As you sleep tonight,
Dream of me as your prince,
Recall the lovely day we had,
And you will find real peace;

As you breath softly,
Let every breath say smoothly,
Every single letter of my name,
Then your sleep will flow nicely;

As you turn around,
Imagine the  feel of my skin on yours,
Move to touch me even more,
You will see that this isnt a loss;

As you blink and smile,
Let it be because of me,
My gentleness and love for you,
One dedicated to you eternally.

BROKEN ABRACADABRA

My uncle shimmers
as he walks

as if the sun has got him
and shakes him

until he walks
like waves.

His gait all
heat haze.

He's a walking
reflection

as if the air
were water.

He looks like
he's a dream

made of summer

but he is the real thing
a solid Uncle Michael.

I expect his voice
to waver with the heat

but his words
stay steady

whittled out of love
like wood.

I am up a tree.

He can't see me.

The branch below me has sn-
-apped

and I am wondering like a cat
how in hell I am

going to get down.

Up here in the air
the farm is the map

of itself.

I share a branch with a bird
and a small cloud.

Uncle goes on looking for me
his voice searching the everywhere

but I am a nowhere.

His voice trying to pull me
out of thin air

like a magician would
but it's not good.

I am half sky half tree half child
...do the maths.

I feel like a white rabbit
lost inside a top hat.

He died one sunny Sunday
******* a sweet in the blue van.

I still see him
walking out of the sun

his body shivering
with the heat

as if he is a dream
calling my name

like an abracadabra.

I sit in the silence
in the middle of my sky

lost in that forever
summer

wondering how to get back
down on solid ground

calling his name
like a broken magic spell

always trying to find him
even though I can't

...find my self.

The Sun holds to her ancient place
and we dance to her song

Live sings the light, live

You washed me in your ****** rain
so soaked into my core
taking all the ****** parts
and sewing up the place they tore

Now all I need is crystal clear
the daily rain of words
to keep me clean
and wash the skin
that's healing cold and sheer

I'm sure you've all noticed I'm not here very often.
It's because I don't write anymore.
The girl I used to write about stopped breaking my heart.
I fell in love with someone else. Not violently, not poetry worthy.
The way I feel with her doesn't make me feel the need to use poetry as an escape.
So I'm signing off.
my tumblr is graced-lightning.tumblr.com if you'd like to continue to keep up with me.
if not, it's been cool.
peace out, my friends

1.14.15

Do you ever have sad days?
When nothing really goes wrong
But nothing really goes right?
And you feel a little sad
Depressed
Lonely
Like you need to know others exist
Have you ever forgotten others are alive?
That everyone else is living alongside you
Thinking their own thoughts
Living their own lives?
I do
Time to time
When I start feeling lost
When I need to feel grounded
Today, nothing really went wrong
But nothing really went right
Today was Limbo
Today was Hanging in the Balance
I’ve become lost in reality
I’m scared and exhausted
I need you to take my hand
Drag me back down to earth
And remind me that I am still human
That you are still human
That we are still human.
Because I will have days when my mood is a
Rainy Day
And days when my soul is
Overcast
And I will need someone to hold onto my kite tail
So I do not become lost in the
Thunderstorm Days
And the Earthquake Nights.
Sometimes my days are full of sadness
And my nights are full of tears.
Even though I don’t want to be dependent
I will entrust my kite tail to you
Because I cannot let myself float away just yet.
My life still needs living
And people still need loving
And my dear,
I still need to hold you
I still have a few tears,
Happy or sad,
That need to be shed in your name.
I still have nights to lie awake,
Thinking about the night we spent together
And how you seemed more nervous than I felt.
I still have paintings to create
That show people how your skin felt when it pressed against me
I still have poems to write about how I feel when you look at me
So dear,
please don’t let go.

Wake, read, work
and Repeat.

Sounds like a movie
instead of coffee
with my father

distant

with David Lehman
on March 30
living The Best Years of Our Lives

reading again David
things I've forgotten
things We'll only remember

living in the Matrix
of references and inside joke,
literature search
and transposed multiplication
instead of regularized
algorithm

how funny our dad
is who knows only trees
and the bitter cold as Winter
sets in my lips are dry
what do we say
skin like parchment

how funny our Dad
who only knows
streams of information
shows as allegory
"Shaka when the walls fell"

what's a good movie
quote for Failure?

The Titanic?
always the sinking
is corrupted with an interlacing
Rose at the bow
dreaming of forever love

We dads aren't Dana Andrew
We don't even know
who
that is and don't care
We're frantically Raising
Arizona blossoms in concrete
soil two beautiful
daughters
We CK Lewis Dads

Lehman time is
over time to take a shower, work
and Repeat.

I shall foot it
Down the roadway in the dusk,
Where shapes of hunger wander
And the fugitives of pain go by.
I shall foot it
In the silence of the morning,
See the night slur into dawn,
Hear the slow great winds arise
Where tall trees flank the way
And shoulder toward the sky.

The broken boulders by the road
Shall not commemorate my ruin.
Regret shall be the gravel under foot.
I shall watch for
Slim birds swift of wing
That go where wind and ranks of thunder
Drive the wild processionals of rain.

The dust of the traveled road
Shall touch my hands and face.