The tides of time pulled us in opposite directions.
You left this small town and the trauma that it held-
confined by the mountains on both sides
dismal skies, narrow minds.

I stayed at home and anchored my roots  
deep down in the Virginia clay.

With smell of the feed mill hanging in the air
you came to say goodbye,
My head was on backwards then
I didn't really see you leave.

You were on your way-
Wide open spaces,
A different perspective.

In our poet’s hearts we could communicate-
high vibrations, unexplained.
A friendship thriving without any nourishment.

Now that you have returned to where I am planted,
it's as if two decades haven't elapsed.

I am filled with gratitude
to hear the ringing of your laughter again.

I want to keep a pair of your shoes;
(not just any pair of shoes)
But ones that you've walked in,
shoes that have ***** laces and have tumbled in dirt-
Because when I' am old and you shall not be here;
as I lay in my bed once again alone-Your shoes will
always be there-
to remind me of the journey's-
you walked in throughout your life and ours.
We are the soul, which is underneath the foot,
as we plant our bases at every stem-
By having your shoes;
they can be entwined with mine.
As a peace offering, that we've walked life together,
and those memories can go on rewind.

they dance on the edge of nearly
unperceived breezes
the sighs of dead men's final breath
that follow me to the edge
of the thickets
many lay at the feet of those who wish to taste death
but not know it
brothers in arms
who cross from the horrors often placed upon them by man
into a swath of light that holds no measure of time or space
or pain
they are free to walk from the remnants that linger in living consciousness
yet remain
tied to the moment of their crossing
the essence of their love for kindred souls

we learn to navigate the darkness
learn to let it seep through our souls
that way it's no longer unnerving
it's comfortable and beautiful