I'm so proud of you,
You've made it all the way here,
You're still nothing but yourself.

I still remember when you were little,
Skin and bones all the way till third grade,
Mom was so happy when you started putting on weight,
She was worried you'd starve your growth.

But kids are cruel,
Now I'm worried about you,
You're taking bold steps into life,
Carrying yourself with a grand sense of pride,
Promise you'll be careful, more sensible than me.

Because I want you to be something more than me,
Please don't follow in the shadow of my legacy,
Light a candle, break away, make something more out of your modern day,
You used to have the same haircut, shoes, ideas as me,
Though I finally see you moving along,
I make big foot-prints, I dare you to make bigger ones.

When my time comes, the sky won’t part
No trumpet call, no softened heart
No hand will reach from realms above
No welcome steeped in light or love

I’ll close my eyes in shadowed grace
No pearly gates, no angel’s face
Just silence where the faithful tread
A nameless dark, a quiet dread

But you, my girl, you’ll rise one day
On wings that light the narrow way
You’ll leave behind this weary shore,
And step through heaven’s golden door

You’ll find the peace I never earned
The grace I lost, the path I spurned
Your soul will soar where I can’t go
Beyond the veil I’ll never know

And I will ache beyond the grave
A father lost, a heart too brave
Not for death, nor pain, nor hollow,
But for the one place I can’t follow

You’ll feel me in the winds that pass
A whisper through the morning grass
And though I’ll never reach your side,
Know that I still walk with your stride

I watch you bloom, I guard your days
I fold your moments into praise
Your voice, your smile, your fearless run
You are my earth, my moon, my sun

So go, when time at last does call
Climb to light, release it all
And if they ask of who you knew,
Say, “He couldn’t come, but he loved me true”

We're almost touching.
we were walking side by side,
you're talking about cabs in your hometown.
I can feel the gravity of your hand, calling my fingers
whispering "it's alright."

We're touching but not quite.
you held my shoulder to protect me from the passing cars.
and for the first time in a long while, I felt so fragile.
In this world where I find it hard even to breathe,
you believed me.

I almost said it.
All I need is one ounce of strength to tell you every single thing that I have ever felt about you.

I want to find home in your collarbones.
Would you be kind enough to let a stranger in?
I want to seep in your being because I'm cold.
The world is harsh and my cracks are aching.

Almost.

you are the moonflower,
and the sweet fragrance
of night blooming jasmine.

the mysterious, magical beauty
of a single night.

It is the passionate night that holds you.

nothing lives forever,
not the stars scattered in the skies
nor the sadness reflected in your eyes.

hold my hand, blue flower.
hold my wistful heart
tangled and intimate
in our distant romance.

the oak trees rustling in the wind.
there is something cold in the air...
the fleeting bloom of the night's flower.

oh, flower of the night,
the night will never release you.

a solitary tear falls. I draw the shades.

A top theme of poems,
Is loneliness.
Are we as poets destined to be alone?
Or is there a chance for some of us to pull away,
I hope there is.
What if being accompanied now,
Means I'll sit by myself tomorrow,
Please don't let this leave.

In the light of Easter morning
The stone remained unmoved.
Unsure of what to do at first, we waited
Then we tried to push it clear—
It wouldn’t move.

We watched throughout the afternoon,
Most left by by three, a few remained—
We didn’t hope, but didn’t leave.
By six the sun was setting,
When the darkness reached the stone
The day was done and we were weeping—
And the stone remained unmoved.



3/25/2024