pale blue eyes
I can see

through you

to the bottom
where you

really live

your white skin
is paper thin

appearing
fragile

but I know
you are

stronger than
that

you have been
broken beyond

any bones
and survived

you have
dandelion’s

breath

spreading life
wherever

you land

she is the
sharpest tongue

you’ll ever taste

spitting words
cutting souls

leaving men
gasping for hope

go ahead
challenge her

test yourself

we cover
not to hide

we have
an enemy

sort of
at least a
common threat

to our lives

it is not
conscious
or willful

it exists
to exist

it is more
an entity

than a thing
it doesn’t

know itself
or what it does

and what it does
is spread
within us and

then across us
and within us

one way to
stop it is

to wear a mask

yes it’s that
simple

wear a mask

I said

you must
have stolen

my dictionary
because for

the first time
I am

speechless

she smiled
and said

if there was
one word

left to say

what would
it be

I smiled
and said

sheds
everyday

we are
different

beings

in so many
ways that

we don’t notice

we are
always

becoming

perhaps if we
could notice

the changes
we could

more easily

forgive ourselves
and each other

more connections
than nodes

elegant and
simple

emergent

still
quiet
and balanced

flexible
and open

patient
able to wait

for pleasure
and wade

through pain

eternal
creatures

inhabiting
small places

survivors
of all the

holocausts
replicators

hives
hills
tunnels
nests

societies­ of
the many

not one

our teachers
if we were

willing to learn

fatale

legs to
eternity

wearing

shiny thigh
high boots

in the rain

she leans
against

a light post
like she owns

the streets

she doesn’t
ask

she smokes em
cause she

got em

sanity is
fragile

one word
out of place

makes you
think

something is
wrong

you do not
realize

the very
definition
of place

is fragile
and maybe

it is sanity
that is holding

on to you

it wasn’t what
they said

to her that
made her

pray

she was
a true

believer
and I

was jealous
of that

certainty
she didn’t

know how
rare she was

she believed
the best in

others and
of life

but I lived in

a different
world

shapes
then
shapeless

dissolving
into dust

in doses

magic
creatures

spreading
joy

to parts
of me

at least
that is

what they
told me

you are
something

I know

you are
not the cure

I just hope
you are not

the disease

Music can seem
so much like salvation

Sgt. Pepper was a revelation to me
I knew all the words like,
It’s getting better all the time

and at 15, I wanted to believe it
but I was an angry young man

man was I mean

I mean I was scared
but I couldn’t admit it

didn’t fit in
still don’t

but it really doesn’t matter

if I’m wrong I’m right
if I belong I’m right
if I belong

I wanted to leave home
after living alone
for so many years

but I was only 15
and man was I scared

slightly above
the earth

I dance
I must be

slightly
lighter

than air

I lost
weight

the fading
memory

of losing
you to him

it doesn’t
hurt as much

and pain
has more

weight than
we realize

I am footloose
but not yet

fancy free
but I will

get there

my mind at night

I reach for
the shiniest stars

wanting to burn bright
I notice details

the layers of everything
the connections

between light and dark

and when I
think like this

each word I conjure
is an ocean

wanting to drown me

I imagine I am a
rock star screaming

my wants are so deep

that I consume
everything

and I still feel empty

after he leaves

when can we
rid ourselves

of his disgusting
dirt that

covers us all
we can’t help

but feel unclean
how long will

it take to
**** out

his poison
from our systems

he has infected
so much

COVID 19
is a virus

CORRUPTION 16-20
is a disease

in the same
bed we were

so far apart
we lost our

words in the
darkness

of our way
a lonely path

we travelled
too many times

we know our
way back to

each other
but sometimes

knowing isn’t
enough

a dancer
dreams

of becoming
light

leaping
and lifting

through the
clouds

towards the
promises of

heaven
lighting

the darkness
that covers

everyone

becoming
a star

find the loose
piece of string

pull on it please
untangle my brain

and when it stops
find the knots

and unravel them

please be careful
and take your time

I am worth it

entering a world

with words
without meaning

the poet is
without words

feelings becoming
a soul disease

a virus

for him or her
or whatever form

this creature takes

the poet knows
there is no point

to live in this world
poets do not write

words they dance
with meanings

and in a world
without meaning

the choose to
speak through

their silence

it happens
and sometime

later we notice
we left

where we were
and it feels like

we can’t stop
and even if

we did

we are so
far away

we could
never climb

out and get
back to

anywhere near
where we were

we start to
remember

the voices
warning us

the voices
we couldn’t

hear when we
started to fall

when we didn’t
know were

falling

happiness is
a butterfly

it lands on
us from

time to time
live in its

beauty and
peace

when it
chooses you

and grant
it the freedom

to leave
when it

is time
don’t worry

your time
will come

again

your bones
do not exist

limbs of
an insect

you speak
through

movement
a language

too subtle
to hear

watching you
I am lost

watching you
I find

myself in
your movement

too subtle
to notice

loud enough
to feel

deeply

she reads soft
as one who lives

gently in this world
she only places

the exact amount
of pressure

required of each step
she is perfectly

balanced between
faith and doubt

she understands
but doesn’t need to

the world is
real to her

and so are
her dreams

at first she
sang in a church

the sound she
created was

of a prayer

a wanting for
something more

but she was
a creator herself

and her voice
was leading a

revolution for
the longing

like me to
listen to her

and pray

lines and curves

the distance
between points

I trace slowly

with my fingers
and my mind

touching all parts
equally

I want to reach
long term memory

so this becomes
part of me

as necessary
as my lungs

and my heart

I did not
it was not me
I never would
if I did
I would tell you
you can trust me
don’t listen to them
they don’t know you
like I do
they don’t love you
like I do
baby don’t worry
I’ll always be
here for you
we were meant
to be
you’re the only
one for me
you trust me
don’t you
baby

