Under stars
Bat steals apples
In shadowed leaves

You know the end is near
When you become accustomed to the fear
                                                       (K R W)

I can almost hear
The hot sun on my skin.
Cold ice on my lips.
Watching my legs sway back and forth.


The whole world's upside down.
Holding that sight,
I can see birds in their nest.
Singing along with the wind.


Sweat.
Sunglasses.
And Sun Burns.


Oh the sweet summer days.
Bringing me back to the good o'l days.

you liked to swim in waters that were too deep

where my feet couldn't touch the ground

i almost drowned trying to follow you

you liked standing on top of mountains

because you belonged on top of the world

my skin was raw from the sandstone

you live in adventure

and i live in your shadow

the day you leave i'll be stuck here forever

because it seems i've forgetten how to walk on my own

He stared at the words on the paper-
at least a dozen times.
At last he gave a little laugh and said.
“I can’t recall if these are mine.
I recognize a familiar style; a well-worn rhyming scheme.
Perhaps I may have written this back when still a teen.”
Beneath his façade of outward calm, I thought that I espied
a too familiar horror in his bespectacled eyes.
I saw the fear of loss of self, of dignity, of mind.
A brilliant wit now silenced, aware of its decline.
His mind was like a drowning man who panics in the brine;
eluding would be rescuers, going down for the third time.
He handed back the paper and I was too kind to say
that this was the piece of verse he finished yesterday.
Forget me not, It seemed to say. Please don’t leave me behind,
although the better part of me has died before my time.

I spend a lot of time in bed,
But not enough time sleeping.

Most of the time I'm smiling,
But internally I'm weeping.

I find I'm constantly day dreaming,
But never actually believing.

I try to hold it together
But as you may see; I'm screaming.
                                                       (K R W)