A Firefly Has Been Coming To Visit By The Window While I Lay In Bed Unable To Sleep

Winter comes to me As an old familiar friend Wrapping me up in its Dark nostalgia Its shadow arms holding Me gently in the day

Grey skies merge into White covered earth The blending of light Colors suddenly Fading into an Afternoon blackness

The cold is my comfort Its wind is a weathered Hand's gentle graze Slowly feeling my face Like winter is remembering What I feel like too

My impermanent lover Made out of snow I rolled him up Just the way I wanted Lumpy and imperfect

He was quiet and sturdy Such a stoic His embrace was cold And we both knew That this was a fling

A jealous squirrel Came and ate his nose Broke his arms Scrambled his face Kicked off his hat

I sat by my drooping Deformed man of ice For the snow had Been dripping and He refroze so crookedly

One day he fell down His heart melted How dramatic of him To die in a puddle As if it were romantic

The parishioners walk the oldest streets Late in the scornful, spectral night "Begone you devil spirits!" they cry "Protect us from their ancient blight!"

Dressed in robes of black and white The priest in front calling, praying Chanting like they are summoning ghosts Ironic, the wraiths are hiding, playing

"Begone you hateful, wicked things!" The churchgoers try to cleanse the town Where once they scorched their witches Now cackling, the terrified voices drown

Today is a gray day, endlessly cloudy One blanket across the sky The world is smaller now, with that barrier The haze shrouding the sun, the blue The earth is contained under the veil

Under the darkness of the clouds The sun does not beg for engagement We are pardoned of participation A nebula of clouds thrown over earth They say rest, you are allowed to

Ice covered ponds do not shimmer California poppies sleep in Beaches are spared their trodden sands Paint the sky gray and the world sighs Exhale, the day is small and so are we

I never owned you You lived a life beside me Our love was equal

Christmas to me is a quiet warmth Background music, spicy candles, My favorite blanket at home.

A comfortable kinship with family, A respite in celebrating alone.

I untangle with the string lights, A gentle glow I feel deep in my bones.

Christmas is a gift I unwrap slowly, With delicate hands and a softer tone, These silent nights are all my own.

Your lilted smile Put the tilt in my world I thank you for the seasons

Your sparkling mind Added the stars to my night Took wandering comets Gave them reasons

You spoke my name And my heart shifted The fire of my being gifted

You stayed a while Left your mark Engraved our passion The way we existed

She rolls over in bed An agonizing, exhausting effort So her face is resting On the corner of his pillow

It still smells like his Shampoo from last night's shower His familiar scent that lingers A lifetime of him on fabric

She doesn't know when it got dark But the wind is battering Against the small bedroom window Knocking, knocking, retreating

His side of the bed Has a deeper mattress imprint She feels she could fall into it And be a part of him again

She hears the front door open It's not his footsteps Her daughters climb in beside her And no one speaks or sleeps

I want to be somebody's songbird The same unclaimed way The earth is the galaxy's Or roots belong to the trees I long to be somebody's

I want to be somebody's songbird Create a new sound Compose our very own tune Whistle in the afternoon Singing come home to me soon

I want to be somebody's songbird A finch or a sparrow Even brown stands out in snow Under winter's dark I glow Somebody already knows

Writer, close the blinds on me I never asked to be your muse I feel on display, naked even You undress me, do you not?

Make your romantic art of me So long as I remain nameless If you find a beautiful bird in me Then paint me uncaged, as I am

You write your numerous pages Their edges are sharp and they cut Paper cuts, no one sees them So you do not see the whole of me

I hold you, your feelings are okay I would never stifle you, I promise But your words evoke a memory You immortalize me as I forget