Babe,
There's something tragic about you
Something so magic about you
I can't disagree
Babe,
There's something frightening about you
Something so inviting about you
You're all I see

These tired sighs, these rolling eyes
And the irony
I know you care
Just by your stare
That you want me

Honey, it's peculiar
Not meant for nature;
Although,
Innocence is screaming
I know you suffered the most
Chivalry's dying
Bleeding itself to death on its sword
I see you in this Eden
My heart is yours

Babe,
There's something terrible about this
Something so mesmerizing about this
Yeah it's a sin
Babe,
There's something not natural about this
Something demanding about this
But I wanna let you in

You once could stand,
There was no evil plan
Just your ideology
That Man would ruin everything good
You knew Adam would ruin everything

Honey, it's peculiar
Not meant for nature;
Although,
Innocence is screaming
I know you suffered the most
Chivalry's dying
Bleeding itself to death on its sword

Honey, it's peculiar
Not meant for nature;
Although,
Innocence is screaming
I know you suffered the most
Chivalry's dying
Bleeding itself to death on its sword
I see you in this Eden
My heart is yours

Folk tales and songs
Wash cold winter days from my palms
How I long for a different life
How I wish this life gone
Inside me, she snarls
Inside me, she sleeps like a toddler in a crib
Inside me, a lioness-
Who paces inside my ribs
Freedom is solidarity
Freedom is pure
But to enjoy too much loneliness
Is the devil's greatest lure

Spring blossoms hold beauty
but green leaves hold a tree's life
So don't seek for only beauty
when seeking a wife

Is a cactus real?
Or an armored aloe plant?
Don't drink cactus juice.

The sea that drowned her
Was now a long memory
How she loved swimming!

If I become a widow long before my death,
I'll be in Colorado where the mountains will catch my breath

If I become a widow long before my time to go,
I do not want my grandchildren to miss me,
I'll be in a cabin next to glistening snow

If I become a widow and begin to cry,
I do not want my children to worry
because I still have a strong heart beating inside

I'll escape to the mountains in a cabin on the hills
where I'll sip warm tea to brush away the chills
I'll watch sunrises over the mountains as I think of my love
until I'm no longer a widow
and with him above

Spring is not the same
unless you're in Washington, D.C.
Not one Washington garden is overlooked or overseen

Pink cherry blossoms wave a sweet fragrance in the air
as their branches lift
We hold it in memorium that peace was a sacred gift
offered to us in the form of pink flowers from a country done with war
In Washington, D.C, the color pink means so much more

I love to photograph
the wild things in the land
If it weren't for the finned and clawed creatures
We wouldn't understand the
technology in our hands

Sonar is what we use to get a glimpse of pre-born babies
We have sonar from dolphins and bats
and yet we scream, "Rabies!"

We wouldn't understand infrasound if it weren't for
the elephants
But we only see their ivory, not their intelligence

Tigers and leopards are born to be trained assassins with
their patterned camouflaged coats
But we make them our trophies because humans need to gloat

We owe omega three's to the schools of fish who gave us healthy brains and hearts
But instead we fill their bellies with plastic and tear their reefs apart

Savannas and forests are turning into deserts because of climate change
But we insist it's just a theory
Who cares about polar bears anyway?

Yes, I love to photograph the wild beasts with
fins, claws, and tails
Because I'm afraid that someday
future generations will ask,
"What was once a whale?"

He asked, I said yes!
Oh, what joy!
Mama, I knew he was the right boy!
It's going to be work,
all marriages are
I know patience and love can go far

I'll take him with his flaws, his baggage, and quirks
Maybe even do the dishes when he's at work
I won't complain about the socks on the floor,
or shavings in the sink
I won't nag him when he comes home and he's too tired to think

As long as I have my cup of tea and a kiss
As long as I have my paper and computer to write
As long as I have my paintbrushes
Forever with him is not long enough of time

Changes are bound to happen
changes are all we see
changes turn a caged tiger
into a refugee running free
Changes are what happen
to your hair roots as they turn grey
Changes are what happen to our same sky everyday
Changes turn strangers into beloved friends
Sometimes changes make loved ones disappear
I've learned, however,

that changes happen when something good is near

I love you
Your eyes
Your heart and how it smiles
I love your sense of humor
Your empathy
And how you make it all worth while
But I'm toxic, a problem
I'm like a disease
And some how you still share your romantic ecstasy
I love you but I'm disgusted by you
In all the petty ways
I'm learning how to control the lust that burns in my veins
Temptation is strong but I work so hard to walk away with it in stride
From the things I could give in to
like pleasure and pride

time to time it haunts me,
The memory of us in North Carolina
I remember it perfectly
His blue eyes staring into mine
His red hair contrasts against the white hotel walls
His naked back points to the ceiling
And I'm gasping for air from what we've done

