Walking along the river bank, a boy found a dress,
Floating in the bleak water.
A colorless bundle of cloth.
In the moon light, he noticed the dress winking back at him.
The beads glistened off the water's reflection.
It looked serene and wholesome, like the sun rising on a cold winter's morning.
The ribbons acted as arms, waving hello.
The garment's creases and folds, revealed a silhouette.
All around, the noise came to a stand still.
The river's touch, made the dress move, twirl,
Dance.
He wanted to reach out and touch it, hold it.
He wanted to dance with it.
To feel the cloth melt at his finger tips.
As he extended his hand to grab the floating mystery,
He fell in.
Devoured by the unforgiving river.
Only a few minutes passed but it seemed like eternity.
Then, drifting upwards from the haunting water,
A pair of faded jeans and a muddy shirt.
They moved as one gliding over to the pallid dress.
A sleeve reached out and met a milk-white waist line.
And guided the colorless dress to the middle of the engaging river,
To dance under the moon light.

it is autumn,
& a village is planning for
the Reaping:

                                        [the rustling of the wind as it whips through the leaves
                                        on a foggy, weaving, narrow street
                                        the faint hum of a chorus singing tunes of change,
                                        & a whisper of mischief amidst the trees & the rain.]

in a nearby village, women stand out on their porches,
waiting for news of the weather & harvest
while beasts curl & snap from the fire that warms
men with hands bloodied from the day’s hunted.

but when supper tables are barren & apron strings lengthen
on the women who pour over & onto their families,
men will tell fables & children sing carols
so the hunger pains & hopeless tears will cease.

so while some offer prayers to the God who giveth
& others grow cold in their anguish,
some witches gather in secret among cedars & birches
in attempt to tempt fate with their voices.

they sing:
seven handfuls of crunched leaves &
     seven nights of lucid dreams—
five pumpkin faces to carve grins into &
     five conversations to break hearts in two—
three dances around the fireside &
     three a.m. cold sweats in which to writhe—
one harvest moon to stand beneath &
     one soul for whom I ever weep.
                                      & while the weak are consumed with the thoughts in their heads,
                                      we clamor for life, chanting spells of the dead.

so when the blacksmith’s daughter hears a song from the woods,
raven hair aloft in the breeze,
she asks but one question: to whom shall I go?
& her boots beat a path toward the trees.

you told me you had lost your muse,
the first night we had met,
i glanced over and blushed into
the overhead lights,
i wasn't about to volunteer
my own self
but i secretly knew

i could be her

please
I’ll ask you with kindness one last time:
do not
absolutely, do not
(oh, brown eyes, brown eyes…)
break.

your bones are splintering,
the fibers that knit together your identity
are becoming unwoven
it seems—

& I don’t ask this easily,
nor without understanding
your lingering pain:
for the same ocean you drown in,
I’ve come to know
& the same bridges you’ve jumped from,
I’ve stood upon, aloft—

& with the wind&waves; I bend,
yes, I, too, bend--
with our evenings awash in escapism
& our midnights amiss with noise
[& our daylight alive with passioned kisses
never meant to ever say good night]--

yes we bend, dear friend,
but we absolutely cannot break.

dear love of mine,
we are two branches that ache on the same rotten, fallen tree,
two butterflies with gold-plated wings that labor to sing,
two corpses encased before their time,
two veins that race with the same
bloodlust for living

[but also for dying,
for that is our flaw,
& we do it exceedingly well].

for what I give to you is peace,
& what you give to me is inspiration—
two things that fight to exist
in a world that throws them out with
itswars&itslost;&itspoets.;

so in fact it is not love
we share in our greetings,
but rather the
enabling of
narcissism,
masochism,
& the misery to which
we harbor&cling;.

light autumn rain drops
the tiniest
kisses
smear the words being delicately written:

"i
would
do
literally
anything
for
you"

--jonah’s Lot
gravel-stricken streets & gaslit lampposts;
I close my eyes to take it all in—
this new solitude I’ve found to host.

a sacred sort of song I sing--
[oh, how does it feel to be alone?]--
though still wrapped in Love to ward off the sting.

& though I feel strong in my shield of Stone,
I cannot help but turn back in slight,
& a saltiness creeps up from my anklebones.

--at the dock of the bay.
in the distance you shine with your Father’s glow,
a smile&touch; I have longed for since that June long ago,
& the knot in my stomach continues to grow.

greatness I see as your eyes blink to me
when the smoke billows between our twin heartstrings,
though Ben strikes that it’s time to be free.

so though my travels lead me in opposition to hellos,
you are loved, Eternally Loved,
is what I have always said & have always wanted you to know.

--a fisherman’s courage
His mast is rising & His sails are billowing &
I step out on the dock, reluctant,
then the sunset pours through the Captain’s hand.

“child, you know what you truly seek,
among the waves you’ve yearned&desired; a storm detour,
when I was the one in control of this Sea.”

He reaches out to pull me in,
“you’ve always been free to walk on water,”
& that first step resonates like an eternal din.

--resolve&glory;
*I depart in peace & with all the contentment I have discovered
[that I have found, that I have found],
& all I ever had to do was cling to the Anchor.