let it be true
that when
i am close to you
i'll look into your
eyes
and place your hand
upon my
steady flourishing
heart.

I thought I saw her dancing-

in between all the other little dance girls.
Her face looked kind of like yours.

Her heart was as pure as precious as pretty.
She moved confidently with vigor, control, and the power of grace, she had practiced for weeks.
You could tell with just a look she knew what she was doing.
She smiled through it all, her team were coordinated.
Arms up here, high kick there. One step where, next step with care.
The edge of an ice skater, the pen of an artist.

The music stopped and the applause roared.
She hugged her friends and they were beaming with
Christmas and Hanukkah.
It was beautiful, and I tried not to clap past any child's parent.

Because truth be told, I hadn't seen her performance just yet.
Nonetheless- I felt her, and I loved her no matter the same.
For time would tell her story to me.

there's a banquet of demise
in the sanctum of goodbyes
where the dance of lovers' eyes
leaves little sorrowed lights.

a victim of disguise
in persona's darkest blights
where a parade of trophy wives
free their bodies in the night.

if there are bad times to come,
there might be worse on the rise.
some of us go into the shadows
to ensure that if the
darkest nights arrive
there will still be a lit candlebra.
the strength of a home fortified
carries forth to whichever futures.

it's been around a year since
i lost some of my closest friends,
it has felt like a century.