the boy had visions

he saw patterns
small and large

he made meanings

combining many
things in many

ways

he never tried
he just did

he spoke words
as if a spell

no one could
follow him

they knew he
knew more

they just didn’t
know what it was

he knew

the world was
bigger than here

but everyone he
knew was here

so he had to
leave here and

he had to leave
it now

a chain of days
without change

air becomes
an enemy

of lungs

we cannot
sweat

everything is
already

water and wet
nothing evaporates

everything is
heavy

movement is
slight

by necessity

soft
hard
smooth
rough
touch
feel
shed
shrink
cut
broken
covered
hidden
scarred
scarred

it enters
without

resistance
everything

is accepted
in this

moment
the sky

is bursting
with color

past disappears
into dust

I blow it
away

imagining
dandelions

I am a child
a happy child

playing in
a wild field

where

bees don’t
sting and

snakes don’t
bite

she’s an interesting cat.  her mind moves.  fast.  
not without direction.  but she is hard to follow.
she knows more.  then me.
she knows all.  the hiding places.
and waits for me.  to enter
so she can pounce.
I know it is coming.  but I enter.
anyway.  exposing myself.

she devours me.
as nature.  take its course.

she never told me
she was made of glass

if I had known

I would have never let
her slip through

my fingers

at the end
the words

had no form
they were bullets

exchanged

without direction
sprayed everywhere

there was no real
intent

other than to
inflict pain

on each other
like a spaghetti

western
there were

no victims here
just a couple

of anti-heroes
staring each

other down

the day is
nearly here

I will have
to leave

my cocoon
but I am not

yet a butterfly
I do not

think I can
be safe

I have a mask

but I do not
have my

wings

entering the seed
to sleep

I want to be
nurtured

like when
I was small

I want the
chance to

grow again

shed most
everything

until I am
a sliver

of myself
like the moon

each star is
a letter

we look up
at the same

time in our
different

places and
create words

we name
each other

describing
all our

different parts
and how

they connect
or how we

want them
to connect

you were
number 2

and never
wanted to

be number 1
you were

the perfect
shape for

my hand

the perfect
color for

my eyes

my perfect
day was

when you
were sharp

and didn’t
break

god I
miss you

we all stirred a bit
feeling isolated

I took long walks
around the edges

at night

I stared into
the darkness

beneath

it had a deep
voice

it stood still
that night

calling me to
jump into it

told me it was

safe that I
would not sink

that I would
float above it all

I was almost
lonely enough

to do it

and sometimes

my lack of belief
hurts me

but sometimes

my lack of belief
heals me

isn’t that how
everything is

I saw through her

her eyes
were clear

reflecting her life

she never tried
to hide

she was never
ashamed

I never asked
her to repeat

herself

she had one life
and she lived it

once

I was jealous
always wanting

a second chance

a brush on a drum
it is not a beat

it is the sound
of movement

of wind and
whispers

it does not wait
but it wants to

be caught it
wants to belong

where it belongs
in a bigger picture

it wants a place
in your story

it wants to be
the connection

that creates
your meaning

I know the sound.  of a lonely highway.  
it is a hymn.  a longing for meaning.

a prayer answered.  mysteriously.
I walked that way before.  

scuffed my knees.  on broken glass.
a green beer bottle.  in the gutter.

I bled.  for my belief.
in something more.

I wear my soul.
on the outside.

reveal my stains.
a purple heart.

to everyone.

they were mine
in my time

a gimmick
perhaps

but not to me
in my time

I was too
young to

know what
that meant

they made
me laugh

they made
me sing

that was
enough for

me

I was a
believer

can a rock
be smooth

and raw

I feel her
voice like

it belongs
in me

every edge
meant to

cut me

every line
meant to

heal me
her story

is short
but her

power is
eternal

she makes
me want

more
every time

I hear her

the sun laughed
when I asked

to be set free

so I concocted
a potion

creating a powder
and blew it

into the air
it spread like

an ocean of dandelions

creating massive clouds
that never moved

caging the bright beast

freeing me from
the heat that

pained me

in recovery
from faith

but still
haunted by

voices of
the others

left behind

the echoes
of lies

a cavern
where we

gathered
when we

believed

there is
always a

pull to fall
back to the

same place
we started

our search
as if progress

is a circle

silver lips speak
electric they

touch in the rain
and explode

into particles
of light

changing colors
like the finale

of a fireworks
display

there is no
body part

or bodies

there is only
body

there is only
god saying

I am

when the bendy
parts don’t bend

and every day is
the discovery of

a new ache and
the worry

of a fall and
a sudden break

and the parts
won’t remember

their place

mouth shut
mind open

for a day
I let go of

what I know
empty all

the chambers
that are always

loaded and
ready to explode

I let you speak
until you say

you are done
and I only

speak to ask
not to tell

and then
once again

I listen

it is crying.

this country.

you don’t hear.

the tears.

your brain.

is blocked.

filled with.

images of.

yourself.

you destroy.

everything.

to make.

yourself.

appear.

bigger.

because you.

are so.

small.