I used to build words
like a carpenter—
lines hammered out
plank by plank
word for word,
like bridges
spanning waters
for anyone
eager to cross.

And now
I write to meet the page
like aching skin,
like quiet water
hesitant to ripple—
careful to bear a mark.

All the words
I’ve sent off—
paper boats,
adrift.

I let them all go,
travelers,
and bridges alike,
let them sink or rise—
and let the tide
bring the words
home.

I love him
I tell myself
I know that
We will be together forever
I don’t believe that
We could be separated
My thoughts tell me that
He’s the love of my life
Sometimes my heart lies and says
I could live an eternity
Without him
Like my friends say
“We’re perfect for each other”
And you can’t tell me
He’s not the one.

Now read from bottom to top.

They never tell you when you're young
That you lose your friends to life

she is a happy ending,
not everyone can wait for.

Orion's shoulder is dimmer now,
And I await a cosmic funeral;
For a beauty that is born of death,
And is every breath a miracle-
Delights me.

And Nature's diadem-
That I swear my allegiance to,
Thus makes me wonder

How in myriad flavors, comes beauty;
Like the sight of your love from afar,
The warmth of falling tears, the twinkle,
Or the death of a glorious star-
That once boldly shone;
But as a graveless corpse now rests

In the void, alone.

In time we grow, As the river flows,
May no vicious wind take thou beauty, I sow
with such delicate soft petals,
Will grow you too well,
A fellow little flower like me,
Will soon blossom as well,