As these words collide
Thoughts inside my mind
My head nearly divides
There is no self to find

Only marvelous music and mystery
Carnivals, cruises, and Krispy Kreme
A light I cannot see
A sound that cannot be
Crashing creativity

Thoughts spring into spirals
Drifting, translucent antivirals
Late arrivals to the scene
Unrivaled and pristine
Some vile and obscene
All the while, I’m serene

Words fly by me and filter slyly
Winding and wily, slurring and smiley
They drunkenly wander to the foreground
I suddenly wonder why I said them aloud

As these words collide
Thoughts inside my mind
My head nearly divides
There is no self to find

Only marvelous music and mystery
Carnivals, cruises, and Krispy Kreme
A light I cannot see
A sound that cannot be
Crashing creativity

Thoughts spring into spirals
Drifting, translucent antivirals
Late arrivals to the scene
Unrivaled and pristine
Some vile and obscene
All the while, I’m serene

Words fly by me and filter slyly
Winding and wily, slurring and smiley
They drunkenly wander to the foreground
I suddenly wonder why I said them aloud

you may feel alone
but your troubles are known
i blink and your worries
have found a new home

they soar over oceans
and dance past my eyes
into my limbic system
for me to unwind

your wounds
hold a glimpse of
our lost love and time
i will line them with silver
so the world sees your shine

i will carry your thoughts
when your mind is unkind
i’ll speak love down your spine
drink your tears to survive

with your pain
i will paint you
constellations for eyes
so you glow like the stars
dancing deep in your bones

oh, my heart would skip a beat
just to loan you your own

codex painter
have your hands rusted
is this world not  as vivid
as the one centuries ago
the one
that bore the same tint,
rich in intent to serve,
to devotedly work
head inclined
over the flaming light
and under the celestial stars

pictograms
are what I now reach for
from the vessels tucked behind my ears
from the smell of copper
and the tastes of adobe pots,
simmering with memories,
to the corneas anchoring my vision

because I must have a vision
the "it" becomes what we intend
and I intend "it"

give me your codices
unfold the fibers of the agave plant
and let me paint again
this world
larger
this lifetime kinder
for I have always been a scribe and
a painter
and my heart rejoices in service
to an existence expanding
to meet itself in the eyes of all
who I dare draw