You on a call?

I know the perfect blue
couch to lay you on
when you are sick.
The arms are not huge
but they hold you tight
and keep you warm.

I can see you smile
wrapped in the softness
two sticks created.
Everything you need
is there beneath you
without expiration.

Maybe we both need
more time off
on the edge of the bed.
We can calm each other
till we're breathless
with numb lips.

Show me black things
that drive me wild
like a river flooded.
Let the current
push beyond doubt
to a farm of hope.

We'll reap a harvest
so rich and full
it spills over.
Just ride with me
on the dream
of the blue couch.

When the tears are all wiped from my face.

Our hearts are just
a little left of center
for reasons unknown.
Maybe it is because
the hands of another
pull the strings softly
to bring us closer.

To some who will tell
you His Love is greatest
and impossible to duplicate,
that hand belongs to God.
When I heard this today
I could not help but laugh
for the less fortunate
and their loneliness.

I was then offered this love,
this salvation into bliss,
for the measly price
of humility over style,
and an eternity of servitude.
I refused such heresy-
insisting that I could only
kneel before the one
and no other.

Her will is my own.
One breath from her chest-
one touch of her mouth-
no amount of love
from any God or Spirit
for a thousand eternities
could come so close.

So though you may try
to convince me otherwise,
my devotion is unwavering,
and her love will forever be
the reason why my heart
is a little left of center.

The real blueberries

I've had my first
taste of your mouth-
sip of your drink-
and from one drop
I became an addict.

My whole world
spins faster
without your arms
to steady me.

Teach me to speak
so we're free to talk.
Show me how to love
from your inside to mine.

I'll write the words
to our fairytale
while you frame it
to show the small
when we've grayed.

A rose-petal-path to Central Park

Sometimes I forget
my nurse has two jobs.
She brings me vitamins,
frozen passion fruit,
creamy sweets,
and beautiful music,
making this boy
the luckiest patient.
That smile is such
great heart medicine
that I beg her to stay
every time she says goodnight.
In that moment
when her head falls a bit
I remember her other clock,
smile, smell her on my face,
and close the window
until she returns in her darkness
to hug me again.

The best cheese

Today I took a piece of silver
which then took me beyond my wildest-
beside the most beautiful creature-
half bull, half monkey.
We played and stared at each other
until I awoke from the dream alone
to find myself licking sorbet.
This monkey-business was exactly
what I have always needed-
soft, rough,
weak, tough,
breath-taking.
But it wasn't enough because
I don't speak enough "Bunkey"
to express myself in that tongue.
At least not yet.
So I kiss instead, hoping
my princess will feel it from
her tower that keeps her chained
until we speak together without fear
of being caught frolicking in a Concorde.

This message...

I may be on vacation
but I have so much work to do
over the next few days
that I can't think of sleep.
Will I find time to pass
beside a rolling stream
at the base of two great peaks
while I say goodbye
to a life I hardly know?
I will use every ounce
of strength to climb over
and steal away a kiss
of golden sun that is setting
before it can even rise
to meet the end of my trip.
And when the darkness falls
on that final day of return
I will find that ray of light
behind my tightly drawn eyes,
shining brighter than ever
with a torturous smile.

...still I will try to sleep.

A summer's snowstorm

Things got messy that night-
the sticky stuff dried hard
and the room went blue.
I was still stuck on your breath
when I heard you whisper
this has nothing to do
with what happened before.

Do not be afraid to lose
what is not for anyone
to take away from you.
Even when strong winds
threaten to pull you away
you can cling to the chimney
until calmer times return.

You're so alive and everywhere,
never far from my side-
and even when you must go
I know you never leave me.