The onset was a subtle thing;
a clumsiness, a loss of grace.
She who had been strong and proud
was, suddenly, listless, out of place.
A weakness in a muscle here.
A spasm in a tendon there.
The prognosis, like a hammer strike
to the unsuspecting steer.

First came the cane,
Then came the chair.
Long before them
Came the fear.
The loss of strength
And motor skill
Lou Gehrig’s illness
left just her will.
Yet with that will she loved her man
Wrote a book with just one hand
Saw as much of the world she wished,
left them wanting one last kiss.
Then, when breathing became a chore,
She didn’t do it anymore.
To be surprised by death, she felt
Was the best way to manage
The hand she was dealt.

I sleep in the clouds, dream in the sky,
I'll keep dreaming as life passes me by,
I think my dreams keep me sane,
I dream of happiness, a life without pain,
some people say I'm stuck in this place,
and I'll never go anywhere,
but in my dreams I've already been there,
I know some day I'll have to wake up,
but I feel the real world is more like a nightmare,
I'm safe in my closed eye wonderland,

A whisper that is too far away, too far to be heard so it's lost in silence.
A fragment disconnected from a sentence, disconnected from thought forgotten and buried by other words.
A child who is left behind, struggling to keep up, stumbling and reaching out but is never acknowledged.
What's left after winds leave destruction in thier wake, ripping away the roots that hold things in place, leaving spaces that can never be filled.
Or
It's just a group of water droplets frozen before their prime, clumped together and 18,000 feet in the air.

It’s nothing, really, just a scratch
I’ll simply leave it be.
Oh look, it’s formed a little bump
It’s right here on my knee.

Oh crap, another, is this a rash?
It’s spreading ‘cross the skin
My hands feel like they’re cushioning
A thousand tiny pins.

And on my back there’s one to match
The large mark on my face.
How ever did I get myself
Into this painful place?

Then the bites, as one big batch
Began to turn and itch
“Enough!” I said, “I can’t stand it
These things hurt like a bitch!”

Sadly, I realized there’s a catch
I cannot mess with those.
For if I do, they’ll multiply
Like sharp thorns on a rose.

I hear a buzz and I snatch
A mosquito from the air.
I guess they knew in biting me
That I would really care.

6/16/2012
(c) MDC

Welcome to the Land of Upside-Down
Where sad faces smile and happy ones frown.
Place your coat on the floor and shoes on the rack,
Enter my home and don’t ever come back.
Stand up on the chair and sit on the table,
Only four legs, but it’s still unstable.
Problems arise from nothing at all
With a chance of answers being very small.
Everything is good when in fact it’s all wrong
And you hide it, pretending to be strong.
Your face tells the truth while your words deceive
Causing more pain than you’d like to believe.
Sitting on that table, your silence tells me everything
Knowing the truth makes your conveyance forever sting.
While you make sense in your confused state-of-mind
Your issues feed on my clarity and become intertwined.
So remain on that shaky table as I leave the room
This lively lying home is now your lowly loathing tomb.
As you knowingly forget your atrocious crimes
Remember in this land I see them a thousand times.
And I will remain here, snared by your Goddamned traps,
Even when the world passes on, here t’will never collapse.
Welcome to the Land of Upside-Down
Where hope lives in despair as wishful dreams drown.

10/6/2009
(c) MDC

You wrap around my body
You tie me up with your charm
You break down my defenses
I lower my guard
Infected my heart
Infected my skin
I cannot let you go
I'll always let you in
Your vines embrace me
They hold me tight
Your love is heaven
It gives me light
Unconditionally you love me despite my harsh words
You hold me high and put me first
Gentle kisses and beautiful green eyes
A green fever I cannot deny
My Dear
My Darling
My Counterpart
You carved out a special place in my herat

"The next speech to be given
Is one we need to hear
I'd like to call on William
Who has overcome his fear
William, please come forward
And take your place with me
And children, listen closely
As we let dear William be...."
William then ventured forth
From the back where he sat
He was dressed in a long jacket
And a worn out stove top hat
Before he started talking
More instructions were delivered
"Don't laugh, or talk or clap people...."
While at the front William shivered...
The class went deadly quiet
And William went to speak
No one could quite hear him
His voice was soft and meek
"Four Thcore and Theven yearth ago
Our fatherth brought forth
Upon thith continent
A new nathion, conthieved in liberty.."
William finished speaking
The class just sat there dumb
No one knew this William
From where had this one come
Each year in school since JK
Willaim rarely said a word
And if he ever answered
No one really heard
But today...today he was a hero
Standing proud in his black hat
He had stunned them into silence
Knocked them dead just where they sat
He practiced with the teacher
Every afternoon at home
He worked on words in secret
When he was sitting all alone
The Gettysburg Address
Never, sounded quite as great
As when recited by young William
This young man in grade eight
He had broken his long silence
As the year came to an close
By reciting Old Abe Lincoln
In his black and borrowed clothes
He'd defeated all his demons
Showed his lisp just who was king
Now he ventured into high school
And the worst that it could bring
The bell went off, class was dismissed
The silence was now burst
The children stood to exit
And they let William leave class first

Screw your direction, your movement, your view
It still finds no place with me
Screw your depth in attraction to me, too
It means nothing, I mean nothing
[ But really I do ]
Everything that has become about you
Is so skewed and tethered
Like a wick swallowed by a melted candle
I will have to dig to make you burn again