I last saw her leaving the pizza parlor
Where I now spend my lazy afternoons.
It was our second chance encounter,
Maybe the last?

My final glimpse of her?
Rebecca's long wavy brown hair,
As she briskly walked out that door,
Perhaps out of my life forever?

The last thing she said to me?
As she turned back to respond
To my desperate query:
"Will I ever see you again?",

Rebecca replied, in that unique voice of hers that always
Pierced my foolish heart and
Mesmerized my senseless brain:
"Don't you have a wife and daughter?".

When judgments are believed to be facts,
Especially our own judgments
About ourselves,
They have great weight and mass,
They can crush us like cannon *****,
Imprison us like concrete walls.

But when we see them
For what really they are,
Mere thoughts,
Often chronic opinions of ourselves,
(Perhaps spawned by the
Opinions of fools?)
Seemingly solid as rock, yet
Grounded in nothing,
They have no weight,
They have no mass,
They cannot hurt, nor
Imprison us.
They are no more dangerous than
Snowflakes on our noses,
No more confining than
A morning fog.

Thinking of the many people
That have walked through here,
Stayed a while,
Seemingly excited about being here,
Making meaningful connections
With others of like mind and spirit,
Excited to have found something new,
Perhaps an oasis in the desert?

Then left without a word,
Without even a goodbye!
Where did they go?
Why did they go?
Didn't they find
Anything
Of Lasting Value
Here?

Perhaps just a stepping stone
To something better
Would be of some
Consolation...

I am very grateful
For the few that have stayed!
Or at the least, the ones that
Cared enough
To say
Goodbye!

yours deep dark eyes can not see how beautiful they are to look into,
but mine can!
your soft, **** lips can not feel how wonderful they are to kiss,
but mine do!
your mind, clouded by self doubts, can not see how magnificent it is,
but mine can!
your heart, blinded by self contempt, can not love you at this moment,
but mine does!

Sooner or later I hope you will
see what I see,
feel what I feel,
appreciate what I do,
and love what I love,
about you,
my dearest friend,
who can love me
like no other!

The scare is there on your chest, I see,
Where a sword once pierced your heart.
This wound that never really healed,
And left you in the dark.

The skin closed over it, blocking out
The light, air and water
Needed to flush it clean.
It has to heal from the inside out,
Not the outside in!
The pus must all come out.

The wound has become septic,
And the pain will never go away
I fear, but instead,
Will linger on,
Killing you silently,
Bit by bit, thought by thought!

Open your wounds to me,
And let me wash them clean!
Don't hide them in the dark.
Expose them to the light and air,
And let the shame and poison
out!

Opening your wounds again,
To a loving mind like mine,
Will cure,
However crazy
That may sound
To you,
Your sick and broken
Heart.

Hide not in shame from me
The darker sides of you.
They are merely shadows
Of your imagination, not real!
The more you hide them,
The darker they will look.
They are only the parts of you
Yet to be exposed
To the illuminating light
Of Love.

Trust me, Darling,
You are beautiful to me!
Your dark sides
Are no darker than mine,
No darker than anyone elses.
Once they are brought
Into the light of my accepting,
Unconditionally loving gaze,
Your shadows will recede
Into your imagination,
From where they were born.

Standing naked before me,
You will finally discover
All the beauty that is contained
In the lights and darks
Within yourself.