New Year, Same You

Let me whisper it again, 

(behind the clanging bells 

and chorus cheers, 

under all the glitter 

and every piece of confetti)

listen closely, beloved:

your greatness 

has never been a question. 

Like the sun in the east 

each morning,

and the restless beat 

of the tides, 

you are more constant 

than the constellations. 

So shake off the dust 

of the well-worn year, 

and reach your fingers 

out to grab the new: 

good things wait for you 

there.  

Anesthesia

I will make 

a snow angel 

in the sawdust 

beneath the bench 

where they are 

shaving down 

your pride- 

I will Dance 

in your rough edges 

made smooth. 

Break my wishbone, 

darling,

snap it 

between your too big fingers. 

I will gladly stay awake 

to save on 

anesthesia. 

Mermaid Dreams

Some nights I dream 

we meet each other 

underwater-

two hands 

reaching 

for the same 

shiny coin, 

almost buried 

by seaweed 

and sand. 

I always wake 

with wet hair, 

fingers curled 

around treasure 

that is no longer there. 

Silent Night

Forgive me, darling,

If I love you too loudly-

I can’t hold it in. 

Patience

They are so long, Love,

these endless days of hoping.

Let me fill them now. 

Unwrap

Strip them away: 

the ornaments, 

the adornments, 

every single mask. 

I will cherish what is left. 

You have never seen yourself 

as clearly as I have, beloved- 

you have greatness hidden within. 

Shed yourself of the burdens 

you are cloaked in, 

Love sees deeper still. 

Reverie

In another universe

you pour cream clouds 

into a black coffee sky, 

and smile at me 

as I hand you the jam, 

sticky and red. 

You have forgotten 

to buy the Christmas presents again, 

but darling, we still have time. 

We sit together 

until the dog whines, 

and our reverie is broken. 

A Cold Day in Hell (aka Texas)

Draw me closer still,

I have been cold far too long, 

Warm me in your arms.

You Should Know

What more can I say? 

By now you know: 

I will love you 

on the days that 

you can’t love yourself. 

I will love you 

when your heart is too heavy 

to stay safely in your chest 

and your tears grow tired 

of hiding behind your lashes. 

I will love you 

on days when 

the sun is not warm enough 

to thaw the chill in your bones, 

and on each day that feels 

as dark as any night. 

I will love the pieces of you 

that you have hidden 

away from the world, 

and every single mask 

you wear in public. 

So what more can I say? 

By now, my darling,

you should know. 

Luftballon

Wind out of my sails,

Heart dropped deep into my gut

Your words deflate me. 

Gazebo

I do not need monuments: 

buildings of glass 

or bridges of steel, 

marble images of 

man made perfection. 

I do not need a metal plaque 

on a brick building, 

hard and cold, 

or a name at the bottom 

of gilded frame. 

But

my Love, 

my own sweet builder of 

castles in the sky:

give me a gazebo, 

as eternal as our bond, 

and string from it lights 

as pure as your heart. 

Every New Beginning

Here we are again,

wind-kissed cheeks and watering eyes- 

we have stood at this precipice before, 

daring ourselves to leap, 

stepping back after the first stone fell, 

gasping with wonder and fear and the heartache 

that comes when all that is hard remains. 

Here we are again,

believing that so much more is still possible. 

We weigh feather-soft words against rock solid reality, 

and find them more compelling. 

This is the start of something that has never ended, 

the zenith of the unbroken circle, 

the apex of all we hold silent and dear.

Here we are again,

though we have lived this day like so many of its brothers, 

it shimmers with hope. 

Let all that is white and new and fresh 

begin within us, beloved. 

We will see the dawn painted across a thousand new horizons, 

and we will no longer be afraid. 

December 6

Chocolate and oranges, 

Gingerbread men tucked in shoes:

St Nick has been here. 

Pieces

You told me:
I am broken. 
I am too many 
weary pieces. 
But I told you, 
that only means 
there is more 
of you 
to love.  

Love and Logic

Like the sound of your name 

on your mother’s lips 

or the warmth of the sun 

on your sleep-stained cheeks, 

I hope you know

(that you feel it, beloved)

I love you, 

which is to say:

I will believe 

the very best of you, 

even at your very worst. 

They will say 

this is illogical, 

but beloved,  

your existence has always 

been reason enough. 

And what do 

love and logic know 

of one another? 

Do Not Love Me Loudly

Do not love me loudly- 

hurling my praises toward the garish sun, 

beating my name into your too proud chest, 

shouting to me from peaks too high to hear. 

Do not love me loudly- 

over dishes clanking and knives scraping, 

over radios blasting or orchestras swelling, 

My love, you do not need speak at all.

Just love me quietly, darling. 

Breath my name like a secret, 

etch it on the inside of your favorite book, 

write of me in codes unbroken as our bond.