I wrote a ton of poetry in high school and the first few years of adulthood.  Yes, a ton.  By weight it was a ton.  Well, I’m sure if I weighed the paper it wouldn’t be a ton, but man, I wrote a LOT of poetry.  I’d often come up with a concept such as a musical or rock opera and try to write poems that fit the story line.   I’d often find myself writing to an instrumental, such as the following Land of the Lost poem.  It was set to the song African Flame by Herb Alpert. This was part of a musical called Clichés of a Cliché that I worked on shortly after high school.  Land of the Lost was written from the female character’s point of view.  Her relationship with the male character was fractured and she was considering leaving the whole thing behind.

I never did finish the musical to my liking at the time, but years later I did revisit it and pieced together everything.  I wrote a story guide and song list with lyrics, plus came up with a mock soundtrack of popular songs that complimented the musical.  Someday I may publish the complete Clichés of a Cliché here.  For now here is Land of the Lost…

Land of the Lost

You say you love me until the day we die
A ring and a promise are quite enough
I’ll leave our flowing emotions and fly
Because our sea is getting too rough

Your dreams have faded into a world of white
It’s here that time slips into a fevered pace
Broken vows have sapped my strength to fight
My reflection is now an empty, cold face

This is the land of lost dreams
This is the land of lost souls
Two in love against the two
So leave, leave me alone

Please, please open your heart and close your mind
You’ll never know until it’s too late
Our shattered dreams alone I will find
Believe me, my love, it’s been worth the wait

You can listen to Herb Alpert’s African Flame here.