Morning Portrait

monday december 18, 2023

only the monkey has stuck with me

over all these miles,

and ma's kind voice on the other end of the line,

everyone else

was tossed by the waves

sunday december 17, 2023

telling fewer stories these days,

whispering fewer words,

but gratitude, love,

and the absorption of the senses

saturday december 16, 2023

i used to wear shame like hidden lingerie,

now it coils around my neck like a crimson scarf,

waiting for the right velocity of wind to send it sailing to the horizon,

friday december 15, 2023

used to say things like

as if words could ever alter

when it was very words themselves

thursday december 14, 2024

did we ever light a candle

for those taken at the exact right time?

did we pray for all of what we have,

and the balance there within?

and did we close our eyes

to see the light behind our lids

wednesday december 13, 2023

people with whom we are connected

play a pivotal role

in how those connections steep and strengthen

deep within our soul

for never can we know the other

deeper than our selves

so taking breaths to notice the curious

tuesday december 12, 2023

fade in on daniel

daniel the preacher

preaching how we got to grow

daniel has faith now

faith in his teachings

faith that the people will know

cut to their faces

once empty spaces

filling the fields below

daniel knows his part

just not where to start

amending the chaos and woe...

your world never went away

it's right below you

so why don't you

stay a while and i will listen

to your words and your soul

oh this isn't over, teacher

not it's never the end,

monday december 11, 2023

if i took all my energy

and denied them access

i wonder

sunday december 10, 2023

came with the intention of growing,

and every step felt the pain

knowing somehow i would look back and again

saturday december 9, 2023

peaceful days feel like progress days,

all the strings that tore within me

begin to stitch themselves together again,

forming a new, larger tapestry,

and if it's peaceful enough,

friday december 8, 2023

shame in me is iron in my blood,

slowing the flow with its density,

shame covers me like a white sheet,

thursday december 7, 2023

it doesn't get easier but

you

get

wednesday december 6, 2023

when nothing comes of my life i'll know

there was no pattern unheard by the universe,

the ripples continue forever,

i swam naked through them all,

tuesday december 5, 2023

the rituals i repeat create my life,

the sounds i hear create my reality,

monday december 4, 2023

my thoughts circle uselessness,

how did i get here?

and why would in the universe would my soul choose to incarnate here and now?

imprisoned in my own personality,

desperate for change

but creating the same patterns

consciously

over and over again,

sunday, december 3, 2023

if you'd like to boil my water,

you first must bring me tea,

and hold to my lips it's bitter branches,

to waft in midnight air,

meet me at the depths in there,

where senses sink into the zero,

and smell becomes reality,

and you are i are one,

only then will i steam and steep

saturday, december 2, 2023

if i was a tree

my branches would weep

yellows and reds to the wettened soil,

my neighbors would watch, their piny needles feigning vitality,

hoarding their green,

but at the least we'd share this wind,

and grow up twisting together,

the sun would be pa,

the earth would be ma,