People are people.
And life is hard.

let's be children again
and roam the streets
on hot summer days
with nothing to complete

As time fades
the light of omnipotence
into dull hues of frailty

I turn to God, instead.
He will make it all okay.

As my mother did
When, as a child
I crawled into her arms
And all my troubles went away.

I wish I could be more of the woman you and I both want me to be
Selfless, confident, and self-assured
But weak, I am-
Woman.
Plush and fertile,
Tender with tears
Trying to be strong
To give you more
Of the woman you and I both want me to be.

But I am not her,
I am me.

Strong in my weakness,
Sincere in my ways.

Humbly, I am
The woman I am.

I like to drink my coffee fast.
And standing.
Because I know there’s more where that came from.
And I’ve got somewhere to be.

At dawn
I watched you
Climb into bed beside me

Half awake, I was
And half-lit was the room
From the half-lit sky
Of early morning

And the dawn shadows
Drew across you
And I caught your appearance–
Your beard and your body
Your features and gestures

Getting into bed with me.

I layed there still
As the twilight crept
Slowly over us

Astonished at you
Beside me

As dawn and morning
Cradled us both
Back to sleep
And brought us into
Another day
Together.

“What if?” shouts fear, loud and shrilling.
“I’ll still be here” God whispers, softly.

I am too tired
To contort words and phrases,

All I can speak is my truth:

Give me your love
Give me your love
Give me your love.

I am wrapped up in yesterday,
Tied in the knots of my heart,
Bound by my regrets of the night.

Restless, I am,
Eager to escape to before
When it was evening
And there was opportunity
To do right

But rather,
It is morning
And i am trapped in the pit of my chest
A prisoner to the night
Without a chance for change.

Let a single ray of day shine upon me
As I sit in this pit of mourning.
Let it warm the fibers of my heart,
So they grow loose
And I can step out, into the day.

And let me say sorry,
By how I live
Today.

I tried to contort
To fit your shape
And now my spirit
Is knotted and bound

Still and stuck, I am
Full
Of life–
Unlived.

I take a deep breath
Creating space
To begin releasing
The knots I once made.

I went walking
On a soft, September afternoon
The air was gentle, with new life ahead

And deep within the blue autumn breeze
Children ran down city streets
And life moved quickly
While the soft September air
Gracefully slipped between
Busy bodies, honking horns

And all of life went on,
Pressing forward
Melting into one thing

Soft and glowing
Beating, proceeding

Perfect, purposeless
–Life
Living itself
Under soft September skies

As I walked, I could see

Lines across faces
Toothless grins
Children running
Birds overhead
The empty allies
The green of the trees
Trails of consumption

All of what was, and is
And is yet to come…

On soft, September city streets
Beyond the reach of summer heat…

Raw, one and serene
Beating with a near-winter glow.

I can't believe
How much love
The human heart
Is capable of.

When you were gone
I saw myself

–Alone, weak and fragile
–That, I did not like.

And I longed for your return
So I could be strong.

But I failed to see
God by my side.

Who was there all along.

Marvelous splendor
The eyes delight
God’s thumbprint upon
This magical sight

She wears herself
And nothing more
Standing true
In her natural form

Beauty is,
Not symmetry
Beauty is
Simply to be

God made you, you
And nothing more
So wear it proud
And wear it strong

There is only one you
On the face of this earth
And someone out there
Can see all your worth

Without you changing
A single thing -
Your beauty is in
Your true being

So let your light
Shine through today
So God can delight
In what he has made.

Before You,
I never knew,
How much love,
I was capable of.

She wept.
Curdled upon the disjointed planks
Of old mahogany wood
On her cold bedroom floor.

She watched the empty air
Swirling specks of dust
In a perfect dance, afloat
Before her blurry eyes.

Each particle contained
A glimmer of light
That informed her,
Day was near.

But still, she sank
Beside the bed,
That contained
The essence
Of them--

Words, softly spoken
In the black abyss of night
When sound and sensation
Triumphed over sight.

The timelessness they spent
Within the vortex,
Levitated & contained
As that enchanted rhythm,
Moved them-
Together.

Those raw mornings
When light spilled across them
Delighting
In an innocent rebellion
Against the sun’s command
To begin the day.

STOP

Without an accomplice
She felt no delight
In her meager rebellion
Against the light.

And so she collected
everything within her
and drew herself to kneel.

And then,
Pressing the calloused soles of her hands and her feet
Into that cold mahogany floor,
She picked herself up-

And began her day.

I am human
and I have lived, and breathed, and seen...
and fallen and stood,
and loved and lost.

And I seek.
And I seek.

And I breathe, and I look, and I live.

And I live.
And I love.
And I see.

I am only as good as my greatest sin
So I hold it high, overhead
Like a torch–
That guides the path
And lights the way…

I promise you,
There was once a time
When I was not so alone.

And how precious
That moment was to me then,
And is to me now.

I am ready to rip the white off these walls.
I am ready to destroy them.

Only to notice,
In that courageous moment...
That one of the four is missing.

It is far more challenging
To return again

Than it is,
Simply to stay
All the while.

Despite the trouble
This staying contains.

I am my father's daughter

Let me rejoice!
For just a breath,
In the simple truth

That this is enough.

Deep in every eye is a soul—
And there is only one like that.

And every word spoken
Is a human attempt,
to convey the complexity
of an utterly unique human experience
never to be had again.