I always remember this when "Fade Away" by Rebelution plays
I don't miss the heartache of wondering if you ever truly loved me
But this moment was perfect
And now is only a memory

"Clemit? Like a clementine? That's your middle name?"
....A small moment I'll never forget,
I fell in love that day

I've fallen in love many times,
And then a surplus amount
But each time I'd break or break the heart of another,
It'd leave my soul with doubt

Just when I started to believe that
No man would pour himself into me
And open his heart to a triumphant romance

You entered my life with gentle eyes and a yearning soul
That I swear, by God, was not just by chance

Sometimes I feel like Alice
Falling into a looking glass
Where I get stuck between the shimmering images of lovers from my past
But now they have moved on, and have found new lovers too
I've moved on twice or three times since then,
But my looking glass offers a tempting view
Jealousy is no wonderland,
Just a forest of broken shards from your past
Beware of its shiny glimmer
Before it drives you mad

This is a poem about new love,
but it isn't mine
Yes, moving on is how we survive
Doesn't it hurt,
to leave a lover behind?
Because your gut told you "Their heart was never mine!"
They grieved over their ex while they were with you
Wondering if her lips were what he felt when he was kissing you
****** up things were said to you,
by this person so toxic
You HAD to get out, but still loved them to be honest
In your best efforts to save him, you let him go
Hoping he'd learn, hoping he'd grow
Not even two months later, he has a new girl by his side
You put your face in your palm,
he never loved you, or else it would have taken more time.

A poet is a poet,
no matter how much time has gone by
without writing the words from the souls of our eyes
A poet is a poet,
don't mind if the cat got my tongue
because my mind still holds beauty
even when the tiresome day is done

So this is the life I'm coming to know,
Witnessing new beauty,
Only to be haunted by my ghosts
Old memories of friends
Remind me of the strangers from today
And here I am, alone, sitting near a lake
My friends and former lovers have moved on, and I will too
But I'm still haunted by these ghosts
From this glorious view

Finances, bills, and blood to pay,
Only for the hope of resting one day
But when the day comes, and my heart no longer beats a sound,
Can I say my life was worth the journey, from birth to being underground?
Work extra shifts, sweat one more drop from your forehead,
Enjoy the thrill of the hustle before you're dead.

A bread crumb trail of words
You have spoken to me,
Has lead me to believe in your shy honesty
Your coy actions and moments hide behind coarse and buffed muscle
Yet being your soft and gentle counterpart completes this whole puzzle
So say the sweet things to me that add more crumbs to this trail
We may be lost at the moment,
But love never fails

I gave you my heart
After I wore it on my sleeve
You wear it like a watch now,
like a temporary accessory
If you were crazy about me,
as I am; you,
You'd keep my heart in your shirt pocket,
beating close to your heart,
The same thing that I do

A feather dances
From ancient winds from the past
And mountains will stand

We are but in a fun house,
Paralleled and mirrored in time
With our fingers pressed against the glass,
We cautiously pace through the clicking rhymes
Our own reflections confuse us,
Disguising our true way
But if our only way out was through our words,
I'd still struggle to find what to say

We clip a bird's wings so it won't fly away,
A sin we commit because we care
But if people were like parrots and we clipped the wings of our lovers,
Then can we agree that love was never there?

Her eyes were brown,
Even black, sometimes
But she envied blue eyes the most
She imagined her face with eyes like the sky, eyes like shiny blue bowls
But the more she wished her brown eyes away,
The more she longed for her soul

For so long, she believed that no one could love the magic of her glassy, dark eyes
But as time went on, she began to sing her own brown-eye lullaby

Her eyes were warmer than the bluest summer sky,
They'd twinkle brighter than any star,
Melting you into a chocolatey fountain
And while her eyes would never share the color of the sea
Her eyes mirrored a thousand mountains

I want to be a lily pad,
Floating so gracefully
I want to be a lily pad,
Where the water can comfort me
I'd see the reflections
Of everything that surrounds me,
Mountains on the water,
The willows and groves,
But the only reflection I'd dare to miss is my own
While my roots linger down, underneath the water's edge
My heart will bloom flowers from every single breath
The colorful koi will appreciate my beauty and grace
And still, I have never seen my own face

Words are brushstrokes,
And our thoughts become paintings,
Yet people walk this earth,
Arrogantly complaining

