Her smile could grow flowers;
Her laughter spreads like ivy,
And her soul is starlight
In the middle of the sea.
Tag: spilled ink
Meditation (Ocean)
Breathe with me,
In and out…
Close your eyes;
Hear the distant shore,
The waves–
Rising,
Falling,
Like breaths
Rising in your chest,
Falling from your nose,
Resting at your toes.
Feel the water pull at you,
Letting your soul drift out,
Exhaled on ocean breeze
Slipping through the leaves
That veil Summer’s heat.
Feel it expand
Like a sail on the wind
Stretching out your doubts and fears
Until you can see through them,
Until all you see is horizon
Water going on and on and on.
Breathe in the sights
And exhale the sense of urgency.
Feel your feet
The sand is warm between your toes.
You curl them
And let them go,
Watching particles fall
You smell the salty air
You smile.
You open your eyes
And all around you is warm.
You are warm,
A bright, shining star;
You feel at peace.
Mother Dearest
Your words coat my spirit
Like trails of grime–
A backed up drain
Full of every touch you didn’t want
And the averted eyes of your mother.
Hairs tangled in a throat
Screaming for an end to silence
Mucked up
Muffled and muddled phrases
Tortured to no end.
You should know better,
But I’ve always felt older;
You should be better,
But you grew up so fast
You never aged at all.
Why am I the one responsible
When you were supposed to protect me?
Why do I feel guilty leaving you
When you never hesitated
To think of yourself first?
I understand,
But that doesn’t make it okay.
I understand,
But that doesn’t make it go away.
You cannot stifle me,
Though the cotton in my throat insists
In crowding out words.
You cannot blind me,
Though cataracts creep–
Milky tendrils like feet.
You cannot mute my world
As static weaves and pops,
Like kernels on a summer day.
You cannot numb my flesh,
Though it crawls to your touch
And rests when you are warm.
You cannot stifle my tongue,
For the richness of clouds rest
Melting like a creamy kiss.
I will not be overcome by you;
No, I will not be rewritten.
My words, my heart, my bones…
I am my own.
Meditation (Desert)
You close your eyes and breathe.
You focus on nothing else,
Just the friction in your nose
And the sound of your breath.
You feel yourself drifting,
Shades of light shifting
As your skin begins to warm.
Light travels along your fingertips;
You feel it working its way up,
Gliding on your arms
Resting on your shoulders,
Like hands lightly pressed
To steady in a storm.
It rises to your neck
And drops to your chest
Like every weight
You’ve carried for too long.
From your chest it slides
Wrapping around your stomach
Settling in your lap
Like a hug you’ve never had.
It nuzzles your thighs
Tickling a bit
Then traces your hips,
Calves, feet, and toes.
It breathes on your nose,
Traces your cheeks,
Kissing freckles you never knew
Till all you feel is radiance.
You open your eyes,
Slowly,
Delicately, but deliberately
Taking in the miles and miles of dunes.
Nothing and no one around you.
Nothing and no one to need you.
Nothing and no one to call you.
There is only sand,
And light,
And warmth,
And peace.
The sun is gentle to your skin,
Never more or less
Than just right.
You breathe.
You let go.
You breathe.
The light grows.
You breathe.
And all is well in this moment.
You clung to my shirt like you never left,
Hands clasped so tight–
No space to breathe,
Except in remembrance of you.
Silence couldn’t fit between us,
Even if it tried,
And oh it pries
Whenever you’re away.
Everything seems so intertwined
Legs touching needing to be enough
But never is,
For hearts too close-knit
To have a different name.
What is waiting?
What is fair?
When everything seems on the other side
Of doubt,
Of fear,
Of years…
And yet I must abide
The tides that carry you home.
In my canoe I traverse forests,
Passing broken branches,
Leaves floating
Like detached limbs
Of a forgotten whole,
Whispers of a soul
In mosses green, and gray.
I trace within the mist
A shadow of a kiss
And reflect upon waters
Too crowded for my thoughts.
With an oar in hand,
I sweep the sleep from the surface
And shake cold memories awake.
While regrets tremble in my throat,
Then sink
Like neglected boots
On a Summer’s eve.
I breathe.
I keep rowing.
Sweet
What’s wrong with sweet?
It’s just…
Unsustainable
Not filling…
Like SweeTarts or Pixy Stix on your tongue,
There for a moment,
With a slight rush,
But then it’s gone…
Staining your tongue
With merely an aftertaste
Of words with no real meaning.
People are not pastimes,
Hobbies to pursue in the evening
When the sun has set
And your busy day has closed.
People are not playthings,
To poke and prod for enjoyment,
To dazzle your bored mind
Or perform for your pleasure.
People are not conveniences,
To be picked up at moment’s notice,
Dropped when things get difficult,
And neatly tucked away till later.
People are people…
Full of light and soul,
Of majesty and grace,
Of potential without measure.
Treat them this way
And watch them grow.
You say “kiss me”
With more fervor that I can ignore.
Our hands are shaking,
Pawing for handholds in wrinkled fabric.
Curled fingers grasping at strands of hair
Like lifelines from a sinking ship.
Our lungs gasping for air
As teeth part to breathe each other in.
Lips misplaced in speaking
Love between syllables,
With tongues too tied up
To muster understanding.
I lean back to take you in
Eyes shining at all you are,
All we are,
All we have been.
I smile at your floofy hair,
Your reddened cheeks,
Those eyes staring back at mine,
Like nothing else could matter.
I cup your face in my hand
Running my thumb against your cheek.
You turn and smile into my hand
And kiss my palm.
I close my eyes;
This is home,
Not some arbitrary place to leave my coat,
But a place to rest…
More than my body,
But my soul–
Our soul…
One.