I play a note.
I play a song.
It echoes down
The empty hall.

The sweetened tune
I used to play,
Has fallen flat;
Has turned to gray.

It doesn’t move you
Anymore.
I don’t know who
I’m playing for.

My favorite song
For my best friend.
It’s all for you,
It’s always been.

the yellow sun
was shining down
on grass and sand and waves
it was a place
where children went
to laugh
and dance
and
play.

as molly ran
and wandered off
she found a magic thing
a deep blue house
carved out of stone
in which the wind
would sing.

the other children
climbed about
and gazed into
the cave
and johnny said
“i’ll lead the way”
(because he was most brave)
and tad and tommy
followed him,
for they were big
and strong
while alice chose
to stay outside
but molly tagged along.

the dark was very chilly
and the silence, very wet
johnny shivered and looked back
but couldn’t leave
just yet.
now molly didn’t notice:
awe
and wonder
filled her eyes;
she found a solace
in the stillness,
comfort,
in the pitch black sky.

when suddenly, there came a rustle
from a hundred winged things
as dark as sin
with deep red eyes
shrieking
just like rusted swings.

tommy was the first one out
(his long legs made him fast)
then john and tad
ran into alice
and tumbled on the grass.
and when the world
had settled down,
the quiet had returned
they saw that one
was not around
and they became concerned.


but don’t you worry,
little molly
was fine as fine can be
as she uttered boldly to the dark:
“you never frightened me"

When Sadie was a little girl
She dreamed that she could fly.
Her wide eyes saw the world above;
And she was born to sail the sky.

Her coaches said she was to small,
So frail, that she would break.
The world would always hold her down
She had to snap awake.

But little Sadie closed her ears
And shut her eyes so tight.
She stood up on her tippy toes
And tried with all her might

To make herself look big and tall
Cast her shadow on the clouds,
But when she asked the sun to play
He said she just was not allowed.

But that could not slow Sadie down,
Not even just a bit.
She trained and worked all day and night
And they began to see her grit.

Then one day her moment came
As she stepped up to the bar
The world was quiet, still, at last
It was her turn to be a star.

She twirled and flipped so gracefully
Dazzling the crowd below
Not a soul denied the beauty
Of super Sadie’s flying show.

Her heart was strong and vibrant
But her body couldn’t hold
With one quick snap, her wings gave out
And she started to feel cold.



The ground was hard, the world was dark
And Sadie couldn’t feel
She looked and saw a man in white
And wondered, was this real?



Sadie’s all grown-up now
And her body works just fine
She’s all dressed up in glowing robes
And now she really shines.

She won’t regret a single day
Or what she tried to be
But now she has a different dream
And she goes by Dr. D.

Her dream is to help little girls
And lift them when they fall,
And make them shine
And show the world
That you’re never
Truly
Small.

We used to Imagine things...
You and I
and the kids down the street
We used to ring doorbells
and scrape knees
and look for treasures in the backyard
We would eat dinner
with only the lights on
and talk about how good the potatoes were
We would tell stories
run barefoot
and catch lightning bugs in a big glass jar
remember jumping in leaves?
rolling up snowmen?
and looking forward to the sweet smell of summer?
I remember.
We were young
it was easy

it's not so easy anymore.

Jenny and Jimmy were the best of friends
spending long days together that would seem to never end
picking up sticks and swinging on trees
blowing dandelion flowers in the warm summer breeze

now jenny was a beauty dressed in little boy’s clothes
with her pony tail lose an' freckles splotched on her nose
and she couldn’t give a hoot what those other girls’d say
cause she liked to be with Jimmy and the games that he played

now Jimmy wasn’t smart, but he knowed what he loved:
skippin' rocks, catchin' frogs, and his baseball glove
and that silly freckled girl that would always hang around
the most pretty little flower that he ever had found

they would lie in the grass, staring up at the sky
hoping life would never change, as the world passed by
they would always have each other and their lush green wood
with the birdies and the trees and everything that was good

but the winter was a’comin and the kids went inside
and the flowers and grass and the leaves all died
and a perfect white snow covered up all the fun
and it silenced all the laughter and it froze up the sun

so they sat and they waited for what seemed like years
and so Jimmy got angry and Jenny found tears
and even as they hoped and they cried and they prayed
the winter wasn’t going, it had come along to stay

so then Jimmy got up and he put his boots on
and Jenny got her gloves and her scarf from her mom
they each waved goodbye to their nice warm home
and they set off in the night in the deep cold snow

the ice was holding tight to every step they would take
and the wind was blowing hard and it made their bodies shake
but they kept moving forward cause they knew they had to be
in the arms of each other beneath the big oak tree

Jenny saw him first as she came over the hill
and she ran so fast she forgot about the chill
and Jimmy was amazed as a smile found his face
as he lifted Jenny up in a strong warm embrace

and as the two of them smiled and they hugged and they swayed
the winter and the ice began to slowly melt away
and the two stayed together up until the very end
because Jenny and Jimmy were the best of friends.

