The ripe old age of 25
where I'm supposed to be alive
and prospering.
But instead, it is an uphill climb
to those two digits which seem so high that
I cannot reach.

Because there is a whisper- screaming- in the back
of my head
saying that nothing's ahead
and what is scarier than nothing at all?

I spend my days lighting candles

On

And

Off

Hoping you'll call
To ignite our extinguished love

The cracks interrupting my walk
Are not cracks at all
But veins of sweet
Sweet blossoms fallen

Gray stepped-on concrete holds tight
To the cells of sweet traveling
Amongst the deep
Mimicking bright of the sky they once reached

My step carefully avoids
The soldiers on their plight
Their helmets a warm rose
Filling those trenches awaiting

A gust of fresh air set the sweet cells to dancing
A cyclone of chaotic beauty
And once again the cracks of my walk are empty
With only the memory of their visitors

The flowers smiled and winked at you in early May.
All was bright, flaws were none, and all so very new
Like dew, fresh on the grass where we spent our days.
The air grew feverish as did I, my mind was a maze.

Come the middle of July the dew had evaporated.
Our vision blurred like the sky in immense heat.
The days took years to go, held in place by Apollo.
We nestled inside just as wind began to blow

Leaves off of trees in a million colors.
Adventure shriveled to a familiar routine.
Surrounded by walls we would spend time,
A few conjured up after our prime.

The temperature crept downward.
Our hearts fell victim to frost,
Their synchrony now  
Broken.

A vein in the Earth
Where those fallen subside
Called to fill it with life
And await command further

Helmets rosy but not of blood
Each soldier light and with grace
A call finally comes
And they fly out in a swarm

A swirling spectacle of life and it’s beginning
And end, the veins empty
Trenches once again barren
The scheme once again bleak

Oh, ease and tranquility how you elude me,
As I float- no splash- about this insanity.
Waves of new faces,
Words lost in the wind,
Form an ocean too deep.                                                                                                        

I stare in a silence that is deafening
Sorry- excuse me- no wait, please don’t leave
How should I, somehow, fashion an ore
And keep from drowning?

Sick of ticks that trick people- no you are not a bother to me                                              
I promise- just let me catch some air, see?
I'm fine... just when should I avert my eyes and how long should I smile?
And…
Crash! Another shipwreck where passengers flee

But every once in a while I encounter                                                                                      
Another without proper tools, whose heart also beats a million times a second
When sitting- when walking, talking, sighing...crying.
And I welcome the unskilled sailor aboard,
Because in these unsteady waters so cold
We have each other.