She had been wild once
It had coursed through her veins
Pumped her heart with pleasure
And fearsome embrace

Now in peace she resides
Or so they say.
The wild stalks no more
And darkness remains outside.

When the fields of sunflowers,
Rolling gently along the hills pass by,
She lingers
Longingly gazing at the open

Knowing if she laid in the fields,
This ancient land would swallow her.
A tender embrace
A grave, perhaps one she could call home,
If there is such a place.

My life doesn't look busy.
If you're outside looking in you probably wonder what I'm doing.
I know it's strange I'm exhausted.
The sleepless nights filled with dreams and restlessness.
Some days it feels like I've given too much.
I know I seem quiet but it's only because it's so loud in my head.
I know my life doesn't look like much.
But it's so full sometimes I have to disappear for a while.
Don't take it personal.
I just lose myself to these deep waters at times.
I won't always tell you these things, the words will fail me.
I know this isn't for all, I have lost people before this way.
So if you stick around I hope you'll see I'm not as lonely as I appear to be.

Emotions demanding thought,
Mind keeping measure
No need to live, no need to die
Sickles sweet, crescents of red
Incontinence of my thoughts
Sweeping me beneath these currents
I don't know what's happened to me
All I've lost and let be
Have returned to me
I was never lacking,
The world just never became what I thought it to be.

A young girl wondered why there was so much hate
She hadn't known it till her family moved one day
To another town in another state
There the people were different
She didn't think much of it
But the other kids didn't see it that way.

Friends weren't easily made
And she learned to be without
It made her stronger in many ways.
As she grew older she heard many things
She began to question herself more.
She made friends with a few like her
Those who didn't belong.

She wondered why there is so much hate
She never understood when people asked where she was from
Her answer was always the same,
A few hours away.
It never stopped the questions or guesses
East Indian one said followed by Iraqi,
Jewish, Moroccan or perhaps the Philippines.
She would smile and say her family came a while ago,
It made her think she wasn't home.
Race never existed until she moved to this place
Where they were only familiar with their own names.

She's older now, not a girl anymore.
She saw some old friends one day,
Did you hear so and so was told to leave?
She nodded and said yes.
Perhaps it's because they were religious.
Lucky we were born here,
We'll never deal with such things. Said her friend.
No we won't she agreed.

She wondered why there is so much hate,
Too much ignorance she realized one day.
When another friend came and said,
Our old friends have gone away,
She nodded and said perhaps they'll come back some day
This land of immigrants has lost its way.

My lover of the stars
My giver of refreshing light
My singer of the afterlife
I want you tonight
Caressing me with midnight breeze
And bittersweet symphonies
Reminding me what I cast,
Of the life I've lived,
All the times I did
And never been.
The illusion of life came to me
I was only five
It whispered to me
Told me the way
And to never forget its face.
Now I take my place
My wanderings took me away
I understand what I was told long ago
And why I see the world this way.
I've entertained the scholar and the soldier
I've tasted poverty and grace
I've wept and smiled on many days,
Now I look in your eyes
I shrink under their might
And I'm raised beyond any height
I see galaxies and eternity in your sights.
Be with me tonight,
Master of my dreams
Healer of screams
Come with me
All of my being
Let us breathe
Show me a taste of freedom
A feeling of complete
My inner being

In the dark,
Candles whisper
Smoky fingers of a lovers embrace
Heartbeats thunder,
Happenings of the heart play in beautiful twisted ways,
Day is a passing memory
A season of warmth forgotten until it returns,
Monsters lurk in the shadows
But they're scared of the creatures of the sun

In the dark,
The stars remind us we are dust
It releases the mind from its tethers
Madness and freedom at our fingertips
If it wasn't for the dark
We wouldn't see the stars
Would we think our dust is all we are?
Pins of light
So far away
Of another place
To remind us to cherish our speck of dust amidst the space.

She walks through the streets
Her steps echo from the taps of heels on concrete
It's long gone dark and everyone's asleep
The moonlight glistens on her cheeks,
Her mascara has run clean.
She stops under a street light
Her shadow is facing the wrong way
A muffled cry escapes her mouth
And she begins to weep
She's already wept many times tonight
Her tears seem to find no end
"Come with me my dear." Said a figure in black as he wiped her tears.
She whimpered as her body released one last shivered cry
I watched as he led her away,
A beautiful woman
Even as a ghost she seemed alive.

