Life as we see it is
all about new beauty
and you've been brave this
new year

Magnolia leaves, the
thick wax coating

(this was always meant to be sweeping, the kind that
rips apart continents, scrounges
mountains from crumbs)

always meant to borrow your breath, stolen away like
fingerprints on eager skin and then brought back,
wondering where hearts fell in, the
luster of warmth

meant to learn the
magnetism from colors and
preserve proximity, stretch
away solitude

(and I have found none of this to be
anything short of a miracle)

Oh here is my map
What does it look like today
Oh
Here among the kudzu walls, enthralled
With life and all its possibilities
How frozen the landscape, how
Bountiful the harvest of
Minds filled by ideas, concepts
Burning like the wasp stings around my ankles

Far from the place I will be far from
Soon, but now
Oh here I invest, to
Hear what there is to listen to and
Speak of things unseen, walking
The shadowy path beneath trees and
Taunted by the sun, as

Forever is a world of a word that should
Never leave its cage
                                  [remember the last]
Second before the grasses grew tall and the
Roof sodden with rust, a perfect sandwich
Rotting on your dusty counter to await your
Oh here
of disgust whenever it is you
Plan on returning

Oh here you are beside it
Chomping away at nothing beneath the
Beautiful fountain where
Time means next to nothing and nothing
Lives for time and whatever is thought exists
Not as a conjecture solely but in tangible or
Perhaps an intangible form of peace, a quiet

Hillside on which all good things grow
Inside or out, and no punctuation to
Restrain these words, no sire and
Yes ma'am I do believe we've come to the
End of our tour now, so

Be sure to take your impact with you and
Have a lovely rest of your night while we
Break the morning

A thought bubbles up from my mind
Cooperation, people working together
To revive their poisoned planet
Tanks dismantled, bombs defused
Grand parades celebrating the end of war
Brothers of different races
Arm-in-arm
Looking toward the future
Instead of dwelling on the past

Planting great gardens
Of red and gold and blue
Flowers the size of houses
Symphonies shouting the music of souls
Touching the hearts of millions
Sunny parks, green grass, tennis *****
Food enough for all who desire it
A blend of cuisines from across the globe
Gracing every plate
Children laughing
The bubble turns dark
Pop.

I'll build a place for you
    with **** carpets.

Pages rustle past as I close my eyes
And begin

The history of those
Who cannot choose their own histories for
Fear of messing some crucial element up or
Adding too much salt to the batter on account of being
Far too distracted by that bird chirp chirping on the turquoise window sill

Jump on top, pillow, cartoon kerpow
A fort of us
Untouchable, impervious
Like every horror movie extra, only

To keep an open mind and recall times
Spent  below the technicolor roof we built one afternoon
And chasing the one member of your family that
Runs away for a romp each time I open your door

Yes, into the dreams we rapidly hunker down in
Anticipation of a bombshell

Perhaps my thoughts took an ill form
When they climbed from my throat
But they should be forgiven
It was an arduous journey

As a matter of fact, there is one
Who can't wait to meet you
He wants to be yours
But he finds himself stuck
Beneath hordes of others

His name is Love, and
I'm sure you'll like him
When he can dig himself
Out.

The burning
      man
   watched
       the
       fire

Away do I sing, away with the wind that I've known
I used to believe in love, but that's changed since I've grown
Call me a liar, I wear that I don't know how
To take back the moments that
Brought me to here and to now

I found your old shoes, left on the side of the road
And what will you do, when your feet are tired and cold
Write me a letter, telling me how you are
God knows I miss you and pray that you've
Kept safe your heart

I see you there, standing next to me
And I know you care
So I try to let you know
I'm on your side

at times, the
  urge to give in, to
possess the incendiary second wind
          
erupts like a vice

we need more simple things
   the kind that quietly persuade
   us full of earth and sky

Twelve shirts and six
strings to feel like home

responsibility slipped over
my head like a cashmere sweater, warm
and welcome

and I drift off to where you
are still sleeping, reach out
to brush the hair from your eyes
and wake up, refreshed and
yearning

you are my sunshine, my only
sunshine

and I am the graphite, I am the
ink beneath your fingers, happily
joining words of life on the horizon
to the fresh, green-growing present

the cozy, the comfort, if not soon then
later but ever closer in my eyes, ever
brighter in yours

remember,
         you are
         my sunshine with
laughter like rays and
   thoughts like hugs,
                             our
                           love like rippling
                           glass, ever beautiful and
                           all our own, a wonder set
                           firmly as a fiery and true
                           gemstone in your golden heart

always more things to say
always missing the chance

Shadow's fingers
making the contours of your
face breathe fire

broken
            but still smiling
     :)

All I know beyond
a flicker of a flame of a
doubt is that, for whatever
inexplicable reason, you are
fascinating

and each and every day, every
moment with you brings new
light into the equation

so bring on the days and
build up a lifetime

Lonely stars, glance up from your
pitted earth and marvel at the
humans of empty space

"how many are there?"

