Ink

i cut myself for you 

tattoos, stinging 

raw & real 

ink and blood

i saw you in the flood 

i hung on each word 

like a magazine 

all the dreams 

torn to smithereens 

crocodile tears 

saltwater fears 

i learned to swim 

over the years 

i couldn't breathe 

cause i was done 

no hand could heal 

the things that stung

wild animals 

i hang on tight 

i let them run 

Waves

we are the rebels

the revolutionaries 

im hidden in the crowd 

happy in the quiet 

face to face with the onset 

the words just surface 

i am not jaded 

faded or failing 

the words are just sailing 

i drained all the bitter 

I am not the reaction 

of spiritual faction

im causing a ruckus 

my little existence 

im making waves

just to surf 

in this hopeful resistance 

you love my face

my clothes & my family

but love my words, 

my spells and my curses 

love is the vein 

I never rehearse this 

not a reckless yell 

a song over coffee

let's drink for a spell 

im sorry im honest 

im doing well

i remember at sunrise 

we're heaven in hell 

Hwy 27

the saturation 

stunning me 

things better filtered 

like photos, 

coffee & cigarettes 

have you heard it yet?

the song of the morning 

it calls your name 

takes you over 

for today 

you're okay 

Leaving

i saw you in the glow 

lighting up the trees as sunset

& the wind inflicted tears, i felt

as if I've never done that 

i heard you in the sound 

of my farthest-away mother 

her words are warm on frozen ground 

they run like river water 

i heard you in the forest

who should i hold onto? 

i'm broken like the branches 

like the leaves i'm trippin through 

Arrival

cut from the coldest slivers of silver
gold from the guts of the mines of the mountain
stones that are smooth from the turning of tides
i have arrived, i have arrived

Unravel

i have seen the wind 

blur all i've ever known 

til i was reborn 

painted new colors 

sketched on this great stone 

i have taken pictures 

seas of feeling 

keeling over 

sweeping strides of red 

words better unsaid 

knives bitter on skin  

walls punched in 

but kind words broke me open 

weeds were growing inside 

where green gardens once were 

lush in their young growth 

the stuff that sways at sunset 

and when you began to carve 

compose new notes in these scars 

i began to find gates 

in this hideous maze

escape into you through fern decay 

moss on stones always beneath me 

mosaics placed so perfectly

i have unraveled suddenly

India Ink

remember the night 
sharp stars
on india ink skies
the tiger smiles
when we fly

remember the night
drums echo inside
the lions within
we never cry

remember the night
we're summer high
we lie in the street
dream of elephant eyes

let go of the night
you're right beside
the tiger smiles 
when we cry

Prayer

i pray my sister finds the ocean
where all the beauty swims
i pray my brother climbs the mountain
where everything begins 
i hope that all the pain inside
is drowned in april rain
i know that when we wake up
we'll see the sun again

Salt

chapters blur
wet paint and dried blood
we tried pain, we tried love
i'm shooting it up
i'm in a control, i'd imagined
but i'm just a kite on the wind
dizzy from the spin
bike stolen again 
i will take it all in
what scene is this?
what piece did i miss?
what motive in the kiss?
this story will write me 
and i will write it 
i'm listening, father
what is all this?
your words are straight salt 
my heart is a wound 
i am new clothes 
there's an empty tomb
but my lungs are the same
my golden hair, longer
my thoughts do not wander:
i've found you

Sister

sister 
you are sun in the morning 
little mountains in the desert
you are dusty trails
and laughter up to cross mountain
green shorts and honest eyes
sister, you are right here
talking on the corner downtown
on the streets of stories
in between the past and future
on the edge of the water 
where you will jump
the splash will cover everyone
sister, you are sunglasses
and red wine and animal crackers
you are bleeding tattoos 
you're stacks of pancakes
when we sit on the cement 
i choke on my honest words
where we cry every forgotten tear. 
sister i would like to say 
i'll follow you home 
and live your day
but i will travel back
and you'll journey home
take our book of Beautiful Things 
write them all down
and don't see me cry 
when we hug goodbye. 

Greyhound

i stood in line
tears sting my eyes
'cause i'm not used to crying 
and you weren't there to notice
so i call your name 
and i close my eyes
when it all blurs past
and sing the same words again
how do you do it?
you're the only one
who can throw colors across the sky
spread so magnificent the blues 
& white clouds
sun sinking over the grapevine
are you even listening? 
that smile makes me undone
the laughter is ridiculous
or maybe i'm too serious
but these fears are in my stomach
intertwined with hope
knotted up like rope
can i laugh? just help me cope
to smile and cry  
and paint the sky
i sure have tried, and yes i hide
in the middle of the bus
and stare at your sky 

Water Running

water running 
wild and random
in all the ditches that were dry 
in all the drought inside my mind
water running 
down my throat
in all the veins that were tired
in the dust i've acquired 
water running 
sounds like your voice
humming all the things i've cried
making light the heavy eyes
i'm floating where i've always tried
to sink, to disappear, to hide 
i'm riding with you now
i ripple through this current 
in all the places that were dry
i'm water running wild 

Hope

holocene
hollow me 
make space for tomorrow 
cry me empty 
leave me full of 
things not yet real
morning dawn unseen
roads not walked on
under my feet
your words
when we talk again
i listen and walk with them
songs unheard
i sing them already

shame covers your eyes
and heavies your shoulders
and hope points ahead
and takes you up the mountain

Miles

i see your feet beneath me
though they haven't walked as many miles
one says loved, one says lover
and that is what you are 

Clouds

earth so moving 
rain on the damned
the lost, losing
we bend our heads back
with open mouths
i thirst, i thirst
you know the feeling
when the wine was gone
and your brothers fled
the clouds had bled
on the saints and the stained
and you broke your bread
for all my days

Filtered Fire

stars surreal
ocean roars in the dark
should we speak or sing
the praises of this life
blurred words
your eyes though
clear like the moon
whiskey filtered fire
there is no desire
i have not felt
there is no name
i would not shout
there is no pain
i cannot hide
there is no friend
i'd rather sit by

Lassen

cold and clear cut 
liquid eyes
expectation with the rise
of each branch on the wind

i'm a half breathing bird 
with no memory of joy
i'm the thrill on the ledge
on the edge of the void
these fault lines jagged 
through my bones
these stars don't flicker
when you're not home
so quick to fall apart.

and each careful step 
under quiet pines
i listen for you, i will find
your voice, no words
your hand in mine