It's a bitter potion
It sours my stomach and taints my mind
Hovering over me in the dark of night
I remind myself it's an enemy I have faced before,
"Nothing is to be feared", I whisper
No matter the lies it says,
I tell myself to sleep but know I won't
I settle for waging war against myself
These anxious thoughts shout a battle cry.
There is a war waging in my mind
I hear the battle cry
I don't need any to confirm or deny
Anxiety is in my mind
So I put on my helmet and strap a weapon to my thigh
I never really hung up the uniform of my soldiering time
I settle in for the long battle into day.

Empty muskets
Breathing life and piercing holes
Tasting metal in your throat
Red rocks of oxidizing ore
The dirt is already filled with it
Why does it need more?
Ares colors run deeper than gold
Blood moons in prophecies of old
Deep red of our veins coats the Earth
Leeching life into our hearts
From cries and screams to hollow weeps
Blood born from mothers to Earth.

Fear is love that's turned sour
It tries to poison your mind
That's okay
We all lose to it some days
Which fear creeps within?
The virus,
The economy,
Insanity?
Or perhaps all three.
It'll be alright
Fear just blows smoke in our eyes
Makes us forget we're the scary things at night
No one owns your life
Even if they behave otherwise.
If you break,
You'll get up just fine
You aren't alone even if it feels that way sometimes.
It'll be alright
Nothing lasts
Not the good or the bad
Only you
Making the best of both either way.
So write your words, speak your peace
Someone ought to hear it
They probably needed it today
So they know it'll be okay.

Jasmine leaves
Blended into tea
Fragrent scents of the day
Petals white or gentle pink
Dragons teeth
Sewed scrupulously
For war someday
Fields in bloom
What will they be?
Dragons teeth
Come to slay you and me
Or Jasmine leaves
Whispering in the steam

I float in this empty ocean staring up at the night sky.
Hearing the whispers of my mind. Knowing I’m not home for every star is foreign in this life.

I watch the moon travel by.
It speaks of tales and woes it’s seen in every bright night.
I ask why it travels this lonely path.
It does not answer but keeps watch of me as it passes by.

This dark sky.
With little pins of light.
Circles over.
Ever night.

I float in this quiet ocean.
Rocked by gentle waves.
Watching the sky.
Searching for some distant light.
Because it's always night.

Hearing the whispers of my mind as the sky drifts by.
“How do you cry?” one asks and it clouds the sky.
Blocking the stars and leaving me to float in this dark night.
Sometimes the waters roughen, and I clench my eyes.
Remembering the stars of a different sky.

Here I lie.
Gazing up with each eye.
Every care drifting below the currents of this place I reside.
Pondering the silence as I wander by. Knowing somewhere the dark sky knows my kind.
And waits for when I no longer deny that this sky is not mine.

Wet slime under my feet
Mud in my teeth
On the jungle floor
While you sit in the canopy above
Watching over me
As the stars circulate

I'm lost below
Searching for a path amid the vines
There's too many trees
And I can't take this **** heat
Eyes glow as the only light
Sounds rage above the quiet night

You know I'm lost on this plane
I don't remember the fall
But I recognize the jungle sounds
My body aches and my blood seeps
I crave those lights at night
Peaceful empty skies

But here I am
Roaming the jungle floor
Looking for my place
Though you wait
I don't know how long it'll take
Before I can leave this dark place.