"trillions."

I'll explode and fan outward, touch
everything in the whole world because

desperate laughter is the worst kind

exposed and melodic
what comes from half smiles

polite wishing

you're on your way and
I'm getting to mine

I don't know what day it is
where a mind finds these
long numb torrents

you can hold my heart and feel its rain

Open the book and
         BAM!!!
Right in the face
Screams Chapter One

"SHE STOOD BY THE WINDOW
AS RAIN DRENCHED HER POODLE"

Begin to wonder
Why her poodle is outside
Is it a punishment?
Is there a jail poodle among us?

The megaphone changes hands
And Chapter Two asserts

"WELCOME TO THE RAT RACE
FRIENDS, BE SURE TO PICK UP
YOUR CAP AND GOWN"

At the door, you wonder
Only to conclude that this
Book is nonsensical, surely
Or at least not for the
Faint of heart

Charcoal sky
**** me up
Spit me out over an ocean
Let me drift to its bottom
Marvel at the creatures
And remain
With you, charcoal sky
Forever with you

Up and at 'em
whispered half-awake to a
sun that yawns above the window sill
from somewhere deep beneath soft pile blankets and
crisp laundered sheets to
present their fresh aroma as a
billowing of color in rich warm golden
vision and see what a thousand cameras could only
hope to find hovering in a periphery, hidden among
storm-clouds

I've got a head full of
laughter and an aching heart
and moonlit walks and waffle
talks

Cheeks upon faces I fail to remember
By red walls that shimmer, set back in the dark
How trivial is laughter, how plain its acquaintance
When speech in itself fails to hit the true mark

I wish I were born as a small bit of plaster
That I'd patch a hole in the side of your heart
To live as a part of you for ever after
And grow old and die without drifting apart

The room
Halogen bulb
Clinging to a wire
Flickers
As if to illuminate the
Thick fog of desire
In the air
The wire
Frayed but sound
A conductor
Of forces far beyond its comprehension
A helping hand

We stare at the wall
Sturdy beyond imagination
A goliath of brick and mortar
And contemplate its destruction

I can't talk with you
   I hope you understand

the rain
        every last drop
     warned me not to
          
told me to stay the hell away
               and that, my dear

is exactly what I will do.

I would ask you for clarity
  a wafer-thin string of words to
    melt on my tongue and
       sing me to sleep
                                        because clocks keep us apart
                                          and the closeness drives me insane

but I won't.

                        I'll keep safe harbor like a lighthouse
                            and wait for your ship to come home

Warm water softly rinsed away all fragility

  a future, open, a fresh scent
    
       You were there when I awoke
             and I always remember

               the shades of light this world allows
                   only when we're together

hold up the sky with rain-kissed
fingertips, I'd never dare to ask whether
you find solace in cotton clouds or cool blue
atmosphere, dare to
risk a return to wherever it was I
existed before

the weather knows nothing will
change
              how could anything?

perpetual dreaming is
a nice way to live, provided
one is secretly awake

Our coats are almost the same
They keep us comfortable, colored
Safely there, yes?
Different zippers, different things
Holding each of us together
And similar but distinct
Colors, more red in mine and
Blue in yours, but
Our coats are almost the same

Pockets for thoughts you don't want to
Open until later
Hoods for hiding, sleeves for hiding
Insecurities
Mine has a hole, and as far as I know
Yours does not

Our coats are not the same
And that's good
Reservations at a fancy table in an
Alright restaurant play out our words
And the jackets remain on our chairs as we
Leave, preoccupied with conversation

Harsh wind come
chill my bones and
lead me to birth
my own fire

I'm beginning to get shabby,
       delving into so many disciplines
  
    unkempt, really
              but composure is  
         unnecessary at best when
       you're like I am and know
    why you get up each morning

Hills giving their way to
water-made soft room for
sails all caught up in fierce
wind from an old house where
we found one still-sleeping
wish walking quietly
blown down the rivers that
pumped through our
bodies now set free to
wander afloat upon
miles of
converging
unsuppressed
joy

We are what we love and not what
loves us
             balance in creativity
unchecked, if we stay scared, we
   cannot progress, see

I AM NOT INCOMPLETE, I am

a full picture in
myself that loves and chooses to
love another pigment, a specific
style of painting out a life, so

there is no "completing the
puzzle", only expanding our
beautiful view like a new
universe of stars winking with
open hearts

where musical notes spill over into fine
tequila, crowded dancing, conversation

they remember the night.

