What appears pleasing to the eye,
Seldom satisfy's the soul
What breaks when the spirit tries,
A wretched lesson, needed once told

A hand that reaches towards the sky,
Embraced with authentic love’s bold
Mends a life-long curse,
A fragmented trust, reformed whole

Dandelions
he looks for them,
scouring the fields all day in the spotlight of the sun
searching amidst the sun flowers and lawn weeds
careful not to step on them,
their bodies, flimsy noodles rooted in a crowded world
each clothed in simple beauty
he counts them,
he counts their pedals,
measures their heights,
compares their contrasts
all without picking them
he remembers the ones from before,
where they grew and lived
even when they turned to seeds and flew away
the field plotted with tags
a memorial and a birthing place
for memories gone and those still yet to be

I'm afraid I can't feel anything
Pinch me,
Wake my skin up from comatose
Take my worn face in your hands,
Run your fingers through my hair
I need to know, I can feel something
Get close,
Sing to me
Touch the back my neck with wind from your lips
Pluck my emotions like stings on a harp
Make me feel warm,
Melt me,
Teach my eyes to trust yours,
Perhaps my senses will come back,
One at a time

There's a song that I know,
When I hear it, my soul speaks
Like a whisper in the woods,
That grows beyond boundless reach

The sound lifts to the clouds,
It speaks more than just truth
Though, not a word is uttered,
Not a note left uncouth

I wrote the name down
On my skin with a needle,
To speak with my soul often,
Or, during a position gone fetal

A connection that explains all ties,
That won't compromise works with wager,
A reminder of self love,
Sewn to the softer angels of my nature

Sometimes the “write” is all I’ve got,
The world’s bag of groceries, can be too heavy for my brawn
My eyes are hard but my heart is a fawn
So what’s it worth?
All these puzzles missing pieces,
A thesis with no reason
Perhaps a shot of guilt to go along with your weak knees and late night teases at a shady Four Seasons?

Sure, I’ll share my Reese’s

I’ve studied long and hard at how these food stamps of adversity come with
Hidden treasure,
A nursery,
A quick back scratch, and occasional open heart surgery
So work with me.

The next time you wonder
“What kind of spell is he under?”
Just know there’s energy,
Thunder,
Mixed with a lack of patience to ask for your number
A kid, now adult who isn't phased by how much you're praised
People these days are lackadaisical,
Life seems more about being acknowledged and more fake than a fable
A poet, mildly unstable
Never told to fold
Always taught the value of the message,
Holds more than it’s weight in gold

Wind bends the tips of grass
All down up and down the plain today
At twilight we dance,
Smiling to keep the rain away

You and I, alone at last
A caring mouth to take the pain away,
A warmth reluctant to pass
Together's end, never leads astray

Your eyes grow tired fast
Our blanket crafts a trusty place to stay
Before a few last laughs,
Starlight guides the dreary castaway

I'm still out there with you now,
Though, the years out lasted May
Those rolling hills, forever ours
Even with you gone and passed away

I love your lines,
Sweeping thin straps lain over the skin of your shoulders
Drawing my eyes to wish,
Like magic wells to quarters
Your breath touches my neck,
A pulse of electrical shudder
My hands are hounds,
Curious and starving—
Locked on the scent of what's under

You were born near the warm ocean,
grew up around there,
With your clear acrylic smile
and sun-kissed blonde hair

I, the winter cold
More north than I can remember,
We met that day you visited,
a brisk chill, that December

We drank and danced,
while the years passed over
Argued and grew apart,
our greatest fears, now sober

My memories of you, once treasured
Now, faded
as sun deprived lands complain,
Forever, jaded

Those eyes I see
Starring back at me,
Can't be weathered by the sun,
From the impression, indeed

Test and trial,
Can and will sear with light
Yet, none seem to scar those eyes,
Let alone damage their sight

Can it be so simple,
Or, is it simply meant to scar?
For so many of us romantics,
Wishing upon oh so many stars
Day in,
Night out,
A hopeful shimmer in loves eye,
Before the hearts ripped out,
Another romantic left to die

I've dug you up again,
and I'm so tired of doing so
I've grabbed,
hand over fist at the dirt I've already laid, too
Shoes ruined and hands masked with black filth,
full of broken earth
Finger nails worn down to the pads of my finger tips from scratching to the depths of your roots
Every time I finally permeate the yards of disturbed soil
I see you,
Same clean face,
Confident and assured,
With fresh hair that smells of lavender
As always, you smile and thank me,
Just before you yawn of boredom and request I bury you all over again

There's a party over there that never ends,
Be happy, if you're not invited
Over there,
They slowly wilt away
and fester at each others shortcomings
Competitions are held daily to see whose anguishes hold more weight,
Over there,
You'll find nothing but doubt,
Filled with long sullen stares of lamentation
Couples routed,
Family's torn,
A circus of comparison, sorrow, and further scorn
There's a party over there that never ends,
If you have to visit, go,
Just don't stay long

she was there but somewhere else
eyes down
in love
with each note she sat, strumming
casting her into motion
continuously
transporting her
to each secret location
her heart chose to take her

It's those moon-gazers,
Those bright, piercing shape-makers,
Those weather-watching,
Baby-cradling, care-crazy goggles

It's those note-leaving,
Never-deceiving, truth-takers
Those willfully-warm,
Quick-to-scorn, lie detectors

Those green, sometimes blue,
Those humble, see-right-through,
It's those eyes, love
Those eyes are my problem with you

I am the ground
solid and sure,
happily walked on-
until you are gone

Sometimes when it rains,
I turn into mud
And if I have to carry your weight,
You might slip

With fire in the west,
Hope dances on the horizons back
The line, where colors rip and claw for life

Breath it in,
Exhale to calm
To become an artifact of choice
Infused with perception
That last bit of light illuminates a sonogram of the soul

What is locked away
Can't be found,
Even though, it's right there for you to see
Transparent tranquility in my breath,
Makes you think we are the same,
Mistake,
Even though we share this world, this space, this air
I breath different than you,
I do on purpose
These lines,
Intricate, like the ones on my palms
This is how we are different

Raw realness,
So potent it's almost putrid
Symmetrical syntax,
So exact, it seems divine
A shuffling stream of words fluid to a song,
Yet, alien to you
This is how we are different
Yes,
What is bound to my soul,
Is invisible,
To you

i can't
for the life of me, lie
a piece of my heart left,
in each star gone awry

eroded by test and trial,
fragmented by decree
yet, still
i persist, forever longing to be free