close the gaps between
the white pads of my extended
fingertips
and your bitten nails
put just enough weight
to feel the heaviness of the first
arpeggio

follow the tune
with your eyes closed
forearms laid on one another
like the bricks of a hollow building
waiting to be filled with our
melody

curl your wrists so they latch
over mine
and press your cheek against my own
and steady the 9/8 time with
our synchronized breath


relax with poise as your hands
may finally rest
follow each ivory memory as it leaves
me and runs into you
flooding your minds eye with nothing
but me

stay until you are done
wait until you no longer mimic my measures
give until your soul is weightless

and i'll lay my hands over yours

Tiptoed steps make the loudest noise
When the whole house is sleeping
And fingertips are the pots and pans
That were my cymbals and my kick drums
Breath is gusts on the shutters
And notes between the metal of wind chimes
Even my slender arms are weighted
Everything that was once private silence
Is now colored with the sloppy strokes
Of a child’s hand
Everything is boisterous
And yet somehow when my nose
Brushes your ear
It sounds like the beat of a butterfly’s wings
Twisting through the rafters
Of your solemn mind

I will never leave.

i went to your grave today
and my ankles touched the grass
6 feet above you
i placed my palms on brown stems
crackling beneath the weight of my painted smile.
the wind kicks up my hair
like your coattail
hitting the back of a leather seat
facing ivory notes
that mimic the lullaby i sing to you now.
the white flowers stem from
my fingernails after all this time
they are beautiful weeds
that i pluck and loop around each other
placing this crown on my head
that is anything but regal.
the buds are the last snow
and their misty color matches that
of the clouds escaping my chapped lips.

His hollow eyes were enough to see
As he walked right in front of me
In hurried traffic he traipsed with ease
His tattered coat fluttered with the warm breeze

But his eyes kept a solemn gaze
He walked across this violent maze
Cars screamed discontent with impatient rage
And his countenance was never phased

And cars provided the perfect disguise
To announce their unrest and silently chastise
This man whose jacket was wholly and worn
Bore the weight of fastidious scorn.

Your words, they spin, like a carousel
Until I’m stumbling in love
Your stories are gone to memory now
And fly on the wings of a dove.

The atomized remains of your touch are here
To be swept up with the last of your scent
It’s a listless job and cobwebs will form
As I wonder where all of you went

The folds on my pillow spell out your name
Gone with the last wind of your breath
I can’t lie down without your words
Tumbling down the back of my neck.

So if you must, tread light and with great care
For we have many memories to keep
That dove must fly and be strong tonight
And we have miles to go before we sleep.

Dancing with the keys of a Steinway
On the wings of the strings
My biggest regret in all of my life
Is that I didn’t try enough things

I never wept at the sight of the moon
And never sat under the stars
I never traveled far enough
And never earned any scars

The keys play soporific songs
And the memories fade away
My dreams are too big to keep
In the keys of a grand Steinway