The world is quiet, up here by the sky. The wind lingers, filling my nostrils with the smell of the mountain. The clouds wrap around me caging me in a thick white box. The cold misty air brushes over my bare skin sending shivers through me. The trees wave me to come closer and shade me from the whipping air. But I don’t go. The sudden gusts lift me off my feet and sway me back and forth like a feather in the breeze. The grass dances, brushing against its self, humming, singing. The stream slithers through the soft rocks crumpling as it brushes the earth. The rain starts to play as it runs through the field.  Then the dark falls on the mountain, and the moon blazes in the night, lighting up the stars. And the world is quiet, up here by the sky.

Falling hard for someone I hardly know
I think of him and then my heart clenches
The way I feel for him , I want to show
But when I'm close, I stop within inches

I don't want to hold it in much longer
If I do I'll explode from head to toe
Maybe I'll say something to be stronger
It's not as if he'll hate me, be a foe

I step closer to him, voice calling out
My mouth snaps shut, my legs frozen in place
I have lockjaw, what is this all about
I can't step closer, my heart starts to race

I will wait for him to step toward me
What if he won't come, then we'll never be

Inspired by all your words
to feel such a connection
sharing the same pain
the same love
the same heart break
isn't it beautiful
I have buried my pain for many a year
it has torn me apart
but now I find solace
in all your words that I also feel
I may write too much
but it has been so long
I need to empty my soul
so please don't mind me
I just had to say thank you

Each time we say good night, I am silent
Not because I do not wish to say "Good night, sweet dreams!"
But, because I examine your beautiful face
So as not to forget, knowing it will soon be dark
For when the lights are out and only darkness can be seen
I will have the silhouette I quickly sketched inside my mind
To keep me company until the morning arrives

Grubby little hands
and sugar encrusted mouths
leaving chocolate hugs and kisses
on a white Hanes t-shirt
in a late summer sun

the man in the stained shirt laughs
telling stories until you laugh too, so hard
you roll in the grass with your brother
streaking your denim knees green

and you beg him to play with you
just one more game, please!
because he is the best at everything
as close as you can get to invincible

and when he picks you up at the end of the day
tickles you, herds you inside
you can smell the lawn mower grease
and the shellac from his shop
and the peppermint, always the peppermint,
from the gum that snaps! in his mouth

then before you know it
you’re sitting shotgun in his rusted pickup
the radio singing classic rock
like always

windows rolled down
hat perched back on his head
whistling through his teeth
like always

but you’re on a new road
and your boxes are packed in the back

and when he hugs you
you feel like the little girl
that you’re not anymore

and you’re not quite ready to say goodbye

I am consumed by your presence
the tap tap of a nibbled pencil
the long legs languidly sprawled
the silent sighs and scribbled sketches

And I envy your indifference

If only I, too, could master
the art of being aloof.