Pain is not a metal I like to treasure,
But I store it in my heart
Since it needs a place to stay.
I can’t bury it or run away,
Since I’ve already looked it in the eyes.
I’ve given it my soul,
Unrested and Unbreakable
As fragile as a moment
But as strong as an emotion,
A quiet storm unable to use its tongue
To tell anyone what’s going on.
I’m lost in the sky,
Just trying to find a haven where I can pour out the sounds,
The songs
And the rhythms.
Trying to let go of these ghosts
With a pencil and paper
But I know that I’ll walk this road alone,
With only my ghosts and my thoughts.
I know I’ll forever remain
Haunted.

'Neath a cover of black faux leather
bursting with half-written verses
Lie coffee stains, old bird feathers
and lines of illegible cursive
the bitterness of heartbreak
on lines by brine besmeared
of victories and of mistakes
and thresholds I have cleared
This is my skeleton key
a glance into thoughts long passed,
for my broken memory
I hold a looking glass.

Love is Fire
entrancing, Freeeeeee, WILD, Courageous
The dance of Passion blazing upwards
into the night
the
Smoldering Eyes
Magnificently Beam Bright

Love is Fire
but not just the flame,
Love is the wood,
to which makes the fire glow,
the burning pillars are
devoted walls to this holy temple
steadfast and strong
makes love so

Love is Fire,
but not just the burning,
Love is the glow of the embers.
When time has faded like a setting sun and
wrinkles mark themselves boldly upon this face,
what is left of us but the comforting glow of embers,
deep within our hearts?

Love is Fire,
but not just the flame,
not just the fuel which feeds the fire,
not just the embers glowing,
Love is the ashes.
Ashes immemorial, ashes which speak to the very same stardust of which our bones are comprised.
Love is Fire,
but not just the flame, nor the fuel, nor the remnant coals, nor is it the ashes,
Love is the dust.
The dust from which the ashes transform into.
This dust scatters freely to the wind,
ageless yet imbued with memories.
This ancient dust carries song of the heart in the wind,
Love is Fire, but not just the flame.

Allow the heaviness to sink in around you.
Allow the dust in the room to settle, fall calmly to the Earth.
Let go of the thousands of words unspoken.
Allow yourself to surrender.
Feel this sinking upon your shoulders,
this lifetime of burden is your own voice singing out.
You are the lotus amidst murky waters.
This weight is yourself calling to yourself.
Allow the throbbing of your heart to receive your prayers.
Allow yourself to come home to this body,
longing to receive you.
Patiently waiting.
Place your palm upon your chest.
Allow this intimacy to run from you
back to you.
To return these chords of familiarity to where they belong.
Allow the dust to settle.
And remember to Be proud
of the river that flows
through you
and your beating heart.