He's singing a song with his eyes
And everyone can hear it

People sit with their heads down
Facing the red light
Ignoring the loudest sound a human can hear
Silence

Trying to ignore the loudest vision we see
The man on the median
Without a home

And he's singing a song with his eyes
And everyone can hear it

The red light has paused us
Forcing us to stop
Some of us try to continue our motion
Through our phones or radio
But something has stopped

Some of us are angry
Feeling that he’s taking advantage of the pause
Filling the pause
And the silence
With a picture
Framed by our window
That we didn’t ask for
But he exists whether we see him or not

The column of traffic
Before the left turn
Is filled with empathy, resentment, and judgment
all at once
The feelings running into each other
Like waves of water
Sloshing between the cars

“Being homeless is a choice”
“He didn’t ask to be homeless”

And he's singing a song with his eyes
And everyone can hear it

He used to have a home
He lived in wealth

And sitting in one of the cars before the red light
Is a man that used to be without a home

But the man on the median is happier somehow
Not all men on medians are happy
But somehow
He is
How strange

He disturbs us because he is one of us
A fellow human
Living in a way we aren’t


~ JL

Once Upon a Time
There was a little Wooden Spool of Yarn
Covered in Layers of Coats
Of Soft Protective Yarn
Protecting its insides

Everyone kept telling
The special Ball of Yarn
How pretty its layers were
How its yarn was prettier than
Any other color on the shelf
And if it fell from the shelf
Its pretty coats would protect it

Except one day it fell from the shelf
Hitting other shelves along the way
And the rest of ***** of Yarn spectating
Stared in disbelief
Because the coats of the Pretty Ball of Yarn
Weren't protecting the
It like they had anticipated

In fact
It had begun unravelling
Becoming Undone
It unwound and unwound
Across the concrete Floor
Yarn stretched like
Lines of a ruined and strewn apart coat
Until all that was left of it
Was a little wooden heart
At the center

The other Yarns of Wool
Stared in disbelief
How could this Yarn of Wool
Survive without his coats of Yarn

"He's broken"
They said

But slowly
Over days
His wooden heart began to grow
So strong that he didn't need a coat

He looked up and said
"This whole time I was wrapped in Cotton Wool
Layers of protection and defense
I couldn't touch the rest of the world
And now the excess is gone
All that is left is my heart
And it might be broken
Because I Broke from the Fall
But now I realize I didn't need
The capes and coats and excess
The wool wasn't me
What is me, is what remains
And now I can touch the rest of the universe
Because
"The heart that breaks open is the heart that  can contain the universe" (Melton)

The world broke me open
And it hurt
But I don't want to go back
To being sealed shut from the universe
Even if it hurts at first
Its worth breaking to rebuild
So now I my heart is big enough
To contain the universe"*

~JLH

Deep silence
Restless peace
and my mind started chattering
about the eeriness of the surrounding
The sun's down
and everyone's home
Me and my shadows
walking through the meadow
The sky's starlit
but still darkness meet
I shiver through my skin
Watching the night spin
Searching for answer
As I see moon slowly disappear
My eyes stay wide awake
as I see morning about to break
but my thoughts still remains unclear
tinged with fear

She rises out of bed at midnight
She's got long black hair with some touches of white

She has long fingernails
With some black nail polish made from snails

She starts to dress putting on a long black dress
******* boots with a black scarf to top it off she's expecting a guest

She lives in the forest
Where no one has ever been unless their summoned or needing a spell word has it she's very experienced

She goes into her den
Grabbing a bucket and a net like she has done time and time again

Grabbing her torch setting the end on fire Ready to go explore and get what was required

She opens her crookedly door
Into the darkness she goes with her black cat in tow

She's hunting for her supplies
She's got her list two frogs,crow's feet, one rat heart, a lizard tail and one monkey  ******* which was a surprise

She gathers her findings
Stuffs them in her bag filled with linings

Heading home she uses her broom
She has an appointment tonight so she heads to the darkroom

She gets home and begins her brew
I slowly and unsure I knock on her door this seems so taboo

Come on in little beauty
Do you have it she snarls  I'm just so wary

I do I replied a lock of my hair
Including a small jar of my bright red blood with one tear

She took the items from me
Come sit down so we can get started so you can be free

I watched in silence
As she mixed everything in a ******* *** I was in reliance

She grabs my hand and puts the other on my forehead
You have a lot in there I can't promise we'll get them all it's so dredging

She started chanting as she stirred the potion
Let these demons out, let these demons out I feel like there's gonna be an execution

I was frightened
But they had to go to the island

Now drink this, I did as told
Now repeat after me she was in control

Release these demons from me
Take them away to burn in hell take all the debris and leave me the master key

Never to come back release my soul
For you have lived with me by entering through the keyhole

I started screaming,shaking,my eyes rolled up into my head
I was starting to seize up my body felt like fire I could feel the undead

I felt the demons inside me fighting for their survival
They started to rival

Release these demons at once she yelled
All of a sudden I could feel the demons obeying her commands the demons started to dispel

Finally it was over I don't remember it at all
But the witch said we didn't get them all due to the big brawl

You have very strong demons still inside you
This is all I can do you may have to give the devil his due

The witch just made this god awful  eeeheheehe
I knew at that point I was ******* do you disagree

I ran as fast as I could to get out of the forest
Glad she got rid of some of the demons but the rest still daunting me forever and are the strongest

I spent many nights awake
to solve the mystery
of my incomplete recurring dream

After swimming through ocean
fleeing from stalking sharks
I reached the deserted desert island

There was endless sand ahead of me
And the burning sun above me
and I walked away from salty water

Few hours later , walking few more miles
I reached somewhere ,in front of a huge gate
and huge stone wall around

I was desperately in need of food and water
The gate was closed , so I knocked
And saw them creaking open, and I waited

And as it open wide , my eyes too opened wide
and my heart beats fast and fists holding tight , the bedsheets
And this dream followed many nights .

I do not remember what I saw
But I really want to end this dream
So I can go back to dreaming unicorns and rainbow

What does happen in the night?,
where restless youths beg for a fight,
where women with all dignity lost, will sell you their services at a cost,

where men will pay for their hunger to sate and tell their wives they're coming home late, where knowing wives are sat at home, waiting by the telephone, hoping he has done what's right, but that's not what happens in the night.

The children cower in their beds, the fear of the night sat in their heads, imagining monsters, causing fright, but that's not what happens in the night.

The children do not know, why mothers eyes are red, why father is not home, tucking them into bed, but father is still searching for that which will excite, for this is what happens, in the absence of light.