No sooner through the door
than spider-legged anxiety
scurries back haphazard
like a frenemy whose cactus skin hug
begins in September and ends in July

How’s it going? Honestly?
C’mon, honest like 3 a.m. insomnia?

As the nights’ incremental dimming
draws us inwards,
how are you?

This idiot driven pantomime
of eighteen months
hit as hard as a guilt trip

So if you’re a little scarred,
a little scared,
it’s ok

They say that tomorrow is another day
which it is of course,
but the fear is it’ll send you
off course

But, my dears,
we’re all off course together

and who do I trust to help me
get back to happy paths?

Always, all ways
all of you x

I see a friend in the face of a stranger,

but I let the stranger pass me by.

As quick as a cold breeze

brushing against me in the empty night.

A glimpse of a person

whom could have been

that piece of a soul who could

connect with mine.

A connection brought out by love

that is also not love.

An innocent love fueled by companionship,

of two souls recognizing one another.

Not as the conjoining of one

but as if journeying side by side.

Like that of children,

conjoining only in the soft comfort

of two, gentle hands.

I've seen a friend in the face of strangers,

but a friend is still yet to be.

In the loneliness, I wonder,

does the stranger see the face of

a friend in me?

He tried to breathe but couldn't
He gasped
He called for help from peers
They laughed
They called him a joker inert
He cried
If only they knew his plight
They don't
He sinking with struggle
paralyzed
He dropped to the deepest deep
Inundated
Unseen when it's time to depart
Alarmed
Maybe he've gone to another side
They bluffed
The search is over he's yet unfound
They dived
To the deep in search of him
Unfound
More crowd commenced the search
Announced
For hours they were without a lead
Confused
Then a diver saw a figure floating freely beneath the deep
He drowned
They came afloat but still he lay
He died

Push in and up against the *****
Loosened grip clasps a hold
Repeat intent between each slip
The tricky path teaches quick
Learn from within frustration
Then lean beyond a stationed pose
Hard tasks are masked in broken bits
With no one above to call upon
Possess the will to calm your fears
Retrace the steps that brought you here
Reach out across to peers instead
For each possess a thought process