I love my early morning hikes
in the Georgian-woods,
where alone
I glide along,
my feet carrying me
through the zephyr-mists,
upward on the granite stairway
into the disappearing stars
& onto the bald-summit.

Happily,
I stand exposed
on another sacred-peak,
one of God's gifts
for wayward hikers,
smiling.

A chill gripped me this gray winter morn,
felt icy winds born in primordial forests
bringing a deadly-stillness.

Slowly,
slowly,
slowly
I walked up dead planks,
passed my smiling gargoyle,
crunching piles
of crinkled brown leaves
littering my way.

I smiled into the yellow haze of the rising sun,
watched squirrels run circles
on ancient trunks,
enticing the jays
screaming their dismay
above the din of trickling
fountain-waters.

The moment reminded me
of a gurgling mountain brook
& the time your gentle sweet caress
warmed my heart on a similar winter morn.

Don't hate yourself
when your friends just up and leave
they've stopped caring about you a while ago
or so you've been led to believe
when your friends
just can't be found
stop looking already
a part of you knows they'll never be around
don't feel down
when your friends start being fools
you've always been a great person
and now they're just tools
so don't keep
wanting to hang around them
they've changed now
something tainted them.
So don't follow them
you're not a sheep
your future is your's
and you've got a life to keep.

Increasingly distorted memories
   slowly succumbing to darkness
Some fallen, some forced into
   the oubliette of my subconscious

Figures of the past linger tentatively
   before receding into shadow
Familiar strangers they do seem
   as if merely remnants of dreams

The looking glass of childhood friends
   mirrors an unrecognizable effigy
An idealized reflection of a former self
   unflinching in its accusatory glare

Whispers persist from imprisoned depths
   for I am silently being recalled to life
Somehow I've forgotten how to be
   the only person I've ever wanted to be

Somehow I've forgotten how to be me

Finally...to have experienced genuine love!

...a captivating whisper of tender words
...a knowing glance of enduring confidence
...a gentle touch charged with intimacy

If only that lovely couple would pass by more often...