The day that I stumbled upon the wishing well,
The sun was out and the fresh spring flowers had a great smell.

The day that my life was about to change,
I was happy and looking forward to the day ahead - nothing strange.

The day I learned a great life lesson,
I believed my confidence and happiness were things no one could lessen.

The day I stumbled upon the wishing well,
I realised trust was very delicate indeed - encased in a fragile shell.

The day after I stumbled upon the wishing well,
The sun hid and the flowers fell,
And where my trust in people went.Well, No one could tell...

So you see, that day I learnt that no one does anything for free.
Wishes and the people that 'grant' them, provide only a temporary glee.

Does someone exist, in that big and endless universe,
who can complete my incomplete poems - every line, every verse?

We sat there facing each other,
as the sun rays fell across the room in slits through the blinds.     
We were connected by a mysterious tether,
a smile playing on our lips and tranquility tresspassing in our minds.

Too shy to speak and too afraid to break the melodious silence,
we sat there, wringing our hands and stealing the odd glance.
Then, an idea shined together on both of us and broke the trance.

We picked up our pens and began to write,
Cause that was the only way we knew,
to open up and 'bare our soul' - so to cite...

I'm getting tired of guessing who you may be,
craning my neck in every crowd, hoping it is you that I see,
so could you do me a favour - as soon as I count one, two, three,
come out of my dreams and into my view, when you're free?

the day starts with shirley
who comes in just after eight
for her 20oz chai
"what kind of milk?"
"doesn't matter"
punches her own coffee card
tells me about her puppy
kayla is next her hair and
makeup always perfect
about as nice a landlady as
one can have in a town like this

from there it's a constant
stream of people
who i watch out for and
who don't know i'm doing it

janice lives alone and thinks
people are stealing her money
doesn't understand
the tests her doctors want
she can't remember
what she always orders
it's a turkey club sandwich no bacon
on toasted oatmeal regular chips no pickle
a to go box for the leftovers
and some kind of chocolate treat in a bag
because she only eats when
she comes in here

two weeks ago
i accidentally switched
barb's 12oz soy chai
with someone else's
12oz whole milk chai
it wasn't enough dairy
to give her a problem
in fact she didn't seem
to remember it
but i made her another for free

nic stopped for his afternoon coffee
didn't laugh at anything just stared
blankly into space and said he
thought he was getting sick
had too many things to finish
the day before when i was waving
to him from the parking lot
so i took my dog to the
back door of his office and
we barked until he came out
patted us both on the head
and said he felt better

we're all creatures of habit
like mckenna who arrives
like clockwork
between one thirty and two
tuesday through saturday
leans on my bake case while
i count my tips and add random
ingredients to different drinks
in a reckless attempt
to break up the monotony
and he drinks them all
like clockwork
no matter how bad they are

rita doesn't smile since she broke her hip
in fact i haven't seen her since
walt got sick and he and joan
moved upstate to be closer to their son
i worry about something happening to ray
who will take care of rita?
whose laugh used to echo off the walls
and fill the place up
pat's smoking again and it turns out
he has congenital heart failure
gail had a fall, a stroke and
suddenly died

i make the same dumb jokes
only a few people smile at
i sing to myself
and people point it out

karen sits in her motorized wheelchair
ice and snow dripping from the wheels
onto the scratched, muddy floor
and tells me i'm pretty and funny
and have a beautiful voice and
i look at karen, her head tilted to
the side and spit hanging from her
buck teeth and wonder why such a
wonderful funny girl with a heart of gold
had to have the body she's stuck in

why life is ****
and why i'm trying
i swear i'm trying
fighting
for something
i don't know what

why we fight
why we try
to make the world
a better place
when nothing can really change
any of these dismal facts

What do you think about the depth
          The proximaty of death  
How far I walked to hide my mess
The amarillo blood clot sky
Every day you die in a world where if I tried I could lie and say that it all worked out for me in the end.

i've always wanted to fill my notebooks
with beautiful words
so now i just fill them with your name.

i guess you never know
when you've gone too far,
you take & you take & you take,
and you break my self esteem and god i want
to hate you so bad,
but i never write about you so i guess my words mean
i care too much,
or not enough, or somewhere in between.
the lines of my heart are blurring with
the ones in my head, because
sometimes i even think i want you
(i know-- crazy, right?)
but i am a wildflower and you-
you are the hurricane trying to stamp me into the ground.
i told you i can take a joke
but it's raining a little too hard this time.