Storms

storms from space
wreck this planet
winds from every direction
beat upon the surface
tear up trees
raise dust storms
shake the mountains

we all run from something
we cannot see
but we can feel it

I am so small
crouching in a ravine
watching green lightning flicker
I close my eyes as the grains of sand
sting my face
and I wonder if I will survive this assult

when the red sun struggles to the horizon
will we all be part of the past
or will we crawl out of our holes
and start living again

Mushroom Glow

When you walk at night in the mushroom forest... huge glowing fungi tower over you, lighting the path in purple radience. The glow turns your eyes, your hair, your lips lavendar. It traces shimmering paths over your skin. The dark shadows under your eyes become violet bruises.

I Don't Wanna Change You

I don't wanna change you
I don't need to try to fix you
maybe you don't like those things
about you
but who said that's all there is to you
who said that's all
that you'll ever be
I'm so tired of fake perfection
you're real

But you say what about this and what about that
you think that scares me?
you think I'll run?
no I don't wanna change you
I don't wanna 'save' you
I don't wanna make you
into anything else
you are what you are

I don't wanna try to tame you
I don't wanna make you
comb out all those burrs
and just so you know
I like that wild side

In your imperfections
and in everything that makes you
who you are
you see darkness
but I see light, too
don't think I'm gonna try to
mess that up
not for one second

Let me leave you free
and all I ask is
that you do the same


Cause who said you weren't good enough. Maybe when you look at yourself, you see a flawed, scratched up mess. But maybe when someone else looks at you, they see past the scratches. Maybe they see a beautiful mosaic.

And just maybe they're seeing you right. :) 

think straight

I should write more poems
I tell myself
I'm suppose to be the writer here
the pen dried up
is my excuse
but it's more that
my mind is chaos
I just can't 
think straight

Pretend Sunsets

I try to speak to you with silent signs

you act like you can’t hear my mind

you're driving me wild

wish I was a child again

I forget to breathe when I’m thinking about it

cause there’s still too much more to say

but I don’t have the words

I never do

I wrote a novel you can never read

so can I just leave now?

it’s too hard to see in the dark

It isn’t supposed to be like this

I never ever wanted to take a magic pill

kinda want to now

I could hide, couldn’t I?

it’s not like you could see me anyway

sometimes I forget you’re blind

colors don’t make sounds but you

are so good at pretending

you can see sunsets

turns out so am I

how am I still here after all this time?

I should have been long gone

convinced there’s a castle beyond that hill

but there’s no dragon in sight

wish there was

I act like I’m oblivious

and you believe me

and that’s the problem

isn’t it?

we both pretend we aren’t blind

and I act like I’m looking at you when you talk

so I’ve never told you I can’t see your face

any better than you can see mine

but I can read you like an open page

when you speak I can see your mind

and when you fall silent

I hear what you don't say

but you don’t know how I hate

pretend sunsets

you don’t know how I love you

in the darkness

You Are the Ocean

You’re too incredible

to be something less

than yourself

It would be impossible to

suppress the sea

into one drop

You are so much more

than what can be

contained in a drop

You are the wild

beautiful ocean itself

Rising Up

This feeling deep inside is growing

It’s like rising up

Out of the deep

Out of the storm

Growing stronger

I am facing the waves

I will ride on the winds that have tried to destroy me

I am a warrior, and even if I fall down

I am rising up, even if I have to crawl

Even if I have to drag myself I will advance

Inch by inch until I start to run

I am afraid still but I know

That the storm is beginning to fear me

For I am becoming a storm

In the Music

Late night and I stay up

the candle is burning low

I’ve been dreaming again

and I catch memories in the music

this song is carrying me back

to how I felt once

I had glimpses of something grand

maybe I lost them for a while

did they fly away on the notes

of the music I stopped listening to?

did they drift out to sea because

I looked away for a second?

