Don’t forget
To tell stories-
You’ll live through the joy
Twice;
Once in the moment
And again when you share them;
Tell them just as they happened
So you can experience the raw happiness once again

Don’t forget to tell stories-
You’ll process the pain
Every time you work through
What you thought
you could never face again;
Tell them in whatever way
Feels most gentle to you,
And rest easy
knowing that you are now in control.

Tell the ones you keep floating on the surface
Always ready to be grabbed and told
And tell the ones you’ve been clasping
Deeply in your fists for years.

Tell them for yourself
Or for others to know
That they are not alone-
But whatever you do
Don’t forget to tell stories.

I’m confronted with the edge
Once again
For the umpteenth time
Since we last saw one another.  
The edge is so close;
The waves below
Offer to swallow me and my sadness.

Do I accept their offer,
And be granted immediate relief?
Or do I take a few steps back,
Carrying my load
Of iron and lead filled pain;
The same pain that will help me sink to the bottom of your depths.

My mind is telling me
That stepping over the edge
Will not end my pain
But will only make it worse,
But every fiber of my addiction to you
Beckons me forward

For a moment,
Instead of looking down
At you as my only option,
I look up to the sky I’d forgotten was above me
It’s vastness reminds me
That even though the idea of you was like the ocean,
The sky is even greater,
As it contains both you and me alike
And I let the tides beat ceaselessly along
Behind me

We took different paths and
I’m exhausted from trying to find
Some trace of you
In my thoughts
And in my dreams
But at least
I’m not running from myself
Anymore

Sink your teeth
Into my lips;
I am your bread and butter
Smeared with strawberry jam;
Your favourite childhood treat
When it was permitted,
Or when you could find a way
To reach the top shelf.

Relapsing with you
Would be like the dealer
Giving me a bad batch of relief
Tainted with guilt

Oh how my love
How I wish to see you again;
You've left my touch
But I still feel you every day
You've left my sight
But I still see you in strangers I meet;
A flicker of you draws my eye-
Is it my way of replacing you with someone else
Or is it because you taught me a little something about people
That I never would have learnt without you?

I think the truth is
My dear love
That maybe all you were meant to be
Was a fragment within me
That I carry wherever I go

Sometimes
All it takes
Is a ******* a plane
Sitting next to you,
Her notebook sprawled open
Her pen furiously spewing ink
Into the lifeform of a human face-
To realize that you’ve been missing the chaos of art all along