A Pale Shade of Blue: A Collection of Poetry

by Tommy Melis

Overview

In this revised edition of his poetry collection, A Pale Shade of Blue, Tommy Melis explores topics ranging from feminism and equality to religious oppression and existential freedom. For this revision, he has added new poems written between 2011 and 2012 and included previously unreleased poetry written between 1999 and 2008, representing his earliest work. Like most Cuban Americans, he grew up in a family that celebrated their rich cultural history as both Cuban exiles and first-generation Americans.

The characters represented in his poems have overcome mental illness and found healing in identifying common societal themes between the blurred lines of justice and freedom. Having to find their way to the light, they speak out of the darkness they have seen, and their relentless emotional trappings they each seek to be free from. The stories are of perseverance and often speak of things normally swept under rugs. The poems in this collection are divided into five distinct books: “Book One: The Tree Growing” represents rebirth and belief; “Book Two: Stems” considers embracing and releasing the darkness; “Book Three: Branches” speaks to oppression and cultural moldings; “Book Four: Fire” covers lessons learned; and “Book Five: Roots” looks at the connection between the poet and his reader.

A Pale Shade of Blue opens up the world of a vibrant culture and the emotions associated with overcoming personal challenges for all to consider.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781491704059
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	02/10/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	204
File size:	2 MB

Read an Excerpt

A PALE SHADE OF BLUE

A Collection of Poetry

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By Tommy Melis

iUniverse LLC

Copyright © 2014 Tommy Melis
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4917-0404-2

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CHAPTER 1

    A Thin Line

    Made or broken,
    Growing or dead,
    It's a thin line,
    My two brains collide,
    And there's a fusion in my soul,
    An evolution inside me,
    I'm like a butterfly with many lives,
    It's a cycle you see,
    Sometimes I'm withering,
    Sometimes I'm in metamorphosis,
    Other times I'm just a cocoon,
    Made or broken,
    Growing or dead,
    It's a thin line,
    My two brains collide
    And there's a fusion in my soul,
    A volcano has erupted in me,
    Now my lava reaches out to you,
    Igniting your passion even stronger,
    Your passion for me,
    You say you loved me,
    But now this is beyond love or hate,
    We are neither made or broken,
    Growing or dead,
    If I'm the butterfly and you have to catch me,
    How long will this go on?
    It's a cycle you see,
    Sometimes we're withering,
    Sometimes we're metamorphosis,
    Other times we're just two separate cocoons.


    I'm Still Free

    Never did I say this would be a prison,
    A place I stay captured,
    Yet I'm bound by restrictions,
    And still say now,
    That I still feel free,
    Call me a mystic,
    Call this a phony belief,
    & Totally Cultural,
    But I' am the Master of My Universe,
    If I choose to be,
    Though I may feel at time ordinary,
    I Choose to hold on to the dream of needing to
    Achieve my unique personal potential
    Into Many dreams come true in my lifetime,
    I Choose the need for wanting to leave behind,
    a legacy for future generations,
    of my tiny footprint,
    in the world's colossal maze.


    In Heavens Picture Show

    I guess the old man still has some talent,
    He will dance with her,
    She will come to life,
    As grey moves blackness aside and turns back into white,
    The night is still young,
    They will dance the night away,
    Now and forever,
    Inside misty water colored glass,
    A picture that will live on for eternity,
    Even if only in memory,
    Even after it has turned back to black,
    Even after the glass has broken,
    They will be dancing,
    Father and daughter,
    In heavens picture show.


    Light Chaser

    White light shines on me in the shape of a man,
    Is that you,
    What does this mean,
    What do you want me to say,
    To who do you want me to say it to,
    I'll be your messenger,
    If you trust me,
    White light come closer,
    Shine on me,
    I'm not afraid,
    Take me into your arms,
    And let the truth inside me live,
    Allow for myself to shine bright,
    Shine bright with your light,
    Also let me be a guide,
    As you guide me,
    Allow me to free myself of darkness,
    And leave behind your light chaser.


