wool

i never would have suspected.
that you could be more than a
small expanse,
a pond to be discovered on the overcast days
past the growing trees that dispel the light.

it was my misconception. that kept me blind.
for this lake i thought i had found
on that overcast day, oh the day..
running, sprinting
darting trees
the light peeks through-- invites me run faster..
and suddenly
my toes meet the air

i stand high above, on a cliff..
left to stare out at the ocean i had found.
the depths... both high and low, deep and wide..
full of life and calm and storm. the rolling tide
lapped at the bottom of the cliff
sighing
and singing--
the incredible song of the sea

you bring me here
to a place i cannot trust
yet
i must.

Untapped Bravery

twisting shifting memorizing the labels
the sky stares right back at us
fingers interlocked--intertwined.
hearts.

minds. mind and soul
intertwined.
it's met with reproval--
this passion that wells up
from the chasms of my soul
yet unknown. yet untold.
unmeasured. though undeniable.
you unlocked a door, do you realize?

my ears remained sewn shut.

my mouth runs dry.

the words come to an end, stop.

shifting seasons and endless chords
tell us more than we could ever afford

i know what love is

i know what love is
i can see it in your eyes
as you tilt your head
and whisper solemn goodbyes

i know what love is
i can see it on your face
we take the world by storm
but never leave a single trace

"love is patient
love is kind...
it always protects
always trusts
always hopes
always perseveres"

the stillness swallows us
and the quiet speaks our names

love is on our tongues,
falling out of our mouths
into silent soliloquies.

love is around the corner
we run to catch it but
remember it was here
all along
inside our pockets
or in our clenched fists.

i know very little in this grand old place
but i know what i see when i see your face

what was said to the rose to make it unfold?

city streets--scrape to survive the nights
do your best to sidestep their fights.
i find them now--above all else--
the words hidden in your little self
compose the greatest of fables.
we speak words when we are able

in the quiet of the evening
and the coolness of the dark
we can hear the children singing
now they imitate the lark

i've used different words
to tell the same old story
i tilt my head to the ground
to keep you free of worry

you've meant so much to me.
you mean so much to me.
i can only hope
to mean so much to you.

scattered synchronically

im rounding a newer corner
im seeing a different light
im writing a newer song
without the words that bite.

no words at all is what i claim
no words at all to mar your fame
i wont jump ahead, a bit too far
i'll certainly not fall behind
the three words i leave are
at the front of our minds

your song is not like the bird's
it does not weave in and out
like a reptillian's second word
you will never hear it shout
but you just might train your ear
if you listen ever so closely
you might be able to hear
the essence of a rain--mostly
under atmosphere today
and behind my teeth tomorrow
you can take what i have to say
and use it to fight your sorrow.

today without my vocal chords
i will illuminate my heart of hearts
i leave you no words to hoard
just a melody to play your part.

so hold me close and wait for the beat
that keeps my b lood inside my veins
carry me up off of my feet
and destroy these criminal's chains.


J'adore, J'adore, J'adore...

mam/moth mouth

mind the gap dear travelers
mind your ears in the little cafe
those dirty people tell dirty lies
of freedom and free-thinking.

watch out dearest children,
the world wants you on a platter
the goodness they find is only good
under the guise of complete darkness.

does it bother you that i forgot your name?
that i cannot recall to mind
the symptoms of your disease?
i tried to glue the broken window
shards of glass stuck into my hands and eyes
sinking deep into my skin til
i would forget they were foreign
at one point in time--intruders.

ask me one more time, maybe
this time i will know what i think
about your controversy.

je renonce aux jours de ma jeunesse

i could speak these thoughts i think
but every ear would seal 'self shut
its only your pride i would try to cut
it will be over 'fore you can blink

i compose a few words
and i line them up in a row
they shrivel up and wither away
when all is left is what i know.

the warmest of [dis]regards

must i remind you
oh how i love you?
your smiling face
repairs my broken heart



it only takes a word
to restore the rightful order
to release the pearly whites
on their journey to the sun.


i mixed up all their stories
of winter and the silk.
one little child asked
for tea and a mother
cried for the warmest milk



[i have already been defeated
though i've surrendered all my fears
its a time we can be intrepid
after all these lonely years]


so take my hand, oh you who are worthy
lets take a walk through the sunnier valleys
lets stroll and talk and take a pause where the
sunlight creeps in and out of our alleys

asylum

(Written November 2008)

I recline, recoil, retreat
To my sanctuary of words
Hear a tone on the line
For I am presently
Unreachable
I sit, shrouded in mist of
Meaningless melodrama
Wanting the ice below to break
And for the wintry sea to
Engulf me completely;
To wrap around my body and mind
Its spidery fingers and
Breathe its uninviting cold:
Peruse down my
Xylophone spine,
As my expressionless faces
Retire beneath the waves.
The numbity of it all shocks
Only those who pose; for most of
Us have visited the closet of solitude before.
And yet, my millennium appearance
Was met with iciness and frostbitten
Appendages to summon a corridor that my
Mind had fo r bidd e n return.
A flashback, an essence of
Memory was and is all that
Was necessary to plague me,
To extend welcome to the chill
Not a ray, an ounce, a watt
Of sunlight to greet my
Ashen, downcast face.
While winkle slept the
Winter would only persist,
And while crane courted,
Sleet would only penetrate iron hearts.
As though the blacksmith
Had been mistaken.
I recline, recoil, retreat.

