My clothes
My body
My identity
These are not reflections of me
They're extensions of me

I know. I've been holding on
to things I should let go of.
Lost memories. Lost life. Lost love.
But, as scary and painful as it can be
being lost in the past, knowing how evanescent the mind can be, a future without them somehow seems worse.

Someday, you may lose your faith.
You may lose your way.
But, once you understand
it's not your fault if that happens,
you can find new things
to have faith in.

Each emination,
Hot as an inferno.
The breath I let escape
Burns before it boils,
Serpent, tongue coil.
The way you worked me;
Nailed the coffin, spread the soil.

When someone asks you
"what did you do today?",
I hope you know it's okay
if your biggest accomplishment
is being able to say "I breathed."

It's said of Jesus' loving arms:
"Within the storm, the eye, the calm,"

Then why is what I've seen of him:
My brothers brought to harm?

Dull ruts and periodic lulls, cast
Iron wrought.
A life of sea salt;
Choking on ocean foam, walking
On rusty bones
Sifting through ashes.
It's all growing old

I'm afraid of loneliness and people.

traffic trodden crab apples
                            and choke cherries
                 sluice the sidewalk
not one wasp observed

the wasps this year are found
not around    human food or trash cans
( sugar drunk, bat angry or absurd )

this year they thrive around cut grass
and chippings from outdoor furniture finishing

with this appetite
what are they prepping for ?