and now the sun sets
the night comes
but my eyes don’t close
nor do they wander

there you stand
my foot taps to the beat
of your perfect serenade
words dance,
flowers in a sunny field

I know you know
just what you do
the light touch
drives me crazy
the look you give me

take my hand
pull me in the right direction
never lead me wrong
tell me all night
about perfection, imperfections

stars twinkle and fade
into the orange glow of sunrise,
the fading yellow of moon-set.

the grass turns green again
glistening with dew
(it’s nice how that happens)

your eyes close now
and that’s all fine with me
it’s like it all never ends

perfect in every way
imperfections fade,
lost in laughter and love

mine now flutter shut
and behind them I see
just us two swimming
in an endless sea

it’s not water, neither blood
but wonderful sensations
fill my mind

we are tossed and turned
in the sea
laughing all the time

then your eye catches mine
and so I fall deeper
into sleep and sea.

love,

tumbling downwards
only to find that at the bottom
you stand smiling

and together, in my dream
we lay under a blanket
of perfectly formed stars
warming our toes to our fingers
like the very first time.

when I wake I find you,
hand on my shoulder
the way you sometimes do
smelling like morning fresh,
ready for a day

and so I admire you from my place
nestled in a warm bed
I know then
everything is complete
while your hand rests that way
on my shoulder
until I wake.

she’ll be lost one day
words on the back
of a tear-stained postcard

forced to smile at everyone
she’ll remember
what it was like to be small

to have the world at her fingertips
letters written all backwards
beautiful in her own right

one day the feeling will be gone
no longer free to roam,
she’ll have to settle down

it’s what we expected all along
but the tears form canyons on her cheeks

what used to be a halo of curls
now an unkept mess of stick straight hair
sticking to her wet cheeks and damp neck

she’ll write to me
“what’s the answer?”
but just like now,
even then I won’t know

I’ll be just as lost as she
in a world where nothing is ever the same
and just like now,
then I will tell her,

“Laugh all night long
find the one you can give yourself to
heart and soul let it be theirs
because then you know
you’ve got something to live for.

Do the things that make you happy
expectations of others aren’t yours to fulfill
step lightly always, like you do now
and look at the world with fresh eyes.

people can’t taint how you feel about life,
but when you find that your beautiful out-look
is changing to blood tinted pictures,
close your eyes and remember.

Remember the small things
remember the love
remember the warm glow
and your cold feet

then you’ll see,
the pictures will change
to be just as beautiful
as the one you see
on the other side of this postcard.”

my drawing will be
like it always has been.
ball point pen meticulously sketching
three tiny figures
dark curly hair
smiles from ear to ear
swirled sunshine overhead
flowers towering above

at the bottom, barely legible
“love always, forever -
unconditional.

sister.”

your breakfast will be shining stars on a silver platter.
in your lunchbox I will pack sunshine
each tear you cry, I will catch.
when you’re scared you know where I am
I’ll hold you like three months
sing you to sleep or smiles

days and days and days.

I know that you’ll be lost sometimes
I won’t always have a map
but on the table you’ll find food
and in the bed a safe place for you
to rest your eyes and count the sheep
quietly prancing behind closed eyes

months and months and months

you’ll love and lose and be alone,
but always even when your last friend folds
you know when you open the door
I’ll hear the creak and rush to hold you at arms length
and with one glance I’ll know your pains
pull you closer and tell you

tales of when long ago my last friend folded
tales of when the fire licked my toes
tales of when the sun danced on my skin
and then and there you’ll know
all along I loved you
so much more than time can tell
so much more than words can say
so much more than letters can spell
and so much more than sounds can make

I’ve loved you more than wind in my hair
I’ve loved you more than dirt between my toes
I’ve loved you more with each painful moment

with each jab she made, my love grew
every tear watering the flower
long before I knew it existed
Each snark comment that cut my skin
leaving me bleeding and aloney
fed the flower ever growing
and if you ever come along

you’ll know from the moment you feel my touch
that I will dance with you until the sun comes up
I’ll catch your tears all night long
I’ll give you ice cream
and listen to your angel voice soft against my ears

I’ll cradle you until you’re my size
then I’ll cradle you some more
I’ll hold your laugh in my heart
and when I’m crying I’ll let it out
like Pandora and her box
but your laugh will infect all things with good
make them shine like gold and silver

I will not keep you from mistakes
it’s not my place to live your life
I’ve already been living mine,
but if you need help, ask.
When you need support I’ll be there
Do the things that make you smile
that smile will make me happier
happier than any gold medal,
happier than and sum of money
could ever make me.

That smile will make me dance
and sing and and live longer than anything
because in your smile
there’ll a little part of me.
Nothing big or great,
because I’m neither,
but something small and subtle.

