A Prayer Among These Poems

keep his heart beating
i'm a small force under your superior voice
keep his mind churning
i'm a helpless child on her knees in your protective arms
keep his soul on the ground away from the stars

i'm a believer in what you've shown me
i may stumble and i may fall for the foolish
but you're who i'm always led back to
my soul needs what you've given me
he's stationed in my heart
you're a part of my heart

i'll always pray to you
when my eyes are blind,
in the middle of the night
when my heart is fatigued,
my tears running away from their prison
when i'm low and when i'm high
you're all i need

keep me,
amen

The Earth

our gift...
our home under heaven
our home in God's hands
our home in the angel's care

our sanctuary
playground
paradise
camp
reserve
textbook
hospital
scrapbook
safe place
war zone
wonder
keepsake
origin
amusement park
birthplace
church
fountain
protection
inspiration
muse
canvas
resource

our
past
present
and
future

For the Malnourished Heart

i don't know any of your names
too sad to ask
too sad to get to know you
or you
i hate to have you settle
with being a stranger
to my eyes, to my heart
a heart that has no more room
for love or friendship

it won't hold love anymore
it hates the taste
having lived without it for so long
a malnourished heart
it hates the taste
so feed it love
and it'll spit it back out
in your face

what does a human, like me or you
turn to
when love is out of all the questions?

He created us with love in mind
love should have a place
in all of our hearts
but what happens
when it doesn't?

The Son of Divorce

the pain only dulls in my heart
for a few tired weeks
and then it festers, break-heartingly again
giving birth to fresh wounds

i'm clueless when up against a power
when the pain attacks
it enjoys itself
i'm an easy target

but when you're the strength i feel
that surges through my nerves
i am the victor
the pain dulls to a nothing

a nothing, vulnerable, defeated
a coward is the son of divorce

The Moon Never Sets

my only companion
is the space heater
that oscillates
in its corner by the outlet

the lamp by the television
proudly wears a crooked lamp shade

the bottle of Pepsi
at my feet is loyal
and fuel to last me 'til 6:15 a.m.
on a school night

(the pencil is each vein)

i'm a single heart
beside the voices of each verse
that breaks free of the speakers

my eyelids gain weight
as we sail into the depth of the night
twilight slipped into the trance of slumber
hours ago
and midnight is diving deeper into rest
as each song becomes a lullaby

the night whispers revolutions
that day could never fathom
the night is real and never sugarcoats the epiphanies
it grants you

(the words are my blood)

(the paper is my heart)

The Poet in the Classroom

every moment that gets by you
is analyzed by the poet in the classroom
she yanks them out of the empty sea
and mentally gives each one their poetic self
praying the moments won't wander into the woods
or step out onto the street
until she makes it home to compose their cohesive reflections
tracing the epiphanies of the moments

once each one is retold and justified
she opens her mind
and sets the treasured moments free
watching the wonders wander for a bit
until they're lost in the horizon

she sighs
she's satisfied
the words are hers
i am the poet in the classroom

Darling (april 6th, 2010)

We're under the clouds
Beside summer's homecoming
And the seawater kisses the rocks
Each wave at a time

Not even the morning sky
Can compare to the smile in your eyes
Not even the comfort of June's sand
Can compare to the comfort of your hand in mine

The breeze whispers like background music
Calling us from the radio
Your words turn to lyrics
And embellish my ears with seashells

For a moment my eyes linger
On the pair of footprints
You and I have signed in the sand
And I'm as sure as the sun when I say I love you

Taboo (april 15th, 2010)

Intricate webs clad in layers of lace
Each foolishly crowds itself in the corners
Waiting for a brave soul to steal from

Creative predators stalk their options
With the intent to keep an undefeated record
Of successes by successing its prey

Alluring interlopers born from the fibers of deception
Hunt behind closed doors
Earning every link that'll form a chain

Greedy shadows kneel in backyards
Cowardly as ever; dressed in advantage
Who strikes only while backs are turned

Sometimes (april 25th, 2010)

Sometimes,
I think of you as a scar
Engraved forever on my heart

Sometimes,
I think of you as the sky
A void, holding all my trains of thought

I think of you as the morning breeze
Going unoticed until the second you sneak up on me

Sometimes I think of you as love
And sometmes I think of you as hate

You're All the World I Need (april 15th, 2010)

I know that I don't mean that much
To the world
But you mean the world to me
More than the world to me

More than. . .

