if i could
i'd lasso the wyoming wind
and ride it like a wild mare to wherever it is that you now call home

you'd find me pounding on the door
     with a bottle of whiskey in my white-knuckled fist
     and a bubble machine eating the paint off your late model car
     and how far i'd come to find you would instantly become irrelevant when you'd smile
          it's been a while

i still catch myself wondering if you catch yourself wondering about me
and the places i've seen since i last saw you
     lacing up your boots and diving head first into the blue of early evening
you didn't even tell me that you'd be leaving

but you did tell me a thing or two
  about the birds
    and the trees
      and the sea
        and your heart
the way it missed beats like i miss stop signs
and you'd once said that it was scared
     always waking you up in the middle of the night
     and telling you that it's alright to want to run
you sure did seem to be good at running

so i swish scotch between my teeth
and atop my gums
to make my tounge believe in singing
and i climb to the tops of the palisades to slingshot siren songs your way

          "oh won't you stay,
               just a little bit l o  n   g    e     r..."

then the record skips
and i slip from my dreaming
back to a shoreline where the washing machine squeeks
and i can be found grinding my teeth
like a lost little god in the grotto

oh
     where did we go to
     when we left to get old
and brittle
     like a tree no good for climbing

we dissolved our youth within the golden glow of nostalgia
marked on a calander long since dead and torched
     that fall when we learned to feel
     and burried each other beneath the heaps of rotting aspen leaves

"until next time, my darling."

somewhere within you
i had once noted a celestial gleam
          you bought me a pair of dime-store shades in reply
     and i wept
     my entire walk home
for the sincerity present in your lack of articulation

there are nights where your absence chokes out my breath
and the only way i can finally rest
     is to heavy-handedly pull at the tides of my brew
          the way you'd paw at the hips of my skirt
          silently signaling you'd finally had too much to drink

your lack of grace illuminated
in whiskey-breath
and neon jukebox glow

so off we'd go
     leading the liqour-lust parade
     trailing downpours of drink chips in our wake
and you'd take up my hand
in your forklift phalanges

such a prideful little man-cub
with a puffed out chest and a leather vest
     only softening your edges in the sanctity of my lumpy bed
     when you've got the chance to rest your noisy head atop my naked breast

oh you rusted demi-god
though i do miss the struggle
and the snuggles
and the ***
          i'll be just fine with my growler of stout
          and your leftover whiskey in the freezer
forgetting what i'd learn
during our staggered steps home

my eyes are blurred,
they cant see the way they used to.
my eyes are scarred,
they've seen things they wish to undo.

they hold within them sadness,
always guarded.
they hold happiness,
always gleaming and warm-hearted.
they hold loneliness,
unsure if anyone will ever understand.
they hold acceptance,
always welcoming with a helping hand.

they radiate a careful disguise,
scared to let anyone see what lies within.
they radiate a overwhelming pride,
never giving up until they overcome the obstacles and win.
they radiate a fiery anger,
uncontrolled and suffocating.
they radiate a shy demeanor,
so timid and frustrating.

they hold a love,
they hold a wall.
they hold emotions so hard to speak of,
they hold a blank expression or nothing at all.
they see,
they radiate.
they sing,
they interrogate.
they're my eyes,
different, young, immature, and wise.

No more ****. No more slavery. No more poverty.
Lady be free.
No more mutilation. No more denial. No more pain.
Lady be free.
We demand equality. We demand equity. We demand access.
Lady be free.
We desire these things, because you did.
Lady be free.
We were moved by your spirit.
Lady be free.
You moved action into progress.
Lady be free.
The world now has an opportunity to right a wrong.
Lady be free.
We can remove the last of humankind's chains.
Lady be free.
When we do, we shall all be free.
All be free.