ring by ring they count-
pausing at the middle,
and winding back out.
scratching at the bark,
chopping away the limbs,
peeling apart the leaves,
frailty never wins.
it's a shame they didn't know,
you have to **** it before that will show.

diamond eyes above the prize
dancing below the darkening skies

I want my heart broken open, apart on the floor
valves spilling out sunlight pouring out from my core

my warmth comes from you, your limbs and your spine
you pull me in closer to find what we hide

people come together and move apart
like the sand that lines the ocean.
built into castles,
broken down by a careless step,
washed back to sea.

sing with me my siren song,
follow me from dusk til dawn.

swallow the sun
before you look at the one
who will take your words away

that way you'll still shine
line after line
through all the glances you'll stay

I walked to the edge of the river,
dipped my hand in and
felt the cool air hit my chilled fingertips.

I knew no one had been here before,
practicing my ritual of solitude,
saying goodbye to yesterdays faults.

Standing on the edge of the river,
somewhere between land and water.

the blue of my absence
the black of this abscess
filled with the frightening sense of the light

press into me softly
follow me swiftly
until the center flows into the dark of the night

you were a grenadier
with your target on my soul

your mind stuck on my strength
while the fire filled me up

the smoke stung at my eyes
as you disappeared through dust

I miss the ink that will trace out my thoughts
eager but lost
in the scribbles and frost
the mess and the lines
that are always awry
locked into the lies
they fight with the tides

hanging from the ferris wheel,
swinging in a cage blown by the westerly winds.
looking at the ground below,
seeing how the lights, they glow.
hold onto me as we descend back down,
plant our feet on the traveled ground,
and hope, that we'll be carried up again.

rough waters
harsh winters
frozen on the sides
icicles like splinters
hold me warmer like the gloves
lingering around your fingers
lovers in this mess
of snowflakes turned disasters
grasping through the dust
of what we're going after

poignant and pointing
this is what you will be
second inward from the left
free, you will see

well rounded and fresh
garnished with a ring
growing openly
soon, you will be

you're blossoming off the branches,
but still withering with the leaves.

find me in the middle
of the dark and light.
I'm in the center of the world,
with the core burning bright.
I'll dare you to come find me
beneath these layers of the night.
I live below the soot and soil,
you just might burn alive.

float in the space,
blend with the tide.
come up for air,
make sure you're alive.

deer eyed doe eyed
tell me what you mean
eyes wide summer side
tell me all you need
finding the signs
in the strum of the night
bend my body in the line of the light
take me away from the lanterns so bright
keep me warm in the comfort of the night
skin so close we're the first to fly
alone and high in the midnight sky

I'm stuck in your web,
filtered out like a fire so red.
let me pass through
and I'll follow you
into the land you've led.

like a fish out of water,
I'm swallowing up the sand.

look out below the snow and the show,
the curtain is blocking the wind

stay outside the ring as the marauder sings,
stay here to see who will win

find me where you've looked before,
curving round the corner for more.
look behind the hidden skies,
the clouds will hide what you have to shine.

tracing the curves with delicate touch,
watching them turn into bone,
afraid to point it out.

will I always be so scared to fall
into your arms and mind?
I've looked and left myself without
what I see within your eyes.

we'll wrap into each other's arms
waiting for the sun to shine.
the time is fleeting
and we're still finding
when our lives will coincide.

will the sunlight lead me home or will I stumble up the stairwell?
did the moonlight cloak our hips or did the steam outline our shadows?
do you see the hopes I see or just avoid the air I breathe?

rolling hills and winding rivers
cooling clouds and calming winters
burning trees and falling embers

softened edges
broken bridges
rising tides and stained impressions

memorize my memories,
remember my mortality.

when it slips down the stairwell
only then will you revel
in the light of the moon
passing strangers at noon
lit by the spring sunlight
imagining futures too soon.

when it all goes to hell
ignoring the noontime bell
ringing with presence
breathing remembrance
always there to remind
of your first winters hesitance.

transmit me from here to there
let me see your hopes and fears
burning away in the coming years

I know you're around me
we've just got to see
how long I can wait beneath the trembling trees

when will I know you
I need to see how it ends
the vision's still blurry, a fog on the lens

the mountains are dancing
their souls and their spines
bending the branches, twigs and their pines

finding their way to the starry dark sky
the sun lights the way
'til the day turns to night

let the heat fill the room,
bend the pictures off the wall,
they warp and twist and fade,
like leaves at the start of fall.

why is it so far to go
home to the arms of the places I know?

the hills that I've climbed
the valleys so low
the familiar signs
in the lights turned down low

here the sun hides
in the mountains at night
I just miss the light
in the break of the tides

this is only for me,
the sense of relief
as you wrap around my knees.