The song of the bluebird
That holds each morning
Beside my open ears

The savory taste of sugar
Sending a wave of sweet nothings
Along my tongue

The little things in life
We perserve in shoeboxes
Decorated by every moment worth remembering

You mean the world to me
And a thousand worlds more
You're my portrait of love
Which hangs on a wall
In every house of my heart

The world doesn't mean that much to me
Because you're all the world to me

5 Wishes

One: I wish you could wait for me

Two: I wish you thought about me,

So you could wait for me

Three: I wish I meant something to you,

So you could think about me,

So you could wait for me

Four: I wish you loved me as much as I love you,

So I could mean something to you,

So you could think about me,

So you could wait for me

Five: I wish you knew how much I love you,

So you could love me as much as I love you,

So I could mean something to you,

So you could think about me,

So you could wait for me

Angels

I get so tired of tears

They come at all the wrong times

Pooling over the moment

And traveling farther

Than I had ever intended them to

I don't want these tears to be

Because of you

I wish your eyes could change my mind

I wish you had the words

 To make it all transpire to another life

Take the tears and wipe them from the moment

Give them wings
To touch the stars
Maybe they'll join the night sky
And watch over me

Show me what I'm not seeing
Show me what the tears have made me miss

Unconditional Love

I would save you

If God gave me the situation

I would die for you

If there was only room for one of us

Your life means more to me than my own

Because my life is nothing without your's...

I would slip away

For your recovery

I would sacrifice my heart

For your closure

I would reduce my meaning

For your happiness

I would frown

To see you smile

I would cry

To hear you laugh

I would stop my life

To watch you live your's

But I could never stop loving you

Even if you asked me to

For When Giving Up Sounds Nice

Life seems to be getting harder

but what else was I expecting?

I could walk around indifferent

but the hardest part is accepting

I'd rather not deny the truth

I'll face whatever's in the way

What doesn't kill me only makes me stronger

A quote to live by every single day

Life will get harder the longer I live it

but I'll find happiness as long as I give it

The struggles that I find can't hold me for long

and if I follow what I know is right I can never end up wrong

The chances I take might get the best of me but I know who I am

If I can fall I can find the strength to stand

Life can be hard, I expect it to get harder

If I endure every struggle I expect to get farther

Yes, I will cry in my room some nights feeling defeated

and yes, sometimes I might feel betrayed, left out, or cheated

I believe I'll just have to tough that all out and see where it takes me

I'll live life to the fullest and become what it makes me

A Pair Laying In Love

I'm yours forever

I'll always be there

Spend summers together

Laying in ocean's air

You're mine forever

You'll always be there

Spend winters together

Laying in the beauty of branches bare

I'm yours forever

I'll always be there

Spend springtimes together

Laying in blossoms; each other's hearts we wear

You're mine forever

You'll always be there

Spend autumns together

Laying in fresh-fallen leaves

Your face in my hair

Lessons

I need to learn

To speak what hinders

The houses of my heart

With poise

And a composure

That I know the world would
Listen to

I need to tame
The emotions that accumulate
on my adolescent tongue
Thet get angry fast
They cry fast
And crash on the shore
Like waves of saltwater tears

I can take these emotions
And learn to hold them gracefully
I can take these emotions
And tame them so they show beauty
I can take these emotions
And collect them in buckets
Recording what they say to me
On paper

Please

Catch the dreams

That cross my eyes

Steal the tears

That weigh pure lead

Speak the words

So terrified children aren't forced

To scream them

Spin the wheels

So fast the spokes rust

With every second so short

Erase all the errors

That have left loved ones alone

Get rid of the ghosts

That fatigue my friendships

Stop Satan from tripping up my feet

Strap him in chains

Away from the blessed and unwanted

Hang the struggles upside down

So they spill all over the floor

Tattoo my poetry

With your approval

Attach me to your memory

Run Away With Me

Despite the emotions

That won't settle

Among the ashes

Take my hand

And lead me to

Where you want to

Take me under the stars

Under Orion's Belt

So we can share conversations

With the galaxies

That watch over us yet laugh behind our backs

Take me among the trees

Intertwine me with all the secrets

That the willows keep

And the leaves conceal

Take me to a desert

Over and under the ribbons of sand

Let our laughs ring for barren miles

As they blow in the wind

Take me to your heart

We can live there together

Forever

Annoyance

My eyes burn

From rubbing them

With dirty palms

And contaminated fingers

From the bright light

That seems to seep in

From every empty corner

My eyelids feel heavy

Carrying all of these dark lashes

That work day and night

My glasses

Slide down my nose

Until they halt at the tip

Without a saddle

They refuse to stay put

My ears are annoyed

By obnoxious audible colored pencil strokes

That enter my ears from three feet away

A 6 year old produces art

Annoyance has conquered

For now

Joi (i.e. my first sister; pronounced Joy)

You carry

The singing voice of an angel

You sing like heaven

Is right before your eyes

Your soul is the song

That you've written

It arranges itself so beautifully

The notes tap on your shoulder

And whisper melodies in your ears

Let angels carry your song

On their wings

To every ear that will listen

Don't ever doubt that they will