When I got to my first English class in college
the professor asked us
how would you describe yourself?
there were some pretty responses
I'm a leaf floating down stream
I'm a tree slowly growing
I'm a bird leaving the nest
It was my turn
A boulder,
huh?
please elaborate,
Well teach, it's like this
I'm not alive in the same sense as the others
I don't grow or change on my own accord
no I sit still
silent
immovable
stubborn
I take in what goes on around me
since the beginning of time
until the end of time
time means nothing to a boulder
My cracks are representations
of the choices and actions of those around me
and I'm still sitting still
long after they have passed
stationary,
but don't try to move me,
because once I get going
I only get harder to stop
So that's me
a cold boulder
only capable of what
the world around me permits

I miss you when you're gone
I miss you when you're here
Because I know that you're leaving soon

I miss you in the light
I miss you when it's dark
I miss you like the low tides miss the moon

I miss you when you're far
I miss you when you're not
Even when you're close...

I miss you like a ghoul misses her sense of touch
And when I am alone
I miss you most

Lost in a sea of factors.
The lists have been erased by atomic bombs.
A girl swims through,
Her breathing jagged from exhaustion.
Her legs leaking blood.
She holds a book above the water.
She will swim forever.
"Whatever it takes" she says.
"Whatever what takes?" asked the wind.
The sea answered for her:
"Can't you see? There are two."
The wind was silenced.
The sea spoke,
"A shark. God no."
The other, a mermaid, spoke,
"Deeper waters look pretty.
I wish to venture further."
The girl still swims.
Barely able to keep herself afloat.
Swimming alone.
The factors dragging her under.
She clutches the book in one hand,
Paddles with the other.
She stays like this.
The mermaid visits her sometimes.
"Why have you left me?
Have you forgotten?"
The lone girl answers,
As best as she can,
"I still swim because of you.
I never forget. I never will forget.
I'm sorry, I love you.
Do what you will."

Sticky honey,
sickly sweet
Heaven's homemade remedy
black bear, left paw
suckling
queen bee, mossy
tall oak tree

Salmon swim up stream
warbled forehead
jagged teeth
grizzly bear , sharp claw
nature is an
animal

Every ridiculous thing I did
every time I flipped my lid
Every crime I vainly hid
Who needs a mirror when you've a kid?

The ten percent I'd like to see
and every other part of me
Not what I say but what I do,
Who needs a mirror when I've got you?