I am adept
In the art of being okay
I have mastered the craft
Of covering my troubles
I use all sorts of fancy facades
Acrylic, oil, watercolor
You name it.

I can paint over nearly anything

You will never know
How late I was up last night
Or why.

My eyes flicker
Like candlelight
But you couldn’t see
You couldn’t possibly see
I’m too good
For that.

I can dance, too
Waltzing away my sorrows
Carefully tip toe-ing the
Pas-de-I-am-fine
I get a standing ovation every time

I’m very talented, you see.

But my all time favorite
Is my disappearing act
I’m still perfecting it
Right now
But one of these days
I’ll show you
How I
Slip
Slip
Slip
Away

Right through your fingers.

together
the first flower bloomed
with her sisters
we watched it waver
as storms weeped
and weathered
we planted more seeds
of glowing hope
wishing, one day  
we could see
it flourish
into a beautiful garden
we could explore
forever

i find that i write the best
just after a fight
just after i've cried
just after the tears have fallen

doesn't matter what story it is
happy, sad, mysterious
funny, tragic, ridiculous
i will always write it well

because any story i write
after a fight, after i've cried
is a story that gives me the most comfort
because any fiction

is better than this.

To know that silence
Is just a pause
A pause to water the cracks in the dry earth
For the shoot to breathe a sigh of relief
Be tickled by the gentle breeze
A tiny shadow under the sun
It takes nurturing to see the plant bloom
And silence to experience
The stillness of the calm