Twenty years I’ve lived and
Still, I feel like a kid
I told him this and
Ignorant bliss
He said,

But you’re a woman
You certainly look
Like a woman

I don’t know if
It was what he said
Or how he said it
But what hunger, to
Make my skin itch
And my stomach turn

Nowhere to hide the
Slip of my smile for
The realization
Of ancient truths that
Stripped me to my bones,
Ornamental to
Searching eyes

Oh, how can a man
Drain your humanity
In just a few words?

at the end of the world,
when the future isn't looming above us
all we will have is each other
and beneath the night sky
we can watch the world turn
and relive the bitter melancholy
of what once was

-a poem for my sister

i had a dream of us
aged like the finest wine,
one comes to the other
looking for the knowing glances
and careful smiles

underneath all of
the time we spent apart
lays a love so untouched
and so bright
it may blind us both

Today, a
Simple day
To wake with
Someone gentle
And sweet, who
I will be
Extra quiet
For when I
Zip my things.
Fluttering
In and out
Of sleep, I
Can’t predict
When you’ll speak.

             “Are you going on a walk?”
                             “Not yet, darling.”

But I leave
Before you
Rise because
Yesterday,
You held me
When I cried
And looked at
Me in a
Way that pulled
Me towards you,
Wondering
When I will
Stop burning
With such shame.

But I, ever-miss
Touche-à-tout, have
Never steadied
A decision
And can only
Look away, fear
Of what I’d do.
Oh, but today
You told me you
Dreamt of kissing.

A vague and hazy
Something to remind
Me not to tell you
That I dreamt the same.

The years had brought me here.
It has been a far walk.
But it’s time I took a breather.
Just to muster a look back.

Many were shed along the way.
Perhaps met with many a forked path.
Or simply that the ticks of the hands
had decided different for them.

I’d dug deep,
and I’d seen you…
Amongst several others.

Making your mark
at every checkpoint.

I haven’t been alone.
And I’ll never be…

As long as you’re here,
making these marks with me.

May our verses sow seeds of kindness and care.

And let compassion be a reward we all can share.