clear blue

I could cloud the sky with
the wishes my heart holds
That is not how
I would change this day
but ask this breeze
to tickle you like me
and in this moment
smile to smile
join us

baseball

The ball flew with singular purpose
kissed
the rough brick
wall
lost some
leather
its skin now
abraded
softened and
broken
opened itself
and tried to
hold on…
But was mechanically pushed away

One

Deep breath
drawn slowly
feeling the chill
feeling the light
feeling myself
projected into the darkness
reaching and hoping
to somehow become
one with this place
this silly broken boy
who isn't even
one in himself

Suddenly

The moon appeared
Like the sudden smile of
a child just learning
some marvelous trick.
With a sharp inhale
I echo her surprise

Reflection

The smile
playing across my face
or sparkling in my eyes
is probably a reflection of
your smile,
a laugh we shared,
a stolen glance,
a brief touch

Cat's Paw

As I lay in my somnolent life
finding peace in the rhythm
of my slow and steady breath,
finding unity in the dappled light
filtered through eyes
reticent to open all the way,
the world, like a hungry cat,
insistently paws at my nose
demanding my attention
with just enough claw
to let me know that it is serious

Cold Hands, Warm Heart

My fingers are freezing despite
the searing hot blood
pumping through them

The cut steel
sharp against my skin
suddenly promises to bring that warmth out
even though it isn’t sharp enough
even though I never asked
even though I won’t invite it
to join me, to rend me, to open me
because I am already far too open
far too broken
too far gone

Damaged

Sometimes I feel
very conspicuous
sure that everyone can see
the places where I am broken
just how damaged I am

Sometimes I think
people don’t see me at all
or, like I so often do,
see only what they want from me
or wish they could avoid

Sometimes I realize
that the people around me
are a lot more like me,
broken and scared and lonely
than I am quite comfortable with

But at least in those moments
I can get lost in the act
of ministering to them

But only when I
can step outside of myself
long enough to see
how broken they are,
to see past what I want from them
or wish I could avoid in them

Which isn’t easy
when you feel very conspicuous
sure that everyone can see
just how damaged you are