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

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

I'd shatter the mirror,
if I knew it would release your gaze.
The lock keeps your brain racing relentless
as your eyes hold the whip
and mascara, like an addict
Fortifying the belief that the real you
Isn't beautiful enough

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'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

One and two,
Sure, it felt true

Three and four,
The heart can restore

Five and six
Scars start to itch

Seven and eight
Pain is tied with fate

Nine...
Please don't make me count to ten

An empty swing hangs from a tree
Drifting in the airs varying touch
Vacant in his mind,
Where light shines upon the grass,
Stretching and leading
While shadows kiss the base of it's warm bark
This tree has a memory,
As the swing longs in its drift

This place
Where she used to reside,
Radiating magic and captivating flowers,
Remains dormant

The swing longs,
The tree mourns
The light, slightly dimmed and muddled

While remnants of her enchantment
Leave the scent of life and beauty embedded in every space
Her words once touched

You're smart like that
Making me feel bad to give you treats
Sheltered in a dark corner
Your eyes glowing with fear,
or so you would have me think
Are you afraid?
Or just fishing?
Waiting for me to sit down next to you
Sweetening my voice
Hand out with one of your favorites
Is this your way of getting your way?
After you come out,
you act as if nothing happened
Your tail coiled up with confidence
Is that a smirk?
Perhaps I've been outsmarted again

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

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

Time will grow us,
The sun will age our faces
We'll see things good and bad
Life's map will reveal itself to us,
We'll follow it together
After we reach the end
I'll look back and smile
Knowing we held hands the whole time

I'm unhinged
But pleasantly refined,
Transforming you into a
More interesting version of yourself
But I'll do damage

Your friends will look at you different,
Family too,
Watch, as you stumble and bumble about
Making claims with your filter-less freedom
I've seen it with all of them,
You are all the same

You'll laugh and play,
While I saturate your soul
Until, like the rest,
You'll forget
We know each other

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

A small island town,
off the coast of Saint Ignace,
Is home to a memory called Forever
Quaint walls line much of the infrastructure and interior,
leaving the scent of mahogany sprawling out of great history

The roads are paved, but with no cars to drive them
Forever rides an old rusty bicycle with soft magenta trim
Lush maple trees are plentiful here,
With fall dyeing their leaves a brilliant red and apricot orange

Sounds of  horseshoes clapping to meeting cement are
everywhere, as their carriages glide behind them
Yet, their faint accents are masked in Forever's peace,
Quiet rests in her arms at all times

This is her home,
Where other memories come only to pass through
Forever always resides here
Here, where the crystal tide of Lake Huron, brushes up upon her shores

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 hard to believe
this
is created,
seeing you, see me
across the lake
years ago,
in another life,
with the faintest light,
the moon made us glow,
when our breaths locked
and our eyes shifted upward,
in perfect unison

I know we can’t,
but do you think we could,
stay here for a while longer?

Toss in a locket,
A felt pen
A straw hat with a feather
To the pile of possessions gathered  
Some cards,
A snare drum,
A photo of a dog
Who shared an love equal to his owner
Toss in this pile, the items that smile
The pointless and priceless alike
For each one's random scrap,
Fuels the spirit in another one's life

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

A gentle melody carries in
a lifting calm from the middle of the field's embrace
This pause,
in which I briefly catch your glance
Assures in that moment,
I know I am exactly where I need to be

Drawn to the dark
Ash colored eyes
Soft assuring voice
Void of untold lies
Reaching for a hold
Family left in stride
Drawn to indifference
Skin tattoos the sign
A cigarette in tow
Bottle in her right
Usually unknown
Her bed for the night
Stoic still hands
Hidden glances held
Art of her heart
Secret potent spell

I hate that I've become so strong,
It relieves me when I can cry
To feel tears is to breath air,
It reminds me that I'm alive
I smile as much as I can,
I spread love as it's rare to come by
Yet, my brow lowers in a stoic tense,
As hard is deep in my eye

kissing you eyes closed, or open
wondering where my feelings are,
floating around
aimlessly
tossing aside vulnerability,
all while dreaming somewhere real

whose face is it?
kissing eyes closed, or open
casting care into the soul
meeting touch with lasting sensation
stretching to the stomach,
tingling with lifting infatuation,
and carrying forward,
flowing down stream

Cold hands with a warm honeyed kiss,
A greeting he's conditioned to miss
Like a star itching for an appearance through a cloud
She wonders,
Digging through layers of knitted blankets
After celebrations and tangled banquets
Was there ever a time when her touch wasn't found?

