I Thought I Saw Him Walking By Out Of The Corner Of My Eye Just A Trick Of The Light A Trick Of The Mind

Do moths ever wonder How many versions of themselves Live in the shadows Of their wings?

How many past selves Live in that blackness Cast out like an inky silhouette Or a flattened ghost?

I wonder if snakes Leave their shed skins behind To remind themselves They are forever changed

But I carry my past All the people I have ever been Make room, shadow I will be many more still

Let me revel in these Small doses of sadness In their warmth, In that quick, biting Shot before blurriness

I find myself a sponge In a hot bath, soaking, Letting sadness fill me Until I become heavy

But in the small doses Measured in spoonfuls, In small bites, I cozy up with sadness Carrying it in my body

Half empty food bowl Partially used litter box Your last day remains

I wouldn't ask for you To meet me under covers I wonder if you know There are no rules for lovers

Did you make lines to cross? Were they drawn in the sand? Were they passed down Like family jewels Or golden rings on hands?

No handbooks for hearts Bodies aren't black and white Driving in the dark All these roads blink yellow lights

We've been friends We've been more We have both loved others Kiss the labels off my lips There are no rules for lovers

I saw you when the sun went down There was a spark You saw me as the night came We saw each other in the dark

Maybe we hesitated for a moment For hands to hold Finally when they touched There was a jolt

You and me and an abandoned place An apartment high in the city In a blacked out world The roofs gray and gritty

But you laid your palm on mine And the current flowed Through our fingertips and wrists Our arms began to glow

In an older kind of world You and I were electric Before we were drawn together We never knew we kept it

As our hands lit up our faces I kissed you on the lips We shocked our hearts so hard The current slightly tripped

The people down below us murmured As our light grew and grew I think your eyes were just as bright As mine were for you

When you kissed me back We shook the floors Trembling in the building Rattling all the doors

The people started running Some yelling up the stairs But neither of us heard them We were both unaware

Surrounded in a shield of power Afraid we might explode You squeezed my hands as we burst Away on our currents we rode

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

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.

Let's not tarnish the sky By throwing money at space races While children who wish upon stars Are starving to death in streets While workers are catching the plague Earning a wage that isn't living Just to pay for your contest

Let's not tarnish the sky Please don't tarnish the sky Leave the stars to those who need them Please just let the stars remain

We aren't so different You and I

Birds nestled under Ocean sky

Though

You are an osprey Taking flight from sand

And I’m a kiwi Watching you from land

To think they were not together That they were never lead To merging paths To hold each other on nights So quiet and clear

To think they were not together In the warmest of hours The most joyous of holidays Longing fading still

That they were not together Is such a vast and endless void Their absence so tangible And thick as the air In the greenest stormy sky

To think they held hands But not each other's That they kissed lips That were not their own And called it a life