Roaming through
No place else to go
Shadows call
Home wasn't here
The place where the burden goes
Shoulders aching
Under the load of a silent woe
Just a moment
An echo of home
Rest these weary bones
Violet rich
With eyes of storms
Soothing touch of otherworldly forms
Take me home
Where freedom roams

He came near from blood and bones I fear
Stalking through the streets he called to me
I told him to leave but he didn't listen to me
So I gathered my things and left this place
I heard him call my name and ask me to wait
He promised sweet things but I told him not today
He thinks me mad for acting this way
But I saw in my dreams and heard from the dead
Never give in until he sits patiently and offers you nothing you haven't learned within
So I keep moving without hesitation
Waiting for the day when he sits and asks me how it went
I'll say fine or some other line
I'll stop moving and sit for a bit
Ask if he's heard from my kin
I'll admit it's been a long trek and yes I'm tired of this skin
There were days I wanted to sit but couldn't quit.
He'll ask why now I chose to sit
I'll say I've known for some time life is a shadow but till he saw this was my life to live I had to keep on
But I'm glad he's here to welcome me, my old friend.
Death follows and calls my name
But I keep moving till the day he stops calling me home.

My dear,
If I were to write you a song,
I'd surely fill my lungs

My dear,
If I were to write you a letter,
I'd surely kiss the sun
Burst into a thousand flames

My dear,
If I were to write your final words,
My pen would bleed
Of all you've been
And never seen

My dear,
If you learned I wrote your story,
Would you understand
Forgive me the tears
The loss within,
If you knew each line was a beautiful creation of mine?

My dear,
You are always mine
From infants cry
To burial time
Don't despair today
This line will become yesterday
You haven't seen my melodies or poetry
We'll kiss the sun another day.

A place time forgot
There are no clocks
Blinking and flashing lights abound
The exits are confusing signs
When outside it's no better
The heat will push you inside
In winter the promise of warmth will draw you away
It's never day or night
It's 24/7 all the time
You can risk and play
Or dine on delicacies from far away
A little money can buy you anything
In this land of many things
For every desire and disgrace
Come one come all
To our desert place.

I empty myself
Let the cup run dry
As the goddess speaks
She promised me
It's what keeps my dreams
My dusty feet are worn
And I search for relief
She answers me
With wreaths and answers I can hardly surmise
The great divide makes it hard sometimes
Remember us! They plead
I emptied myself last night
Waiting for the goddess to arrive
She came right on time
What draws me is her connection to me
The shapes and colors I see
The ones that resound with me,
Are where I need to be
For this long hike into eternity.

Salty spray and sailing trips,
Worries of simple things
Come close,
I'll take it all away while I can
Scraped knees and bad dreams
I'll cure any wound and chase the monsters away

As you grow life will change
I'll still be there,
To answer anything.
I'm not perfect,
But I've got strength that never fades,
Something I hope you'll gain.

I'll stay until it's time to sail away
By then I swear you'll be okay,
I'll have shown you how to love,
It’s from my mother and it's purer than any light,
I'll have taught you when to fight to the bitter end,
And when to have wisdom to give in,
I'll show you how to find peace
When all you feel is a storm within.

Little one,
You'll have all I can offer,
Today and tomorrow
You'll have my heart, mind, and this old soul of mine.

A thousand days
Followed by a thousand nights
Callused hands and silk ties
Each a different journey of the night
Scabs and names becoming all the same
Three hundred more
Whistling a song at the door
A simple melody
Of a hundred scores
Carried in every lore
Another night
How nice
I look up high and see the sky
Smiling wide
I whistle for each life
Each in my mind
I'm becoming whole tonight.

Some see ghosts in the cemetery,
Some see lights as they die,
Some see the future in their dreams at night,
Some hear the divine

All feel their heartbeat,
The quick pulse when brushed with death,
All will close their eyes one last time,
Either alone or in company,
All wonder what comes,
In ignorance and enlightenment

If it’s you and me,
I want to wonder beyond these white cells,
Touch the veil,
Look into infinity,
Hear the melody of madness
With you here we can see past this lonely weather.

Cast upon the wall
In plaster and stone
Beauty written in sage's scrolls
Sirens calling out in a distant drone
Fools in love
Wise learned long ago
It is worth the tears to hear the heart's song.

One went away,
In love and heart
He left a ****** trail along the way.
Another passed like a ship at night,
He wished he could stay
But the army called him away.
The third has yet to capture me
My heart is locked away
But it will return some day.

I give it away
What once was said
In the dark of night
Under sleeping skies
As honest as the words may have been
You said it was your dearest truth
But I saw the flicker in your eyes
So I wondered but disregarded why
I shouldn't have
If my heart didn't trust you
Neither should I.