when strivings seize

i asked you questions with
answers i already know.
the window-cat licks at its fur
and wonders where we go.

we are pushing time around
like it's something we dont need
do you think i will follow you
wherever you may lead?

ask me no more questions
and i'll tell you no more lies
you've asked a lot of questions
and i've told you zero lies.

can you hear my apology?
when i tell you i am sorry for
writing words you cannot see
and becoming gradually unsure.

unsteady, don't fall over dear,
this isn't quite so terrifying
as watching b ombs fall ever near
and being forced into flying

i'm sorry. i fail you day by day
i fill up precious moments
with all the things i say.

i'm sorry. i fail you by the minute
in this puzzle, i try and force
this piece to fit.

.. i can't even throw together a decent poem.

i'm sorry i am such a child
that i am so erratic
i cannot seem to convince myself
that all is well, even after twelve
and that you can see me
through the attic.

just because

i say few words. [of importance]
but i hear your voice.
and i hear your measured breaths
and the steady drum of your beating
heart.
i listen to it pound.

my head is full of flowery lines
and lyrics from the best of songs
my daylight shines like no other shines
it just erases the worst of wrongs

reassured, i have been now
i have got a bounce in my step
i really must ask myself how
this lucky i could possibly get.

it took a while for me at least
to test what i know and see--
to know you are sincere at least
and at last it set me free.

i am flying much higher than ever before
i swim in the most silver of streams
like a fledging, just learning to soar
like a child, just finding their dreams.

brambles.

i am blind.
i repeat your words back to you.
i am deaf.
i describe the cold window pane.

i follow you on my hands and knees.
the dust is between my teeth
and the air, oh the cold air!

you look at me and i see
the puzzlement within your eyes.
what is it that you want? i whisper

i consider. what i've wondered for a while.
my heart shudders and rushes to protect
itself.
and we go on.

we go on.

i fall behind. we fell behind.
we do our best to speak our minds
what we know is what is certain
(i have my own iron curtain)
like a wraith, it would haunt my head
it would plague me, it wants me d ea d
can you save me? from these high tides?
can you restore me to your side?
stop right here, before we go on
just to count the stars 'fore the dawn
this one fear--it makes me anxious
i worry i won't do you justice

i worry, okay? it's not what i admit
it's what boils inside my brain
it's what keeps the light from staying lit
it's what leaves me in the rain.

i can't shut out the still small voice
that tells me i do it all wrong.
it tells me i have no other choice
but to terminate our pretty song

if you asked, i could not describe
save through the notes i found
i could not easily harmonize
save with the crooning cello's sound.

it is indeed no cause for tears
no need to alert your darkest fears
i'm a silly g irl , a dove at heart
rest assured, i do not wish to part.

stand at the window, wait in the rain
just please reassure, that i'm not insane.

the maze

dryest air, why should you steal from me?

cracked, and bleeding, my hands fold quietly

to pray only for a warmer day.


time spirals on, shoveling the burdens to our backs.
wallpaper peels deliberately--to remind us what we lack.

i saw them shouting, i saw her cry
i followed them home, just to ask why.



By my happiness am i mortified
i always act as if someone died.
it's panic that plagues my little frame
it's a bit of indecision, one and the same
i just can't take another shattered clock
i run through riddles just trying to talk.
please, my dear, excuse my irrationality
and if you have eyes, just let them see
that i care for you more than anyone yet
to you i am much more than a shallow pet.
if you would ask, i'd give you the moon
i would drain the ocean and sing you a tune
but if you asked for a kiss, i would hold you close
and smile a great smile from my head to my toes.
it's no matter that we know not what we do
that we live in a world where everything's new--
we know the melody, let's fill in the words
let's fly with the angels and sing with the birds.


i am sure i know none but this
he is mine and i am his.

i tell a song in chords

ive listened to a thousand sounds
the music does fill my head
but here and now your voice resounds
to lift ardor from the d e ad.

if i could speak a thousand tongues
i would whisper words to you
exhale a sigh and fill my lungs
with the music made for two.

you are much more than you were yesterday
i came across a perfect way to say
the light that i think i've found
can lift me right off the ground.

you are less than you will be tomorrow
flee those days you bathed in milky sorrow
and search fervently for the firebird
never turn away from my silent word

we heard a melody we've heard before
but the timbre is just not the same
we closed a window and opened a door
and i came out of the pouring rain

hope and resolve

you are more than you were yesterday.
you are less than you will be tomorrow.

softly i am pulled into a perfect abdication.
the white folds billow in the coolest of zephyrs.
my face crinkles into a grin that spreads to my ears--
of all the beauty to fill a world for ages upon ages
it is you that intrigues beyond comparison.


Profitez de votre temps, cher.
Je suis le votre.

i think of you as art

the na ked branches scratch the sky.
their leaves have long been blown into the sewer.
the purple sky just beyond those ancient
branches sinks away, following dear Apollo
past the horizon.
i cannot help but admire your determination.
little branches, you would seem the weakest of
the strongest tree,
yet with audacity you defy the wind
and the beating sun.
flush with instinctive valor do you reach
to those heavens
demanding the breath of air
and the time of day
that will prolong your steadfast lord.