i had not gone fishing that night.

the sun was down, with dark clouds hovering low.
me, in my rudderless boat, staring at the sky.
was i thinking of fish?  I think i was just lost at sea.

i was thinking, (well, i don't remember exactly)
caught up in a brief break in the clouds.  the stars
were out, shining their shining.   i saw them,
but didn't.  i was looking for the moon, her full, hovering
beauty imprinted still on my mind.

but this night, the moon was but a sliver of light, and i...
i was without remorse.  i had come to that place of understanding
that the moon's light neither waxes nor wanes within the confines of
shadow.  she becomes invisible in this shadowland, and perhaps this
is for the best, for who can take the beauty of the moon on a starless
night and call her their own?  she was not mine to have.

and the tide, it pulled me in, it pushed me out;  this motion set about
by the moon. (oh, my moon!)  

i looked out, saw the waves come lapping gentle onto my boards.
the crash and slap, the rocking of my boat, shook me from
my reverie.  i looked down, saw these dreams gasping at my feet.

oh, beautiful dreams born of moon and tide, how did you land here,
and why?  i saw your gasping, your grasping at calming waters.

who was i to return you to your sea?  
i was only a lost and rudderless boat.  
i had not gone fishing that night;
i was no fisherman.

yet i took you home, slipped you into my
warm, salty waters and called you my own.

Paper Lanterns

Your twin roots inflate and detach
as they form themselves, Arms
of golden battered skin, your bamboo hollows
Sway as the sun-split winds blow through you.

When you breathe, your heart is light too
and small, as if swallowed and held
between fluorescent sheets,
rocking on the cradle of the wind.

Up, up in the wandering, burning blue
Slipping away the earthen bonds, you rise.
And, with silent lifting thoughts, you withdraw
into the sanctity of space.

In an open field under the waning moon,
Your lungs inflate as they form themselves
A body, gossamer and golden skinned,
Weaving in and out of the tapestry of the evening sky.  

On the ground, under their golden light.
I see it float along the horizon.
In my beating heart, I felt light
As my lifting thoughts become a brilliant body
If only for a moment,
As it dances a midnight waltz among
The company of the paper stars.

I cry now
I can't help it
I'm in pieces
without your hand holding mine
I'm lost
without your voice guiding me
My world stopped being real
when you stopped being you
the boy who taught me
that men have feelings too
tears and pain
torture them the same
that's how it all began
from growing up and games
we hurt together
and healed together
broke and bonded again
and again
but it was all right
you're the reason
I stopped being scared at night
no monsters could touch me
I was safe in your sight
my dad was never a father
and my mother never knew
of the times you saved my life
and made me live it through
you loved me for my scars
all my crazy and all my weird
but most of all
you saved my life
and all that's left of you
I keep
you will never disappear

I think
I may have fallen
for an everyman
the one who everyone
can't help but like
and my insecurities
make me ask
do I have a chance
of being the reason
he becomes
my onlyman