Oceanscapes
Followed by swirled green
And jagged cliff face
Pinched between index and thumb
A child's hand
Small but fully in command
Sits the glass sphere
A world of fantasies
Ruled by the little king
He keeps his sphere in line
With all his other worldly glass
He counts and names them off
Declaring law on his domain
His galaxy until he grows up some day
He'll think of other things then
Until he grows old
And sees his old marbles
Will he wonder what happened,
To his peoples he created?
Or think himself an old man full of flight and fancy?
I hope he remembers
For the marbles sake

If I weep will you hear?
Set me down and hear my silent words?
If so,
I rest this weary smile on my face,
Let my heart bleed,
Filling every muscle and bone
Down to the marrow where it all began
With this ache my longing brings
I'll release it from the deep
Let you quench the thirst
Fill my cup until its full
And I'll return it with its due
Let me drink,
A long cool sip
Of the master brew

Parallel lines
Never meant to touch and dare not cross
Stretching lonely into infinity
Perpendicular lines
Crossing at ninety degrees
A point on a graph, measured by x and y
Which are you?
Do you cross the line or stay to the side?
A mathematical certainty
A probability to me
Statistically not meant to be
Yet here we are
Playing the game of chance
Fifty-fifty is all we can say
It's logical
I've done the math
You and I were meant to cross paths

Who has seen
The midnight hour
Filled with hope
Of dying day and birth anew
Scarlet tags hanging
Upon the changing hour
Of all coming and going
With baited breath
The clock chimes true
Lost for all who blinked
Death is in bloom
A new day
Born in darkness and quiet
Stilling hearts with a whisper
Sleep and all will come true.

Late last night
I sat on the highest hill
A child among mountain giants around
But still a lovely little hill
The monsoon battles the dry
It has every night
The half moon was bright
Shining amidst storm clouds
The cool breeze pushing lazily by
A battle of moon and clouds played out
It was a glorious sight
The clouds would darken the sky
Brightening only with lightning
Then the moon would shine
Declaring its superior light
Only to darken once more
The battle waged for hours
Until my eyes grew tired
My last sight a triumphant yellow moon
Then I closed my eyes
And the clouds had won

Drinking this earthy swill
Wearing shoes too small
Told a career would make me grow
Make sense of this all
Work hard and it'll all settle into place
Took a few years to see the lie
It's all shoes that are too small
College paying with paper straws
I'm too young for the looks I give
I'm too old to be singing this song
Let's go
Pretend we all know how the records spinning
Sipping cheap *****
Talking about the way the world's burning down
We're not living the way our grandparents did
Lost the house and kids along the way
We'll get there eventually
Or so we say
Was the job part of the game?
I forgot the password to play
Let me check my cat's middle name
Swipe my ID
For some digital pay
Slipping on my ill-fitting shoes
Remembering when it didn't feel this way
But the clocks struck 00
And now decade 20
The world's in a craze
But hey let's go
We're barely old enough to know any other way.

Have you ever seen the moon rise
Fall on high tide
Echoes of cold light?
Have you ever looked in a pool of silver
Gaze at the reflection staring back?
Both speak of silence
Moments of thought not easily described
Have you witnessed the light in your eyes?
Or the pull and push of your tides?
At night when all is quiet and the world sleeps,
Have you looked inside?
Reflections
Real or not
What does the mirror say?
Of your windows and gates

Do you get lonely up there,
Hanging in the dark sky
All by yourself in eternal night
Perhaps you hear us
Our music and cannons
Screams and sweet whispers
Our constant breath keeping company
Though you've seen many beyond us
We're the newest toy
Hopefully we don't break too soon

Is it lonely up there or are you too close
Perhaps you're a prisoner
Tied to us
Always trying to break free
From a deadly grasp
Burning the night with your light
A cold silent scream of your distress

The maiden gets undressed
Sheathed in skin
Dedicated to you
In sin
Silver bow crossed
For the wolves have come
To run the night
Cruel and beautiful
Your light shines
A watcher and goddess of death and life
You've seen us from morning till night

