Thursday, December 30, 2010


"Untitle sketch" 2010 8.5x11 Pen and ink from my sketches during New Orleans visit

In the thin grey light of morning
Twelve roses lie down red and dying
Dampened by the drops of rain
That tap against my window pane
A killers soul that burns with fire
This dawn holds on to love's desire
A Street lamp glows, it's time grows short
While day awaits this night's retort
In the blanket fog and satin sheets
A clock breaks up the silent sleep
It ticks onto the beating heart
That watches from the distant chair
I disturb you from your deepest sleep
Make love to you soft and slow
For soon I must take my leave
For soon it is my time to go

"Dreams and geishas" 8x11 Pen and inks from the sketchbook of Terrence L Cope.

"Blue girl in New Orleans 2010" ; 8x10 pen, ink and pastel from the sketchbook.

Into my city's sleep
Day! Light casting shadow
A passerby walks discreet
This ancient road, this cobbled street
Standing water reflects the sky
It's stories rise above my head
Wicked things are not denied
As this city lays me down to bed

Monday, December 20, 2010


Cold and dark our life begins
A journey starts, a journey ends
Armies of the countless souls

Flash and wither like dust in fire
Ever so bright this Meteorite
Dies to give this darkness light
As soon as it was, it is no more
For few will touch these golden shores
So burn bright this glorious night
Together we light up the skies

With all the souls that are around
And all the fires that do abound
We form the sun, a star that shines
For it is our time...........It is our time

Saturday, December 18, 2010



The lights are low and I can see the mirror ball dance in your eyes. There was not a thought in our heads to leave the dance floor yet. There was not a notion to let go of one another. It had taken a long journey of life's responsibilities, broken dreams and dead ends to get to the point where we are now. We were at last happy and in each others arms. On the dance floor, under the soft lights is where we wanted to be. Everyone had gone to their seats but we stayed and kissed for the world to see our love. We kissed and the band started playing .....

Friday, December 17, 2010


We stumble and fall past a once distant future
  Resigning to live out the rest of our days
Wrapped in thoughts, lost dreams we created
  Cold, naked, we shiver in the beds that we made
Blue-violet shadows a thin dust of snow
  Reflects in the din, the demise of the fall
Captured in ice that hangs on the branches
  Birds have long flown with the chilling winds call
And the water runs clear in this light of the dusk
  Washing our souls of the sins from within
A focus that shifts, my mind off and wanders
  With setting suns dancing like balls on the ocean
Its soft dying light paints this storm driven sea
  Surfing the swells as she slips ‘neath the white foam
A ghost wind cries openly … mourns to be free
  Footprints are wiped from the sand in its passing
For I must bear witness of God’s greatest gifts
 To stand alone in attendance, but not for the asking
As most of my life was this struggle within
  Yet I notice the beauty that’s always around me
That is frozen and barren by the cold cleansing rain
  And down the sidewalks and into the gutter
My crimson blood flows deep, dark and divine
  A cross bears my name, available in colors, assorted
I choose one that matches the sound of my dying
  I choose the sad song of the lone gull, high o’er the water,
No sight of the land, just the dark angry sea
  The winter winds tatter its wings seeking shelter
The ice tears its skin, shredded and boned
  As the car turns the corner a mile from its home
Wipers they strain to stay in the headlights
  There’s nothing on TV …… and I’m home all alone.

Thursday, November 18, 2010


Dreaming in ghosts, gray days and echoes
Trees on the hill are the first ones to fall
Lowly leafs dangle, cling in defiance
Doomed to the ground around the stone wall
Crisp is the sting of a sun cold and frozen
Bundled, I shudder and shrink in its bite
Walking alone, I wonder how you are
I strain for a vision in the cold winter light
Seeing my voice as I say your name slowly
See every breath of the last words you said
Things that you say are kept in my pocket
While pictures of you are played in my head
Passing in shadows, this haunting of twilight
My collar is turned towards the bone chilling air
Alone with my thoughts and the sounds of my passing
Holding tight to a love of someone so rare
These skies are all empty, the birds have abandoned
The grass and this city sleep 'neath the frost
Streetlights are wrapped in a halo of cold rain
And I remain vigil on this long winter's walk.