It’s like this song brings it all back

and my head is filled with visions again

the music is whispering to me

I feel like a mystery is waking up

All the things I used to dream of

all the wildness I wanted to keep

and let it go in a splash of ink

and strum of a note

and stroke of a pencil

I am drifting back to that place,

to that time

when my eyes were filled with stardust

and I saw something ineffable in ordinary music

ordinary words

and ordinary sounds and smells

and everything made me feel

a way that I haven’t felt in a while

When I was looking and searching

and maybe I found something

wonderfully mysterious

and then let it fade like old ink

I am finding it again, this part of me I forgot

It is coming back

in the music

It’s speaking to me

in the candle’s flame

in the way the wind smells

and in the sound of the rain

I am glimpsing that mystery again

You are my Song

If I could, I would give you a summer breeze;

I’d give you sunlight,

to turn your eyes into jewels.

I would package the smell of fresh grass,

and give it to you with a note that says;

you are wilder than the song of the wind.

We hit the road and drive into the setting sun;

the rays set you aglow.

I play your favorite song for you,

over and over again, on my old guitar,

just to see you close your eyes and smile.

And I am taking notes;

you are more of a song than music itself.

We listen to the owls as the cool night falls,

and the stars come out just for you.

I do not wake you up,

when you fall asleep on my shoulder.

I hold you close,

listen to what your heartbeat sings;

lyrics only I understand.

You are so peaceful in your sleep,

for one so wild when awake.

You are a song,

more alive than freedom;

and you are my song.

This poem is about two of my characters. :)

Wanderer

Flames fought to reach the burning sky

As the wanderer watched

Reflections of hungry fire danced

On the water in the bottom of his pail

The scent of smoke carried him

Back to his childhood

The day his first home burned down

He looked up at the flames and saw it all again

The smoke was swirling, crying, “Run.”

Longing tasted like smoke, how was that?

The fire laughed and he closed his eyes

Let it burn, let it burn...

When he opened them the house was

Burned to the ground...

Smoking timbers,

Smoldering, crumbled walls

Now he was gray like the fog

He smiled and set the bucket down

The water sloshed over the sides and trickled

Into the dry and thirsty ground

He threw his coat over his shoulder

Walked into the desert without a backward glance

That house had never been his home

Fire couldn’t take a thing

From a wanderer like him

Tiny Glimpse of Stardust

You were flying high
When you fell from the night expanse
We looked up to see the stars you came from
But the night sky was cloudy

Like tears, the stardust slowly trickled from your eyes
Into shimmering pools at your feet
And neither of us knew how to put it back
So you had to adjust to life on a new planet

But you were a star, meant to be in orbit
Meant to gleam in the cold vast outer space
You weren't supposed to end up here
Far away from the galaxies you love

You didn't last long under a hot summer sky
You longed for the cool darkness of space
You were meant to burn until you lit the night
But held to the surface by gravity, you burned out
Until only a glimmer of your bright sparkle lay on the ground

In your dreams you were gathering speed
Shooting into orbit
You were going home
I cradled you in my hands but you couldn't see me
But as you faded away, I saw a tiny glimpse
Of stardust

Dove in the Rocks

I hear a call in the night

Speaking to me

So I open the window

I creep closer to the sound

Of a voice filled with fiery moonlight

And the world turns upside down

And rights itself

I blink as I see your face

I feel unsteady

You grab my hand and lead me

Into the pines

An owl calls through the forest

The little frogs chirp in the dark

The moon bursts from the clouds

And filters through the leaves

You pull me close and spin me around

I smile and laugh

Behind the waterfall we paint cave paintings

Yours say “I love you, I always have”

Suddenly I see you anew

But then their footsteps echo on the rocks

Their torches approach

Their voices are an ugly language

Their cruelty proceeds them

I am afraid but you hide me in the crack
And tell me that I am your dove in the rocks
Whom you waited a lifetime for

You whisper, “I’m not going anywhere”

Before you turn to face them

I Haven't the Smallest Clue

Sometimes there are

so many things inside,

and I haven't the smallest clue

of how to find them and let them out.

I cannot grasp

how to contain an entire ocean in a bottle,

or how to pour it out once I’ve captured it.

I’m filled with oceans that I want to set free,

in the form of ink,

but they gush out, soaking the paper,

smearing the letters,

or they refuse to flow.

No, I haven’t the smallest clue,

but as much as that frightens me,

maybe I'll find an artwork

among swirls of seawater ink.

The World Froze Overnight

The stars used to twinkle at me,

but it must be cloudy tonight,

because they are nowhere to be seen.

They winked out before I could take a second glance.