I saw the sun today
It asked me to stay
I said no thanks
I saw the moon today
It asked if I'd visit tonight
I said alright
I sat and watched my skin smoke
Silver wisps stretching up like snakes
Vapors of my breath turning cold
Gems have taken my eyes
And my heart gave way to stone
Burned away inside
I found what was left
A soul of gems and stones
Lit all on their own

Walking on air tonight
Steps mere breaths of mine
Lights of all colors reaching out
Playing life like a dance
Come dawn this will pass
This gentle rise of floating mass
Will plummet back
To winter's sun and cradles dust
Slipping on skin, like a glove it fits
Muscles twitch as sleep lifts
Wake for another day
To work and play
Looking to sky and clouds drifting by
Remembering lights from far away
My soul wore a body today
But tonight it will not stay.

When the feelings die
And the cracks turn into cliffs
I'll fall down and break apart
Into the smallest pieces

I'll let myself scatter with the wind
Till the pain fades
And I hear my pulse in my head
Then I'll piece myself together again

No piece will be the same and it might sit in a different place
Little lines will streak my body
Scars of all my grief

I'll become a beautiful mosaic
Each piece an art
Every line a memory
And when my days are done
I'll look and smile at what I have become.

A smile tugs at the corners of her mouth
A timeless laughter playing on her lips
Like she knows the answers to the questions you didn't think to ask.

Her eyes dance with fire
The flames rising to a silent rhythm
Dancing amidst the falling rain
A storm of the sun.

Her face is a mask
Of freedom untamed,
Grace touches her skin like a warm day
While a reckoning haunts her gait.

The warmth of a mother
With wrath in mind
A contradiction some say
But her smile holds life and death like one of the same.

I turned to see their distant faces,
My heart wanted to call out to them.
In my soul, family is all
But this is not home
And this blood is not mine to behold.
I long to hear them and belong with those supposed to be home
But they are not,
My soul reminds me every time.
My blood I know is home
But today, in this life
The ones of this flesh are not home,
Though I love them dearly
I know this red that flows
Only runs here.
Some day I'll go home
My blood will call to me,
And my aching soul will answer,
"At last I'm home."

Unhappy with what I write
So I delete every line
And sit down and sigh
My mind is restless and tortures me
It's always been this way
Since I was a girl with too much imagination and odd things on my mind.
Writing is my release
It's the cure for my disease
But with every word I feed this thing
It consumes me with every heart beat.
My mind disturbs me at night
As I wander down this lonely path
Astray in a dark wood,
Seeing Dante's steps to my left.
I write,
For myself but I hope one day
These words will find you,
You seekers, dreamers and travelers from far away
My words are for you.
These stories must leave me some day
I bid you adieu and hope for a better day,
When my words will satisfy me and perhaps find their way to you.

You look at me
Like you could command the sky and sea
If only the sea didn't thrash
And the sky wasn't so vast
It brings a smile to my weary face
The darkness in the eyes,
The pain hidden inside
My dear I've written those lines
It's why you feel safe in my sights
A port for a storm that's raging inside
You found something you like
If only I didn't thrash and seem so vast
Perhaps you could find mastery
But these are foreign seas
And the sky is storming, see
I see you looking at me
Wistfully
My dear, I am the sky and seas

I've written it this way
The words don't rhyme
The sentiment isn't kind
And the lines don't lie.
I've been told sorrow is in my eyes
It once bothered me but now I see.
I don't always wear the mask
I've thrown it out tonight
I'm looking forward with both eyes.
The world has gone awry
It doesn't surprise me
I think it should but there's something wrong with my eyes.

Fear sits at death's door
I sat and talked with him tonight
He's been busy as of late
Said it's falling apart every day
I asked if death had a moment to spare
And he let me inside.
I watched him with hollow eyes
As he sharpened a knife.
He took my eyes last time
Left me with these glass eyes.
"Tired of seeing this way?" He asked.
I nodded but said I'll keep them anyway
While I looked at my eyes.
Brown and gold with a hint of green glistening in the light.
They're watching a collapsing place
Long gone are dignity and grace.
Don't think me unkind
But my eyes, they know it's time.