II

It's like an itch I can't scratch,
Right between my eyes.
I can feel the solution hiding,
barely concealed under my skin.

And So the Universe Fell Down Around Me

Yesterday, in the serenity of snow,
I lay in the sled and stared up at the sky.
Crisp cool flakes fell down around me,
sent from the collective comfort of the grey sky.
Time stood still, and I knew it could last forever.

It felt like the universe was falling down around me.

Today, the pain in his eyes,
in his voice, in his sob.
I never thought that words could hurt me so much again.
Rummaging in the pantry later I found a can of yams.
I sat there on the floor and cried again.

It felt like the universe was falling down around me.

Long, Long, Long

I stood there alone, in the empty bathtub
And I felt the words drift over me
like the water running down my skin,
chasing each other down the walls,
running rivulets down the glass--

"Long, long, long."

Music I'd never heard before,
The words were so new but familiar,
Embedded in the very flesh of my being,
Idly pumping through my veins,
Inciting me to hit the wall,
and slide down
and close my eyes
as the song invaded my soul.

And so I sat there alone, in the empty bathtub,
while the song grew to a crescendo around me,
and I heard his drawn-out, last-breath word,
A long long.
In the dying echoes I heard a bug buzzing
All too near for comfort,
and I struggled to open my eyes.

As the next song began the spell was broken,
and I stood up and dried myself,
and I walked out.

I Am Concerned

I am concerned,
for though the night has grown so old
that the day is growing young,
there still remains the stubborn darkness
outside my blinded window.

And though the clock has chimed the hour
where I'm safe from all my demons
I still bite my tongue and
still I wonder if this darkness
has not decided to stay.

A Fire in my Chest

I have the urge to strip my clothes off,
and leave them in a pile by the door.
Feet padding, I want to slip outdoors
and raise my hands up to the stars,
feel the cold rain upon my skin,
feel the goosebumps rise again.

I have the urge to close my eyes and cry,
let the warm tears run down my face
and mingle joyfully with the raindrops.
Mournful sky and I, we cry together
Until I turn around and peer inside
and see my family turn and hide.

Luck, Be A Lady

How bittersweet the moments
'tween our first breath and our last--
The smallest thorn a hole can rent,
release unwant'd ghosts of past.

For once your mind has wrapped around
the thought of something greater,
the world always comes crashing down--
you cannot help but hate Her.

The songs we sing, the joy we bring
is invariably fleeting
no matter who or what you are
it's Death you will be meeting.

Clasp hands but for a moment,
if you find love, don't let it go.
The smallest thorn a hole can rent--
what would have happened you can never know.

A Fallen Knight

"I cannot dream," I told him,
and I sighed with glum acceptance.
But he goaded me and prodded me
And finally, relentless,

He convinced me to attempt a dream,
a thing of flight and fancy--
Instead a clever coded vision
was what the gods had sent me.

The lights came up,
the sound, abrupt,
burst into the air.
All around me cheers and cries
came clashing, crashing loud and clear.

I saw two knights
(themselves a sight:
one silver, one was bronze)
armor gleaming, 'stride their horses
valiant on the lawn.

I stood upon
that em'rald lawn
content with just spectating,
until I realized I was the prize
the knights were gaining.

I saw each draw
and flashing, fall
his sword upon the other.
And in my heart I felt remorse
for tearing 'part two brothers.

The silver knight,
he took the fight,
delivered a final blow.
He stood and gazed at his brother coldly,
then turned to me, aglow.

Too late he saw
I slack'd my jaw
and turned from him in horror.
His eyes grew wide; he knelt and cried
beside his fallen brother.

It mattered not
which knight had fought
and prevailed o'er the other.
My love was not something to be won;
it already belonged to another.

A golden girl--
she was my world.
And love her so I did.
But a treacherous fox with umber locks
came and stole her; so I hid

away from my pain
and with nothing to gain
I awoke to find I was crying.
And in the quiet darkness I knew that
dreaming is like dying.