barnacle

Never worried 'bout

brittle bones or

broken hips;

Just calicfy,

osteo-cement,

to boats and 

whales and

travel the world

while standing still,

unwavering, unmoving.

Never know their

adventure.

Yet, some stick to

docks and rocks

and settle in

idle stagnation,

Never knowing the 

difference. 

The illusion of 

solitude and limits,

ignorance of feeling,

bound by view

a vast ocean before

us both.

lemon rind

Don't lemon rind me:

Act like I'm so bitter 

and sour;

I must be diluted 

with your sweetness.

You are sugar,

You are water,

Praise be!

Don't Placade me

With words like

Zest.

I am not

Garnish,

Wedge, Debris,

Scraps,

of the lemon

You got

and had to make

Lemonade from.

Praise be!

look here missy

To be seen is

both a blessing

and a curse.

Invisible girls

never get hurt,

but never get

loved either.

to the eight year old boy I saw emotionally abused at the Chinese restaurant today

I offer up the sad, polite smile

adults so often do for kids,

That says "I see you pain,

but can't do anything." We

are bound by public decorum.

Like Oliver with his dirty face,

hands outstretched, please sir

I want some more. Some more

affection, more acknowledgement.

You lock sullen gaze with me.

But I'm just a downtrodden

child too, you see? I'm just like

you. Don't let my body fool you.

Next, I'm in the bathroom of the

resturaunt where we are eating

tables so close we feel each

others' pain and the tight throat,

hot tears and acidic waste I flush

out and away. I can't today and

probably not tomorrow.

I'm sorry, kid.

homestead

How many lemon trees do I need

to plant, the minimum number of

chickens and goats, and should

I plant carrots and tomatoes or

peppers, lettuce, and potatoes?

How big must I make the compost

pile, and do I need to be full organic?

Tell me the square footage of

the house I should buy or

should build, wall color, number

of windows, doors, rooms to

fill our lives together. I just

need to know what it takes

to make you mine.

living lie

Some lies are so pervasive that you actually own them. You believe it's your life, your personality, and summers in your soul. winters it migrates to your mind and it's all you think about. If you are quiet long enough, you may hear it festering in your gut. But mostly you never notice. It's so prevalent, you just don't see. No one tells you about the stench, because it's just part of you now. To change is to no longer be you so you just want lie. Do lies, say lies, breathe lies and on your grave we etch a lie in stone. If you ever become anything, the books are just lies. Even school children reading for history class, can smell the rotting lie.

fascinating you

My heart grows colder,

the crawlspace smaller

where I can keep my

feelings, deep away

from you.

To be screamed in

My chest, underneath

without noise to

fill our home.

Is it all in my head

make it all up,

just the dumb child

I fear I may be.

Or am I crazy instead,

to walk on tiptoes

centipede belly

to floor

scurry around

my life in the wall cracks

For what seems to be

For you.