Winter's Widow

I listen to those sad poets as my brain melts
And what are left are thoughts of the only one
And he is gone.

The sun shining on the back of a neck.
Tired eyes and tired breath
Wrapped up in the sheets of a summer nest.
Grass stains from lying outdoors for too long.
Words and ideas, shared and exchanged,
Lit by the glow of a dashboard.
Time did not know us and we paid him no mind.
One human hand stitched upon another human hand.
Pressed so firmly but still with a gentleness
That the smallest of the animals would understand.
I would hold you at the worlds breaking if it came to that.

The small grains of sand pushed their fists up to hold us safe,
The ocean beat against itself,
Singing at our feet while we read the minds of those older than us.
Minds who have walked and thought and braved it all
Far longer than us, then dared to write about it.

I remember when the twang of country music
Swept over our heads and you held me close
Amidst the swirling whirlpool of others.
We had such awkward steps
But it didn’t matter,
My heart was exploding.
My God, it was so real.
I never wanted to be anywhere else.

I thought it was the earth’s trembling causing
My knees to shake like this
But it was the world inside of me
and I had lost control.
I tried to hide it,
cover it up with a mound of dirt and stone,
My own burial ground.
But instead it broke and flooded over.
What is truly tender cannot appear to be hardened forever.
And now the streets are sinking with the weight of it.
And I may drown,
But dear, I would drown for nothing less.

June On The West Coast

I'm no singer, or guitar player, but i haven't been able to rid myself of this song all day.

I said i never wanted to take prisoners.
But here they are
Lined up like corn in the field begging
For their sickle
Rotting in disbelief
I am frozen in fear
The not knowing
The inexperience
My blundering stupidity.
Yet this soil is mine
Those were my seeds
And I paid dearly for them
Heartbroken kernels.
And these are the calloused hands
That tend this field
I never left its side
I would cut you loose,
But I'm no reaper.

Under Our Hearts

These dreams, these capes.
What we fear most is twisting our arms
And tying them in bows behind our backs
To leave us in the despondent streets.
A rotting gift for some poor hero to find and unwrap in horror
As the truth slips out.
Then we will know.
Then we will stand motionless at the oceans edge.
And only dark will be left.
And these dreams that we dream so well
These capes that rest on our shoulders,
blades and scales on our backs.
They will rule supreme
And be the black truth,
The leather fist at our throats.

Swamp Monster

I know.
I have always known.
The way the mountains loom
Over your shoulders
Was the great tip-off.

You have been holding my head under
Water for months, waiting for me to surrender
As my hair turns soft, then cold.
Feel it cling to the spaces between your fingers.

You work at filling my pockets
And socks with smooth stones.
How easily they slip in and appear harmless,
Oh but they feel like thunder.

The vertebrae in my spine knock against each other in the brawl.
What is it you get out of seeing my soggy lungs?

I found a way to float, you thought I had sunk.
You dreamt you could keep me shoved down in that ashen water.

There is too much sorrow that cannot be drowned.
It refuses to go,
But I still can.
And I will pick the leeches from my legs as i leave the water's edge
And let the twilight swallow me whole.

I should be writing a paper but i wrote this instead.

Trust has yanked the trip rope
With the groan of milky eyes
And the stab of the failures of those before.

You have worn me thin through the
Thick of things.
The burn leaves a scar that some will see
And others will brush against.

They say things like a you and an I should
"Stand the test of time"
But time is a curious soul
And you do not stand still long enough.

I hope you know that I would have given you
The sighs in my chest.
It's a shame you didn't have the hands to hold them.
I can feel their absence.

Tears cannot be seen in the snow
Yet blood does not go unnoticed
And I have been bleeding and freezing
As the sun rotates.

Sorry.

Such fragile things you gave me.
A paper crane
And a robin's egg
With delicacy laid at my feet.
Feet belonging to an iron giant.
Clumsy and cold.
I do not always see just what it is
That I am doing.
Only what I have done.
I am broken.
And I am mistaken.
How far I've fallen, deep and fast.
A junkyard at the bottom of a cliff.
So keep the bird in your heart,
Because tin men like me
Should not be trusted
With such treasures.