I need a place to lay,
Somewhere deep inside the earth
Held tightly in the arms
Of many ancient roots
Twisting above and below me,
A cradle for my tired bones,

I need a place to sleep,
Nestled in a home
Made of small stones and soil,
Blanketed in the silence
That permeates the ground
Beneath my feet

From where I lie,
The darkness
Looks alive
In the space
Between branches,
And for a moment
I feel a brief respite
From loneliness
As a swarm of eyes
Lock with mine

Warm
Wind blows
Sympathetically
Caresses cold
Flesh

©KNL

You found the cracks
In my soul
And poured your light in
Through them
So that I could
See myself again

You burn so very bright, my love
Will you take me with you when you go?
Will you carry me in your supernova
Let me fly through the stars,
Tear through the galaxy bathed
In dazzling rays of ethereal light
Let me breathe in the sweet silence
And dance like a raging fire
Before I smolder in the endless dark

You are the tide
Creeping slowly
Consuming
Overwhelming
Washing over me
And dragging me
Out where I cannot hope
To ever find my way back

Reaching wooden fingertips
Caress a rising sun,
While clouds of warm words
Are quietly woven
Into white lace whispers,
Decorating the pale morning
With passionate thoughts
And bated breaths

I drift away again,
A wisp of smoke
From between pursed lips,
Coiling through cold fingers
No longer my own
Before disappearing
Into the quiet night

Can I gaze into your stardust eyes,
And drink in your heavy sighs?

The words
I should
Have said
Sit in my gut,
Heavy and blunt,
And all I can do
Is tell myself
That I don't have to
Hold onto
Words unspoken
As I try not to
Spill them
On the floor
At your feet

Your honeyed words so sweet
However bitter the taste to come,
A sharp and clever tongue
Designed to ever make me numb

You spoke your way right to my heart
And gripped it in your hand
When you were finished scrying,
You replaced it in its stand

"What did you see?"
"Only me."

I trip and stumble
Over the sweet flavor
Of words on the tip
Of my eager tongue

I savor the taste
Of hazy thoughts
Perched playfully
Just behind my lips

The field behind you has overgrown
A wild and formidable sight,
As all the seeds that have been sown
Now reach out to feel the light
You'll want to wander through it all,
Watching tree tops sway and dance,
While the sun begins to fall
And your mind is in a trance
Grasses laden with diamond dew drops,
Vivid petals and vines of green,
Lead you further through a copse
Into a place that seems serene
When the light is gone don't linger there
The time spent lost will bring despair

I know the way that love tastes
Honeyed fingertips
Pressed tightly to sealed lips

I know the way that love feels
The fluttering of butterflies
And hearts in cages

I know the way that love sounds
Laughter caught in throats
Full of unspoken words

I know the way that love looks
A gleam in the eyes
Casting shadows in the mind

I write letters to you in my mind
And then burn them
Such divine pyres
To warm my frozen bones
In the midst of my coldest winter

We feel happiness
In moments vivid and fleeting
Nothing more than
A birdsong chorus
Or the flutter of butterflies
In the breeze

Jagged words have a way
Of cutting through
Clenched teeth
And sealed lips
Destroying dams
Built in bloodied mouths
And soft hearts

Those quiet, moonlit truths
That you whisper
Through my hair
While we lay
In the arms of sleep
Swirl through my dreams,
Coils of sweet smoke
From the warmest of fires

Flower petal dreams
Flutter around my head,
Kissing my cheeks
With softest lips,
Whispering gentle lullabies
That lead my tired mind
Into the arms of sleep

An incessant
Lament radiates
Off of my
Rattling bones,
Echoing in
My hollow chest,
And at times
I cannot seem to
Hold myself
Tight enough to
Stifle the sound
That it makes

Winter clings
Winds they sing
Songs of ice
Do entice
Snowflakes down
A frozen crown
Fields of white
A beautiful sight

There goes spring
On gilded wing
Colors bright
Life alight
Flowers grow
From under snow
To behold
A sun of gold

Summer heat
Warms the street
The sun above
Burns like love
The sultry nights
Bring little lights
When fireflies
Fill darkened skies

Autumn rolls through
A wonderful view
Gray sky frames
Colors of flames  
Leaves change shade
A vibrant parade
Whirling to earth
Death and rebirth

You haunt me,
A poltergeist lingering
In my hollow body,
Creating and rearranging
Countless mementos
Adorning the crumbling walls
That hold me together

Wind brushes my skin
I felt you that way,
Soft and fleeting
A gentle reminder
That I wasn't alone

Wind blows harder
Harsh and cold
******* the air
Straight from my lungs
As you once did

Wind is now gone
Sweeping through the trees
Somewhere around me
Always there,
But never tangling my hair

The cloud rolls into view
One that's always there
Lingering just outside the blue

It will seep into my eyes
And I will have to brave the rain
Yet through the somber skies

The sun will peek in
Just to see how I have been

There are days
When the curses
Weigh heavy
On lips and shoulders
Despite being built
From hollow words

I have gone walking through life
With a heart full of paper lanterns

I have been an aimless wanderer
Nothing more than a moth fluttering from one luminous pool to the next,
No matter how dim the flame seemed to burn

I have embraced the fragile brilliance of each and every one of them,
Snuffing them out with Arms outstretched like a child longing to be held,
Ignoring the burns that they left behind because I did not care enough to tend to them myself

I have stood in the darkness that I created in myself,
Felt the cold whisper of gloom passing through my halls,
As I was an abandoned house with walls begging to be torn down

I have come to find that not everyone is afraid of the dark
He walked right in, carrying the sun in his chest
And gave me the one thing that I needed most

I will now go walking through life
With a heart full of paper lanterns
And a matchbook in my pocket