the present of a past

Pale and thin faced,
Barely recognized as the boy from school.

He was once affectionate.
Pulled you in close,
Holding you tighter,
A second longer than you expected.

He once looked in your eyes.
Intently seeing hope,
Stirring your depths,
Until you yourself were in action.

As I embraced him that night,
I knew he was gone.

No pressure of his squeeze,
No hand on my back.

No innate joy in his voice,
No gap-toothed giggle.

No love in his eyes,
No hope in reality.

Just in a whiskey daze.
In his world of safety.

no regrets

Go back with me to the places we knew.
The places when I knew you.

To mark our steps forward the same as the stumbles.
Forgetting our shortcomings,
The weak points of our threads.

To remember it all without regret.
The mistakes that got us to that moment,
Years ago and loves behind.

To feel like we are floating,
Arm to arm,
Above the tall buildings.

decided

It’s more than a feeling,
My readiness,

For the comfort of your shoulder,
Resting my cheek on your uncovered arm.

To let my guard down,
Releasing you to sift through my light and dark.

To burn the bridges from the places my heart has been,
Taking the lessons I’ve learned to make this forever,

For you and me.

four walls

I’ve watched these walls,
Waiting for change,
But walls don’t move.

I’ve been in this room,
Corner to corner,
One the same as the next.

I stared into space,
And saw only in black and white.
I lost all sense of color and depth.

I boxed myself in,
Sitting until my brain turned dull,
Nothing original. Nothing new.

If only I remembered the challenge.
If only I could find the door.

morning mantra

Got to get up.
Got to get moving.

There’s a day ahead.
There’s a day just waiting.

Anything is possible.
Anything can happen.

But you have to get up to see it.

my audience

Lost climbing mountains,
Searching across seas.

Parched wandering deserts,
And stuck in tall trees.

But without you beside me,
Who will know my stories?

truly

The day was a breath,
But you became forever.

on my own

If it wasn’t for you,
My feet would never touch the floor.

Wrapped in sheets and lost in dreams,
Isolated and desolate.

Unaware of the battle and ignorant by fault,
Haunted and hunted.

Wandering without light and building in the sand,
Broken and defeated.

Hear this thankful heart.

and stay

How do you see through my skin?
The patterns of my heart,
The rhythms of my thought,
And every way I tick.

How do you see it all and stay?
Joined in the trenches,
Covered in filth,
And unready to come clean.

turning off

The end of the long day finally comes.
Hours in the sun.
Hours on your feet.

Each second an hour as you drive.
Falling out of your car.
Falling onto bed.

Rolling on to your side.
Closing shut your eyes.
Closing down your mind.