Thursday, November 11, 2010


In my darkest hour
No light to reach my eyes
Tempests rage outside these walls
And nowhere can I hide
Worlds they slip beneath the sea
Dreams that die when worlds collide
Future's nothing but whispered words
Lost adrift on moon swept tides
Yet, just when comes the blackest black
 When sounds of life all subside
The love of you comes to be
And lights a pathway deep inside
For you, my soul, my everything
A silent candles flickered light
This lighthouse in a raging sea
A breath of life within a fight
Peace, she’s flowing back to me
The morning’s hope appears in sight
I set my course to see your glow
You rise the day .... deny the night

Saturday, October 30, 2010


Sometimes
I feel so lost
Hopeless, sad
Things I want today
Things I love
Are so far away
Things, pretty things
Once made me happy
Are now tarnished
A band of gold
Pawned and sold
Inside the clutter
For without your love
There is no water
And these seeds
Planted and tilled
Die in the dust
Things needed to survive
This late in life
Are killing me slowly
For without you I die
I struggle against straps
I gnaw and I cry
And stare at the sky
I cannot see you
Such dim light
This dark of despair
For it's you I breathe
My future found
At the movies end
As I close my eyes

Thursday, October 28, 2010


Late night
Can’t sleep
Nothing new
Same as the last
Silent, Quiet
My mind races
Better times
Maybe tomorrow
Maybe

Saturday, October 23, 2010


She lies hidden
In tall grass
Great sienna oceans
Sway in the breeze
The lioness
Stalks in shadows
She sees my passion
Her hair catches the wind
Ivory Black,
Burnt like bone 
Dark as coal
Her body is Smooth
Like skin
Hot, wet and white
Against the night
Warm Savannah rains,
Lightning in distant thunder
Purple mists clings to twilight
Obscuring our presence
Hiding our intent
Carving our souls,
With a killer’s touch
 Claiming us free and innocent  
For we are Wild,
Like the clouds that rage
Inside a painter’s brush
Or an artist’s palette
Collecting the night 
With all its splendor
Random strokes
Laid out as a tapestry
For all to see
For all to fear
Yes, we see you
We see in the dark
We have your scent
We smell your blood
And together we hunt,
And together we kill
And together we feed
This heart of the lion.

Monday, October 18, 2010


Magic was the city
Olden in it's charm
The moon strools
  It's Alleys and court yards
As Achellis sleeps nearby
And you
Never more beautiful
Etched in a moment
Stunning
In the velvety night
Became a fantasy
Ever so Sweet
Like chocolate
Dipped in honey
Touched to your lips
No ! more like a dream
To which
I never wish to wake
Still
We hold one another
ever so tight
Afraid to let go 
Time, ticking 
sweeping us away
Swirling,
Mystical,
A perfect day
White horsed carraiges 
echos the ancient streets
with a million stories
dark and deep
Of love and romance
holding us prisoner
adding us to the conquered 
with just the flip of the tarrot
Your heart became mine
And my soul, yours
Yes, atop the hill
Overlooking the square
We heard the song
Of young lovers
In the church
Soon to be wed
We were children again, 
In love, again
For the first time, again
We could hear the sounds
We could hear the city breathe, 
We could feel the Music,
Bluesy
Wild
and Seductive




Saturday, October 9, 2010


Dust rises in the moon light
Shining through the boards
And cracks in the wall
Oil lamps flicker
From my master's house
Strange is this light
That floats o’er the fields
The cotton is stilled
In the deep air of August
Reflection on moist skin
Warm, black as night
Smooth and alive
I watch as it rises
With each passing breath
I’m sensing your youth
For older was I,
A slave to another
Son of a warrior
African decent
Sweat soaked and naked
Louisiana plantation
Sounds of the South
Prayer speak, voodoo
Softly spoken incantations
Night sounds 
Strange cicada
Gator and cotton mouth
Hum of mosquitoes 
Roll of the gar
Blind is the old man
Who rattles his bones
Under oaks draped in moss
Near the dark bayou waters
They bred us as cattle
They used us for barter
Yet you were so gentle
You stuck in my mind
Bearing my child
They dragged you away
Oft'times I've wondered
Where you may have gone to
But I died a year later
In the first part of May
We'd known one another
And old were our souls
Young were our bodies
All shackled and chained
Yet time keeps moving
It's funny how it happen
I'm driving my car
Stopped for no reason 
Just for one moment
Then suddenly I saw you
Turning you smiled
For having remembered
That life long ago 
In a time far away

Friday, October 8, 2010

"Study in red - No17" 8x10 Pen and Ink on Fabriano
by Terrence L Cope "Click for larger image"

Last night ,
I lie awake, dreaming,
Of live's past, you and I.
You had looked into my eyes,
And knew who I was,
On that bench, you remembered,
A long time ago.
Stopping, you sat beside me,
We had known one another,
We may have been lovers,
In live's long ago.
Like Cairo, before the pyramids,
We sat in the tall grass,
We stared at the sky,
We gazed at constellations,
I named a star after you,
Remember?
The one in the heart of the Lion?

