As death stuck
to our bare skin,
like dirt on a humid day
we learned to spell peace,
we learned to spell love,
we learned to spell unity,
o how we wish, we had
nothing to regret
o how we begged to forget
o how we wish, we could
bring back the gone,
to a safe house
with a bed to sleep
and not a grave
to rest in peace

- Kaya

you swept the ashes of winter
lit red and ****
drawn naked with smoke
and coal
still glowing
in the shadow of paper flowers
pressed to walls of plaster
and stone

I'm a puzzle with no corner pieces-
complicated and frustrating
but breathtaking when finally put
together.
Faded blue jeans, bare feet, and
a mass of wild curls.
Southern accented blunt truths
and sharp accessing eyes
that have forgotten their true color.
Messy scribbled words on heaps
of discarded paper
and gorgeous journals with empty
pages.
I am a piano player in private
and a singer in the shower.
Paint splattered hands
and a girl finding beauty
behind a lens.
A quiet thinker
with a head full of screaming
thoughts.
I am a lovely mess of
contradictions.