I saw
saw
saw
said he

I caw
caw
caw
said she

they intertwined
the lie inside their minds

I saw
saw
saw
said she

I caw
caw
caw
said he

the start and end unraveled
truth turned into gravel

I caw
caw
caw
said she

I saw
saw
saw
said he

foundations began to shake
illusions revealed the mistakes

I caw
caw
caw
said he

I saw
saw
saw
said she

they both became confused
after being thoroughly used

indulgence you won’t let
towards words unspent

you cherish and regret
the skin you won’t forget

whose lips you’ve never met
stalls your pride into debt

Written 2/25/19

you said silently

to the wind 

morning break

I will rescind 

light weaved

through fabric

performing 

silhouette tricks

then the sun

streamed inside

and shadows

could not hide

you left me 

straws for bones

I no longer

know my own

where flesh

pressed against

I retraced

night’s expense

you remain

in amber’s lie

a recollection

coy and shy

(Written 2/28/19)

brick by brick
cemented friction
red stares in the 
layers of clay

say what you say
careful addiction
meshed between 
assembled purpose

names and names
sidewalk etches
destiny instilled by
wistful grooves

choice from choices
youthful edifice
permanently hoisted
immortalizing life lessons

yes these wolves
cannot blow you down
but how now will you
get out?

the road within
to the home I know
withers thin 
on love alone

fluttering thoughts
wears out the soul
and wisdom sought
burns out the whole

grievances heal
upon the road
passion then reels
to seek and unload

peace imparts
upon the path
repenting hearts
who wielded wrath

it tames the weed
that longingly spill
nurtured by greed
and shallow will

faith employs fate
to find and peruse
and then dissipate
the pitiful ruse 

though that road 
seems to go on 
diligence bodes
a blessed dawn

knit it from time
words strung
around a needle
f o c u s

caress it into 
grooves till it 
writes itself out
f e e l

warring syllables 
smithing soot
from sunder
f o r g i v e

those pointed thoughts
that shiver into ink
let it spill
f a l l

f o r g e t   t h e t h o u g h t s
b u t   n o t   t h e  w o r d s

(Written 6/13/19)

Afterthoughts
I settled for
so afterthoughts 
I chased

Afterthoughts
I could only offer
so afterthoughts 
I became

After thinking
for way too long 
I finally moved
into the now

“No more 
afterthoughts,”
I thought, “new
pathways I’ll create.”

(Excerpt from “March On” written in May 2019)

bright eyed
and shimmery
as are those 
who are twenty

but the world
molds monsters
at that age through
minuscule details

and who were we 
but half formed 
children singing 
summer songs 

bearing wounds
but still whole
enough to know
our inner cores

right until the 
the storms of life
rained decent
amounts of mistakes

without guidance
we were left alone 
holding hands 
in a dark forest 

how was it that
I was old enough
but not wise enough 
to heed the signs

misunderstanding 
that the words
were masks to a
specific chaos inside 

tricky yes but not
yet dangerous for 
we youths are only
epitomized promises 

but still I, a child,
started drowning 
from the threats 
I couldn’t perceive 

I did not notice 
your breadcrumbs 
substituting roses
were quiet pleas 

what if then 
I was older
I would have 
done something

because the  
trees were falling 
but it felt as though
only I could hear

(Excerpt from “March On” written in May 2019)

runaway kite
where now 
do you go

mountain homes
hug clouds
but restrain

forest jails
fish birds
but nurture

meadow stations
speak clarity,
come home

(Excerpt from “March On” written on 6/7/19)

when I think of words,
I think of chains 

even sentences
formed from measly 
small talk can
push indefinite weight 
upon the soul 

the words within
throwaway comments
can link up into a 
daisy-chain of 
steeled emotions 

when I feel the words
from others that
threaten to 
weigh me down

I want to grapple
their phonetic discord
and break it apart
with either my pen 
or with my silence

(Excerpt from “March On” 3/30/19)