A man looking for treasure
His whole life spent digging in the dirt
Buried under the sands of time
Counting each grain
As if there was an end
In his long journey
Looking for his lost gold

it's the little things that we appreciate, like how the body forms into a shell ready to take you in,
welcoming you into their mind of oceans and currents as they willingly embrace you
we attempt to picture every moment we have with them, wondering if we'll ever fit the frame
conversations are merely recordings that fade into background, the true connections made through sincerity, subtle glances and intense regard
the flesh and skin that they wear appear as exhibits that we alone can touch
their presence a reward, their words a treasure for the heart
we notice the fine lines, their dainty wrists, and veiny hands
we notice their crooked smiles and how the corners hang like a wanderer stapled to the moon
we romanticize too much of everything that is easily dismissed by everyday eyes
although almost invisible, they mean every beat of the heart
to every fiber of the soul, to ever breath we breathe in
so when the smiles disappear like forgotten dust, we cannot help but fall apart
we disintegrate into tossed cigarette butts that once resided on lips we love
we cannot forget the way they laced their fingers together, or how they made their coffee
how their ears are shaped, how they gazed into space when we watched them wondering what they were thinking
how they carried their feet when we dragged them, conversing in drunken breaths
because nothing is as simple as that, a disappearance like a thief in the night who took our lives with them
nothing will resemble or replace even a strand of hair
because it's the little things that tear us apart as well

n.j.

Tell me you love me
With unending measure
My heart will bleed gold
Like a chest full of treasure

Beating and breathing
My thorax expands
With pumps of gold blood
From this heart to your hands

You make my heart whole
Once you draw near
So tell me you love me
For I need to hear.

As the brook babbles sweetly o'er the hedges
there is but one voice I hear.
It hums and sings, calling out solely
     for His Treasure and Bride
He has scattered love notes all around
Placing them on stems and sticks
Leaving them in the sky's warmth
And in its cool kiss.
He knows His Treasure and Bride.
Nothing escapes His watchful sight:
No thought, no feeling, no prayer.
He calls his most beloved by these two names.
One incomplete without the other.

He declares its value before all other kings.
There are no stones or metals more precious,
Rubies are not as rich, sapphires are not as scarce
Gold holds no comparison in His eyes.
As the King of kings, He takes the choicest of all that is valued.
So He calls the one He loves His Treasure.
He boasts in His Treasure.
Pure unlike anything else.
The voice that gives the Treasure its worth also declares its authority.

Yes, a worthy treasure, but more so a lovely Bride.
His beloved owns both titles.
If left as just a treasure, then it would be like all others.
He says his Treasure is more than an object.
Not a trophy gained from His most difficult battle.
One does not die for an object or possession.
He makes His treasure His Bride.
Their lives into one, a full union.
Worth beyond all other treasures and love surpassing anything else.
His Bride and Treasure.
Both are needed to see the one He loves through His eyes.
If only Bride, there may be question
As to His delight or devotion.
Yes, He could lay down His life,
But oh where is the joy?

Bride and Treasure.
Intimacy and delight.
Sacrifice and zeal.
His words etched into time.
Never to be moved.
Never to be doubted.
His love will last all of His days.

As His whispers waft in the breeze
His Love hears and knows that He beckons.
Purely to be, to exist, to commune
And in every moment, He reminds
Of how He found His Treasure and sold all He had
     to make her His Bride.

Will we meet upon the green grass hill
Will you come and sit with me still
Underneath the old oak tree
We can sit and gaze at the sea
We can watch the white top waves
As it beats toward the caves
The sea foams frothy white at the wide open mouth
And when the wind blows from the south

You can almost hear the pirates song
When they use to visit the cave, but those years are long gone
That's where they use to hide their treasures
But now only the waves laps in at it's leisure

You once asked me,"why don't you explore the cave by the sea"
"To find diamonds and the gold that there might be"
I only shot you a smile
Because I knew all the while
I had all ready found my diamond
And around you my arms I tightened

But that was many years ago
And the winds of time did blow
It aged our bodies, and took you away
So I made that climb up hill today

To sit up under that old oak tree
To reminisce of what use to be
To hold tight the ghost of your memory
For that's one thing time can't take from me

Find the treasure of some sort.
Behold, see it unfold.
Search for the path, follow thy soul.
Thirst and quench, till there's no more.

Follow the trail, look for the cues.
Ride the train, do not neglect to see the view.
This rocky terrain and this stagnant path we're into,
Straight, slow, steady... unsure and untrue.

Choose between two paths, and lead me across.
Let's pull over or let's walk our way back together.
To this temporary elation we've fallen into.
This surreal illusion we induced ourselves into.

There are but few walls and the rest are neat roads.
Instead of bringing it down walking around it will be just fine.
Just when I said yes and just when you thought now's the time.
If it's already given. If we have commited. If it ends today, will you still be mine?

If this question is what lies at the back of my mind.
If a few years after is all that's left for me to find.
If things should happen where and when it should...
Will you come back just in time before I let it all go, for good?

Will we come back to each other and so?
Will you be here and still be... Forever?
If dreamy is what this is called...
What sense is loving and what choice do I have but to do so?

Promise me one thing, though.
Take heart that you will listen to me all the more so...

"Remember me when I am not here anymore.
This clumsy me with messy hair, cracked lips and crooked face...
My imperfection and all that I am when I am with you.
This love that we've shared and the things that we used to do...

Don't you cover those sweet times we've shared together.
We might not have lasted long enough but take me with you forever.
That even if we can't and we'll won't...
Let me live in your memories. Let me reside in your soul."

Just as when it was all perfect... Just when we said so.
**I know our time is coming. And we'll never have another.

and when i think of childhood
i think of all the time i spent looking at the clouds
all the moments made laughing up at the stars
the beauty of human interaction
and the way my mum smiled when i smiled
or the way my grandmother's face twisted when she told a lie
my jokes were never funny
but i heard her laughter ringing in my ears
do you hear that sweet music through your earphones?

i still have a mental map carrying me where google hasn't found
over and over again i follow the pathways
that lead me towards the treasure, that giant 'X'
my feet are ripping open, sore from chasing it
when will i find it again?
why can't i find it again?
reach out to me, save me.

the key to childhood is to be a child
but my days are gone, so why do i keep walking
why am i the only one walking?
why is everyone else stagnant?
where has childhood gone, not mine but yours
why can't i return to it?
reach out to them, please save them
they don't know what they have.
why are they letting it go unnoticed?

the treasure, i see it at their feet
the treasure i can no longer discover
it taunts me, it escapes them
why am i now paused? let them press pause.
don't keep them on fast forward
they're going too quickly,
but why do they look frozen?

is this the world without childhood?
the treasure at their feet disappears
this is the world with technology

reach out, please save them.