I'm not sure
What love is
Because I've never
Felt fireworks
Nor have I heard
Heralding angels
Blowing tunes of the heart
In my lonely ears.  

I've read about it;
How it's like fire
Like whirlwinds,
Like fast cars,
Like earthquakes,
Like lightning,
Like falling.

If that's the case
I don't want it
Not when what it is
Will take my ribs
And invert them,
Snapping my bones
Like twigs beneath the heel
Of an unsuspecting boot,
Treating my heart like a tomato
Too red and ripe to do anything but burst
With a gossamer touch.  

I want love to be
Like sunlight, candles, fireflies
Like stars
Like wine -
Better with time -
Like clean dish soap
Like buttered popcorn
Like winter breath
Like leaves.  

Because I know,
At least I think I do,
That love is beautiful,
Not because it is perfect
Or happy, or new, or dangerous -
But because it is flawed,
It's a freckle on Life's plain face,
The gold dust dust caught on camera,  

I find myself wondering
How I would be
In love
Because surely
My love,
The kind that's slow,
And cold and quiet,
Isn't right.  
It's not some car to speed
Down the curve of a midnight road
Only to flip -
It's the skid marks.  

It's wrong,
It's not Romeo and Juliet,
It's not Jack and Rose,
It's not Bonnie and Clyde,
It's not Mr. and Mrs. Smith.  
It's a curious child
Finding a dandelion
And, as the seeds blow away,
They try to catch them.  

I guess I'll do my best
To fall
But, in my descent,
I'll be thinking
Of you
As I listen to the
Slow, cold beating
Of my broken heart.

first
step
new
day
alas
my heart
opens
my chest
livens

yes
i am
ready
to
live
for
You

my feet
start
already
echoing
my
heart

like
a
request,
my
pace
echos
the beat
as
it hastens

yes
i
am
ready
to
live
for
You

armored
though
i feel
just as
light
as
the snowflakes
outside
my window

eyelids
just
slightly
open
to
the
dawn

yes Lord.
yes.

I
am
ready
to
live
for
You

Somewhere...
    Somewhere in this world full of places
Be they close together,
Or Oceans apart.
    Somewhere in that dark, distant world
              Is a piece of me.
                     Half of my soul.
A person waiting,
           waiting for me.
Be they down the street,
      Or across the world...
             They are mine to find.
Once found
     I will be whole,
             After finding my other half
                           Mine.
Perhaps I shall find them.
Perhaps it shall be soon.
A Day
A Month
A Year
       But you must trust that I will find them
Or perhaps this fragmented piece of my soul,
                              this poem,
                                      has found its way to you.

My Darling Girl,
Do not cry,
For as you cry,
Something you could have done,
              an opportunity
Passes you by.

All the ideas you miss,
     All the things you won't try
          All the people you could have known,
Pass you by like debris in a hurricane.

Perhaps it is a hurricane
You could make it so
With all the tears you cry.

If only you weren't crying.
Sobbing.
Tears streaming down your face like a great wonder of the world
The Waterfall of salt water,
Leading into the Sea.

A Sea that tastes of your tears.

Try hard, my sweet girl
Dry the tears from your face.

You've been broken
I know.
But now it is time to fix it.
To fix you.
Nothing is worth this grief.

Cheer up my Darling Girl,
Dry your tears,
and Live.

I'm a man of many faces
I've carved out over time
I carry them around with me
In a leather bag strapped to my side

Usually I'll leave it up to others
How it is they set the mood
The way we interact
To what face it is I choose

I have a face I use for concern
One I have that looks deep in thought
I'm still working on the one that looks like it's in love
But I'm not sure I'll use it a lot

I've got one that's fairly happy
It's taken years to carve it out
Five different ones in stages of sadness
Two that are riddled with doubt

I hold onto one that no longer fits me
I haven't worn in quite some time
It's the face that I was born with
The innocence of a child

One I've carved over and over
Cause I wear it out all the time
It's the one with the look of disbelief
When it gazes on the state of mankind

I have a face with which I greet strangers
One I use with friends
Also a face that says I'm sorry
If I need to make amends

But there is one I don't carry with me
The face I leave at home
For when I lock my door at night
It's the face I call alone...