Each day is a face with two sides
      Do or die
Failure is an ointment
      Swarmed by flies
Lies birthed from larva
      Contempt bred from pride
The caterpillar cocooned is consumed
      Blind to the future
Either monarch or moth
      Led astray by the flame

Happy non-anniversary to you.
I marked it emotionally
but I forgot what the day was.
I marked it by
processing, tracking my progress;
taking a very rare breath to reflect.
I recognised the barriers still left,
looked at ways to overcome them.
You meant so much once,
and now I forget.
Happy non-anniversary
to me.

other than what the beatles have already sang about

i have you in my arms.

the world blurs away
as the auburn shadow of the venue
shines through closed eyes

the slow guitars reverberate
through an empty ballroom
a sacred sound for sacred bonds
we dance slowly in devotion.

i have you by my side.

tomorrow fades from sight
as the incandescence of a city
shines through a kitchen window

with wet, cold hands
music from an old radio play
harmonizing with the droning tap
we sway slowly in peace.

i have you close to me.

the cold of the outside air
is warmed by tender souls
in amorous union

while we hum the notes
of our favorite song
the solitude of a vacant lot
heartened by a waltzing pair

and time disappears
and nothing really matters
but the two of us, and the music
the back and forth
and the serenity

for i have you in my arms...

You may have nothing but kind words
But I
Still shudder away at the intrusive suspicion
That I must study your cadence
For any inflection
To find a truth
That caters to
My worst imagination