Fluttering about, they crowd the skies,
their wax-paper wings catching warm breezes.
And my stomach does the same,
the way the earth falls away
when you walk too close to the edge
-giddy with anticipation
of a moment that will never come.
Never be mine.

Your hand brushes mine-
and accident I know,
but my heart can't help;
it leaps and sings for joy.
And once again I churn over the thought,
the possibility of perhaps
letting you catch me staring
at the way the light settles on your shoulders.

If I were to let my eyes wander
across your jaw, skip across your lips.
Let myself admire the stardust
scattered across your cheeks
and the gentle ***** of your brow.
If I only had the courage
to explore the endless depths of your eye
like a sailor at sea.

I'd drown.

You are far too wonderful
and I have no answer
as to what I must do
when the need to weave my fingers
through yours overtakes me.

So I pray to Artemis, Sappho, Persephone,
any who would heed my call:
that you might look at me,
and perhaps grow to love me
in that same way.
That when I summon up the courage,
they might soften my fall
and slow my descent.

Oh Artemis
Girl of the wild
Girl of the moon
Goddes girl

Oh Artemis
Daughter of lighting
Daughter of rain
Daughter of storms

Oh Artemis
You swore an oath
Did you not?

Oh Artemis
What would your father say
If he found out
You broke it?

But
Oh Artemis
Break it
I beg you
Break your promise
And bring me the moon

-jt

a car on a warm summer night
is possibly the safest place on earth
i spill my heart to you
as lavender paint strokes
decorate the sky like
a masterpiece in the louvre

the sun that sets slowly
on our waking hours
takes away more and more
of his golden light
while i wish it would last longer
the moon knows all my secrets

your shining light creeps
onto my skin through
the window frame,
rolled down to let
the cool breeze flow through
this sanctuary

“artemis”
i speak
“i’ve missed you, my moon
why must you go
and stay for such a short time?”

“i’m sorry, my child”
she whispers to me
through her beams of security
“but i am here now
what is troubling your heart?
i feel its pain”

“well,
my love here on earth
they must leave me too
and someday they won’t
come back
and that day hasn’t come yet
but i know it will.”

“how can you be so sure?
to consider someone your love
is a force too powerful
to be ignored
it simply must be
or it hurts both hearts.”

“i cannot feel their heart
whenever i try to,
they build a wall of thorns
so i cannot reach it
and the thorns on their heart
***** my own
and it cries through my eyes
which tears you shine on.”

“don’t cry, my child
with every wound
time heals
love of any kind
can prevent another
bruise
or scrape
or stab
and their thorns will soon
wilt and die
giving you the chance
to heal them too.”

“your brother peaks over the horizon,”
i say
it’s time that you must go.”

“please remember, my child
that your heart is your own
and no amount of thorns
will ever constrict
its ability to
love.”