I know the pain you feel is deep,
your want from life is simple peace.
And though I cannot guarantee,
please listen closely, as I speak.

Presently you stroll alone,
searching for a hand to hold.
You feel your sorrow in your bones,
in harshest sun, you still feel cold.

Pre - dawn, however, is darkest night
that must be followed by morning light.
I pray you won't give up the fight,
the universe will set things right.

I know at times, it seems unclear
that happiness is always near.
But wholly I believe my dear,
someday soon, you'll find some cheer.

I'm raining,
Draining with flotsam,
Washing onward
To the gutter.

I'm decomposing,
Recomposting
On the truck
To the dump.

I'm recyclable,
Reuseable.
Re-fashion me
For a different life.

The lines
around
your eyes
and mouth
that
appear
and
disappear
with every
sunburst smile
are the
little maps
of where you have been
and
where I hope
to travel.

And if i were ever shot ,
id kiss you with the last
breath in my lungs. I'd
apologize for staining
your lovely hands with
my different shades of red.
And before i'd let out my
last sigh i'll tell you how
much i love you before i
die* ~

He was ready when they came to take him
stepped out to the day as in a dream
and with a face unmourningly serene
entered the waiting palanquin!

How quickly passed his seventy years
he felt having spent not a year even
now on a ride on the bearers’ shoulders
his lips moved in prayer to heaven!

His heart was not weighed with grief
but a resignation deep and tranquil
there comes a day one has to leave
preordained by kind God’s will!

That way he had wanted it to be
when death came to knock on the door
would hear him say I am ready
won’t keep you waiting a moment more.

Through the hush when rang last bell
and to the wind his breath was free
echoed through the mourners’ wail
the untamed refrain *I am ready.

I won't forget the day we met
when you bring me dandelions
His words to me as we held hands
set upon me as I'm crying
I don't remember the exact moment
except a gal bought flowers to her man
dandelions from a distant field
meant you were at least trying, and I understand

then he slept for a while

On a summers afternoon
when we went for soda
you took hold of my hand
when we passed her
and you whispered to me
that you and her were over...

He sighed and said

I remember, it was the day
you showed up, dandelions
clutched in hand
Instantly my soul fell
into your embrace
but I understand...

and he slept for a while

she came back another time
four times, six, ten, a lifetime
forever just to remind him
without him she was nothing

Remember our babies born
raised with the essence of you
Remember how we made them
she blushed
Lucidity, for her, made the memory true

He lay with a beating heart
a blank slate, and a woman
who held his hand
He stared at unfamiliar walls
struggling to understand
how realities became memories
how the beautiful woman
touching his face
could make him feel so blue
as he reaches for a bouquet of
dandelions
that weren't even there, he asks
Who are you?