A labyrinth expands before me,
Its only prize, the truth; reality
Awaits the shrewd of mind.
At every turn lie misdirections,
One wrong choice and I am
Lost, for perils lie ahead;
Webs of lies lie waiting for their prey.
I pray for wisdom that I may not fall,
Misguided by a ghost I thought I saw;
My own illusions turn me from the light.
The path ahead is cobbled from the shadows,
Bits of truth among them shining gold,
The only light to guide my weary feet
As Darkness beckons me with gentle hands.
Temptation offers respite from my search:
“Sit down and rest, poor ragged
traveler, you search in vain
For worthless lies. I tell the truth;
One as beautiful as I is honest, sure.”
I pay no heed. The truth is rarely beautiful or pure.

Two different worlds
Two seperate skies
And only one that they can see

Inside my mind
When darkness falls
There is no other soul but me

Alone I pace
In deepest night
And no one takes my hand

To lead me from
My shadowed tomb
Where I am doomed to stand

Ah, pray for me,
Though kindness helps,
For only love can save me now

A lonely girl
Lost long ago
Who does not trust, and knows not how

Too often left
Though many cared
And no one saw the pain inside

That lonely girl
The happy mask
Was made so carefully to hide

But now it cracks
The paint wears off
And someone soon is bound to know

And steps will tread
The lonely walks
Where only I’m allowed to go

Perhaps at last
Someone will break
The wall I’ve built around my heart

But no one will
For all have eyes,
And I have been too long apart

And so, alas
For here I stand
A lonely girl in a shadowed land.

Two different faces
Who am I?
The one they see
Or who I am
They don’t notice,
So I hide
Behind my
Double faces

Welcome, Traveler,
You need no longer fear;
This is the home of the wanderers
Too tired to go on.
You’re in good company here.

I remember a window,
It was sunny outside;
The autumn leaves
Shone red in the light.
I remember your smile,
Sunny as well;
How innocent we were back then.

There's a photo I’ve kept,
It’s of us at that window,
Grinning as only two children can grin.
You look like you have some great
Secret to tell me,
A mischievous plan in your head.

You’re wearing that necklace you always had with you,
A shark tooth, I think, but I’m really not sure.

It’s been so long.

The years have since swept me
Where you cannot follow.
You’re trapped in that window,
And now I’m outside.

I like to remember you there,
Since it’s better
Than dreaming of doctors.
And churches.
And tears.

Some are for a lifetime
Some last but a day
Some will leave for anger
Some will move away
And some will die and
Leave you only lonelier next day

Some are kind and gentle
While some are brash and bold
Each one irreplaceable:
A candle you may hold
Until it burns out
And leaves you cold

A rare few burn eternal,
And they’re magical as such,
But the search to try to find them
I have found hurts far too much.
So we live life lit by candles
That our frozen hands must clutch
Until they burn out
In a rush

When there seems not much to fight for,
Nor many left to fight,
When the dark is closing round us,
That is the time for light!

That is the time for courage,
From those both great and small,
That is the time for love and truth,
For those must save us all!

That is the time for honor,
For friendship's outstretched hand,
For kin to stand together,
One strong, united band!

So now that shadows threaten,
And hate destroys our peace,
Now fear and greed prevail,
Now, now is the time for these!

Now is the time, my comrades!
Now you must heed the call!
Now you must stand together,
Or we must surely fall!

So listen to me, comrades,
Remember my words this day:
Love and peace can triumph,
And drive this hate away!

I am the lightbulb
That burned out last night
But no one sees until morning

Thank God for
Little things
Like teacups with
Roses on the rim

For flowers late in
Autumn
When I thought they
All were gone

And the brush of
Fingers over my hand
When I’m feeling sad

It’s the little things
I’m thankful for
The most

I pour my heart out on the page
My pain and anguish inky red
My anger black as dark as hatred
Shadows seeping creeping in
I tear my hair in screaming terror
None can see how young I am
Just a girl afraid of darkness
Shadows seeping creeping in
On the outside mask-like features
Smiling tell the world their lies
On the inside breaking cracking
Shadows seeping creeping in
So spin on world and leave me aching
What care you for who I am
Just a girl afraid of darkness
Shadows seeping creeping in

When I am gone,
Don’t think of me.
Don’t mourn for me
Don’t weep for me.

I won’t be there
To turn away
The pain.

Some other arms would
Hold you tight,
Another’s voice would
Soothe your sleep;
And I will be
A million miles away.

