i looked up
i promise that i did

The wistfulness of new love between us,
Those sweet smiles that accompany surprise,
That unexpected love must have been us,
Love at first sight each time before our eyes.

I pretend you’re someone I haven’t kissed,
And laugh because inside you know me well,
Our love is new but there’s no time we’ve missed,
Our love is growing in this youthful spell.

The longer we’re in love the more we start,
Playing out in delightful random ways,
Surprised and overwhelmed I match your heart,
We pass our years as if they were but days.

Our love renewed each day promises more
Of unexpected I’ve been looking for.

The casket is open
Yet my eyes remain closed
I can feel the cold air
Pressing down upon me
But somewhere in my conscious
I know that it is not truly there.
The feelings-
Will be buried with me
And so far I can only feel calm.
I wonder what the dirt will smell like
Or who I will meet in the ground.
I have no sense of fear,
God will soon lead me home.
Until then I will let my family
Feel my hands that have been folded
Across my chest-
I feel like a child once again.
So worry free
Unafraid of what comes next,
As they lower me down
I feel blackness surround me.

When I look into my mirror,
What is it that I see?
Just who is that face,
Looking back at me?
I see eyes that have cried,
So many tears it's true.
But not just in sadness,
But in happiness too.
I see lips that have smiled,
Complete from ear to ear.
But they have also said things,
My parents wouldn't want to hear.
I've seen things I wish I hadn't,
I've said things I wish I'd kept inside.
But I've also seen such wonders,
And said many things so dignified.
I love my reflection,
It's a map of everything 'me'.
I'm proud of that visual echo,
And all that it can be.

Covered by leafy canopy
No one knows where the light comes from
Led by a vague presence of direction
Look at the green,
That’s all you see.
Lost in melancholy,
Lost in being lost
Looking for a reason to be found,
Looking for an idea of who could find.

The cardinal is pecking
in the bird feeder
making cardinal out of seed.

Here I am
looking for a small piece of the divine
inside.

When did grey skies become more welcoming?
When did cold breeze wrap the city in warmth?
When did gloomy nights turn into endless laughter?
When we came together again without a reason or excuse,
Every rainy day was more beautiful than blue skies
As we all sat inside telling stories and remembering old times.
And I watched from the staircase
As I was too young to understand,
And to me it was nothing, that we were all together again.
But now that I sit here older, with life lessons under my hat
I yearn for those days when the rain had kept us in.
For a drought has taken over our history and every excuse is like the scorching sun
And now I sit on the staircase thinking of those times once again,
When it was nothing to me that we were laughing
And now it was worth more than any prize.