In the Sahara
Grows a Tulip
From the day
We met

In the Antarctic
A Black Rose
Fights against the ice
The day we pronounced
Our love for each other

Light has reached
A Black Hole
In the deepest of space
&
Will survive it
Penetrating it
Mercilessly

Where nothing can grow
Where nothing living can survive
You will find us there
Our love
Our beating hearts
Together
Entwined

And if I had one day
That would be okay
With you
I
Would just ask
For the sun to never set
Nor the moon to never rise
&
Just get lost in eternal seconds
Press against your immortal skin
&
Get back all the time
Lost between us

Loved
How she slept
How she laughs
How she looks at herself
Her words that she writes
How she dances by herself
Sometimes
With music
Sometimes
With tears
So I’ll stand guard
Unrelieved watch
Over her
Until she joins me
Hear her whisper
Each and everynight
Before turning off the light
‘I miss you my love...I know you are there. I feel you.’
‘I miss you too...
I’m the Ghost
And she haunts me...

I swear everybody wants to call
Somebody
Their Valentine today
At least for 20-30 minutes

‘Hey...just seeing how you’re doing. Happy Valentine’s Day. Remember me? Got any big plans tonight?’

A woman should know when a man cries for her...and her alone

And if you’ve already put his last name behind your first...
You’re so ******

Behind those three thousand
Followers
Behind those plastic pouty lip poses
500+ Likes
Mouse ears & nose
Doe eyed filters
Hearts
Behind the
‘What does everyone think?’
Lies
a
Very sad & lonely
Soul
If there is one at all

You’ve set fire to the wilderness of my soul as I sit & laugh at the flames that stretch into the heavens ...

He saw her face for the briefest
Of Fall afternoons
Winking at her as he left
She saw him coming at dawns
But would leave before he’d rise
Shy
Could feel him burning all over
Her
‘I’ll make the flowers bloom just for her...’ said Sun
‘I’ll make the oceans rage just
for him...’ said Moon
And he waited the most
In Summer
And she was the brightest
In Winter
Everyday
Everynight
you see them
Sun
Moon
They long to be united
Long to be with each other
But every morning
Every sunset
They catch a glimpse
To say
‘Good morning...
&
‘Good night ...
‘My love....

(O)
........
...............
.....................
....­........................
......................................
.­.............................................

Seconds tick away time
Time away from you
I
See you in the corners of my
Eyes
Waiting for me
In my time away from you

Isn’t easy
For me
Waking from dreams of you
Even there you walk away
‘I want to tell you everything...’
‘Stop...’
And I walk along the sand
Hand in hand
With nobody
Just like the lost...

My angel with the blackened
Owl feathers
Standing guard over my
Dreams
Open them
For me

If I were to ask her when she cried today, before she’d answer I’d say
‘9:22’
&
She’d say
‘How did you ...

I just know
I just know

You ask me to call on you
Sometime
To never forget
About us
&
I ask you how you want to
Remember
‘Tell me of our memories...
‘The way you know how...
She says
The way I know how
‘You say it so beautifully...
‘Your Words...
‘I wish I could stay...
Just remember
Our laughter
&
Our pain

The tears mixed with the rain
That’s where I’ll be
With you
Once again

470,000
Words
In
The
Dictionary
And
She
Knows
The
Only
3
Words
I
Want
To
Hear

Alone
Cold
In the dark
Unable to see
You whisper
Whisper to me
‘Did you hear...hear me call
‘Out to thee?’
‘Oh yes...this is our spot...
‘The place we have to build...
‘If we can’t be together...
‘Right now you & me...
‘Our Love is fragile...
‘Needs a forest...
‘Needs a sea...
‘Your lovely voice
‘My love I heard it...
‘Calling out to me...
Leaving
You have your back to me
Stoking the fire
‘Don’t forget about us...
‘And what we can be...
Alone
Dark
Cold

