Two Poems By Brian A. Yapko

                           A SONNET FOR UNREQUITED LOVE
 
When midnight passes, and then one, and two,
And all my worries still will not dissolve
Into a restless slumber, I resolve
To lie awake – evading thoughts of you.
But as the steady beating of my heart
Grows deafening and thunders in my ears,
My eyes stay open, and I count the years
That we shall never share. We are apart
And destined to remain so. Be content:
Our eyes, by never meeting, will stay dry;
Our lips, untouched by passion, will speak truth;
Our brows, unmoved by joy, will keep their youth;
And thus we’ll live secure until we die –
Alive, but incomplete, with hearts of stone...
O, why were we condemned to live alone?

                                 OCTOBER SONG
 
An Autumn walk is what you need
The smell of rain on crumpled leaves
 
A sleeping forest – no one grieves
To see the days grow short and cold.
 
You’re earned a rest from civil greed,
From pondering what life has cost.
 
You need to feel the cold, clean frost
And watch the Summer growing old.
 
You’ll hear the rustle of the trees
And mourn the exile of the birds
 
Their mournful cries like poignant words
As if they won’t be back at all.
 
But trust they will. The winter ends
And life renews despite the death
 
Of seasons, hopes and friends
So nobly lost upon the heath.
 
A gnarled oak, a chilling breeze
A rust-brown squirrel, a timid deer,
 
A refuge, for the time is here
To seek the solace of the Fall.

Brian A. Yapko has been an attorney for many years. He was raised in Southern California and received a Bachelors Degree with honors in English Literature from U.C.L.A. and a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School .  He is admitted to practice law in California, Oregon and New Mexico.  Mr. Yapko now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his husband, Jerry and their dog, Bianca.