So please,
Don’t miss me
    
When
       I’m
          Gone.

My life is worlds away from war
And poverty;
I need not fear for life
Or liberty,
Yet to remember this
When darkness falls
Is still a test.

When night entombs me
In her shadowed cloak,
And stars are far beyond
My window’s view,
My own adversity will
Rear its head
And make its claim.

Then, as the darkness shrouds my mind,
The starlight cannot
Pierce the shadowed gloom
And the pain of others has but
Little light.

And if this makes me
Cold,
Unfeeling,
Cruel,
Then so it is, and so,
Too, are you.
So are we all.
Cold,
Unfeeling,
Cruel.

Six letters, an apostrophe,
A meager whole, I fear
And slight of meaning,
All things told,
As words for one to hear.
I’m fine.

Don’t you worry darling,
Now’s not the time for fears;
Don’t you fret my darling,
For I will dry your tears.

Though the world may crumble ‘round us
And though the sky may fall,
Don’t be sad my darling,
For I’m not sad at all.

You’re all I ever wished for
And all I’ve ever loved,
You are my joy, my guiding light,
My sun in skies above.

So now that shadows threaten,
I’ll be your light in turn,
And if the world is ending,
Together we will burn.

I see the deaths of a thousand trees
In stacks of paper that heavenward climb
And tell the stories of things long past
That the trees have seen

Is it only I who can see their lives,
The precious lives we’ve squandered here?
Is it only I who mourn the trees
Who gave their lives unwillingly
For the sake of knowledge?
Am I the only one who hears their cries?
The whispers of the leaves remain
And speak of loss

Oh sandman, take away my dream
So I will never cry at night,
Wake up sweating
Chilled to the bone
Because you were dead.
My greatest fear
That you will leave,
Like he did
All those years ago
8 years
3 months
7 days
Since he was dead
A day before his birthday.
He was never 9.
And I dream that you are dead
Like him.
His brother too
Died much to young.
Six short years to live.
But you outlived them both.
You are you lived past 6.
Then 9.
Now 11.
But still I wake at night
Because you were dead
In my arms
And you were so very very cold
And still.
I run into your room
And you’re asleep.
Alive.
Sometimes smiling.
But still the nightmare comes

Each day when I rise and I walk out my door,
The world that I see isn’t mine anymore.

The rules are all bent so I can’t see their shape,
And on every street corner I pass police tape.

When you sign onto Twitter, catch up on the news,
But it might not be true, so watch out for the clues.

They say, “Hey, you’re transgender? We can’t let you fight.”
“Oh, you’re black? Or you’re Asian? We’re best ‘cause we’re white.”

If they’re caught in their lies, they don’t overreact,
Mumble “something-or-other alternative fact.

If you glance out your window one night and you find
A torch wielding mob, well, just never you mind.

Join the big three ring circus! Its painted faced clowns,
And its ringleader with his red white and blue crown!

So turn on your TV, watch the latest debate,
And what you will see is the next Watergate.

Or just do what I do, use your eyes and your heart,
Then you, too, can watch as fear tears us apart.

Or maybe it won’t, if enough of us see,
When we all work together, we still might break free.

A summer storm is raging far
Beyond the distant hills
Lightning flashes,
Fleeting glows,
As thunder rolls and thrills
In growling waves.

The radio is buzzing out its
warning to the world
“Be careful, all who venture forth,
For Heaven’s wrath.”

The sidewalks turn to rivers,
And our valleys now are ponds,
My garden serves as bathing space for families of frogs.

They’re not afraid.

And now that Thunder prowls away,
And Lightning follows, in her wrath,
I creep outside, where gentle rain
Soothes aching trees and grass.
Placid raindrops making art
On my flooded lawn.

Sometimes I see
Behind the mask she wears
To the beautiful woman she is.
I wish she could see her
In the mirror
Instead of the mask
She hates

If only she could see herself
Through my eyes

What lives on beyond the day we die?
What remains of who we were before?
How can we know, while still we live,
There’s such a thing as more?

These are the midnight mysteries
My mind whispers to my heart
While my brain tries to see my soul

In nightmares and in waking dreams
I see them standing there.
Their faces, they who never age,
Who’ve long been resting in their graves,
Surrounding me with love and with their loss.

“I’ve missed you, since you left me, dear,”
I long to say to them.
I never get to speak the words;
My tongue is stopped with tears.

They smile at me, beckon to me,
Never do they speak,
And while I stay here, trapped by love,
They slowly fade away.

