I remember creeping reverently past
The yawning maw
Snarling braches, overgrown foliage
Sad eye sockets
The defeated roof
Listing drunkenly to the left
The black spirals on the ground
Where the fire had scored earth bare
Crouched from the sanctity of the sidewalk
Damp palm snaking back to
Clasp tight
My best friend’s hand

Fear skittering up our spines
We skirted past poisonous green weeds
That swayed in the yard
Unkempt and our eyes
Darted, seeking, feral
For movement in that open doorway
Her shadow
The witch

Years pass

Looking out into suburbia
Manicured green boxes
And cookie-cutter plans
From my own cracked window
My newly acquired reno,
I spot a flash of moving colour
From beyond the overgrown hyacinths
A tousled flash of curls between the green
Puzzlement ripples as
Three lanky preadolescent forms
Snake from the protection of my shaggy firs
Thin chests taking a breath before
Their whippy arms point accusing
And I barely see a flash before
The clutched rock leaves the
Stupid-looking red headed one’s hand
Crashing through my upstairs master

And I hear it

Witch, witch, where’s the witch?

And I feel it.

My eyes beadily narrow
Peering over my bulbous nose
Shoulders hunching
Toes curl
And I reach for
The broom leaning next
The painter’s cloth
Grabbing on with knobbly fingers
Hurling myself
Out
Of
The door

Their eyes widened
Disbelieving
As they spot me  
And thumbs clutched between index fingers
They run
Leaving me cackling
Breathless

While my familiar
Looks up from
Sunning her black self
On the step.

the men, they like to jab me with their loneliness
jabbing, in-out, in-out
and they like to do so with intensity of the precursor to love
they like to instill their energies within me
as I collect in neat stacks
the long, hard rides they've had

Heaving seas of uneven times
Misty misting mist in all the air that you see
Decades gone and come, how Dylan had it pegged
From here, where is it that we go

To the mountains, no thats been done before
Swim the canals from which we were born
Burrow in the ground to sleep the winter long
Trickle in space or fade brightly like the diamond star

After here, it aint all that you see
Cast aside your dreams for sleep
Begin to end or bend to win the prize
Stand on the shore feel the rising tides.

Be strong like a sun floating in her womb
Thick screaming vines hang from a crack in the moon
Thirsty leaves grow on stones before they crumble into earth
While lean green moments fall like rain on grains of sand

Old grey skies tell tales of the once living dead
Then breathe like bleeding wounds on hard red wood
Go cry like the boulder, having no valley in which to roll
Or stumble home like the warrior that has no place to go

one drink illuminated by candlelight
you sit across from me
and talk and talk
but your voice is in a low whisper
you don't want anyone
to overhear your pitiful excuses
you scold me
then feel bad
the red rose you gave me
when we first sat down
now sits awkwardly
on the small table

two drinks illuminated by candlelight
you beg me to say something
my mouth is closed
only open to the liquor
"you're acting ridiculous"
I don't respond
I ask the waiter
for another

three drinks illuminated by candlelight
I begin to envy the rose
it looks beautiful
there is no mirror
but I am ugly
I take the rose
and peel the green coat off
then the petals
until it's ugly
as ugly as I feel

four drinks illuminated by candlelight
you stand up
put on your jacket
"where are you going"
you don't answer
I watch you walk away
you don't turn around
you don't say goodbye

five drinks illuminated by candlelight
the glass is half full
the glass is half empty
the drink is gone
down into the pit
of my stomach
the seat
across from me
is empty
i toast the invisible man
he smiles

six drinks illuminated by candlelight
i don't know
why i'm sad
i just know
i feel sad
i sit
i say nothing
the glasses are scattered
on the table
my mind is muddled
my brain
is in pieces
i stand
i sit
i stand
i leave

i took the ideas
out of my skull
and i placed them on the mantle
above the fireplace
I watched as they twitched
in the orange flame

i am the weary product of destruction
you were just another friend of mine
i once knew what to do with myself
but i soon forgot

we sat on the couch
and observed my half-born creations
you spoke empty wisdoms
into my hollow mind
all the while pretending
that there was something
to admire

before long the distance became
a pocketful of torn ticket stubs
a collection of subway maps
a string of missed phone calls
i doused the living room in gasoline
and dropped a match on the floor

through the window i watched
as the ideas on the mantle
turned to orange flame

It is almost the end,
The last final bend.
Everything I once knew,
Will all soon be through.
As I reflect back upon these cherished years.
It’s all most impossible, to fight back these tears.
Everything that I once knew and loved,
Will soon be memories floating above.
Like an ocean of mysteries the future will unveil,
But this is just the start, for our unwritten tale.
New times become old ones, old ones are now memories,
Locked away inside, but will always be a part of me.
Time is racing toward us,
And I’m not in a rush.
It was like yesterday I was on that big yellow bus,
Still remembering about recess and my very first crush.
Growing up seems so much more fun when you’re young,
But right now I just wish I could go back to grade one.
As I greet the new future, and say good-bye to the past,
I just wish there was some way, it didn’t all happen so fast.
I just wish there was some way, I could make it all last.

I am who you see when you look in the mirror
What you hold inside your heart
I am the same as you are
I am your other part

Our hearts are one and the same
I look inside and see you
You look back and see yourself
In everything I do

We are two hearts that beat as one
Separately together
My heart has found a home in yours
Where it will stay forever