blue jay

The one second I chose
to glance out the window
was the same second
you chose to land on the branch.

I immediately wonder
what meaning you bring,
what hidden message you carry,
what I’m destined to interpret.

You make me think of him.

Maybe
it was only coincidence.
A magnificent coincidence.

community mourning

A year has gone by
without you here.

The pain, the sorrow, the longing
feels as fresh today
as one year ago.

I sit in community
with all who knew and loved you
as we remember
your smile, passion, love;
I can hear your laughter
ringing out and through the first snow.

We mourn you.
We miss you.
We love you.

shatter the standards

I set standards high in the sky
so I can see them
but never touch them,
always a step or two beyond.
Highlighting the distance
between where I am
and where I should be.
Self-righteous, I feel,
to see them so high,
slightly out of reach.

Motivating,
and destructive.
If I stumble on one loose rock
then I slide all the way to the bottom
to start from the beginning
again.
No mercy.

Shatter those standards
into small, sharp shards
for when I shatter
from the pressure
and start to fall.

If I shatter,
then they should too.