Can you tame a lion
After he's tasted blood?
Can you offer love to a man,
Who's tired of feeling feelings and has had enough?
Some days I wonder when you'll raise your voice to admit
That you love me, my dear,
And reinforce it with a kiss

I wish you'd say it already,
Like I've been too scared to admit
Yeah we must both be kind of crazy,
There's no denying it
But is it possible that Cupid hit me a little too hard?
Because lately a drum is beating in my chest,
This sad and weary heart
I know I take everything too personally and I try not to, so hard
But after all this time of being a door mat
It's extra work to turn this door mat into a deck of playing cards
And I will put down a queen of hearts
If you put down a king of hearts
Admit that you love me, my love
Admit that you love me, my love

In a dim room lit by candlelight
My ears are only filled with my thoughts
In a cherry blossom bubble bath,
Hot coco besides me,
My relaxed mind can weave itself into a creative knot
Words find their places like puzzle pieces fitting into the ultimate picture
Yet I am still looking for the epiphany,
The sudden light that will beacon me to the greater scheme;
And my life will have purpose

If I could swallow my words
And take anything I've said
Back into my veins;
Like they never existed,
Out of all the memories
I've rewound in my head
I'd never take back a single word
But maybe would have just kissed you
Instead

Take me to an arboretum
Where we can stroll down cobblestone paths
Take me to an arboretum
Where the beauty will erase the rains of our pasts
Take me to an arboretum
Where the oak and weeping willows will dance in the wind
Take me to an arboretum
Where we can kiss under flowering magnolia blossom limbs
Take me to an arboretum
Where we can dance under the twilight
in a gazebo overlookibg a pond
Take me to an arboretum
Where red roses and butterfly bushes make my heart so fond
Take me to an arboretum
Where we can have a picnic under the birch trees and maples
Take me to an arboretum
And my love will always remain
loyal and faithful

Are we birds in cages,
Waiting to be set free?
Or are we the door and lock?
Maybe we're the key?
We're either the person that sits and waits;
Full of beauty- so full of grace
Or we are the type that only sees the door, sees the cage and is eager for something more
Some people are the key, they know their worth-what's being locked away;
but don't understand the word "free"
Bird cages and birds,
Locks and keys
Be a bird
When the world is no longer free

I often stop and wonder
About the beauty of life
Was this world created,
Just to be adored by our eyes?
Surely there must be a God,
Or some higher entity
Who created the sunrises and sunsets;
Such colorful masterpieces
I believe that God is an artist
A painter; a sculptor, who pays good care
We are only the bouquets in His still life
He paints our picture from a distance
Away from our spotlight,
He's always there

Little by little,
The trees begin to bud
They wake from their temporary sleep
The flowers are blooming their pretty pink petals
And my love,
is a love to keep

The lakes and ponds will fill with lily pads,
Croaking toads
And families of geese
The magnolia trees are perfumed by their sweet aroma,
And my love is a love to keep

Pluck, one by one- the petals off a daisy
Childish games;
does he love me or not?  
Blowing dandelions and making a wish in the breeze
My love is a love to keep

I am an artistic soul
My eyes feed on color and line
My heart often does carry the heavy weight,
But demands so little time
For each second that I spend with you, time stands still and I lock the moving minutes in place
Only then can I paint on a canvas,
Only then can I remember the flame
My eyes feed on the colors of spring
My eyes feed on the shaded contrasts and rich hues
However, the magnificent sights that life has given me
Will never feed my hunger with the presence of you
I would trade the romantic aroma of roses,
For a mere breezed hint of your skin
I would trade the bright reds and oranges of a sunset,
For a glance at the dimples on your chin
I'd turn away ever so quickly,
From the beauty of the sun's trickling light; as its morning rays peek through tree branches
If it instead would show me the shine in your eyes
I am an artist
My eyes play the music of a muse;
when color and line are the strings to my golden harp
But I would trade my eyesight for blindness
If it would win your heart

Afraid of others,
she went back to her safety
in the net he made

He has his demons from his past
And quite frankly, so do I
I'm once again the lonelyest person
When he came into my life
Do I take in his flaws and accept the gamble,
That would give away my heart?
Why do I feel like he holds the only light,
When the world is dimming dark?
Show me the world through your eyes
And in this life, how you've made it by
your voice and accent hypnotized me
Into an easier state of mind
Behind the glass, I can see your soul
Comical, light, and warm
Make the chaos run away
Like rays of gold outshine a dark and rainy storm

