I descend into that pool
Unburdened by the shadow
Of the silver sister
Bathing in her light
Cast in the image
Of that elegant form
Made from fragile
Strips of bark
I once wrote all my
Dreams on, which now
Have taken flight
To birth their own

A word uttered
In seeming abstraction
An action committed
Through thoughts distraction
Becomes the flower sown
Down in that byway
An unassuming gift
That blooms the heart
Of one that broke
Through to that
Hallowed meadow
Furthering a path
Where only walls
Had once grown

Emerging from the forest of grey
My eyes seek shade to shelter
Radiant reflections cast from the
Sea of yellow

A monochromatic refugee
Once lost in recursive malaise
Now freed by the
Banks of blue

I once traveled
Along disparate winds
Now find my feet
Entrenched in a massaging mold
Mouth flowering open
To a smile
And become once again:
A child

unwrapped words
greet me in the morning
with fallen thoughts
that expose the buried
feelings, to the desperate
grave of lost reveries

I shudder from
the cold spray
of your departing mist
and cling to the
shadow of what
was lost

I scream
to push that bullet
with butterfly wings
through to release
unkempt dreams
that alight the interiors
of darkened hearts
granting a needed reprieve
to that forgotten child
lost and apart

I was bathed in what they called
Cleansing waters
Submerged a sinner, over and over
And then pulled surging forth
Clean, holy, and covered
By the blessings of the father

But this was not the path I chose
To be cursed by an ancient fault
Paying a debt I did not owe
And seeking to soothe the wrath
For supposed crimes committed to that
Which my memory has long omitted

I refuse to submit to the base belief
That I am destined to befall
And suffer the grief of divine writ
For lost in translation
Is that reveling revelation
Of freedom found in my unbound choice

For I have found faith
Not in that ancient way
For the old mystic's sake
But simply in me
And the path I lead

we dance
we sing
we caress the
    air with our bodies
letting flow
    what needs to express
letting go
    what holds us down

as the rhythm
sinks into our bones
we find the freedom we've
long sought
    long awaited

savoring every beat
    every bend of limb
taking in that
long awaited kiss
    as our lips make way
        to exhale all the
            love we never
                thought we'd share

I stand here paused peering out over
    this precipice of choice
Reveries of you singing through
    my ruptured veins
In chorus with the wind that calls
    me through the trees
Taking my hand to gently guide
    me further onward

No knowledge of what lies beyond
    this forward bend
Each step a defiant act of
    my own faith
Entreats my eyes to a new display
    of dynamic hues
The gentle earth growing forward
    meeting each new step
Trees bowing down in humble
    reverence to shade my path

Your lingering perfumed scent
    courses along my skin
Alighting my spine to the quickening
    of your growing presence
As I tread lightly forth unafraid of
   this unseen curve
Knowing in my soul the expedient truth
    that I will once again
Revel in the sight of your delighted eyes
   When I make my turn

Deranged mornings drank from the dreams
Of those possessed nights, pulling open
My eyes to find myself fleeing their
Proclivity to provoke distress within.

Hearts as black as the stitches that
Run across my veins, sewing up my blood
Barring their deep desiderate to hook
In their claws to draw forth my pith.

As I fall from listless feet, I feel
Their teeth sink in and separate my
Flesh from bone. With open veins
I spot the murder above, creating
Night from day, their eerie calls
Scattering the despondent dissidents.

Through my stupor I feel their beaks
Nestle my broken body into shape anew.
I awake again to the drawing sun and
Their renewing assault, but as they
Drew close in, my soul burst forth
Filling the new formation to beat back
Their wailing and gnashing; lifting me
Up to join the darkness that encircles
The sky to beat back their garish dawn.