    She Is

    From a zygote to a fetus,
    From her womb came a child,
    Her power can not be denied,
    Her grace can only be enraptured,
    She is Woman,
    She is Mother,
    She is Goddess,
    From a zygote to a fetus,
    From her womb came a child,
    Her sorrows hidden deep in her memory,
    For she must be strong,
    Strong for her child,
    Though her sorrows she does not deny,
    She does replace them with the gratitude she can see in
    her child's eyes,
    For this is her mission,
    Her responsibility,
    To nurture,
    To teach,
    To give without expecting anything in return,
    To make a better man,
    Better then the man whom the child came from,
    Better then the man who gave to her sorrows,
    Better then the man who cheats on his wife,
    Better then the man who is lustful and full of strife,
    Better then a man who would cause a woman,
    A wife,
    A mother,
    Such pain,
    Yes, better then that man,
    Better then the man who lies and hides his true sexuality,
    Yes, better then that man,
    Better then the man who swindles and squanders his
    money,
    Leaving his children and wife for some hot blonde,
    Better then a man who neglects and abuses his children,
    Better then a man who abuses his wife,
    Better then a man who is a slave to his addiction,
    Better then a man who would defame and laugh at the
    sound of her name,
    Better then a man who would discredit the power of The
    Holy Virgin Mary,
    Mother of Christ,
    For she did exist and she was the mother of Jesus of
    Nazareth,
    Better then a man who prays for only that of the material
    world,
    This is so much more then a material world,
    And remember when all is gone, what is left but an olive
    tree,
    Better then a man who grows to be hungry, angry, lonely,
    and discontent,
    Better then a man who wishes everyone ill-fate,
    For the sake of his ego and the glory he gets from being
    triumphant among lost souls,
    Better then a man who is weak,
    Not only in body,
    But in mind,

    Spirit,
    And soul,
    For she is strong,
    She is the tree of life,
    Life which bears fruit eternally,
    Fruits she produces out of her thick womanly branches,
    Sweeter then the ripest pear,
    and yes sometimes bitter like a sour grape,
    In her roots she holds the wisdom of her Mother,
    And her grandmother,
    And yes, her Mother to,
    For she is the tree of life,
    And the tree of life is eternal,
    In every dimension,
    In every realm,
    For she is Mother,
    She is a Saint,
    She is an angel,
    And because she produced you; She is love,
    Love made,
    Made into a beautiful tree,
    A tree that produces and will always produce for all the
    ages to come,
    From a zygote to a fetus,
    From her womb,
    From her womanly branches,
    Came a child,
    I' am nothing more then a mustard seed,
    A mustard seed that became a tree,
    A mustard seed she produced,

    A mustard seed he planted so effortlessly,
    But she was the one who brought down the rain to feed
    me,
    It was her natural instinct,
    And it was all she had to know to help me grow,
    I' am nothing but a mustard seed,
    Yet she is so much more,
    So much more then my Mother,
    So much more then a teacher,
    So much more then my most trusted friend,
    She is the tree her self,
    The tree in me,

    The tree of life,
    Oh yes, I have no doubt in my mind who she really is,
    She is The Goddess Gaia,
    Mother of the Earth,
    She holds the World in the fruit of her womb,
    And yes she is my Mother,
    From a zygote to a fetus,
    From her womb,
    From her womanly branches came me,
    From a taste of the forbidden fruit,
    From Cleopatra's suicide,
    To the reinventing of the Egyptian Goddess Isis,
    As she took her journey out of Egypt and into Rome as
    the Virgin Mary,
    Her mission not yet finished,
    From the rape of Mary Magdalene out of the Christian
    faith,

    The bride of Jesus made prostitute by Pope Gregory the
    Great,
    From the fire that burned Joan of Arc,
    From the ashes that still linger the air in the North
    Eastern coast of Salem,
    From the oppression of women for thousands of years by
    men all around the world,
    From a zygote to a fetus,
    From her womb,
    From her womanly branches,
    From her suffering came me,
    Burned,
    Cut down,
    Pulled out from her roots,
    It's kind of funny really,
    How men still disregard her power,
    She will always come back,
    Stronger then before,
    For she is the tree of life,
    She is woman,
    She is Mother,
    She is all,
    All you really have,
    Yes, she has many faces,
    Many shapes and colors,
    She is everywhere and nowhere,
    But you can hear her if you listen closely,
    If you listen to the wind and the air we breath,
    You can see her face,
    She's really not that far from view,
    Just stare at the moon for as long as you can,
    And you will see her,
    You can feel her strength when you reap the wheat from
    the fields,

    Do you feel her strength running through your blood,
    And the mysteries of time reveal themselves as you feel
    her peace,
    Her serenity,
    When you just look at the ocean,
    Like her,
    Like everything,
    Remember,
    The waves come and go,
    Yes, she is there,
    She is everywhere,
    And I know you can feel her,
    Feel her running through your veins,
    You need not look that far at all,
    For she is the tree of life,
    She is woman,
    She is Mother,
    She is all,
    She is all you have,
    From a zygote to a fetus,
    From her womb,
    From her womanly branches,
    From her love came me,
    And it is because of her that I may know love,
    From her love came me,