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

I see your flower has grown tired
Wilting slightly under your hand's weight,
Time has stretched its pedals,
and moisture left its stem

I see it dreams of youth,
It clings to the memories of the suns drink
Thirsting, it stays dormant
resting,
Under the shade of your palm

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

Your words
Stick like dried glue
Held in my head,
I felt your hands without ever touching them

I miss the vision of what those words
Led me to believe
About you,
And the way your eyes matched with forest green

We talked briefly,
But a lifetime was told
Like an infinite book written with no pages

Your words stay as a reminder, though
Of the notes between the lines
Encased in a deep well within,
Where the water permeates my soul
And never dissolves the feeling shared in that moment

Laugh with you
Language of love-
Lift you up,
Or free your numb

Just a moments notice,
Wilting heat-
Silk laid dress,
dangles shoulders to feet

Teach you to sing
Sober in sight-
Fair skin face,
Brisk hair in night

Risk emotions wild
Tampering patience with speed
Stomach-
Jittery,
Teach you to breath

I still feel your eyes locked to me
Imprinted, and stained behind the veil of years

More than the memory of  forgotten scents
More than time stacked upon
More than the sun and moon,
Dipping and flipping day after day

You could never know,
As the fading eye's light grows,
and at most trust's
as the chill brushes the cheek

So here, an Ode to you,
Once, more as a toast to the past
Where the light in my fading eyes grows,
and at most trust's
as the chill brushes the cheek

You are invasive, and uninvited
Yet you appear every so often in my dreams
Sometimes I wish I would wake,
So as to catch you, and ask you to leave
What reason could you have?
To dance and flutter about,
To remind me of a carved tree?

When my eyes open,
My thoughts are flooded,
The floor within, stained with mud from your visit
A sign of your passing
As you are invasive, and uninvited

The window cracked open
Enough to hear rain meeting grass
He sits,
Nested between a pillow and the glass
Gazing out into the gray
The smell of fall holding his body in place,
As he ventures into his thoughts,
to distant places and memories
A gentle storm wrestles above him,
Opening a portal to another time,
When he first discovered his love for solitude
Often,
It was easier to day dream about the world,
rather than to be apart of it

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

Cast your fears into me
Blaze with uncertainty
Fall apart,
As the world shreds around you  
But hold fast,
With resilient hope,
As my hand's steady yours
For I am always here,
For you
For you

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

In dreams, it seems
That sky latches to the earth
When in morning's thought,
Branches outward toward rebirth

An idea is loosened,
While untold stories are shared,
A naked conscious once stowed,
And troubles told, now lay bare

As the day, the shade waves
As a blink, your hand in mine,
The dream's shied is stronger
Like an intense kiss wrapped in time

Until the next eves reserve,
For new stories yet to come
Always
In dreams, it seems

Your ghost glides past me,
translucent and light
The details in your face,
a transient blur at the sight

A white veil clings to your streak
as I remember the journey,
Linking lifelong to your palms would have been unpleasant,
Surely

An unmistakable specter,
You, drifting through walls,
Each glance from your apparition
Gives your spirit new call

A time when clouds ruled over clear
the pull was steady and growing stronger,
Now, your ghost passes by
With my bound to you, no longer

I see you,
Resting in the bed,
Laying on your stomach
Longing eyes glued to me,
Glued to you,
There is a game I play
Trying to read your thoughts,
Studying your lips
Wondering,
Do we know each other?

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

When you've reached the end of the field
Straw hat locked n' tow,
I trust you'll whistle back
That ole' song that we both know

The one we've never hummed together
Yet, the tunes' known by heart,
Without words to connect the meaning,
The feelings grow from grass's start

And when twilight breaks apart the sky,
I hope you'll hold the notes to glide,
That moon's gaze might set fire to guide,
as we remain dizzy in the dusk

Yeah,
We'll be whistling until last,
All dreams, realized, lived and passed,
That ole' song,
More like a map, guiding us back home

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

Heat
searing our backs together,
I'm apart of you
as we're apart of this dark
I can see nothing else
as this low lit shelter,
sticks like smoke and vomits hardship
scream at me, but
take care, if you dare
as the world spins, we twins
muster a laugh and shake hands with our fingers crossed
knowing we feel less and at the same time, so much more
than the others
alas, you're apart of me