"They are bleeding," she stated with eyes like blue-tinted windows and lips like wind-torn cliffs.
Autumn has changed things.

Are the seasons warring
And winning each in turn?

"That's why they say Winter is the cruelest month--"

Because it draws no blood
But leaves its victims: still, naked bones.

The Rebel Smile

Magnetically her lips smile to her cheeks.
Bright, smooth and firm.
They say, "I'm fine, thank you,"
And, "Stay away please,"
All in one, in many words and no words.
Casually, she trumps past, heels banging,
Bright skirt swaying high.
I do not speak
Because she smiles, bangs, and sways that things are right.

Pathetically, he eyes her as though captured
In a single idle glance.
He takes her things, pays her bill,
Tries to listen, takes the blame,
Simply because she says to
And this is a two way deal.
He is silent to content her stiffened smile.
For a thing like her, what is a little crunching of his spine beneath her heels?

I understand
We must rebel against the weight of punishment,
Throw aside the sweetness of before,
Close our hands, close our hearts,
Laugh at our discomfort,
Mock at our own pain
If we want to find ourselves.
But then, how do we go back?

I have seen a girl with wildflowers in her hair,
She smiled into sunshine and when the wind touched her cheeks.
I have seen her dance and laugh through a field,
And call to a warrior from afar,
"My husband, my lord," so that all the fields could hear,
And she washed his feet of battle mud.
Maybe there were wings on her back.
It's hard to remember once I've opened my eyes.

Tonight is Not Forever

Night envelopes you; bricks block you out of sight.
My cheeks, my hands, my mind is wet with you,
But the cold wind dries my skin tonight
Until only the marks in my mind remain.
You say we will see each other
And that tonight is not forever,
But in time to come I will remember
The many nights that blanketed you,
That separated you from my sight.
The drapes of age seem cold to us;
They sever us; they do not hesitate; they do not feel.
But Providence covers us with peace
That stands amidst the dark, guarding,
Guiding you away tonight.
And you are not dried from my mind.
Age, night, bricks, wind, covering, severing,
Sight, wheels, distance, feeling, forever--
They lie at the feet of God.