I want to do wonderful things to you
my perfect gold-haired child.
I’ll bring you down the stars themselves
if it will make you smile.
And if you want a happy home
I’ll build it where you please
with walls of strong and sturdy oak
And roof of autumn leaves.
I’ll take your hand and lead you out
o’er all there is to see;
the beauty of the whole wide world
is what you mean to me.
And if the rain should start to fall
and darkness clouds the sky,
I’ll keep you warm and hold you close;
I’ll look into your eyes
and tell you that I love you more
than you can ever know.
My darling, you are wonderful
I should have never let you go.

you get so alone
sometimes
especially at night
when it's just you
and your thoughts
regrets
fears
aspirations
the stifling silence
can be so loud
overbearing
that you have to
turn over
and flip on
the light
to remind yourself
that you're still
all there
sometimes
it just makes sense.

she beds down with the most dangerous snakes she can find
and waits for the bite

she swallows the venom
then slides back in to me

give up the ghost,
don't look behind


i couldn’t help it if i tried

this world's cold and she’s a fire

a poem a day keeps the doctor away
and helps you write
like maggie, molly, and mae
and use more complex words when extending the rhyme
but still keep it sparse and succinct and sublime
so the reader will smile
and hold on for the ride
and realize the connection you’re feeling inside
so withering willows and pestilent pines
and the dark in the back of the light of their mind
will be rupt and distorted like sun through the blinds

and then they will find
thru your stanzas and lines
that nothing is over
if you learn to make time

memories get burned away
in bright light from the sun

they slowly fade;
where they were made
now distant,
dark,
yet warm.

they smelled of sweet things,
once were rich
and dense
and oh so wet

but clouds get swept,
the ground dries off
it’s easy to
forget.

there’re changes in the brightness
new beginnings in the light...


but not for me,
it’s all the same.

i’m hot.

i miss the rain.

Gimme the keys
I’m good to ride

Over black or white
It's all good to me

I’ll take you someplace
You’ll wish you’d remember

From roaring rapids
To rolling thunder

From ivory coasts
To charcoal sky

From dusk till dawn
Till the music starts again.

when tomorrow starts without me
and i'm not there to see
if the sun should rise
and find your eyes
all filled with tears
for me

i wish so much you wouldn't cry
the way you did today
while thinking of the many things
we didn't get to say

i know how much you loved me
as much as i love you
and each time that you think of me
i know you'll miss me too

but when tomorrow starts without me
please try to understand
that an angel came
and called my name
and took me by the hand

and said my place was ready
in heaven far above
and that id have to leave behind
all those i dearly love

but as i turned to walk away
a tear fell from my eye
for all my life id always thought
i didn't want to die

i had so much to live for
so much yet left to do
it seemed almost impossible
that i was leaving you

i thought of all the yesterdays
the good ones and the bad
and i thought of all the love we shared
and all the fun we had

if i could relive yesterday
just even for a while
id say goodbye and kiss you
and maybe see you smile

but then i fully realized
that this could never be
for emptiness
and memories
would take the place of me

and when i thought of worldly things
i might miss come tomorrow
i thought of you
and when i did
my heart was filled with sorrow

and when i walked through heaven's gates
i felt so much at home
when god looked down and smiled at me
from his great and golden throne

he said this is eternity
and all i've promised you
today your life on earth is passed
but here life starts
anew

i promise no tomorrow
but today will always last
and since each day is the same
theres no longing for the past

you have been so faithful
so trusting and so true
and there were times
you did some things
you knew
you shouldn't do

but you have been forgiven
and now at last
you're free
so won't you come and take my hand
and share my life
with me

you know what i was thinking about last night?

i was thinking about heaven
whether it exists or not…

i think the reason
i want not to believe
is because I’m scared
so terribly frightened
by the thought of eternity.
how could i keep waking up
day
      after day
                     after day…
what could possibly make me keep going?

but then i think about you..

and i think about exploring this beautiful, wonderful world

and then i think
how long it would take
to see every
imaginable
beautiful
piece

you know…

i could have plenty of time for that.

and then i think about other things
like far distant worlds...
millions of planets
and billions of miles
and still all the time in the world


what if i had the time?...
and the millions of miles
to walk through the oceans
and swim through the land
and watch thousands of sunsets
endless in setting
and rising
and falling
again

and what if i had the endless ages
of stories on pages
or actors on stages
and just could sit by, eons on end
watching the riverbeds flow?

what if i had forever
and then ever and ever
and maybe i had it with you..

thats my only real heaven, and surely i'll go
i just hope that you'll come with me too

If you ever feel
You are not loved
I tell you, it's not true.
I'm here for you, I love you so,
I promise you,
I do.

I love you though we'll never meet,
I'll never see your face.
I'm telling you,
I love you, though
I do not know your name.

I love you every morning
And I love you every night.
I swear, I'll love you
always.
And everything will be alright.

Meet.
Smile.
Talk.
Learn.
Like.
Laugh.
Ask.
Kiss.
Hold.
Hope.
Love.
Live.
Give.
Plan.

Cheat.

Cry.
Claim.
Blind.
Blame.
Hope.
Smile.
Strive.
Live.
Learn.

Love.