Autumn pulls at dusks
yet August will not relent
until September

when evenings begin to hold that hallowed smell inside,
yet summer holds

blue days follow through
and I remember the taste
- sweet - of loving you

je ne parle pas le français
mais vous,
vous êtes couramment

j'essaye
cependant,
vous n'avez rien répondu
et je crois que le silence est ma réponse

the unrooted soul
who knows only wind as home
and land as its cage

gold and yellow yolk leaks
as the shells, brown fragments of armour
tumble into the clear lake

so it must be morning
though the sun sets as we confess resurfacing memories
that break in front of us
like eggs at breakfast

somehow the week is gone
as the church bells ring
and the water moves on

as the birds all sing
to another dawn

of how things used to be,
I want to say
come back

so constant is the lapping shore of change

july
so sweet and shy
passive yet
pass swiftly by

july
a long goodbye
and every year
you make me cry

july
don't even try
cause when you're done
the end is nigh

july
if only I
could hold the tune
of your name
sigh

pelicans remind the forest
of life beyond the wood

darling girl
be optimistic in your ventures

because how you see the world
becomes your reality

beneath the door
a yellow line

what's happening
on the other side

hours gone
spent talking alone

wishing you
could go back home

a knock, a sigh,
a hushed goodbye

I'll be here till
the end is nigh

I'll be the bedrock of your home

the ocean batters
reckless waves and constant storms
but the rock is still

too many things
to miss

and in the dusk
where all days end
will we find ourselves in the hues
of gold into darkness

-

in the dawn,
we were brought
from summer into fall
cleansed into being

and now it is spring into summer
and we close this moment
with a song
a celebration
a sunset

soft and tender and sweet
the love we remember
from her

but from him
it is steady and long
and true

like the star
blinking home
always

embraces and we feel more distant
as the night ends
and the curtains close

I must have known
the cold face of the sun

so foolish, I fell
for the idea of you
your shadow, my dream

doves send messages
and in the halls
you do not
look at
me

so sweet
so shy
we both let months go by

girls in dresses
flowers in their hair
nails painted blue
naive and unaware

that boys in suits
watch them from afar
wishing they were brave enough
to get out of the car

there is a sculpture
she claims unsketchable
of a woman in a mangled
frozen pose

the people flock to kiss
her pale lifeless feet
and gaze up in such proximity
to the angelic, unravelled woman
who becomes something more
in their gazes

but we sit from afar
and she marvelled at those wings
at the bends and swerves of that limestone
or marble
at the spine and the cracks

the prose of anonymity in beauty without a face,
a fetish,
just awe in raw skill

her eyes are deep
stark like islands in an ocean
murky tides
misty waves
things lost and conveyed
a galaxy of clustered stars
that have dwindled off
so very long ago -
yet not to us
for no one has seen
how floods corrupt the dam
of her lashes,
the downy of her skin
so young and like a flower
wilting
she is guilty of another's crime
but again, she sinks
into sand
into clay at the absolute bottom of the deepest abyss
from sun-tanned to night-kissed
she reaches out with a hand,
a plea,
a look

and the pressure of the water pulls you in with her
so that you, too are lost
in the expanse
of those deep eyes

born with the water
the lotus opens in the moonlight

a man fell for her,
and every now and then they dine
on moonshine

above the surface she is rose and white
and below she is tethered to the world

no one can hold her
except for the water

brown eyed girl
with sand straight hair
never smiles anymore

brown eyed girl
with sand tan skin
left out on the open shore

seagulls scream
tides sweep in
salt stains drying up her core

feet sink in
the sand is dense
she sinks
and sinks
and sinks some more

you are not yet mine
what will I say
to make this into something

I'm wasting time
day after day
but nothing comes from nothing

it's almost june
it's been a year
I wish that I could tell

the lovely moon
to tell you, dear
that I am under your spell

we are not we
just me and you
two hundred thousand dreams

but do you see
a path so true
more lovely than it seems

I pray too much
and barter words
but I am too afraid

to risk a blush
and vision blurred
I think I'll just evade

I am still young
my heart is dumb
my mind is none the wiser

but now among
this foolish love
won't you be a sympathizer

i'll buy a ring
and take your hand
and kneel down on my knee

if I could sing
make you understand
the truth of my soliloquy

i cannot name what i feel for you
but you mean something to me

what we love
we let go

what we hold onto
we love

every day in dark beginnings
we stand on sidewalks side by side

as we approach I clear my throat
hoping that our feet collide

and maybe if I stand so still
it can be just you and me

my heart is racing from the thrill
a hopeless possibility

you said my name and spoke a line
and quick i was to answer

but you and I have words too shy
to speak like graceful dancers

i see you and you see me
but do you really understand

how every second I pretend
that these near moments I can stand

to stand beside you,
composed on my own island.