Is it dream desires that hold the key?
Sleep soon finds my weary eyes,
But before I drift away,
I call to you one last time
That your song might start my day.


A Distant Love

It was just yesterday when love came my way,
In soft words you said unto me.
Now I fear to go on, for that love may be gone.
Love that I was too blind to see.
If I could only change time, then you would be mine
And our love we could freely express.
Though fate's not on my side, still I can't hide,
A love that's so hard to repress.
If I could just find the way to stay here today,
I'd hold you forever, so fast.
But in life I have found, that faith holds us bound,
And I can not escape from my past.
But remember this, my love, when you hear the coo of a dove,
And look to a sky of pure blue.
Life may be just a game, but in my heart it's the same,
And it's all the love that I hold for you.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Beyond The Realmby Jude A. Brattoli Copyright © 2012 by Jude A. Brattoli. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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