shyly you glance off to the side
embarrassed, trying to hide
I brush your hair out of your eyes
and feel the butterflies start to rise
Your dark eyes stare into mine
and I search your face for a sign
you smile at me, that's all I need
I take your chin and start to lead
your lips to mine for a searing kiss
and we both get lost in the bliss

Funny how we woke up in the morning
and pretended that tomorrow never happened—
strutted naked in mirrors celebrating our youth,
laughing, knowing suns and moons couldn’t do the same.

We borrowed our arms from the fridge
and peddled bicycles with bad breath—
trading war stories ‘cause we knew
if we came back alive
life would still be the death of us.

Oaks, groves, winding roads, all the twisted branches
Gnarled reaches of a wrong direction
Acorns and disappointments
some on the ground, some hanging on
I came to gather mistletoe, or kiss the earth and sky
Nomadic tribeswoman, a newborn deer, lost and found
We have fallen asleep together, the deepest peace I've known
Now crows dancing on branches awaken me.
I am alone, with our heartbeats in perfect sync, the deer's and mine

If I wanted to see the Eiffel tower
I’d pick one photo
of the hundreds, of thousands
ever taken

Taken from every possible angle
In every light available
From down, down, beneath,
and from up, up, above

From an apartment balcony
late at night
with a glass of wine
in one hand.

But, I don’t want to see the Eiffel tower; No!
Instead; I want to see
The laugh lines
of the man who built it

Or the rosy cheeked child
on the corner street
wishing that they were bigger
than they already sadly were,

Or the imprints
of a new-born goat’s feet
in the red, red sand,
of West Africa.

I’d want to see
‘from whence he came’
and ‘from whence he goes’ “
and what home really is again.

I’d want to see
What it means
to see Something more
than just another photo view, of the same old Eiffel tower.