I guess I pity you
Is that okay to say?
I mean, you have these lofty goals
That you will not attain
You have the choice, you know?
On how you use your time
But do feel free
Whittle-away on me
Whose God has crossed The finish line

I guess I pity you
Is that okay to say?
I mean, you have these lofty goals
That you will not attain
You have the choice, you know?
On how you use your time
But do feel free
Whittle-away on me
Whose God has crossed The finish line

I look at this skin
I see it, I see hope
Splotchy, yellow-blue at times
Like the shades of a bruise
Slow-moving
At the pace of a lizard’s cool blood
Sometimes
Yet always
Legs to carry it and a thick exterior
To protect it
Should it pain me or try to run
Is all I know to do
Us, we set our jaws
Our chins, one dimpled, one not
Defiantly thrust
*****************************
Next, we decree it
A battle-call for Love’s sake
Blessed endeavor

It was a three year-old’s eyes through which I first saw you. I noticed myself as we two looked back. Why was I, I’d wondered, the only one asking why. Then I saw you, dancing with the what, not caring for the why. You were, weren’t you. You, seeing me struggle with what words, spoke to me the only way you could. Silently. I’ve grown old and ill from asking why, I know. They say we can be healed, that the truth sets us free. What truth can you tell to a three year-old child that she already doesn’t see.

A damned good author
Who’ll debate with me well
Yet write lies
Conceived in etherless light reflective
Of darkness and wars neither worth it
Nor won
I’m this fantastic, fantasy-filled flower
Facing somewhere true
Journeying along the narrow path
That bends across the expanse of time
Evergreen, it’s said, and analog
Evidenced by The Actual Eternal

There is one hour in time
In the whole wide span of human history
One
I’d ever wished to collapse into
To behold
To hold
I needed to
And it has passed
It is a coward
A coward who will do this
Not this, rather that
We’ll sit together, child
Should God give us time
To ask the Eastern light,
“Where have you been all these hours?”
To watch the Western sky
Blush on its behalf
We’ll struggle no more, child
Please God, give us time
With the why of why not
About the words we can’t use
‘less they begin and end
With the loveliest shade of love
The Consequences of Smiling
by Lisa
You’ll always look four and twelve
Eighty even, but not forty at all
Kids will look at you funny for a minute
Then run to you
They’ll want to stay
Real adults won’t take you seriously
So beware
The eyes begin to go
Wrinkles at the corners
Nearsightedness -the good kind of myopia
You’ll see the treasure too
The up-close
The forest for the trees
Your own awe-struck stare at dawn
Your face will stay that way
Muscle memory (Mom was right)
You’ll be the light
In someone’s lousy day
On your own hard days
You’ll see your smile too
Its asymmetry…its perseverance
Smiles are feathers
Warmth for mind, body and soul
Insulation from frowns
Lift for the wings
Yours and theirs
Rainbow-colored plumage for this place
Smiles, like feathers that tickle