I want to remember all the days that will come,
the dark and the light,
the sweat and the sun.

I lie underneath the swaying trees,
fall beneath the stinging bees,
you'll hear me in the blowing breeze.

He'll think of her-
the graceful twists
her body would bend.
the passion of souls intertwined,
they would mold together,
young and permanent.

She'll dream of him-
the safe harbor
of his open arms,
curled within the curves of his spine.
close enough to smell the pine
of the nearby forest.

How long will it last?
they would ask
one another as the sun slowly rose.
as long as the leaves will fall,
and the rivers will flow
was their answer.

Twist up the spout that’s draining
into the gutter.
Cover the cracks,
Bloom into summer.

draw me out of your moleskine,
I'll come alive that way.
I can be the one you want,
if not then on the pages I will stay.

you can dress me how you like,
just make sure you use pen.
you see, there's nothing worse
than uncertainty in men.

I'm falling inside your body and mind
our eyes align
your soul into mine

I can feel you in my palm
holding on to your hand
connecting lines, drawing dots
seeing more than I'd like to say we are

I can feel you in my chest
my arms laid to rest
across my eyes, above my heart
lying further away than I'd like to say we are

I can feel you in my mind
writing stories left untold
pens flowing, lead scratching
asking for more than I'd like to say we are

I can feel you in my world
together intertwined
steps and leaps, floating faith  
building more than I'd like to say we are

Through all this wonder I can feel you finally
we're falling as one
you and me, blindly free
and I'd like to say we are

sing me a song,
said the songbirds loved one
we'll float up in the drafts
of the seasons as they pass
the leaves will fall down like crumpled papers
across the ground

sing me a song,
before you leave for too long
they'll be left to study the sharpness of his scratch
all the while knowing it will last,
compared to the curves of her pen
looking through a memory filled lens

sing me a song,
and nothing will go wrong

my oh my,
     how that sun is tiring
how it cracks through the sky
   how the light is firing
bathe our bodies in the warmth
    the rays break upon our core
we always ask for more
    but the hills begin to warn
to shade our eyes
   to rest our minds
       and trust it will still rise.

Crates of fruit from names of colors,
Strewn about like our past lovers.
Left alone and peeled apart,
Pulp fills the drain but leaves the heart.

I wonder what I would find if I connected
all my freckles and moles.
I'd go number by number,
until there was a web of ink woven up and down my body-
across my back, down to my belly and legs,
up to my palms and back to my shoulders.
I bet it would be beautiful somewhere.

I am expansive. Much like the oceans eating deserts, not the other way around. I am a stream of thought. I am incoherent yet understood. I am everything but lost. Find me in the sky. Find me in the ground. Wound around the roots anchored down, where the light fails to reach. I am in the sun you greet. I can be in everything you see, just as you are everything to me.

You came to me so quickly,
a quick reminder of myself
Your soul stole away my smile
after being near me just a while.

Time will pass and moons will rise,
you'll move closer toward your fire
I'll stay up high,
finding more time to fill with yearning and desire.

If we'll meet again and reconnect,
form together growing greater
I'll think of the time your eyes met mine,
and I remembered my true nature.

these hills bring up a lot in you
wind blown waves flowing through and through
seasons in our lives, eager to find the prize
of companionship and comfort falling from the skies.

september is over
as flowing with water
ebbing tides, endless rides
lightening skies with the darkening tribes

october draws near
feeling far from the clear
the fall of love, the call above
not knowing if home is here or there

my oh my,
      my faraway one
far from the land
      and the sea
           and the sun.

the breath that you breathe
      sinking into the seas
         gasping for me
           in the warm summer breeze.

my faraway one
     taller than trees
           deeper than roots
              growing down to the seas
the love for we is all you may need.

The moon’s controlling the tides
And the minds
Of the faltering youth.
Leading them outside,
Pulled by the draw of a glow so new.
Hidden in the trees,
Protected by the bees
and their sweet, sweet treasure.

I want to go where you roam and dance in the woods
pull my spine from the ground like you knew that you would
arching toward light in the beginnings of night
open your soul to where you think we could go