You have robbed me of my beauty
as your judgments label and discard me
take a closer look
Have you not seen the vibrancy of my petals?
the intricacy of their placement, in and around
and over each other
how my color enlivens this flat and desolate field

You have robbed me of my richness
as your anger at my existence fuels
the chemicals you annihilate me with
take a closer look
Have you seen how the bees simply adore me?
drawn to my hues, while a symphony
emerges from the buzzing of their bliss

Do not discard me
instead sit and rest here with me
in the stillness and the silence
surrender your labels and judgments
and just be here with me now
see me as I see you;
simply and beautifully

Allow the wonderment of what I am
mirror the wonderment of you
let us stop robbing ourselves
of the exquisiteness
that we are

I will meet you at the table
even pull out your chair
invite you home for a while
to feel the depth of my care

I will pour my heart into your cup
in hopes of quenching your thirst
feed your soul with my love
to satiate your search

I will nourish your desires
by filling your plate
with a delectable closeness
never forcing you to eat

I will listen as you serve me
what you’re willing to share
even if it’s how I’ve hurt you
I’m willing to swallow my share

I will sit with your anger
and the sorrow underneath
the cloth may hide the table
but the scars remain beneath

I will stand when you stand
wishing you would pull me in close
invite you to stay
tell you this heart is yours

I will meet you at the table
but I won’t sit here alone again
hoping you will join me
while starving for the war between us to end

She slipped in quietly
through the back door
the dead of night carrying a silence
she’d never heard before

Even with the rustling of wind
through the trees
its stillness halted everything
including her desire to breathe

A sudden rapture grasped her heart
like a long lost lover
unraveling into its arms
she became one with the other

Out through the front door
at the first light of dawn
she left the keys to certainty
with the comforts of home

She dances shamelessly
beneath gazing stars
as midnight’s mystery
envelopes her heart

A pregnant moon
glistens upon naked skin
giving birth to an untethered
fire within

Subtlety cuts in
crisp and cool
tempering the passion
yet unable to contain its fuel

This fire is not passive
it is Love in action
setting her heart ablaze
unapologetic for the ashes