The loneliest spot on Earth
Is sleeping next to a person
You can’t fix
No amount of encouragement
No amount of post it notes
Of ‘we can get help’
‘I love you no matter what’
Can fix the unfixable
Insecurities
Secrets
Lies
Fake accounts
The next time my heart aches
For someone
I’ll remember
The screams of the unfixable
And the loss of our dreams

Those ghosts hiding in your heart
Will soon take form not only in your mind
But you’ll see them in the day
Corners of your eye
First thing in the morning
Last thing at night
Specters
Phantoms
Shadows
You’ll be the only one
That sees them
I hope you rid yourself of them
Soon
Just let me haunt you one more
Night
To say goodbye to your body
Goodbye
To your soul

The Wise Ones
Might’ve lived when they were
Younger
Did as their parents told them to
Had that one love
That artist
Of words
And requisite
Of art
That gave them the world
That dreamer
But then they wised up
Got their bills paid
Had their babies
Their heartache
Got older
Put their hopes
&
Dreamers away
Settled
For this life

And dying in their beds
With that last bill paid
They’ll smile and think
Of their dreamer
Their artist
Of words
&
Wished
They had taken a
Chance

But they were wise
Not to do so ...

Saw 847 faces
Driving 847 cars
Traffic in
Traffic out
Passed by 49 faces
Walking 49 different ways
Made eyes with
1
And she still
Wasn’t you
Why couldn’t
1
Of them be
U

And one day
You’ll realize
That what’s good enough
For the heart
Isn’t good enough for the soul
&
You’ll take my unopened
Messages
Put them back
Into the bottle
&
Slip them gently
Back Into the Sea

I think that day
Is today

I wonder
If she ever
Looks
At my words
&
Says
‘Oh my...I love that man. Yes I do...yes I do...’

Do you look to the South
The same way I look to the North
When I think of you?

If you give a Poet a cookie...
He’s gonna want a cup of coffee
And not just any coffee
But the good stuff on the high shelf
And if you give the Poet the Kenyan Organic Whole Bean
Reserved for your best company
He’s gonna want creamer
The good Whole Foods
$5.69 creamer
And if you give the Poet the
Expensive creamer he’s gonna
Want to sit down and talk
Of great books
Great music
And he’ll notice you’ve got
A record player
And if you have a record player
The Poet’s gonna wanna go
Through your collection
Your Fleetwood Mac
John Coltrane
Tom Petty
Nina Simone
And the Poet will put his coffee down
And look at the back of that
Nina record
And tell you that
‘This song...this song
‘Reminds me so much of what
‘Love sounds like...’
And you’ll look at the Poet
Cause he just touched
Your heart
Made it skip a beat
And you’ll think to yourself
‘I just might invite that Poet over again tomorrow...’
But if you do
That Poet is gonna want a cookie
And
If you give a Poet a cookie...

I see you in the distance
My star

I’m here too
Never touching
But constant

You’re not alone
And I don’t feel alone
Knowing you’re there

So bright
So beautiful
We are part of the same
Constellation
For millions of years to come

Come closer to me...

            *
          

We exist out there somewhere
Always have
Maybe not of this earth
Or of this universe
This strain of time
But we’re out there
With our
Planted Tree
Our shared dreams
Our unlimited time
And place
I can’t wait to get back there
With you...

Tonight
When you come to me
In my dreams
And you hold onto me
Tight

................stay...............
All thru the
Night

I don’t even care about words right now...just want to stare at pictures of you all day...

She took her gasoline can
Emptied it on my branches
My leaves
My outer bark
Covered me
Doused me
And stood on the edge
Of my forests
My green
She knew what she was doing
It had been 3 long months
Without her
Without a word
4am Monday morning
I saw the match
Drop
‘You haven’t written in a while
‘Are you okay?’
Let this fire consume us
I don’t ever want
To put it out

You are my reminder
That my soul needs more
Love
Than my body

Stone cutters cut slabs
For the Masons to form
Architects to derelicts
Home builders
Bricklayers
All play their parts
Building foundations

Singers & songwriters
Performing arts
Dancers
In moonlight

Preachers & Priests
Convents
With sisters
Pray over
The revolutions
Started by poets

Someone you’ve never met is waking in this universe
Under the same stars as
You
Ready to appreciate
The beautiful
Words
You write

It’ll be so wicked
Someday
To lick the juice
Of our fruited sin
Off of your chin
&
Body

I’ll plant
The Forbidden Tree
In our garden
So we can pull
The fruit
Off
Any ******* time
We please

She was the only one amongst the many that called me friend
Upon my exile
My going away
And shutting it all down
To be alone
The only one
Who found me
And asked
‘Are you okay?’

