Quiet. There Is Only Quiet. I Speak Without Moving My Lips, Without Clearing My Throat. This Voice Belongs

I speak to you inside my mind My inner world a sanctuary A holy place just for myself I would have you sit here with me

Watch the water as it flows My river of thoughts and words Walk with me through wet grass Full of insects and hunting birds

Do you feel safe here with me? There's a soft and misty glow In the sunrise of my imagination I hope you feel at home

I am not embarrassed or afraid I am messy and flawed and bare In a open field of chamomile flowers I am myself with you and that's rare

Maybe I laugh a little too much Like a part of me is ashamed But I opened this world to you Our fears laid out to be reclaimed

I feel you move inside my head Move me with all that you are You're as real as anything we feel As the light from a newborn star

I swam with Fish from Other seas Other creatures From fresh And salty waters Knowing In the depths Of my heart

That All I really Wanted was To settle In a quiet Backyard pond With you

Come to me asking for love And I will lay you down in the Forest clearing Sun through the branches Slivers of gold, tiny trickling rivers Like goddesses over your skin. Here it is, I will tell you Here in the damp grass, on top Of the mossy rocks, softness I can't offer that anymore Though I want to Gaia, please take it from here

There are cracks In the pavement Outside my window Where trees have Stretched out their Roots, like the Asphalt is simply A weighted blanket

When the garbage Trucks bounce and Thunk over those Bumps in the road I can almost hear The trees laughing

I write my own universe inside a snow globe Where fields of lilac and rows of holly Coexist without juxtaposition Where a mother is also a sister And a sister is someone I can trust Where truth and reality do not conflict With any of my own personal truths or realities

Shake me hard, turning me this way and that I am in flux, I am inside the water That from the outside looking in poses as air The winter birds and the summer birds Perch in the same trees, eat the same seeds I am dreaming here with eyes open Love does not perish here, not in my delicate orb

We are floating Through the seas Of the sky.

The gentle wind Grazes our skin And we sway, Oh, we sway.

We are flying Effortlessly Through the airwaves.

And the sun Is so bright It warms our souls And we smile, Oh, your smile.

We are radiating, Reflecting all the light That’s filling in our hearts.

The touch of your hand As we flow Leaves me breathless For a while.

We are floating, We are, Oh, we are.

And there are So many colors To your wings.

He is a kitten Licking my wounds His scratchy Little tongue Warm and wet Against my skin

Maybe for some It is too difficult Too strenuous To even think of Life filled with Softness or beauty

When forests Are always burning And the plague Is ramping up And societies are Divided and violent

Maybe some Will wonder how Anyone can find Hope these days When our earth Is crumbling down

But he rubs his Face against mine Licks my hair And I will not let Any cruelty Touch his world

Even the wildest Of creatures Still long to be Held tightly Sometimes, If only for a Moment Even the freest Of beings Still long to be Kept in Someone's heart

I don't like anything I wrote today It's all too depressing And I'm not depressed I don't think

It's just January dragging me down Down into the snow No one's dreaming of white anymore No one's dreaming of January

The grackles are sitting in limp trees Shifting around quietly, waiting For the ground to thaw But it will be several months still

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