I feel as though I'm falling
And **** myself awake

But sleep is a feast
And I'm starving

I ****** up.

What do I deserve?

My answer fluctuates between love and death
you see

Curiosity didn't exactly **** the cat
It just left it crippled in the road
For someone else to run over

Is this so wrong, this self destruction.
All you need is love
To bring you down and demolish
Every ounce of self-worth, but
Is this so wrong.

The luster that comes and goes
Sustains not myself
For lack of sustenance will be the end of me
And love, the fickle jester
Taunts and flaunts her invaluable charms
Just out of
forever out of reach.

Don't waste the
  sunlight now it's
    a beautiful day to feel
  that golden glow all around you
          no time to waste with meteor showers
       jump on up here!

    wait, it's a candle
someone left burning.

                                                               ­                                           sigh

                      don't waste the candlelight.

Look where you want to be
              consider it
  
         what are you still doing here?

To place so much on a
drop of amber is foolish and
perilous and brave and wonderful

Only the best
       built up in an instant then
     sustained for a lifetime
              like a rainbow treehouse
           with a terrific view

I'll have a sturdy platform
       ready to hold you
   when you are

Skip a beat
It may do you some good
To stray from the all too familiar
DUBDUB
                  DUBDUB
                        ­            DUBDUB
And pursue a different rhythm
Maybe something like
XEE
        QUA
                  SINXX
We are not who we say we are
Merely reflections of what we try to
Leave behind
And to spread goodwill
Without finding it first
Is to blanket the world
With chaos
And turmoil
And love
F  O  R  G  E  T
love
it remains in the corner, utterly
P            T          S
  O     N    L    S
       I             E
And destructive.

the real world, the world of business and
coffee and hurried hallway "how are you"s is
brown and gray and
stuffy

so I sit in my corner
and silently explode
into color

In lieu of making promises, let's
say there are some words that
refuse to be half-hearted

I just woke up from a dream
In which I was falling
Thinking of it now, I wish I had
Ended up in your hands after
Such a tiresome plummet
And what did you dream?
Hopefully rainbows, yes

Hopefully a full spectrum of
Colors swirling from a waterfall
Or a great gathering of all
Peoples to make peace and
Birth love beneath the shadows of their
Bombs

These are the dreams that should enlighten and
Inspire you to live fully and selflessly in the
Hopes of one day breaking the thin membrane
That stands between the wishing world
And ours

Firestorm
The ticking stops
And we look around, astonished
To be in a forest, surrounded on all sides
By charred trees
Victims of wild energy
At one time or another

It is in this corpseyard
That brilliantly colored
Paper clues lazily drift
Down upon the breeze
To tangle in your hair
And cover my eyes

But not until much later
Would I realize
Had I opened them
And not remained fearful
Of these new lenses

I might have seen through their voices
The vibrant hues you brought with you

But as is
We merely circumvented the beauty
Made our way slowly to the gates

And, unknown to us
The magentas and forest greens
Wilted in the darkness
As we left.

[Return to forgotten ideals
      Keep writing for as long as
                                                  it takes
                      to fuel the fire
                                    build the walls
              I'm beginning to doubt this act
                  accomplishes anything but
       It makes me feel better, it
                  makes me feel, it
                        makes me
           continue my nonsense like
                      so many of you
    explanations, accusations built
                        from the same blocks
                              such variety within
                                                    rigid boundaries]

Flawless
We like to think
our minds and their creations
can only be described as such, can
only be compared to perfection, machine-
made fabric and glass and hugs and love all
wrapped in cellophane and shipped (free of charge)
to Tahiti and Cozumel and other exotic places well-known
for their supposed perfection with brightly-lit, carpeted floors

                                                               ­                                            But our tendencies
                                                                ­                                           Mislead us

It is our flaws that define beauty when true heart is lost among neon
advertisements promising change and retribution only to deliver
the last things you'd expect, the last things anyone would
want: a remote-controlled vacuum, a light-up fish, a
sock that chills your foot rather than warm it in
the night. What a joke, what a sad turn in the
progression of our society. Flaws are and will
always be prominent parts of our lives with
good sound reason backing up this fact
It all comes down to whether you can
come to terms with the reality of
your situation and the little
scratches in your self-
image or whether
you will remain
content to fall
endlessly
into a
lie

Thought I'd seen it all in a crowded room
                                           I hadn't seen anything
                                           Least of all truth
We talk about the things
That day and night and our light bring
                                                   So tell me just a bit more
                                                         about you

Don't leave me to my own defenses
Leave me up against a wall
                                                          
While I recognize
        the reason I keep coming back is you
It's always been
  you


The streetlight sputters like a flame
Maybe it senses our sincerity?
         that here and now is where we're meant to be

Side by loving side.