if i knew how to play
the guitar i would
write the sappiest love
songs for you
but sadly, darling, i am
musically impaired

if i knew how to paint
i would color
the most glorious sunsets
just for you
but sadly, darling, i am
artistically limited

if i knew how to sew
i would patch up
the torn seams
of your heart
but sadly, darling, i have no
idea how to use a needle

if i knew how to cook
i would make your
favorite desserts
to sweeten up your day
but sadly, darling, my
only specialty is burnt eggs

oh darling,
i am not good at many
things but if there is
one thing that i
can do well, oh my darling,
that is loving you.

Open up your canyon lungs
and let me breathe like I am living.
I have forgotten what this tastes like.
The sky is awfully quiet,
like it has something to hide.
Dig up your bruised knuckles
from those sand-filled pockets.
We will rebuild the sun.
I sink my teeth into forgiveness
and it pours out my mouth.
Overripe;
I always wait too long.
Foolish, to keep important things
in drawers you never look in.
So I’ve dug up the front yard,
there were directions here somewhere.
Do not look at me like the stopwatches on our hearts
are the same.
Mine is counting up.
But forget that I left the front door unlocked,
this is a postcard from where I am visiting.
I hope it makes you hopeful too.
I’m sorry I don’t say things I don’t mean.
You are the ocean,
and I never know where to put my hands.

Every needle in the wind-whipped pines whispers out a soft "I do"
and the daisies dancing in their grassy ballrooms
"I do, I do, I do"
and the cardinals crowned with Christmas snow
chirping their identical
"I do."
Resonating through the trees and channeled through the earth
in places where the sun shines red
and stars shimmer through the waking hours
"I do."
Perhaps one day
our hearts and lips conform to the rhythm
as we whisper with transparent eyes
"I do,
I do."

Would the world make as much sense
if the sunset was green?
What if forests were silver and the
dirt was purple?
          Would love feel warm?
          Would comfort be found in fear?
Deep seas of sunflower yellow
          and mountain ranges of teal
Long roads of deep maroon
          lead us to ponds of lavender
          and caves of sapphire
Maybe in such a world
I wouldn't have forgotten trust
          Would we have met
                       or
          would we only know each other
                       in strange deja vu