I was so sure the breeze wanted to blow over me,

whispering gently in my ears.

But without warning,

it turned savage,

pinning me to the ground.

And the sun’s warm rays tickled the top of my head,

but where did it go,

when the clouds burst over the horizon?

Racing like a herd of wild stallions;

trampling on my tired feet.

The forest sang a song to me and the trees beckoned me,

but a terrible storm wrecked those beautiful maples,

leaving me drowning in maple syrup;

so chilly and bittersweet.

I have been trying to melt it away,

but there is no cure.

So I accept this fact;

the outdoors has become cold toward me.

I start to shiver.

And when I finally see the frostbite on my fingertips,

icy realization strikes--

All the world froze overnight.

Dreams

This must be a dream because

I do not know

What I am thinking

Or where I’m going

What am I trying

What am I waiting for

Where am I swimming

I wonder through the night

Nothing feels quite the way it should

It seems like I’m missing something

I don’t understand myself

I don’t understand my heart

I don’t know how to find this

I am filled with questions in this dark night

I whisper into an empty space when I am alone,

Catch me the stars, cause they are far away

Throw me a lifeline

I’m afraid the stars will leave me

My hands are shaking when I speak

Please don’t let me fall alone

In a shower of wispy feathers

I am covered in dew and I am drawn into a cave

It’s so dark, look away, look away

I know I am digging holes with a spoon

This is not real

Give me the sky

I catch the sky in my hands but the wind rips it

Away from me and I can’t fly to follow it

I’m afraid I don’t have enough to keep it

Maybe I don’t think of the things I should

Maybe I’m not looking in the right places

Please answer me

My heart is calling to the wild hawk

Where are you

Find me in this nothingness

I veil every word I say

But I don’t want to—I want to be heard

Do you hear me, do you know I am calling

I watch the birds and they see me down here

But they don’t come down for me

Their songs romance the sky

But I can’t get my guitar in tune

My voice keeps breaking

I keep trying

Why don’t I get there

I never sing the right things

I always get hurt and fall down when I try to fly

I’m terrified

I’m running the wrong way

I trip again

My heart is pounding, mind is racing

The leaves are swaying overhead in the sunlight

I’m trying to touch the faces of the trees

I’m on the beach and the waves are leaving me behind

The tide is pouring away

I don’t understand the birds

They swoop and dive and call but

I don’t understand

I envy you

I do not know how to fly

I do not want to swim

Oh how I wish I knew this

So I stand in the night

I stand in the moonlight and wish

That I was what I want to be

Find me cause I’m in a forest of trees too tall

I have echoes in my brain

I’m falling and I’m hanging on the edge of a cliff

Bird’s nests all around, baby birds live here

Think I’m gonna fall off

Oh how I tremble, oh how weak I am

I am jealous of jealousy

I drop the rope again and again

I wanna let go of the roots but they wrap around my wrists

Is this prison

Why do beams of sunlight glance into my eyes

Why am I seeing blind

I am at war inside

I feel my ribcage and I think it is cracking

Let it out, let it out

I wanna go and never come back

Oh, I wanna leave

I can’t figure it out

Unsettled feeling, tired eyes

Tired from watching my thoughts float by

I don’t know what’s wrong

Fog chases me and I cannot get away from it

I lie down and my thoughts won’t stop

Chasing around and around

I am sure something is wrong

What did I do, what did I say

Was it enough

What did I do, how did I end up here

I wanna be a bird

My dreams are reflections of insanity

I wake up cold and shivering

I pull the covers

There’s an island out there somewhere

I gotta find it in the fog

This isn’t right

I say all the wrong things

I don’t make sense

I pick feathers out of the sand

I imagine

It’s not enough

I always think I’ll scare you off

You wild, wild gentle creature of the sky

Again and again

Slipping away, drifting away on the sea

Hiding

This dream is swallowing me

I’m just trying to get out of this dream

I don’t want this surreal reality

Dreams don’t make sense

I don’t make sense

Feathers floating past, white

Suddenly I see butterflies

Fluttering around me

They're dancing

Is it a dream or is it real

I try to touch them

I feel so lost in vague unreality

This dream is endless

I am exhausted, I am melting into a cloud

Lend me your wings so I can fly out

Grab my hand

Hold tight so I can sleep