Their memories are blurring now,
Half washed away by tears;
Their vibrant colors run to grey,
A rainbow of the years

The sea lashes out in anger
Beating against the shore
Nothing stands in the face of the ocean’s wrath

I would have slept enough last night
But for the tears I shed
Oh gentle fingers - leave me not
Go - bar the gates of dread

And turn the lock - my angel guard
To save me from myself
I fear the dawning of the morn
When we must be apart

Fireflies are fallen stars
Before they hit the earth
Shards of ice engulfed
In heat shed
Gentle light
Flashes of beauty
Amidst the night

Broken hearts
Broken dreams
Time is all
That’s left to me

Dreams are fragile
They break like glass
Hearts are brittle
And rip apart

Memories are flawed
And pains too sharp
To stand the wear
And tear of Time

And as time flows
My broken dreams
Are swept away
And lost to me

Love is comfort when he’s hurting
Love is solace when he grieves
Love will listen when he’s worried
And hear beyond the things he says  

Love will watch with pride and pleasure
As he learns to be a man
Love will catch him when he stumbles,
And support him as he grows

Love sustains me when I leave him
Love connects us even now
The love that binds us never severed
Short of death, or yet beyond

Sometimes
The best gift in the world
Is so simple

A corsage
Even when we aren’t going
To the dance

A bowl of warm soup
When I’m sick,
Hand delivered

And three small words
More than all:
I love you

If love could cure the flu,
I would be well.
And may the Lord be praised for that.

A boat through starry skies
I row
In paths of time.
My fate I seek;
Remembered pain shall
Guide my course,
Yesterday’s woes.

A moon doth rise
Upon my life
Oh goddess pale,
Hear my cries!
I search for truth.

But waits she not;
Ne’er path she slows.
Oh frosty maiden!
Hear my woes!
But stops she not,
Nor ‘lists to me,
A boat
Upon a starry sea.

Brother, can you spare a dime?
Have some pity for the poor
You are lucky, don’t you see?
But you are blind.
And though you look to
Find our woes,
You do not see,
You do not care,
You do not know.
You are lucky, but to that
You’re blind.
Brother, can you spare a dime?

An orb of fire hanging by a thread
From the heavens, straining towards the earth
Some comet frozen distant in the past,
A captive bound in time’s eternal dance.
Its partner ever spinning, spinning,
A silent counterpart to fire’s rage.
The sun sets in a pool of melted gold.

As raindrops shatter on the walk
And water gilds the leaves
A sparrow huddles in the damp
Beneath the dripping eaves

It’s feathers, brown and white, drawn close
To keep the cold at bay
A silent bird awaits the dawn
That heralds coming day

Darkest shadow
Brightest flame
Burning passion
Silence, tame

Loving one,
Many times
Broken hearts,
Guiltless crimes

Tears of grief
Shed for him
Sunless ages
Dark and grim

Dawn of hope
Of light again
Wakened life
From silence, then,

Circle closing,
Ending, starting,
Edges meeting,
Brushing, parting

Darkest shadow
Brightest flame
Burning passion
Silence, tame

Shakespeare said
To die- to sleep-
But sleep without a morning’s light

Hamlet said
He fears the dreams-
But dreams are what makes the night

And he spoke of
Wrongs, and suffering,
But wrongs without their right

And though Hamlet despaired,
And refused to go on,
Our joy is not out of our sight

Eyes, why are you crying?
Lungs, why can’t you breathe?
Heart, why are you racing?
Stop! Oh, stop it, please!

I know I shouldn’t panic
There’s nothing I need fear
I’m safe and I’m protected,
But Terror cannot hear!

Worried parents
Soothing words
Scared. I’m scared as hell!

Heart. Racing.
Chest. Tight.
Crying.
Can’t explain.

Can’t breathe
Can’t breathe.
Can’t breathe!

And then it’s gone

The rain outside is
Pecking
Like a little bird
On the roof

My parents downstairs
Talking
Murmured voices
Hushed

My room’s last summer’s
War zone
Empty land and
Scattered remnants

My heart’s still
Beating
So why have I
Gone cold

The night is silent
Now
The windowsill
Is bare

The bird’s gone home
He’s given up
And left me
All alone

Lord lift my spirits
For I have fallen
Into a shadow

A dark abyss
That swallows all
Who dare intrude

She hides behind a wall
Away from half her soul
Denying all that is
That isn’t right.
She paints in monosyllables.