And our bodies contain—
for a moment in time—
the power
to create life.

And when we pass,
we will be gone, forever.

He plucked the mistakes from his heart
Uprooting the dry bulbs and coiled stems
With an empty satisfaction that consumed him

Pruning himself for perfection
And deep in the earth he buried his sins

Day after day
He maintained his routine
Summer dawned,
Autumn fell,
Winter withered

And alas came spring
When all is made new

A tender green bud
Still wet with life
Burst through the earth
With a courage
Soft enough
To make itself seen

I will breathe with this fear
And cradle her near,
until she decides to go.

For now, she is scared.
And she finds my flesh inviting.
My body warm,
My mind – open and appealing.

A fleeting part of me,
I choose not to distance myself.
Becoming a fragment
Of my experience.

I will stay,
Unafraid,
Until she finds
A new place to go.

I know you’re holding back a little
But I don’t think I will.

Because that's not who I am
And I'd rather lose you
Than lose myself to you
By holding my breath.

Although I stand
Alive and alone,
With my words and my breath
Outside of me

It creates a space
for God to fill.

Let me stand outside in the rain
With my mouth wide open.

My heart had become
Tenderized meat
Pounded and hanging
For vultures to eat

How grateful I am
To capture time and sensation
In words and meaning…

Delight & despair
wrapped in a message

To share with it’s rightful recipient.

Divinely delivered
Through the hands of God,
So you can know–

You are not alone.
And that one day,
Everything will be okay.

90 degrees
hot summer morning
8 am

same time every day
white shirt buttoned up
sweat insulating
his paper skin beneath

Hands firmly gripping the handles of his walker
with the same determination
that he has for life

not letting go

morning after morning
buttoning that shirt
tying those tarnished shoes

and down the hot and busy road
against the traffic and the rushing young
whose fleeting eyes somehow miss
this pure dart of life

Gaze fixed upon his target;
the next step.

He proceeds...

I used to love,
You know.
It broke my heart
Like the New Orleans dam.

Somehow, it got too full
This heart of mine.

And out, it started pouring.

Out it goes, still.
This love in my heart.

Back, we descend.
Into the sea.

You said to your disciples–
“You of little faith”
–And you loved them,
Nonetheless.

And I, of little faith
Follow you,
Seeking more.

Now that you’re gone
It seems almost a dream
How we once moved
As one flesh, one being

I thirst
For knowledge
And meaning
And sensation
And feeling

And to be desired
And to quench my desires
And to sleep peacefully
In the arms of another

And to know God

And to eat fresh fruit
Plucked from trees

And to roam
With my ancestors
Among olive trees

And to feel my feet
On dewy grass
In the springtime

And to know youth again

And to give to the hands of the needy
And to receive gratefully, what I need

And to celebrate
For eternity
At a long, wooden table
Among full, smiling faces
Of those I adore.

I keep trying to prove
to myself and to you
that I am something of value
to hold onto

But this outpouring of words
won’t do me justice

And won’t convince you
that I am worth keeping

to be empty
is to be filled
with the divine possibility
of anything.

I’ll write for you
And I’ll read
And watch your soul be appeased

And the knots in my heart will become undone
As you exhale deeply

Walking through water
doesn’t seem so hard
til' you've gone so far
you just can't turn back.

And so, you sink.

How rawly alive we are;
In the light of day.

All I have are words and tears
And hours of life
Arranged in a particular pattern.

Let me live it,
unabashedly so.

It won't exist when I am gone.
And I choose not to bury myself
Before my time.

Faith is not the absence of doubt.
Faith is having doubt, and not believing it.

May I walk in the light, today.

Stepping out on the ledge
that held him with a weak and trembling grip,
his eyes were filled
with the future

Lucid lights painting ribbons through the sky,
tracing the frantic motion
of masses lost,
in a rush to nowhere

Entranced by the spectacle,
eyes yellow aglow,
he ceased to notice
the grounds growing tremor

I imagine
Forgiveness
As a fountain,
Always running...

Regardless of  
the thirsty, poor -
- always taking

Always pure,
Regardless of corruption,
from the ignorant,
innocent youth.

We have all taken
what is not ours
and given
what we should have
kept to ourselves.

But forgiveness,
in her faithful way,

Never stops
producing more
chances to
Triumph.

When it’s morning
And I see your face
I see forever
With you.

pink
open
soft

sweet
hues
delight

"take"
she says
with her gentle, open glow
resting calmly as they enter

her scent affirming
that life's purpose
is to live.

and when the sun fades her pink
into warm shades of brown
and her nectar runs dry
and life passes by,
without pausing to feed or delight.

gently and humbly
she releases all of herself
petal by petal
into the earth

saying - "take..."

Blessings wash over me.
I am the center of the fountain.

Renewing waters
–Cleansing.

Feeling–
More than whole.

I have.
More than enough.
To offer this world.

Once I achieved
All I ever wanted,

My full hands
Longed for the space
They held before.

It was full
Of opportunity.

why does it feel
on this dark and dreary day
that all light and love is behind me,

evaporated into nothing.

while before me,
everything is as dim and heavy as this moment
when only nothing exists.

I miss him
Even though
He is long gone.

Pain is never wasted
So long as she
Gets her point across

So long I’ve been searching
For me.

And finally I see,

I am a wall
That knocks itself down.

And using the pieces,
I build a new wall.

One with a window.

Until I become all empty space.
Above a mound of my remains.