twirling sweeping circle-strokes of a paintbrush
on a color-soaked canvas
and humming softly in the
quiet
of the room
and the
quiet
of the creating
and thinking as a dip into the
swirl of color on a rainbow pallet,
the point of the brush into a dab of
yellow-green and blue
red at the corners and a swirl of
purple
and drifting across
already paint-curled surface giving
life to the lifeless and
color
depth
meaning
to something simple
and so, so complex.
studying, softly, with
open-swirled mind
dizzied with the colors and the
unspoken and unspeakable
meanings they have and they hold
you.
sighing and shifting, glancing
from one painting to the next
to your own and
spreading colors like a waterstain
beautiful and unstoppable, this
madness
this
abandonment
this
knowing of the world in a point-tipped paintbrush
this
holding of the world in your paint-stained hands.

I have been around the block a couple of times
So it's pretty safe to say that I have seen a lot of things in my life
But what never ceases to amaze me
Is how people seem to be so easily led astray
And how easy it is for people to accept things
Without really thinking it through
There are so many things in this world
That just seem to be blatant
That a lot of people just don't seem to see
Or at least they just don't choose to accept it
They would much rather live in ignorance
Then to wake up and see what is right in front of their faces
When it comes down to it
Most things that are a quick fix
Are almost never really worth it when you actually come down to it
Most of the things that we tell ourselves
That make us feel like somehow we are better
Like our truth
Our way of doing things
Is the right way
And that everybody else
Who doesn't follow our way is somehow wrong
We are all humans
Just trying to find our way
And no matter how confused
Our lost
Our angry some people make me
Even I have to look back
And realize
That's just how some people are
And even though it might seem like
People are confusing sometimes
I have to be able to look back and try and understand
Where they are coming from

Facing yourself can be hard sometimes.
It can be hard to really look at yourself
And truly be honest about what you see
There are a lot of things about ourselves
That we would rather not admit
And that we would rather not face
We can spend our whole lives hiding from ourselves
And trying to hide parts of ourselves
That are laying inside
Let yourself out
Let yourself go
And face yourself
And face what you see in the mirror
You can't be afraid of your own shadow
You have to embrace yourself
Every part of yourself
And embrace yourself
As the wonderful
Beautiful
Yet confused
And hurt
And pained person you are
Face yourself
Don't be afraid
To truly look inside
You might just like what you see

"Hold my hand, never let go.
Be it tiring,
be it painful
still, hold me tight.
Draw me closer to our dreams,
sleep to every moment I'm awake,
color my life with rainbows
and kiss me ---
kiss me like there's no tomorrow.
Touch my nose with yours,
fill these gaps of my fingers,
sing me the melody I so long to hear
and together ---
together we'll stand from the edge of forever,
together we'll walk through the shores,
together we'll sail the ocean upon all the odds
and right now, right there
love me ---
love me like you never did", she said.

Clear notes
Lead me up a scale
Adoring me as I rise
Releasing me as I go higher
Inviting me to reach beyond my capacity
Never failing me
Everything I require
Telling me to play on

I barely went to school
And was baptized underneath a rain gutter
But I promise
Despite my upbringing
I will die a poet

Birds never studied music
Nature never rough drafted its deformations
Including me
I was born perfectly broken
With heart in throat
And head in clouds
And head in ****

And head

Head everywhere else but center
Hands anywhere but to myself

I dare you to stop pumping fuel
Into my mouth’s motor
Dare you to make fun of me
For my special education
For my short bus
******
My education was special

I learned to walk on two feet
When I should have had four
And I learned
How to stop myself from crying
When I found out not everyone is going to love me

I’ve learned the language
Of your laughter
And can translate your sighs
To mean anything
Right now they are the exhalation of ghosts
You no longer wish to hold on to

Let them go
Let go of your ghosts
And don’t settle for anything less
Than the silence of your soul
As it leaves you
Take this poem with you when you do
It is a love note
Sending Saint Peter home

All are welcome here

Especially you

I mean
Nobody’s perfect
Especially poets
I’m not perfect
Which is perfect
Because that means
I can die
A poet