sol mates

The sun kissed you
before I could
stole your lips
from the trails they

were meant to blaze
on my skin
to follow the
freckled pathways only you

know how to navigate
constellations on collarbones
ready for a
pair of explorers to

pave a new pathway
of bliss, setting
off explosions with
every torrid touch across
my sun-kissed skin

return

 when my heart

feels too big to hold

i return to the land

let my tears

water the ground

wind stroking my hair

in Mama's lap

birds calling me to

be still

be here

Gaia holds my 

anger and grief

she feels it too

all mothers do

Blank slate

I took your words as 

promises, as plans, 

but they were just possibilities 

—

April PAD Day 6 - a blank poem 

Exalted

You worship me as
your goddess
pray that I’ll save you 

kneel at my altar
until I 

fall from grace when your

prayers are not answered

my whole heart can't mend 

your broken one

cannot love away 

your loneliness 

only gaze

at your loveliness

as you used to see mine

Love is

Love is watching from afar
letting him struggle
because he has to learn himself

Love is taking the 3 a.m.
call because his
anxiety is spinning out and

dark thoughts are creeping in
Love is always
knowing that you'll pick up

the phone and never expecting
a thank you
because it will never come

And being OK with that

--
April PAD - Poetic Asides Day 21: love or anti-love

circulation

we're all just breath
breathing each-other

--
April PAD - Poetic Asides Day 19: 6 words

Carry on

He still visits me
in my dreams
loves me as if he

hadn't traversed an
ocean and
decided to leave

our baggage behind



--
April PAD - Poetic Asides Day 15: dream

Pool party

the sex was a lure
sure, it grew into love
but it never should have

we watered that love
with kisses and long distances
that became a pool of longing

a refreshing drink
for parched hearts

a place to splash and play
but rarely linger

we fed the pool
with tears when we parted
and missed the cool

escape we had created
looking for oases
in others instead

never inside ourselves
never where it could actually be found


--
April PAD - Poetic Asides Day 6: trap

Speed demons

The woman who drove saw
only hazy blurs.
Shapes, not faces.
Cars, not people.

The woman who ran saw
what she wanted.
Signs, not stores.
Next, not now.

The woman who walked saw
everything she passed.
Smiles, not bodies.
Gatherings, not crowds.

The woman who sat saw
all there was.
Service, not shops.
Love, not people.

--
April PAD - Poetic Asides Day 10: the blank who blank

Travelers

You were never
my North Star

but a fellow traveler
a cheerful companion

who held my hand
on a rocky path

who sang me songs
to pass the time

and kissed my cheeks
so sweetly

that I almost forgot
that your destination

was never the same
as my own

Communion

I worship at your
altar drunk
on our communion

---
April PAD Day 24 - faith

A little death

The death begins when
you simply
walk into the room

First, you steal my breath
Then my thoughts
and all my senses

The rigormortis
of anxious
anticipation

stiffens each muscle
as you walk
in my direction

You kiss my flushed cheek
and this world
all but disappears

---
April PAD Day 18 - life or death

Sirens

Baby let me
rest my head
in that sacred
hollow of chest

that you call
an unfortunate flaw
of fetal development,
cursing your mother

for her original
sin against you
but that I
find most sweet

where cheek on
skin is a
kiss goodnight and
muscle barely muffles

the buh-bump of
birthed betrayal beating
a siren song
that all who

are different recognize

Take off

At the beginning
there's a rumbling

a flutter
of excitement

as we run
hand in hand

toward some
unknown destination

where we will
both soar together

or soon
crash land

---
April PAD Day 27 - take off

Glass slipper

She hadn't realized when they
first met that
this glass slipper would shatter

---
April PAD Day 23 - footwear

Between us ...

I used to burn hot
kick off the covers at night
as I lay next to you

we would kiss and I'd
nuzzle into that sweet space on
your shoulder, press my cheek to

your chest and feel your
cool breath stick to my skin,
stick to the heat between us.

I used to burn hot
but without you next to me
there's just the cold space of

miles and memories between us.
.

---
April PAD Day 19 - cool or uncool

Last time I looked in the mirror

The last time I looked in the mirror
I saw my father's face
the double chin
the puffy cheeks
the bloated discontent

But the eyes are mine

They see the years of yelling
and trails of tears, but also
the determined jaw
the open heart
the penetrating mind

They see how the mirror lies


---
April PAD Day 13 - last (blank)

Outside time

there are these
moments when time
seems to slow

as if we
are outside of
it somehow, breathing

slowly, sitting outside
and just enjoying
the moment somehow

--

April PAD Day 14 - time out

Full-ish

I looked to you to
fill me up
instead of doing it myself

---
April PAD Day 1 - foolish

Love matters

He said he
loved her but that it
didn't really matter

She said she
loved him and he was
all that mattered


---

April PAD Day 2 - he said/she said