    A mustard seed that grew into a better man,
    She is woman,
    She is Mother,
    She is all,
    She is all you have,
    And oh yes you can find her,
    You can reach her to,
    Remember she may come and go,
    But she is still everywhere,
    Everywhere you look,
    Though she may be everywhere and nowhere,
    She is still, and always will be there for you,
    For remember she is Mother,
    She is all,
    She is all you have,

    If you ever learned how to love it was because of her,
    Remember she is Woman,
    She is Eve,
    She is Cleopatra in her finest head dress,
    She is Isis,
    Reincarnate as the Virgin Mary,
    She is Mary Magdalene,
    The one who was appointed by God may I add,
    She is Joan of Arc still alive and fighting for freedom,
    She is Woman,
    She is Mother,
    She is all,
    She is all you'll ever have,
    From a zygote to a fetus,
    From the fruit of her womb came me,
    A mustard seed that grew to be a better man.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from A PALE SHADE OF BLUE by Tommy Melis. Copyright © 2014 Tommy Melis. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Book One,
A Thin Line, 3,
I'm Still Free, 4,
In Heavens Picture Show, 5,
Light Chaser, 6,
She Is, 7,
This Place, 14,
Be Peace, 15,
Spirituality, 17,
One, 18,
Waiting, 19,
Spring bring forth, 20,
What now am I?, 22,
The Goddess, 26,
Diana, 27,
I know not, 28,
Earth Mother, 30,
She Bleeds, 31,
I know not, 32,
Witch and the coven I pray, 33,
A Prayer to Jupiter, 34,
Hecate, 35,
Candle prayer to the Lord and Lady and Eternal Spirit, 36,
Candles In the Daylight, 37,
Untitled #7, 38,
Sleeping prayer, 39,
Prayer for Protection, 40,
House Blessing Prayer, 41,
Untitled #8, 42,
Occhun, 43,
Untitled #9, 44,
Disorientation, 45,
Take Breath, 46,
Advice, 47,
As I Close My Eyes, 48,
Sailing, 49,
The Ocean and Time, 50,
Tide, 51,
Awake, 52,
The Witch's Brew, 53,
Little Pumpkin, 54,
Grandmother, 55,
Letter To David, 56,
Torch, 57,
Book Two,
Black & White?, 61,
Grandmother Free Your Ghost, 63,
If I Could Only Say, 64,
Koo Koo, 66,
Letter to my Son, 67,
Like Venus on a Cloudy Day, 68,
Plastic Cage Girl, 70,
The Window Pain, 71,
In My Head, 72,
Spirit, 76,
H20, 77,
Stripped, 79,
Dew, 80,
Take Me Away, 81,
Crawling, 82,
Untouchable Light, 83,
Grow, 84,
Waiting, 87,
The Spirit of My Lethargic, 88,
Depression and Session, 89,
Depression, 91,
My Deepest Darkest Mind, 92,
Half a Bottle Later, 93,
Haunting, 95,
Book Three,
Enlarging a Photograph, 99,
Bitten Apple, 100,
My Sins, 102,
Bread & Wine, 103,
Her Story, 104,
His Story, 105,
No More Circles, 106,
The Story of an American Woman, 108,
Conformity, 112,
War, 113,
Mite Tongue, 114,
Masking, 115,
No Place Like Home, 116,
Contradiction, 117,
Chess Puzzle, 119,
Missed, 120,
Pushing in the Directions, 121,
Faith, 122,
Nail, 124,
Liberation, 125,
Pink, 126,
Book Four,
Sad, 129,
Separation, 130,
To Put Up With a Man, 131,
Fear and Patience, 132,
Venus Love, 133,
Angel of Bliss, 134,
The Ideal Love that will work, 136,
What can I do?, 137,
Eyes, 138,
Gold Digger, 139,
Beware, 140,
Sweet and Sour, 142,
The Taming of the Bum, 143,
Rob, 147,
The Lies, 149,
Loved Dipped in Red, 150,
Heaven's Kiss, 152,
The Middle, 153,
Destiny, 154,
Stale Taste of Their Lips, 155,
Secreto, 156,
Dark Prince, 158,
Freedom Fighting, 159,
Don't bring me any flowers, 160,
Candy Apple Covered Glass, 161,
The Promise, 162,
Bridgetina, 163,
White Light, 164,
Learning to Give, 165,
A Song About You ... Yeah, You, 166,
This Angry Ghost I Met Said, 167,
The Lies, 168,
Hurt, 169,
Book Five,
Late Night Writer, 173,
Umbrellas Clashing, 174,
Would it be nice?, 176,
Laughter, 177,
What about You?, 178,
My Blood, 181,
Every Day is A War, 182,
One Day, 183,
The Hunter, 185,
My Room, 186,
Letter to my Son, 187,