Just know...
He’s had lives & loves before you
Remember that when the bricklayer or the mechanic
Asks for your hand
You’ll receive one flower
Instead of a dozen roses
Picked on his way home
Handwritten notes in your shoes
Instead of Hallmark greetings
Elaborate dinners cooked by him
Where he said he’d clean
Afterwards
But didn’t
Spur of the moment
Road trips
Instead of planned vacations
The opening of windows
For the springtime thunderstorms
Listening to the beat of his heart
While the rain drops
Drip
Drip
I
N
T
O
The drain
He’ll write you with jazz playing
Wine in his bottle
Records in his head
Absorbing you into his world
And if he dies before you
And you bury him
And you mourn over him
Lasting for years
Remember his flower
His notes written just for you
And if you see his ghost
Haunting you
Then the Poet
Has fallen forever for
...You...

You’d rather succumb
Than not submit
Be weak & let go
Than be strong
Take all your guards down
To hear me say my words
To you
To have but a little something
Of me
Your voice goes quiet
When we part
And I love it
It’s the tail end of your
Comet
Passing me
In the night

I brought one sandbag with me
To stop the inevitable
Flood
of you
When you come back

Rolling over to find you
Snuggled into my back
Trying to find warmth
‘Did you miss me?’
‘You know I did...’
‘I’ve missed this...’
Kissing me
Scent of your body
Giving off radiance
Your hips in the moonlight
Opening
Lip trembling
Opened eyes in desire
Then coming in for more

Awake
Clock reads
3:14am
Smell of your hair
In my nose
The place next to me warm
Desperately
Get back to sleep
Back to you

For what it’s worth
You’re never too old
To start a Facebook account
I hope you live a life worth
Posting up
With a face that doesn’t need a filter
A life filled
&
Full of Likes
Retweets
&
Comments
And if you find that you don’t
I hope you find the strength
To start a fake account

If you opened me up
To reveal my beating
You’d find the lacerations
Of years
Of lovers
Crushes
Heartbreaks
Goodbye to my grandmother
Friends I’ve lost
The ones
Who said they’d stay
The Scarred Heart
‘There’s a bandaid on a part...
‘Of your heart....
You say
‘That’
I say
‘Is you healing it...’

Everyone from the age of 10 knows that the best
Sick Day
Movie is ‘The Princess Bride’
Even if you’re playing hooky
‘What about The Empire Strikes Back?’
Asks my 10 year old
And now I have to rethink
Everything

Found that orange pillow that you’d bring to our Saturday nights
On my couch
And like a dummy
I smelled it
And somehow
Someway
The gods remembered
How much I loved you
Because the smell of your
Hair was still upon it
After years
And
Years

‘Look at the moon! It’s so beautiful...’
‘We should get a soda...’
‘Are you hungry? I’m hungry.’
‘My Mom & Dad are kinda crazy, all parents are aren’t they?’
‘I know it’s hot but we should turn the ac off and roll the windows down...’
‘Guys are jerks sometimes...’
‘I thought you were cute...’
laughing ‘DONT UNTIE MY SHOES!!! YOU SILLY!!!!’
‘I wanna go to Europe someday...’
‘You read too?!’
‘I had SOOO MUCH FUN!!!’
‘You like me? Really? Aww Eric....I like you too...’
‘I don’t want this night to ever end.
‘I don’t want to go home...I want to stay with you...’
‘Look at the moon...it’s so beautiful.’

July 17th 1999
It was a Saturday
Humid night
You had a white t shirt on
I remember everything you told me that night
Even if I don’t remember
Anything I said