you are the hand
hauling back
my cries. my mother’s
mother hardened
from dust.
you are almost
my eyes.

you are not sky
or frozen air.
i suspect  
you have no skin.

love is my left
wing smacked
on your pane
that i mistook
for an open door.

i let the nights
do their undoing
of my feathers into light.
maybe this way
you would welcome me.

Who are all of you?
What are you?
Am I human like you too?
If so, then why is there a pane of glass
Separating me from you?

I've been out here in the cold,
Looking in my whole life.
I once tried knocking on the glass;
Gently tapping with my fingertips -
ra-ta-tat-tat.
I think the music was playing too loud
For any of you to hear.

Just when I was ready to accept my fate:
Freeze to death and meet my maker -
She took my gloved hand in her own
So we could both look in together.

So impossible Tuesday.

Awaiting decay.
As orange blossom.
In tidal pools.
When it's just right.
Change, reminds me.
Going creaking in the night.
Desperate woods.
In hallways.
But only.
Thank you.


Garrett Johnson.

Drowsily dreaming the dreary day away,
I lean 'gainst the sill, looking out on the city.
Deep sighs cascade from my open mouth
Before I close my eyes and hum a diddy,
Remembering the people who've shown me pity,
As the train rattles on heading south.

Blackbird sitting on the windowsill,
out of the cage and still not knowing.
Trying to think of flying or staying still,
as not wanting to stay but no point in flying.

Blackbird looking out to the ground outside,
seeing other birds flying up, up and away.
Dreaming of a chance to break free and soar in the skies,
being grounded by the thought that today is not the day.

Today is not the day to fly,
fly with the pain of everything associated with departure.
Today is not the day to say goodbye,
goodbye to all the bad and the good whichever is harder.

Blackbird looking out the window and just hopin',
without realizing the window was open.

And just like a picture frame
that holds a precious memory,
I looked at you through my car window,
Hoping you'll remember me.

That's what happens in photographs—
You're frozen in time.
And the next thing I knew,
I was saying goodbye.

Sat in my old creaky chair,
struggling to reach the window to the center right,
a solid transparent glass unlatched,
which choked the life out of me.
A red vibrant sky,
smudged with desire and disgust.
A fairly fast flowing surface wind,
gushing into my face,
whispering in my ears,
the songs and spells of emancipation,
teaching my untamed hair,
the moves of joy.

The sky is beautiful tonight
Lavender, salmon, and pink like blushing when someone says they love you
But it's already gone
No one will ever see the colors I just saw
And I feel like blushing
Embarrassed due to long standing aversions to sincerity
5:26 PM

From where I sit at my desk at the gym
The sky is 2 different creatures
On one side
A blood orange backlight is cut and cracked by black naked trees
On the other side
The clouds shift and bubble like fresh squeezed blackberry soda
4 guys from the basketball team practice their 3 point shots
5:51 PM