When Hope comes knocking at your door,
Asking for a handout in the cold,
Who among you would not spare a dime?
Then shame on you.
For deep inside you is the cold
That you shut out behind your door,
It’s brightly painted wood a mocking light
In the gloomy dusk.
So shame on you.
But each of you who gives as you can spare,
Though it be less than one might wish or need,
If with sincerity you open up your heart
To let in Hope,
Then a blessing be upon you,
For you are Hope.

How many times have I said the words?
Whispered them, shouted them
Silently inside,
Where only I can hear,
So nobody answers?
Help me! I’m not strong enough.
Save me, hold me close and safe!
Don’t you see how close I am
To breaking?
I am the vase on the edge of a shelf
In an earthquake.

Someone that I cared for
Once asked my favorite word.
I didn’t have an answer then,
But now I do.

Tomorrow is a word that rings,
A bell whose sound we chase and try to catch.
Through the years we follow,
It’s echoes full of hope and full of fear.

Tomorrow makes no promises,
No warranties on joy;
An accident, a tragedy,
Could be beyond this night.

But though I know that this is true,
And sadness comes for all,
Tomorrow too could hold the door
For my future self

That joyful woman I hope to be
Once all is right that can be fixed.
And so I chase tomorrow’s ringing,
Clear and pure through the nights of time,


And I know that soon the night will end,
And she’ll wait for me at tomorrow.

A crowded room
The buzz of voices
A scent that you remember
From long ago
Memories rise like ghosts,
The dead come back
To haunt your hard-won peace.
Someone dared to wear
The cologne he wore
When he said goodbye

Put guns into the hands of children
Put bullets through their hearts
Soldiers killed before the war’s begun
those who were to carry tomorrow’s flag
Lie buried beneath their elder’s feet
How many lives in the name
Of justice,
Revenge,
Or greed?

The future dies with each of them.

I am my hands and my feet
My arms and my legs
My torso and my spine
I am my eyes and my lips
My ears and my skin
I am my brain and
I am my heart
But who am I?

I am no one special
No one powerful
Or smart
No one beautiful
Or talented
To set myself apart
And yet somebody loves me
Though only God knows why
Since I’m nobody special
In my own reflected eyes

Picture a wall of glass
As clear as air
but solid as a stone

I stand behind that wall
And the world’s on
The other side

I can see it
And it can see me,
But only through the glass

I can’t touch it
I can’t reach it
I can’t feel.

For that wall is in my soul
And I can’t break it alone.

A face looks up at shining stars
A child’s wonder in her eyes
A world of struggles not yet seen
A mystery inside her lies

Her braids in darkness shine like gold
Her light amidst the shadowed gloom
Her sweet delight a benediction
Offered to the pale moon

Her past and future swirl around her
Threads of gold and silver weave
Dancing in the moonlit shadows
Some for joy and some for grief

She sees them not, though, complex patterns
Veiled from her sight by time
Her life awaits her through the curtain,
Full of mountains she must climb

She does not fear though, does not know,
Her child’s wonder still holds sway,
A face looks up at shining stars
Glowing all so far away

Fractured.
Fragment.
Broken.
Pieces.
Mind awhirl.
Nothing ceases.
Shattered.
Better.
Mind anew.
No one understands.

In circles convoluted still
We poor dumb puppets turn;
The wind, a thief
Of voices, screaming
That which once was ours-
A shrieking cry more animal
Than man.
Time itself is dancing on
The puppet master’s strings.

The truth ripples,
wavers,
distorts.
Bowed and twisted by so many
Silver tongues.

Twisted is the glass we see though
Cloudy and hidden by turns
Trapping us in blissful ignorance.

Ignorance is not bliss
When you long for a truth
That no one wants to find.
They are blissful in their ignorance

The ocean is calm inside of me today
My emotions are cool, collected,
Bluish greenish grey

But the sea is a fickle friend.
Lashing, thrashing, beating
Against the moorings of my boat
As darkness falls

The anchors that I set don’t always hold;
I am adrift upon my inner sea,
As others blow the wind into my sails
That never guide me where I need to go

I lost my only oar so long ago
The wood beneath my my palms is phantom faint;
My arms are weak from lack of self control
And I am lost

The water boils up against my boat
Threatening to draw me down into the dark
From whence I’d not return

But the sea is a fickle friend.
She soothes her storms as swift as they begin
And offers me apology
In sunbeams from the clouds
Instead of rain