Dance Partners

Perfectly in sync,

Our hearts beat together, Love.

Which one leads this dance?

Mornings Make Me Sick

Maybe someday I'll forget to remember,

blizzard in June, a hot day in December.

Maybe one morning I'll wake up with a smile 

skip in my step for more than half a mile. 

Sometime or other I'll spring out of bed,

a full day to tackle, no ghosts in my head.

One day, perhaps, the sunshine will find me,

daily grind profits, will do more than grind me.

Symbiotic

You painted the stars 

in my eyes

and made it impossible 

to leave this universe 

behind. 

I whispered a song 

to the wind, 

and taught your soul 

how best to sing. 

Yesterday's Ghost

Unhang my shirts, 

unroll my socks, 

stop ironing sheets that 

I will never crumple. 

Put my book back 

on the shelf, 

never mind where 

the bookmark falls.

My darling, 

grieve no longer.

I am only yesterday's ghost, 

haunting tomorrows 

that will never come.

Scraps of Love

You wrote me love notes

scrawled across small paper scraps.

I kept every one. 

Just Keep Swimming

Something inside of me 

screams to be loosened;

my skin is too itchy and tight.

Every breath catches 

so deep in my chest;

my brain has stopped working quite right.

Feet quickly stumble, 

all balance is lost-

like my lifeboat, 

that ship has gone down. 

Aching for refuge, 

no port yet in sight;

it seems I am destined to drown. 

On Fall

Cold, settle in, find your home in these bones,
Fire won't chase you away.
Blankets may smother you,
Hold firm your grip-
I expect you're expected to stay.

Wind, keep on blowing, whistle my tune
Challenge the walls to a duel.
At least get trees dancing,
Their sway is too staid,
Bring us the weather so cool.

Rain, fall on steady or torrent at will,
Bring down the leaves as you fall.
I'll watch in safety,
Tucked gently away,
Autumn's the best time of all.

Wade Carefully

Do not rush to drown yourself 

in the oceans of my mind. 

Please, wade carefully. 

Or better yet, 

first sail the seven seas. 

Dip your toes into the 

creek beds, 

river deltas, 

crystal springs, 

glassy lakes. 

Learn how to read the 

ripples in the pond, 

speak softly 

to your watery reflection. 

Then prove yourself

and brave the whitecaps. 

Dentists Make Lousy Dancers

Brushing my teeth, 

just to polish the skeleton, 

pushing it back behind doors. 

Combing my hair, 

just to keep up appearance, 

each strand that I lose labelled yours. 

Dressing to nines, 

because eights aren't enough, 

and sevens and sixes won't do. 

Dancing with ghosts 

just to hear music playing, 

wishing to carry the tune. 

Forests Don't Run

Do not live your life running

from thing to thing, 

place to place, 

person to person. 

Slow down, 

offer the people you love 

something nourishing: 

a smile and a story, 

a hug and your hopes, 

your truest, bravest self. 

Do not worry about 

how many tasks 

you can cram in a day. 

It is in the spaces between, 

the quiet waits, 

that life becomes so beautiful. 

9/11

Heads and tails, we fell apart, 

the world was upside down.

Nothing golden then could ever stay.

Smoke and mirrors, all came down, 

our world was still and small.

Maybe it was meant to be this way. 

Vim and vigor, we got up,

we pieced our lives anew.

Broken hearts are wiser for their pain.

Morning breaks, a new day dawns

the black of night retreats.

Every morning it will be the same. 

Heads and Tails

You want me to be 
either heads or tails,

But you don't seem to realize:

I am not even a coin.

I'm not this or that,

I am this AND that

but that doesn't make sense to you

so neither will I.

You want the easy answer

but all I have are questions.

Cinderella

Maybe I'm a hypocrite, 

with all this talk of fate. 

I still beg the stars to realign. 

Wishing on a star has never 

brought my dream to life, 

I still look up for a cloudless sky. 

Tell me I'm a dreamer, 

tell me fairy tales aren't real,

I'll just smile, gently shake my head.

I know someday Cinderella wakes 

to find her gown

crumpled in a pile by her bed. 

Stormchasers

Listen my darling,

we can survive this. 

Think of all that we have already weathered:

our edges softened by the unexpected  blows,

our hearts are now heavier and wiser.

We will survive this.

We have stood silent in this storm before, 

and though we were bent by the wind, 

our resolve has never yet faltered.

We must survive this. 

Promise me. 

My Masterpiece

She is proud to hang her art:

stickers upon crayon,

marker masterpieces.

She tells me,

"I made that."

I look at her and smile,

and think the same thing. 

Sleep is for Dreamers

You have become such a vivid dream that 

sometimes I forget:

we have not yet met. 

My arms ache for you, 

my ears echo with the lilt of your call. 

My bed is heavy with your presence, 

but I greet each morning alone.

Fall Again

I don't know how it is 

that you are so familiar to me-

why everything you say is 

less a revelation 

and more a faded memory. 

Every smile, 

every secret 

reveals that I have known you- 

have loved you, 

so many times before. 

We have always been.

And darling,

we will always be. 

Billy Knows Best

Shakespeare was right, the fault's not in our stars,

it's ourselves that determine our fates.

To assign all the blame to some heavenly bodies 

is surrendering what makes us great. 

Paraku #12: The Good Soldier

I go where they point,

but I know that I am lost;

I can't see your face. 

A.S.K.

Asking the questions,

seeking in vain,

knocking my head on the wall.

Someday I'll find it,

the thing that I crave;

one day you'll answer my call.