Dragging feet down the twisted riverbanks,
seduced by what I cannot reach.
There's an island just past the current
and I am marooned on the wrong beach

A raft of driftwood, a bridge of stones
Let slip the days from when I could not breath
Ah! but now I've been swimming for years!
And from the sand, the sky melts into the trees.

A blind face is the only introspection
many can afford.
Does watching make it worthwhile?
Does counting calm your nerves?

The hands will always listen,
when all we are is gone
The ticking never ceases,
whispering along.

A path of color
through abstract landscapes,
under the shade of an old willow

Gods of their own world
sit at makeshift altars
in makeshift temples
placed neatly in rows of white canvas,
so the peasants may stroll idly
between kingdoms.

"Look at this!"
"I've never seen anything like it before!"

Bring sacred work into the daily routine.
Hang the divine from every rafter.
There is enough heaven for us all.

You promised me cheesecake.
And now, we can't remember our first date

There's a photobooth strip of the zoo,
that first summer,
when it was too hot
and all the animals were napping.
But I held your hand
while we looked for the red panda.

There's something about
mac and cheese,
Ben and Jerrys
on a Friday night.
Or waking up to make breakfast
home fries, eggs, and toast
on Saturday morning.

Sitting with you,
alone together.
Knowing I can blow you a kiss
and you'll catch it.
Every time.

You promised me cheesecake.
But I'd have followed
even if you hadn't

Through the forest grass,
a lockstep march.
Neat columns
of silent striding teams.

To ground they go,
to burrow deep.
Bringing prizes
foreign and mundane

Can they look into the giants above?
There is no time to dream.

Hurry home! Your colony calls
and the task is but half done

Brace for the rip tide's
crash and sweep and pull.
Light, hazy blue,
flares safe heavens,
beckoning a breathless plea

There has never been peace in drowning.
Because every wave worth fighting
demands a hero who can breathe underwater

Welcome to a land that is not.
Don masks and play pretend.
Characters are outfits to be tried on and shared,
merry heroes until the end

Off to steal glory from the world
and etch their names in the legends to come.
Every impossible tale of beating the odds
and pray doesn't roll you a one.