Breathe it in
Take it all in,
Everything
And don't you dare let it go
Look around you
Take time to see the trees
To count the stars
To paint a million sunsets
Look around but do not see
Listen,
Hear with your eyes
Do not merely see an ocean's waves
Hear the rhythm with your eyes
Hear
Listen
But do not just see
Still holding that breath in?
Now it's time to let it go
Let go of the whispering voices at school
Release yourself from their words
What they say isn't true
Let it all out
Let it all go
You're stronger than them
Rise above their words
But be careful that the thin air on this mountain
Doesn't suffocate you
Remember to breathe
Inhale
Survive
Exhale
Live

if i could paint a picture of
what it feels like when you kiss me,
this is what it would look like:

a mystical purple swirling galaxy full
of glittering silver stars that shine wildly
and then explode into diamond dust
and everything is alive, and somewhere
in the middle of the canvas I am falling
head-first into a cloud made of ice cream.

if i could paint a picture of
what if feels like when you kiss me,
this is what it would look like.

We sit inches away from each other sneaking quiet glances, cracking jokes, exchanging smiles. Our legs slightly touching, nervous excited energy filling the air. This is the feeling I have long forgotten. This is the feeling I hope to hold onto.

I feel like the color of
A post super moon sky
Like the last of the leaves on the wet,
Cold November tree
Hanging on for dear life
Like the flame that's too shy to really ignite
But breaks up the dark,
Grey dismal sky
Flashes of drowned out orange
Thrashing around
The post super moon sky

Poke at charred logs
Sparks lift and fall
With each gust of breath I blow
In the blink of an eye
Fire ignites
Warming my homeless bones

sea-scape, fires of
forgotten ghosts,
black edge,
dancing bird,
remote sky,
leafy earth,
song of love.

black as before dawn
at times colored like flesh bleeding
crimson red sunrise
saying mother or  butterfly
or peace or
a *******
always on your shoulder
thigh ankle
a heart
a  key and lock a riddle
I have never understood
Angie or Mabel or
Cheryl
and sometimes a big x across
like that did not work out
it has to hurt
those arrows
darts poison pens
when she finds someone else
or he leaves you for another
why I ink only paper
with names and remembrances
and if I chose to I would have
Carpe diem  tattooed on the head of my ****,
or  AURIBUS TENEO LUPUM
would fit too!

I wish all my writing  depicted gaggles
wedging south over mossy lakes.

They more often wander to  legs,
tangerine tongues, the taste

of sweat and smell of cheap hairspray;  
for thoughts like these, I feel no
                                          shame.