Everyone will know your smile
and you will always remember
every day when you wake up

that my love for you overflows every ocean
that my love for you stands taller than any crane
that my love for you outweighs any killer whale
that my love for you runs deeper than the grand canyon
deeper even than the Mariana Trench
higher than seven Mt. Everests and an Eiffel Tower

And when you wake up and feel my love
where ever you are
be it Paris, Rome, Milan, Idaho
be it Iceland or Greenland or Newfoundland,
you will smile.
You will know when your eyes open to start each day
that my love is wrapped around you tight always
where ever you go
you will smile and everyone will know
you. are. loved.

In corners of my mind that should be unoccupied I find you lurk.

In crowds of people, unfamiliar, I see your face.
Fleeting usually, please stay.

Canyons carved now, rivers running down.
From where I don’t know.

Are you at the top?
The bottom?

In unlit allies, there you are.
Are you lost?
I wish you could belong with me.

Fingertips don’t linger, I don’t mind.
But sometimes I wish they could stay a little longer.

Frenzy all the time.
No matter, I’ve lost you in the crowd again.

I hope, I think, that you’ll come back
but the smile as you leave warms my heart.

you don’t turn around.

A rhythm overflows the grief
moment by moment
rocking melodiously
words humming like velvet
soft like the rain on a spring day
soothing her head
surrounding her wandering mind

dissolving slowly like salt on her learned tongue
round twists and turns
creamy moving effortlessly through bendable tubes
soaking into new found places
squeezing harder
non lasciar andare

smarting palm against gripping-
breath heavy, warm and moist
gasp in cracked tones from far within
long, long, long

pressing, constricting
slippery and close
lips move slowly along open ears
touch gently
fall subtly closer still, yet again

eyes open, flutter quickly
passing over adoring breath
and wet lips
along the way loosened grip
squeeze once more
giusto per essere sicuri

flashing teeth in sure smile
understanding dimple
fingers flow and stop to rest
eyes flicker to dancing pupils
stars swirling
open and see
colors playing in the dark

curl around feet and legs
tight and tired
collapse and laced comfortably forever.

more, more, more
what’s new in your
nine to five, “I’m so high” life?
over there that’s money and mine
please don’t touch

say what you want to say, but I know what it’s about
so long, farewell to the long way we’ve come
bringing us down to lower than we were
before you arrived.

That’s fine with me, I’ll fend alone
see if I remember you when a few years pass
a long way from any home of mine
a nod in the store can suffice
maybe I won’t see you there.

next week sometime, that’s what it always is
later tonight doesn’t come soon enough
and soon enough it doesn’t matter
what’s your name, have we met?

changed so much, it’s all fine with me.
i’ve forgotten exactly what you used to be.
smaller as the years go by, all of it lost in time.

sell your soul to the devil,
or maybe I’ve sold mine?
god sits somewhere lost in love
and here you are with nothing but an ink smudge
it’s all fine though, we learn as we go
I guess you’ve fallen somewhere along the line
maybe when I figure it out I’ll die.
I guess you’ll be soon behind?
if not that’s fine you’ve got a long way to go,
don’t worry about it so much,

remember though, who I was
and who you wanted to be.
never the same, never to meet
angel on your shoulder,
devil in your head,
I guess there’s a lot to say
let’s talk soon,
but keep your mouth shut and your fists clenched
what other way could it ever be?
long lost far away
see you soon, we’ll know where we sit then.

wander and Roam – traveling show
far and w i d e You will go.
At the end. I hope You find
Here i am every time.

Young and FREE, You don’t know any more than me
And i’m
  lost and sometimes      lonely,
but at the end. i know i’ll find
there You are every time.

roads that wind. eyes. closed.
people watch from miles away.
they talk, run their mouths all about You and me
          trivial words - - calloused feet and unkept hair
I can’t bring myself to care.

Everywhere You go i want to be.
gone sometimes i know i’ll find You,
but at the end come back to me.
  Patiently waiting bent over a scratched sheet
is where i’ll be.

crisp and clean. cotton.
only to be ripped to shreds.
Unmended then you’ll go.
   Come back and you’ll find. they are as before-
The work of two can’t be done alone.

Take me away to fields of green.
Take me away to streets of gold.
Take me away to deserts of sand.
Take me away to a sea so vast.

Take me
take me       never to return.
blue     and     blue     and     blue     and green. all the world i want to see.
Your eyes, I think, they see it differently.

golden     golden     golden sand. must mean more if i can hold Your hand.

anywhere anywhere anywhere You are. there i am too.

whisper to me when You come HOME
I hope HOME is always with me.
Happy and fortunate I hope You live
Young and FREE I hope You stay.

Do what You must to go Your own way
     be Your own, never sway.

Don’t look back, always ahead.

find me, find me in the end.