let me count the things you are not

you are not a rose.
not pricked
in thorns
or cannibalized
for love

you are not a summer day.
if your eyes hold
a sunset
you keep it
well hidden

you are not a gift.
promise,
secret,
or encapsulated
by any singular
intent

you
do not fit neatly
into metaphor
(or my poet’s heart)

you are simply
(perfectly)
unique.

bruised knuckles and broken toys (revised)

we trade making a scene
for quiet today
is the cessation of dreams
the price we must pay?

hold onto these words, less we forget
that a lifetime of almosts
is one of regret

the longer I live
the more that I find
the things I miss most
are the dreams left behind

not callous, not simple, not shallow or clothed
but bared and complex, deep and exposed

not careful, not silent, not restrained or delayed
but reckless and furied, freed and remade

not counting the rings in the circles I’ve walked
but remembering the falls and the chances I’ve stalked

you can promise the peace of a path well traveled and tested
and I’ll show you my scars where the best have been bested

now tell me you’re listening
and I’ll tell you this:
a life that’s worth living
is too easily missed

portal

even though it’s closed
there must be another side
to this door

I’ve never seen it open.
but I know you went through it

I think –
you lean against it
listening
for my voice

even though its closed
there must be another side
to your story.

origami


there are so many ways
for you to unfold

remember that fortune-telling game
at school
calling out numbers
and colors
to determine 
what kind of house you will live in
hut / boathouse / mansion

life would be so much
simpler
if we limited to just 
a few
options.

but anyone who has tried origami
can tell you.
even folding paper
is not simple

figurative vs. literal

I can touch the night sky.
literally.

reach up with both hands
peel back the black
and reveal that stars
aren’t
really
stars

they are the dust of our dreams.
bright and powerful enough
to burn holes in the void.

(for L&L)

spilt

you like to hold
your cup
like it might
shatter
if I speak.

I noticed today
that you put
all the glassware
behind the cereal

so I’m waiting
to see
if you ask me
for milk.

Choked.

choked

on my words
placed
so delicately
upon your tongue

you are taught
to respect
prohibitions
by force

“what will you do
when my reach is so long
I can pluck your sins
like over-ripe cherries?”

your answer
is no answer at all
because you cannot speak
with my words
filling
and burning
your mouth