I stared today at rough-hewn hands while lost in troubled thought.
Memories of wrongs they’ve touched and happiness they’ve fought.
Foolish choices, and choices not, were villains all the same.
My hands, it seemed, the sculptors of a gallery of pain.

Pondering these tragedies, my mind adrift and cluttered.
When suddenly a butterfly from the darkness fluttered.
And through my aching self-despair her hopeful glow transgressed.
Upon my wretched fingertip she gently came to rest.

She looked at me and turned her head, I followed with my own.
Her eyes began to smile at me with love I’d never known.
The warmth of her affection spread and overwhelmed my fear.
I saw her lips begin to move and brought her to my ear.

“These hands of yours you gaze upon are gentle, as you see.
I trust in you with all I am that they will not hurt me.
Actions taken, others’ tears are not one and the same.
The strength of caring does not have to carry with it blame.”

I whispered back “How do you know this gentleness is true?
I’ve never heard such lovely things from anyone but you.”
“Then I will stay, right here,” she said, “if you will hold me tight.
Keep me safe with loving hands and I will be your light.”

I owe to her my everything for now I understand,
How magnificence personified could love these troubled hands.
I’ve held her close, my life and back, and though I’d lost my way.
I’ve found my light, she is my love, my hope, my every day.

Her beauty is a visage of my dreams
The reverie of heart as it explores
She gleams in mind like snowflakes in the sun
And floats in soul as fog on moonlit streams

Her touch is like a wisp of summer rain
And in her arms, I’m held amongst the stars
Yet as the empty weight of night descends
It falls through me and thoughts begin to drain

For she is more than hope could ever be
I feel her shout she loves me with her all
But questions start to rage inside my mind
And in my heart, I drop to bended knee

For I am flawed, without her I am less
And she deserves to sparkle in the sky
I bow my head and lips begin to weep
Unworthy to be blessed by her caress

The knife of knowing hollows out my chest
And fills it with the ache of constrained love
That chokes and drowns my breath before I speak
And silences the shout of want’s behest

My heart beats tears to keep them from my eyes
But they betray the secret of my soul
And if she peers into my depth, she’ll see
That with her is where all desire lies

The fight will be over
But we know that's not true
We will always find pain
Right now it may seem
We'll get past all of this
But the soul understands
What we have will not last
Some others might say
That our love is forever
Our hearts know the truth


(Now read from the bottom up)

I carved her name upon the dawn
So every morning might be with her
But as it rose It grew too bright
And closed my eyes
Yet still I saw her there

I carved her name upon the sky
To keep her near me every day
But nightfall came and cleared the light
And all was dark
Yet still I saw her there

I carved her name upon the moon
To stare at her throughout my nights
But tired eyes are sneaky foes
And sleep prevailed
Yet still I saw her there

I carved her name upon my soul
Love not just with me when I look
But every day and every night
And in my heart
Yet still I saw her there

I watch silently a memory
Waving at the man I used to be
My eyes drying
Those years trying, fighting crying
The only tears I still possess are held in handfuls at my chest
But no one knows
And so my isolation grows
Perhaps one day my face the sun might meet but all I see are shadows clawing at my feet
So I stop pretending that my wounds are mending
Just because I look away and blindly stagger through the days
I need to breathe
I need to leave
Before my agony consumes the hope of harmony
And stop watching who I used to be because he's no longer me

Quailing from the mounded earth
Dethroned and lashed from heaven's sight
A shadow strode where man had wept
His hollow husk engulfed the night

Howling deafness gnawed and chewed
Within his arms she'd come to rest
Calm agony besieged his bones
The flame of gasping eyes suppressed

Darkness drank his memories
Piercing loss cavorts in mind
All false reflections need be snuffed
To end their taunts he sought be blind

Tearful hands roared overhead
And all the stars were furiously hewn
His head flung back threw mouth agape
Gnashed his teeth and ate the moon