have you tried to count
all these grains?
do not bother; instead
count all the ways you
can put them together.

until then, I will
grab a handful
and a shovel and some
quiet splashes of water
to pass the time.

this one has long spires
pointing above with all its
might, as if showing me
that the only way
to go is up.

another has windows beside
windows and they invite
me to come take a look, yet
I keep distance in fear that
I see something painful.

over there has a drawbridge
a shortcut to go the easy way
in or easy way out; or maybe you
will pull it up when you've
let it more that you can handle.

that farthest one is actually
the same as the home of princes
with towers and balconies where
together they spend their days
watching the flowers bloom.

this right here is my favorite
the youngest one, still a flat
expanse of soft ground that
begs to be held and to be
formed and loved.

choose one. call it by name,
because now you shall own it.
Embrace it, but take care
that your elbows fit the spires
and your shins are at peace.

but sooner that you wish,
the water retreats with the
will of potential; until it
finally roars back with
the bellow of decision.

and alas,
it is clean again.

the gulf widens
to reveal a scene
completely new to me

the gulf widens and
the earth splits and
the clouds drift and

so, we
must finally
part

Before you check your phone
Before you wash your face
Before you eat your breakfast
Before you resume your sleep

Draw open the curtains
Embrace each light ray and
Run your fingers through the sea
Leaking through your windows

Stretch open your arms
Feel each light ray and
Watch it glow as it hits you
Drenching you with white

Breathe in, breathe out well--
Hoping to inhale one light ray and
Engulf your blood with it
Running through your veins.

When that is done, you are complete.
You are brand new, fearless, impervious.

For twenty-four hours, when you are cut
You will not bleed--

You will shine.

you were a storm--
whirling and whistling and...
well, everything and anything
all at once

and I was caught unprepared.

though they feared your wrath
panicking and praying and...
perhaps, everything and anything
all at once

but I paid them no mind.

violently tearing that dotted line separating
making believe and messing up and
maybe, everything and anything
all at once

or what I thought I feared.

when the winds have faded
when the waters have evaporated
when the smoke clouds have cleared
all at once
I realize finally that

the calm and the quiet and the peace and
well, all of it
was what I truly feared

while waiting I made
a small
list of things
I associate with you:

understand
treat
placed
take
communicate
judge
interpret
tr­ust
use
giving

Yes, I miss you
And this list says
You miss me too

Now look, the horse is dead.
Must we dig up its old bones?
They are all around us
Fragments of the last few months
And I tried to pick them up
One by one
Figuring out how they all connected
Figuring out how they all broke
Piece by piece
And I tried to let them go
Last few crystal fragments of the past
They are all around us
Must we dig up its old bones?
Now look, the horse is dead.

breathe in
breathe out*
as they
lower
your
own
coffin