from end to end
toe to toe
ear to ear
you pull me apart.
you're not even near
or close enough to touch
but the thought of you
pulls me apart.
from tooth to toenail
fingertips to kneecaps
heels to earlobes
from end to end
you've pulled me apart
leaving me to hunt,
search every corner,
lift all mossy stones,
for the pieces of me
you threw away in haste.

the swing of the melody I hear
takes me to where we haven't danced.
that place where you're looking back at me
while I hold you near.

I'm scared my mind has fibbed
and that my heart has fallen sick in belief.
will you tell me why I'm alone?
will you admit to me your part in this?

be clear like water.
be sure like rain.

I've heard the questions of creation;
the origin of it all, and the mystery that ensues.
I've also heard your voice and know
what simple sounds can do to.

I know some words and vague associations,
I've tied them taut to physical things,
but life is the sea and there is a storm on the horizon
and my feet are firmly planted in the rising tide.

baby, sweep them free and clean from their mooring.
baby, be clear like water; be sure like rain.

R  adiantly
      A  bove
I  n
         N othing
  B  ut
      O  ther
        W  orlds.
              S  queezed
       
         O  range
    F  ills

A    
        N  iche.
               O   bsequios
               T   houghts
           H  inder
                       E xtraordinary
           R ealms.
          
            C aught
     O n
             L  imits
     O f
              R eality.

Mechanisms accessed without a key
Hold no stories or lies.
Electrically turning over upon themselves
Without consideration or regard
For the thing that it contains.
The mechanisms open, revealing some truths,
And develop distain for what it knew to keep.
The bluest paint fades around its edges,
Crusts and cracks form from painted blue to iron red.
Unfolding once more, electrically,
To tell the story of how resentment grows
Towards those that take
Without a key or purpose.
Resenting itself for being free
And open with no stories
Or lies to tell.

diamonds are a dime a dozen,
not even worth as much.
i want something worth so much more,
something i cannot touch.

we shucked our corn
in a field of sun
like farmers before the feast.
their husks of green
covered the ears
to keep them deaf and dumb,
to keep them unaware,
of the violence they would succumb.
moist with dirt, smelling sweet,
our hands became the tools
of poor mid-western violence.
we stripped their bodies bare,
clean of rotting silk,
that fell between our toes.
butter and salt,
on a table of barn wood,
that splinters to rough touch,
in a freshly mowed yard,
filled with light of summer dusk,
when the ground begins
to cool the air,
where the bugs
illuminate the night.
there were no screams
but
laughter could be heard.

Surreptitiously, we rested in the freeing plunge.
not to escape the old and careful ways but to create our own.
they said we were "countless" but we felt our way
into this thing of knowing. we rejected their oppressive tallies.
we declared "infinity, forever in each direction".
defying their balance of integers and rationale.

Patience, we hummed in minor chords; implying our rate
of growth. their ears filled of our discord. we agitated the cells
and aging fibers of their bones. they were unfamiliar to abandonment of clandestine ways. "we followed those that came before this modern disgrace!". pathetic. disillusioned by their loyalties. lives filled of
lies and fruitless paths. we held the mirror firmly for their observance.

Righteousness rested within our minds. We had queried ourselves through the paths of endless circles that lay stamped within the valley of a distant mountain range. our ancient ritual of spiraling footsteps
pushed us past the mysterious thoughts that were never addressed.
the fetus of an unfulfilled abortion. the orphan in the middle distance.
we welcomed your neglected. we gave life to the death you made.

"Irrational! Inconceivable!, this would not exist if not for us!" their anger
and restlessness grew. their reaction was one of our many predictions. avoidance of justified shame. a generation told what needed to be done; without a shred of doubt. blind and obedient mice.
fed and sheltered. promised of eden. here and forever. we held the mirror   without expression. we fixed our stare refusing their pleading tone.

"Never could we have imagined the way things would become"
"when did you ever take time to consider these things?" we asked.
"we were too busy doing to spend time thinking".
"your argument highlights your weakness and lack of foresight. You
chose to neglect what has served you for thousands of years only to engage in slothful and greedy behaviors for mortal comfort"

"Grievances. one day someone will come to you with complaints of their own about how you chose to live".  "doubtful, yet possible", we replied.
"we understand that this may come to be. we know we may one day stand where you are; in front of a mirror held before our stare. if that day comes, we have accepted that our duty is to step aside and let those that hold our mirror, see what one day will be reflected of in the place of their gaze"