#writteninjoy2

It's my birthday and it's just me with the mirrors.

I used to have

rivers of mirrors gushing forth

Now the old poetry deceives

like, was, were, had been, no longer.

water, waves, want

never the same twice.

interrupted in thought

flashes, fading, slipping, disappearing

around the bend

Gone.

Out with the tide

damp sand shimmers

glimpses of my image

reflected now only

in the words of others.

"What if your self’s a flame the cosmos made?"

No name, no crown, just shadow’s dare, A stage beneath the open air. You, with ink-stained hands, take heed, That pulse inside, that restless need— Not yours alone, though yours it seems, A thread of light from deeper dreams. It hums in quiet, roars in flight, A shard of dawn that splits the night. Words unbid, they claw, they climb, A rhythm born of endless time. What spills from you, half-wrought, half-free, Might echo past eternity— A breath not yours, a voice divine, Caught in the net of every line. So pause, you weaver of the verse, This gift’s no burden, nor a curse. The stage is yours, the spark is true, the fabric of life whispers—will you whisper too?

And can feel the longing for them on my skin,

The ghosts of their sites behind my eyes,

Each one’s air caught deep in my throat.

Everyday I’m reminded of how I must go

Where my feet haven’t traveled,

But to the places my heart surely knows.

I don't know how

The world expects

To keep spinning

Without you

In my life.

You were there

To wrap me up

And sing me to sleep

And by my side

Within arm's reach

When I woke up.

You've been there

To help me along

Through the hardest

Tragedies

And to celebrate

Every pleasantry.

You've always been there.

You were there for me

When my dad had his stroke

And I couldn't make it

To the hospital.

You sat with me

For six hours

Coaxing me through

My snot bubbles and sobs.

You've always been there

Through every break-up

And every job offer

Through every death

You've been in my life.

Without you

I have no identity

And no inkling

At who I might be.

You've guided my path

And shown me

How to trudge through

The ugliness

Of the world.

What would I do

My beautiful friend @soulreserve challenged me to provide a Top 10 list of current favorite songs. So after some thought, here’s my list, in, I must emphasize, no particular order:

1. My Cadillac- Michael Juan Nunez

2. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - Melissa Lambert

3. Homegrown - Erica Falls

4. My Indian Red - Dr. John

5. Angel - Sarah McLachlan

6. Repent - SHeDaisy

7. Some Days You Gotta Dance - Dixie Chicks

8. 枯荣 (Fu1wing4 [Cantonese] / Kūróng [Mandarin] ~~= “Ups & Downs”) - Sandy Lam

9. Aganjú - Bebel Gilberto

10. Bad Girls - Donna Summer (‘cause it’s s/Summer in the northern hemisphere)

BONUS TRACK: Dance Fantasy Inspired by Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Montana