the softness of spring

Banging on a long-lost drum

The breath, the air

The way I still feel nothing there

Hello—

Tell me now, where did I go?

Who's this face I hardly know?

The skin that pulls, the sting inside

I really wish I would have tried

Too late

I left me there too long to wait

Now I know, I see my fate

There's a panic woven in

Where the music comes leaking out

Sunlight filters through

A violet bruise pushed upon

Petals crush against my skin

Breath in withered lungs—

Somehow, inside blood and sun

On the mantle, leaving clues

I saw your thumbprint by the bed

Found a quote that you once said

There the yellow, there the blue

Here the beauty I once knew

In a hug, a ray of light

In a raindrop's soft delight

There a wink, here a smile

Here a joke that's just your style

In the sky, here down below

I still feel your summer glow

Sometimes smiles, sometimes fears

Sometimes laughter through the tears

But there is never true despair

Than something that you'll see for

One day we will talk

About the bright angels

That danced in the sky

In reverent tones

With the ache of disbelief

And our quiet wonder

We'll eat our regrets

'Neath an unforgiving sun

The candlelight is waning

Evening sputters out

Making the best of what's left

Midnight leaves another bruise

I'll sink into clouds

The pink wash of this starlight

The soft hands of sleep

Somewhere the shape of a dream

Sharp, starving electric teeth

Gobble up the land

The moneymakers

Sing of capital's praises

& poison remains

A garden, dying

The scarred ruins of a dream

This putting down roots

Defies logic when

The tree is poisoned

When the blossoms are

Withered, when the rain forgets

Tumble upon my dishes

This whispered whimsy

A mosaic of mundane

I follow with starving eyes—

I've come to despise

This chasm I cannot fill

Like roses and champagne

A sunset, star-soaked honey bliss

Devoid of any pain

I pressed the lovely sweet pea

Made wishes in the night

The dandelions soared with me

The tiny seeds took flight

I drank till I was sated

And then I drank some more

Until the fear had faded

Until I lost the shore

But surely in the morning

Inside the coldest light

The day became a warning

& I was sick with fright

The magic still lingers

It whispers in the trees

Golden webs between my fingers

Oh, divinity

Roseate angels drifting

This generous sky

I am swimming in feathers

Is fleeting, painted sunlight

The colors whisper

Ash and shadow blot the sky

Whetted appetites, listless

Mercury's lashing

Small mercies, lotus plates gleam

Gentle wings of light

Tucking rays into pockets

For winter's safekeeping

Something sacred still remains

In a sky's soft summer dress

Her amethyst shrug

With sticky strawberry smiles