Isolated Paradise

Kept in a bottle filled with stories untold.

What a dark bitter thing

To see the pain of others

To carry it it until it becomes your own

Until it destroys you

Eats you from the inside out like a parasite

And the funny thing is

It spreads like disease

You think that in taking it upon yourself

You can cure someone else

But no matter how much love you give

The rot will sit

The ache exists

And now it overtakes you too

When you stop and finally realize

There's nothing you can do

But somewhere there is light

Hope burning bright

It illuminates the gloom

Drives the shadows from every room

And you'll find just like the parasite

There is nothing you can do

When light comes flooding in the room

It can't be held back by any force

Can't fall off course

When daylight pierces through

There is nothing you can do

But stand in awe as every flaw

And every shadow

Every ache

Of darkness breaks

In the fisted hand

Of the one

Who shines like the sun

And it can never be stopped

Never be undone

On a starless Mid-February night The moon is diffused in the softest foggy shade Still it shines so bright Gently illuminating A pale cool glow

The best place in the world is here and now Lying by your side Bathed in moonlight Cradled in the embrace Of the warmest blankets Hearing your breathing Feeling you shifting in your sleep

I look out the window and marvel in the beauty of the universe

There is a holy silence Held in the stoic stances of the trees Oaths kept in silence Still lingering in the atmosphere

How I yearn to know what the world would say Could it speak

I want to hear your voice In a wind that isn’t there Hanging in the stillness of the air

To see you In the quiet scene Understand you In vast fields of snow covered wilderness

In the way that a blind man’s eyes are his hands I want to see you Understand you Know you

In the sounds and the silences of nature And be found Completely lost.

-I.P.

The overcast sky

A sun-bleached black and white picture

Casts shadows deep and aching

A melancholy fog

Weighs dense and heavy on my chest

Sucking air from my lungs

Like smog laden streets in the city

There is a silence so complete

Even the ringing in my ears is muted

There is a cold so bitter

Penetrating the marrow in my bones

In the hush of these deserted and dilapidated ruins

Stale air still and silent as stone

I am but a shadow of a man

Forgotten long ago

Passing unnoticed

Through bustling streets and empty wilderness It makes no difference where I go

My passive lead heart

Burdened with drifts of snow

This world is not my home

I’m looking for some solitude A place where I can rest I’m looking for a happy home A quiet cozy nest

I’m looking for soft golden light That’s easy on tired eyes Searching for silk spun sheets And weightless pillows soft as the skies

She is dazzled with the stars Thoughts roaming so far as Mars And I’d give a thousand pennies over Just to hear what’s on her mind

She worships the brisk breeze Forceful enough to toss the seas And I’d give a thousand calm days over Just to see her relish in the splendor of a storm

She loves with all her might Every ounce of her soul does what suits her right And I’d give a thousand years of my life Just to be in her presence mere minutes over

I remember all the days I made memories with you When mornings were nippy And mom made me wear undershirts When the cold gave us dragon’s breath As we walked to the bus.

I remember making handprint pyramids with you On the fog frosted windows of the bus Singing silly songs About frogs on speckled logs (You said I always got that part wrong) But I liked making you laugh I remember when you excitedly showed me your marvelous invention The scratch and sniff crayon/marker combination We scratched and sniffed your hot air balloon artwork The whole ride home I remember reading those cute school library books together About the hedgehog in a hat

I remember the silly fights The childhood drama When your friend and I didn’t want to play the same game you did When you and her later created a club that you needed the right kind of shoes to join (And I didn’t have a pair) When you befriended a 10 yr old even though we were still in kindergarten And you’d sit in the very back and play with her But I wasn’t allowed because she didn’t like me

I remember nickelodeon in the afternoon at your grandma’s house Where there was always fresh squeezed lemonade and PB&J’s Your favorite stuffed bunny named “favorite” When the computer always took an hour to “Boot up” So we’d play with Barbies while we waited Or make up songs and dance performances

I remember going to your house maybe twice Playing with your cool Polly pockets with the mix and match hairdo pieces Meeting your little black and white bunny (Funny how I can remember so much, yet forget his name..) We watched Lady And The Tramp in your bedroom before having to go back home

Or the time you had a birthday party there And there was decorative writing on the windows I was fascinated, and a little jealous because we weren’t allowed to use window markers at my house I remember having corn dogs because it was your birthday and they were your favorite But I didn’t like them and peeled the bun off I remember you thought chasing your big 12 yr old cousin with your little mob of friends was the greatest birthday pastime. But I felt bad for him so I finally mustered up the courage to block your path and refused to move when you asked me

I remember that fateful day (When you’re so young such days are very fateful) When I sat in the barbershop downtown Playing with a basket of toys while mom got her hair trimmed When your grandma walked in the door Bell ringing as she came And I remember her telling me you had moved away

I remember all the days I made memories with you And sometimes It surprises me how much I remember It’s so weird to think Of all the things we did together When I don’t know you anymore And never saw or heard from you since

Sometimes I wonder if you’d remember as much as I do If I meant as much to you as you did to me back then Being the shy kid makes you wonder If others value you in the same way

She is the ebbing and rising of the tides Drawing near Running away

Pulling you in Grain by grain Tearing particles apart As she grasps Only to push them back away

You will never be the same

Some pieces have been drawn out to sea Never to return Some pieces have been pushed ashore Too far from reach

Left to suffocate in all this oxygen How ironic it is How unfortunate To be the one breathing underwater Only to find yourself thrust upon land

How unfortunate it is To be born of the depths of her bosom Only to be rejected by her hand