My Poet Tree

By Mike Carter

My Poet Tree reflects my personal journey through life expressed in verse

From the consequences of war in Painted In Red to the emotional turmoil
of lost love in Crippled Smiles. We cross a landscape where the
frailty of age is captured in Of Our Lives.

Then we pause for a moment to consider the guilt or innocence in
This Cell My Prison, before moving on to the fragile state of this planet in
I Challenge The Day.
there are many twists and emotions that are examined throughout the book
an example being We Wear It Well.

Occasionally we stop to smile as in Theres An Elephant In My Garden.
Before dipping in to memories of childhood as revisited in
Theres A Secret In My Cupboard.
Then we leave behind the absurdity of imagined horror in Reaper;
to slip into self-awareness in Made Of Stone.

Along the way we will relive the terror of an ocean storm in
The Sinking Of The Santa Fe. Then move to a poem titled
Thats My Life, an attempt to understand the things that motivate
the way we are. Included is a tribute to a great poet in
An Ode To Edgar Allan Poe.

So I welcome you to join me, and share the experiences and memories
that is My Poet Tree

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: May 9, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481792714

Mike Carter

Mike Carter is the founder and president of Tours & Crawls of Annapolis and Baltimore, which has been in operation since 2002. His Annapolis Ghost Tours are consistently rated among the top five paranormal tours in the country, while his Baltimore tours are quickly becoming just as popular and well received. He earned his BA from the University of Maryland, College Park. Julia Dray is a professional musician, writer and performer. After attending St John's College in Annapolis she worked as a restaurant manager, technical writer, magazine editor and pianist before joining Annapolis Ghost Tours in 2007. Locals and visitors alike know her as the "ghost tour lady."

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© 2013 by Mike Carter. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 04/29/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-9270-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-9271-4 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Foreword

Throughout history authors have often sought to diversify or change direction from the path from which they are already accomplished. Some succeed; many fail.

Mike Carter is no different in wanting to test his metal by dipping his quill into the inky black reservoir of unknown waters.

The result is a myriad of poems ranging from loneliness, heartache, love, nature and the macabre. Each is tackled in his own style and delivered with passion, energy and confidence.

His detailed observations transform our world giving us a new perspective in which to view the mundane routines of our everyday lives.

There will be tears, understanding, joy and even despair; a little something for everyone.

My Poet Tree is the place for those who not only want to read poetry but want to be able to see it, touch it and breathe it.

Grab yourself a coffee; put your feet up and immerse yourself in Mike Carter’s world of verse.

Dan Watts

Hooded Stranger

This book is dedicated

to

Mum and dad

Contents

Foreword

Forget All Your Roses

Foolish Heart of Mine

Painted in red

With Age

Come On

Crippled Smiles

Free

Light

Until It Is Time

Snow Crystal on an Icicle

This Is

Of Our Lives

Blood Red the Heart

What Will You Do?

Violin on the Hill

This Cell My Prison

Mine’s On My Sleeve

Go Ahead

How

So You Intervened

Dark Love

Paint

A Biscuit for My Tea

Mother

For The Tears I Cry

Each Breath

Come Stroke My Hand

Reflections

Tranquillity

Dance of Love

I Wrote For You Today

Is the Mariner in Me?

Age

From Your Eyes

Someone

Look

Crystal Tears

Innocent or Guilty

Became a Flower

In Hopes That You Will Stay

In Your Smile

Still Shine For Me

But A Branch Breaks

Start Again

It Almost Feels Like Sleep

Like Me

Of Wisdom and Right

The Clock Ticks

From Yesterday

Warrior for Nature

With Each Passing Day

Can I Be Me

In My Eye

No More Emptiness

I Challenge the Day

Theatre of the Heart

It’s Time

So This I Would Do

Crawl If You Must

As Paradise Dies

We Wear It Well

I’m Surprised We’re Still Here

Walpurgis

Beyond The Day

The Breath I Breathe

Preparing the Ground

Footprints in the Dust of the Moon

For A While

Dawn Lightens the Sky

Only In My Head

The Cobwebs of Night

Within Each Day

Reaper

Give

I Saw

You Can’t Taste the Apple

In Case You Burn

Always Here

Made Of Stone

Until It Is Done

Our Misery Made You Smile

A Prisoner of My Mind

In My Memory for Me

I Say Because

The Sinking Of the Santa Fe

That’s My Life

The Demon Loneliness

An Ode to Edgar Allan Poe

Nightmare Time

At Last I’m Free

Through The Night

I’ll Write You a Song

An Elephant in My Garden

There’s A Secret in My Cupboard

For A Little While

Made Of Glass

But So Are the Dead

This Is Where I Want To Be

So Lonely Is the View

Forget All Your Roses

flower.png

Forget all your roses

Your cards

And your gifts

Love is concept

You tear and you twist

It’s a killer of hearts

And a vessel for tears

And the scars that you carry

Can last you for years

Forget all your roses

They shrink and then die

You rinse out the vase

Then ask yourself why

They smile and then kiss you

But then break your heart

Too soon it’s over with barely a start

Hold onto your memories

Be they twisted unreal

This is not about truth

It’s about how you feel

Forget all your roses

They give birth to pain

Their perfume misleads you

Temptation’s the same

You laugh and you smile

Until the end of the day

And then when you need love

It just fades away

Forget all your roses

True love is a scam

You’re better off single

I know that I am

And yet close to midnight

When you’re all alone

You wish there was someone

You could call your own

Foolish Heart of Mine

flower.png

Tiptoe softly to the door

Knock then whisper

Then some more

Open up and come on in

Foolish heart of mine

Close the curtains

Take your time

Now we’ll share

This love of mine

Hold me closer

Don’t let go

Foolish heart of mine

But the storm clouds gather

Lightning fills the sky

I stand here still waiting

Who can tell me why?

Tears are my companions

Moonlight shows the way

I’m looking at tomorrow

But long for yesterday

Oh foolish heart of mine

So take me from this lonely place

Put a smile upon my face

Hold my hand; a gentle kiss

I just can’t go on like this

You’re my secret; keep it so

Now the rain falls; time to go

As the day dawns; it won’t show

This foolish heart of mine

Painted in red

flower.png

Take a look around you

There’s blood upon the ground

It soothes the flowers

Absorbs the sound

A battle brings turmoil

A legion of dead

The green of the grass

Now painted in red

Brothers and Uncles

Fathers and Sons

The young and the foolish

All carrying guns

No time to give reasons

Just time to die

Giving your everything

Without asking why

Through tendrils of smoke

And forests of fire

The sound of the wounded

Rising higher and higher

Lunar like craters

Scattered around

A tattered flag trampled

’Neath mud on the ground

Now nightfall