the glass before me is a window,
a vision of a woman in my body,
she is beautiful, strong and healthy.
I watch her move with ease and grace,
an honest smile plays on her relaxed face. behind her eyes is another  window,
into another hidden world.
one of bravery through adversity,
images of struggle and survival.

In the glass before me I am suddenly
aware,
the woman in the window is smiling at
me.

Sitting in my backyard
Soaking up the rays and watching the ants
Suddenly beside me was an ant who could talk
Sure as can be he asked me if I would like to see where he lived
Sadly I said no I needed to practice my cart wheels and hula hooping for the evening circus
So what did the little ant do?
Shouldered me upon his back and marched down a hole that opened before us
Small now I could not believe he had abducted me
Sorry I forgot my hula hoop as perhaps my skill might help set me free
Singing with his ant friends, I was led to the chamber of the queen ant
**** and sleek was this producer of her community
Smile!
She comanded
Silly, I grinned and did a dance
Sigh
Slight of her hand she waved me away
Seems I didn't impress her a bit
Shunned, I was escorted back to the doorway
"Stupid human," an ant squeaked
"Surely with your circus skills we expected much more entertainment."
Softly he put me back on the grass
Some time passed before it sunk in
Stolen by an ant, on a sunny afternoon, was really quite super

Sisters go through phases
Of the rising and setting moon
Sharing laughter of an lost language
Time captured in bottles
To be opened again
After absence and distance
And change.

To open and drink down the elixir
A concoction of connection that hits fast
Bubbles of memories
Hick-ups of the poignant points past
Between real life boasting.

Getting to know daily rituals and styles
Each sister developed so differently.
Acceptance is the only shared emotion
As well as wonder and curiosity
Related by blood
Yet so easy as friends
Not many are so lucky.

No matter how close we get to a friend
Our time capsule is filled to brim
Of decades worth of silliness and shame.
Doses of reality, moments of reflection
Not all was fun and joy.

The hard times molded our genuineness
Conflict shaped our resilience
Anxiety dealt with in opposite
Sill never letting go
Together in suffering we bonded
Holding close our sanity and hearts.

Alas, our time together waxes and wanes
Always there but not always visual.
"I love you Rai Rai."
"Same same Blue Jai."
Together in the imagination station.

In traditional dress
Long dark hair snakes braided
Arms tan and strong aid her in hard labor
Again and again she washes her shirts
In cold cascading glacier melt

Her meditation is broken when a twig snaps
With a quick glance she is not alone
It is the man with the scar
Puckered from eyebrow to cheek
He scares Menora in a good way
For his stories are full of false love
If she drops her wet clothing and tries to run
He will catch her and torture her with words
Menora is weak to the cooing of a man
So she waits

He is large and imposing
But his smile is straight, teeth clean
She drops her clean shirt in the river
It floats away with her reason
Sure as sure Canib speaks in tongue
And melts Menora inside out
Her body flushed and fluid
He gently picks her up
She drowns in his scar