I Don't Know What to Call This Poem

You are not a tree;

not rooted in place, 

not married to the dirt 

which has smothered you 

since birth.

You are not the moon,

not stuck in darkness, 

not forced to reflect 

a warmth that will never 

be your own.

You are not the sea,

not blue expanses or

unknowable depth, 

not lighted pyre corridor

boiling with sorrow.

You are a bird, love:

so stretch your sun-warmed 

wings to the sky 

and throw your throaty song 

to the wind. 

Good Night

Old cars hold secrets 

like Cadillac dreams,

Burgundy fabric 

with sugar and cream,

Blue leather seats 

with a riverbed crease

Rusty old tire rims 

begging for grease. 

Lead me to parking lots, 

hidden dirt roads

Whisper your dreams, 

and then baby, let's go. 

Open my door and then 

open your heart,

Good nights are coming, 

and that's just the start. 

 

Sweet Dreams

So I'll keep you safe

near my pillowcase

and pray someday

we'll meet.  

Until then, love,

sweet dreams you'll have

if you'll just dream of me. 

I Love You

Read between the lines:

Whatever I say

and no matter what I write:

I mean "I love you." 

Apples to Apples

Fate is a game, it's some thing to believe in

Don't steal my heart, Operation, leave it in.

Leave me in peace, just a piece of the puzzle.

Hand me a Clue and I promise, no Trouble. 

Just give me a chance to say Sorry and mean it,

My scoreboard is black, give me something to clean it. 

Stop all of the chasing, don't Scrabble about,

Picture a world where the Taboo stays out.

My tongue's full of Twister, each word sounding funny,

I wish I had more than Monopoly money-

I'd use it to build a hotel meant for two

Read My Lips, darling, if Guesstures won't do.

Don't Spill the Beans, I'm a Mastermind player,

I'll Risk all my pawns, leave my king behind layers. 

I want a mate, to check if fate's true.

Think Apples to Apples, it's still me and you. 

Lullaby Lost

She said, 

He was never mine, 

but he was only ever mine. 

I never knew a life lived with him, 

but I can't imagine a life without him. 

I cannot tell you what he looks like, 

but I will search every crowd 

for the rest of my life, 

looking for his face. 

She said,

He was never here,

but everything here 

reminds me of him. 

Each smell, every song, all the 

people I meet-

He is everywhere and nowhere.

Everything and 

nothing. 

She said,

When you lose something 

you never had, 

you don't even get to keep 

the memories. 

Stronger Mettle

You are guacamole, milkshakes and fried chicken, 

You are fresh cut grass and laps around the kitchen.

You are bad poems and loud music pumping

You are band shirts and lake water jumping.

You are perfect gifts and handwritten cards

You are hide and go seek and games in the yard. 

You are night lights and back rubs and coffee that's black.

You are breakfasts uneaten and midmorning snacks. 

You are late late nights and too early mornings

You are tornado watch, with never a warning.

You are not the terrible things that have happened to you. 

But you are 100% loved. 

US

Someone please stop us, 

we're bound to destroy us: 

we're quick to draw blood, 

to point fingers around us.

Why can't we love now?  

Just stop all this madness? 

Pause all the hatred, 

find balm for our sadness? 

The weight of the blood 

on our hands is enormous, 

we spill our own blood 

when we hurt those around us. 

Why must our differences 

tear us apart? 

Don't we each have a soul? 

Don't we all have a heart? 

Quiet on the Set

I must admit that I lied to you once, 

gave voice to a line that I never quite learned. 

The script was still warm from the press, I inhaled, 

and granted you titles you never had earned.

The standing ovation was proof I had won, 

at very least, I was believed. 

But now the stage's empty, and so too the seats, 

it seems liars can't last, so they leave. 

The Flight Home

I struck gold there, 

thought I'd grow old there, 

thought I had every

-thing I'd need. 

I made plans there,

shook a few hands there,

started journey: both shoes 

on my feet.

I got loved there,

mitten and gloved there,

my hands were destined 

to be warm.

I fell hard there,

Glasses in shards there,  

Now I just wait to 

be reborn. 

Dear You, Love Me

You'll never get them:

A thousand cryptic love notes.

I just keep writing.

Shoot, Write, Dance

Shoot for the moon, Love-

Write your story in the stars.

Dance without music.

Dear John (Donne)

Come be my King, darling, I'll be your Queen.

We'll rule all the lands and the seas in between. 

We'll sail and we'll swim and we'll walk and we'll climb,

We'll number the stars in each darkening sky.

We'll see all the world, it will all be our own,

We'll sing all the melodies, each tune ever known.

I will love you, and we'll want for no thing,

We'll hold onto hope, sweetest, shaped like a ring.

Come be my King, darling, I'll be your Queen,

From now till forever, and each day in between.