Mike Quinn

The castle is a place where poets dwell,
Where each can cast their wondrous spell.
From the turrets high to the dungeons deep
From each portcullis to the central keep.

Its powerful walls keep foes at bay.
They keep us safe from day to day.
The knights are brave and fight with zeal.
In armored suits and swords of steel...

The poets live as all men should.
Side by side in brotherhood.
The magic of rhyme is all they seek
From modern tongue to ancient Greek.

The castle echoes with the sound of joy,
And haunting words from man and boy.
The maidens fair who live within
Pen words of love and carnal sin.

For each one here there is a place
To release the soul from its inner space.
With words of mirth and sorrow both.
And witches spells of evil oath.

The castle grows from day to day
And people come from far away.
But once inside these walls of grey,
They know that they are here to stay.

Their words are all that leave this place,
Their souls the castle shall embrace.
So in our quest for perfect poem
We call this place our sonnet's home.

You are a princess in my heart,
and I care for you so much.
I love the fondness in you eyes
and your tender little touch.

I looked at you when you were born
and knew then straight away
that I would be forever here
to watch you grow and play.

You bring to me a heart of joy
and memories so great
and a powerful sense of fatherhood
that no one can debate.

I watch you sleep and dream of things
that I can only wonder.
That innocent look upon your face
just makes my heart grow fonder.

I see you run and jump and shout
and calling out my name.
No love that I have ever known
could ever feel the same.

No suffering or tragedy
nor deep-seated pain
could ever overshadow
the bond that we retain.

And so my little princess,
before you go to sleep,
remember I am your daddy
and I am yours to keep.

I sit alone here every day,
Thinking of the child you took away.
She was my heart, she was my soul.
She was the thing that made me whole.

I have no hope, I have no faith, I have no energy,
She was the only pride and joy that rose inside of me,
And now there's just an empty space where laughter used to dwell.
My heart has got no purpose now, it's just an empty shell.

As I look at children play, in parks and on the beach,
I think about my biggest loss, the child I cannot reach.
Sometimes I wonder what she thinks when her mind remembers me.
Does she think about the dad she lost, the dad she never sees.

My days are filled with anger, my nights with painful grief.
How I face each day without her is way beyond belief.
Her toys are strewn about the floor, her bed is empty now.
Abandoned like the autumn leaves shaken from the bough.

There's nothing left for me to have but distant memories,
Of the times we had when she was young and full of energy.
I hear her voice inside my head calling out to me.
And when I close my eyes to sleep, her face is all I see.

But deep within the darkness that lives inside of me,
There is a tiny glimmer, a spark that's hard to see.
That spark is just a remnant of the love that is inside
The love which cannot disappear, the love I cannot hide.