Two crossed paths,
one is covered in snow
The snow runs two feet deep
The other path is grassy, almost like Spring,
green and covered in leaves
If I take the path, covered in snow...
it'll only melt to the dirt
The dirt will nurture its new growth
and flowers will rise from the earth
If I take the path that is already flowered,
one day winter will come; and death, the lilies will meet
Two crossed paths under the branches,
tell me if my heart is complete

Staring at photos from what was once a simple time,
We were two toddlers dancing at a wedding,
then we grew up, you became mine
Fast forward to when things became messy
Hearts shattered;broken,
and the feelings got heavy
But we swore to stay friends, do you remember it then?
I understand you found new love,
and this gives me joy
But you'll always be a family friend, not just some boy
I miss you and wish you didn't cut off so many ties
This included me, and brought pain to my eyes
I can understand if the burden of the new and old gave you pain,
but please, old friend, why can't you just explain?
Long-lost-Tyler,
I still write to you...wondering if you ever get my letters
Maybe someday, it'll all get better

On a gloomy, rainy, day
I was supposed to enjoy the hunt
"Bring us venison for the winter time",
They told me,
Then followed by "You cannot"
"You won't shoot anything out here. And you cannot dress the deer in the woods,"
he hissed,
"for the woods will reek with guts"
"Isn't that what nature is for?" I argued,
"To grow over what is dead and lost?"
I yelled at my stepfather,
"You may treat our house like it is a museum, and not being lived in.
But outside there is a different world where death and life begin again"
So I cried and locked myself in my room,
Another day will go to waste
I hung up my bow and arrows,
And whispered to myself,
"Someday."

Coffee, coffee
Wake me up
Coffee, coffee
Until my day is done
Coffee, coffee,
Keep me from killing others
Coffee, coffee,
I'm turning out just like my mother
Coffee and its addicting creamers
Coffee makes my digestive tract cleaner
Coffee coffee
The love of my life
Coffee, coffee, coffee

I'd be a big liar if I were to write a happy poem today,
as if my problems were all washed away
But I guess we all have problems, ado,
so let's sew the fine lines together;
of me and you
Tell me your issues,
mine could be worse
Tomorrow they could take me away in a hearse
but let's not get excited,
life is a blessing in a curse
so write a happy poem and bury your past
Smile when you can and make the good times last

Table-side puddles;
that fell from my eyes,
are smearing the the ink on my papers
Coffee mug, too big to hide
has become my best friend these
last few nights
And so I drift between what's real,
and this dreamy state of time
Coffee mug, ink, papers, and tears
Keep my dreams alive

Build, build
build up the anxiety
build, build,
build up the atrocity
build it up and break it down
build your bridge with a smile,
wreck it with a screaming frown
Build, build
and never know
That the hardest bridge to cross
is better let go

Singing songs
and painting
Making love
and singing
Bright colors,
soft sounds,
Fishing for happiness
with a frowning lure;
'Seems like
my only faith,
is in temporary cures.

Pluck from the front,
Pluck from the back
Give in to your addiction
That glues your head to a hat
You want to wear your hair down in curly waves?
Or fishtail braid it,
Or twist it to the side someday?
You can't even part it down the middle,
Without revealing a bald spot
That is the size of your face
You feel the stress, so you pluck it all away
Black out; keep plucking and
Forget about the time
See the hairs on the floor and mourn over what once was mine

I ask you to send me a song,
Like you did two years ago
The lyrics that once flattered me
Now pumps my heartbeat slow
You tell me you do not understand,
"How can I send you a song?" You ask,
I guess you do not seem to remember
How you impressed me in the past
Sure, spend and buy me a new bow,
I'm grateful but money cannot buy my love
My love, I feel it deepening in my chest,
This black and empty hole.

Where have you gone?
Have you slipped from my veins?
Have you run away, hiding,
to streets with unknown names?
Have you marked a pin on your map,
and set your compass true?
Have you mastered the game plan,
of how I intend to get to you?
You were once my ink, my charcoal, my paint
now the turpentine, the bleach that washes it all away
I've stayed up looking for you,
tossing and turning in my thoughts
my creativity is a long lost friend,
a battle I've always fought.

I do not understand the reason,
you came into my life with its changing seasons
Twisting and conforming,
you are my love in a past life
Yet this is the life I'm living,
and I am in love with him
Yet your presence is that of a light bulb in a world growing dim
I like to imagine we once lived
in a small flat in Ireland
Your golf hat remained on the top of your head
and we were married, hand in hand
Two souls reunited,
but now strictly apart
I'd like to say we're still the same
in the Ireland of our hearts
Ben Howard is playing in the distance,
do you remember when you showed me his songs?
Two souls distanced,
an instinct that tells me I'm wrong.