I love words

but so often 
I don't understand them.

I read them over and over
like a puzzle I mull over their
meanings in my mind.

I sleep with them
and cradle them in 
my mind's arms of comfort.
They cry out to me 
in pain , in joy and
in amazement.

Words 
just the hollow embodiment 
of life's fullest moments.
Yet somehow in my darkest
hour they don't let me down.

Words 
well chosen can nourish and 
move mountains in my soul.

The storm

The dreaded day has come,
like an impending storm
forecast eons before her time.
This day has been brewing
since the day I was born.

I prayed to the Gods daily
and to anyone else 
who  might hear me,
pleading to keep her away
for fear of the devastation
she could bring
to all the land about me.

She was a huge boulder 
which I held on my shoulder
day after day.
I nourished her 
and without even
realizing it,
I helped create her.

As the forecast grew
louder and louder,
I closed my ears,
hid under my bed 
and breathed in the cold
dark void around me.

I grew smaller and smaller
and she loomed so large
above me as
I gasped for air.

Now that storm is right 
outside my door,
I pray for strength 
and courage to enter
the darkness and not be broken.
To feel the rain and wind
on my face
and not be blown
away by the wind.

And then I'll wait -
for the sun to shine
again.

I want to soften when you yell
like butter on a warm day.
I want to reach for that 
place in you that once touched
the  ground in wonder,
when I spoke,
but is now taking a slight detour.

I'm thankful that I want to
soften even though I rarely succeed.
I take my warm blanket 
and close my eyes.
I float in that space 
where harmony sings 
out my name with joy,
that place I discovered 
so long ago.

All the yous and mes
twirling around in this
dance of love,
we matter.
And we're doing 
what we do,
perfectly.