Footsteps slow down
heel to toe motion
toes connect one by one with the ground
sensations traveling back to my brain
this is how it feels to walk slow
walk with intention and grace
tension releases
calm expands.
Remember.
I live my life through the words I write
Footsteps slow down
heel to toe motion
toes connect one by one with the ground
sensations traveling back to my brain
this is how it feels to walk slow
walk with intention and grace
tension releases
calm expands.
Remember.
Maybe I was looking at the wrong one
all along.
Were you there, in the background,
waiting for me to realize
and see?
I think I see it now.
I think I see you now,
at last.
Coming out the other side
of the tunnel, long and dark,
where I can feel the sun again.
Not completely through,
but further along than yesterday
and the day before.
Keep chasing the sun
until I can plant both feet
and leave a shadow behind.
All happiness is gone,
sucked and drained out of me
by a baster
that feels small, but powerful.
I see it transfer all it took from me
and walk far away into the distance
to somewhere and someone else.
I am left here,
this hollow, void shell of a body
with nothing inside.
I see other people
who have fought off these basters
or never encountered them at all,
and don’t want to be near them
for when comparisons start
and I pretend to be full like them
the void magnifies,
and engulfs me.
It engulfs me.
Opportunity made to reconnect
amongst the fresh, new air
remnants of past frozen water
melting from the heat
of our shoes and paws
and the courageous sun
building warmth once again.
People come and they go
at the tables next to us.
Young, old, male, female,
I could offer only simple descriptions
when my focus is you.
A reunion of sorts
with chances for real conversation
months in the making.
The hours pass
and tables turn over
until no one but us is here.
Time is never enough
until it has to be.
Finally here and ready to see you
better late than never,
the air fills with chatter and laughter.
This is what I have been missing.
Skies and snow
must also feel this warmth and love,
sticking, layering, to the world outside
like I wish to do here,
in your home.
Stick and stay.
Fighting against the disappearing sun
to stay longer, keep the moment alive,
come departures
too soon.
Will I feel those same feelings
I felt the last time
if I were to see you again?
If I will,
does that mean
I should never see you again?
Imagine
the power to be harnessed
if a person took
the same love and acceptance
unconditionally given to others
and gave it to themselves.
Quiet out there,
matched by the quiet in here.
Cold and snow pushing life to slow down
so we do,
inside, staying close and warm
and quiet.
She is mourning,
her body changing from fire to snow,
wind to desert to floods.
Be gentle now.
Gentle and quiet.