Sunday, October 3, 2010

"Untitled Oct 3, 2010" 8x10 Pencil and Ink on Paper
by Terrence L Cope

Her eyes
Dark as the ocean
Deep as my soul
Distance
Melting
As wax to flame
Time Crawls
As it races eternity
In her eyes
I stare at the light
Hang on each moment
Each sound
Each word
Feable in attempt
I place in brush
I recant in words
My love.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

"My garden -sketch" 8x10 Acrylic, ink and pastel on paper
by Terrence L Cope "click for larger image"

Petals of iron-rust and verdi, water falls down velvet sleaves
Swaying fro in winter’s breeze which dances with the dark knight

My garden rests atop a hill and echoes through the evening still
while dew drops rest where spiders build webs of silver moon light.
    
Artists scream apocalypse on building brick and metal rails
Desperadoes seeking canvas nails that lie scattered in the shadows
    
A path alights with fireflys to guide us up the sandy knoll
The cat that sits in ambush knows the mystic of this moon-white glow
    
Don’t be afraid, come my love,Take my hand,I’ve things to show
A moon above the sky below and I’ll teach you how my garden grows.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

"Sketch in blue light" 2010 Pencil and pastel on paper
by Terrence Cope "click for larger image"

Oft’ times
I
find myself
Staring
down
Long
Empty 
halls
Bright Lights
Reflecting 
White
Paint
I
Sitting
Cross-legged
Stuck in limbo
Purgatory
Spinning
Around
with dying suns
and desert moons
Ride the time out
Where are you?
Floors
Hard
Grow Cold
To the bone
Concrete
Pools
Give way
I am sinking
Down, down
Violet-grey clouds
Mask 
This days sun
Dying Rays
An aged hand
It's many fingers
withered 
reach out
None find me
I close my eyes
Feel the warmth fade
she had come to the party
Without invitation
Wearing a costume
Sorry
I did not recognize you
It is then
And only then
Images
Wash over me
Like winter rains
Those single moments
Frozen time
You
Are mine
You
Are far away
You
I miss you
Except
When I close my eyes


Saturday, September 18, 2010

"Something" 8x10 Graphite and Ink on Paper by Terrence L Cope
click for larger image

     I squint through sun light reflecting on a line of machines...trucks.....cars, as they sit idling on the highway. Like tiny ants in a line we march our ways to and fro, restricted to this pavement like the paths of our lives, Cocooned in steel and plastic, stereo blasting, I stare blankly with no thought, neither happy nor sad. We speak not words, we speak the language of cars, we know who we are by what we drive. Our deepest thoughts are laid out through a few choice words on a bumper sticker, a flag on the mirror or balls hanging from a trailer hitch. I have traveled this road a thousand times before and not a soul do I know yet we are brothers and we share the same mind. Red lights dance in the rising heat as to guide me on my way, but I cannot move and I must stay for we are America.....
...... and we are going home.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

"The Pier" 14x18 Oil on Canvas by Terrence L Cope


The Sun, which rises in your eyes, hides my love and in you my soul can’t be denied it’s place in heaven.In time we might lose sight of our dreams, like ships away at sea, just know my love will be waiting for you in heaven.Love’s like this candle which flickers in its light; holding back the night. It's life will one day dim and fade, yet one look at you and all's OK in heaven. And at night I call your name; all the stars don’t look the same and should you ever fall from grace, you can take my place in heaven.


"Self portrait - study" 18x24 Graphite, Ink and Pastel on Multimedia Resin Board
Sept 2010 Terrence L Cope click for larger image


            Time sets on a million hollowed eyes, squinting, staring dazed through silver shadows
           Shallow screams, ghost town, Angry words echo the empty halls, graffiti prayers ....its time .... we must go
     Bluest eyes I’ve ever seen, tangled loves and broken dreams, as cars collide outside, careening in slo-motion
     Souls depart on the next flight out, leaving only debris, broken glass , and memorials to their passing
     Headlights blind, my mind and white lines, blur, forever eternal, to the roar of steel belts on asphalt
     Everything I'd ever sought never came my way, except flashes of your silly smile and stupid things you’d say
     Small shower of a cigarette glow explodes on the road, Take a drink and light another, breathing deep
     Exhale, grey smoke, like a ghost, rises and dances in vails that disapear out a windows crack
     Check the rearview mirror, ten years lie behind and I still remember ..... must keep driving ....
     Have not traveled far enough, far enough to forget, monotony repeats itself and their's no time for a rest .......

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

"Untitled 09-08-10" Pen, Ink and Pastel on Fabriano by Terrence L Cope
click for larger image

I can't stop thinking
Rain beating on tin roofs
Rust shows its age
I turn to sleep
I like to sleep
It's the rainy season
Humid, Sticky
I watch insects
As they dance to the light
Seeking it's end
On one so bright.