habit

you tell me you love me.
i say it back.
is it just out of habit?
is our love more than that?

once as vast as the oceans,
now it trickles downstream.
just going through the motions
won’t keep us in this dream.

-v

spring eternal

through the changing seasons,
you are my constant -
our relationship ever blooming,
and our love, evergreen.

-v

growing

in this moment,
my love for you
outweighs all except
my love for you
in the next.

-v

tamed

in your presence
we all rejoice,
though even with distance,
we recall your voice.

the heart can see that
to which eyes are blind,
and these hearts feel you always,
out of sight, but not mind.

in the joshua trees,
we hear your laughter,
carried by a gentle breeze.

on the red, rock wall,
we know your strength.
it grows through every fall.

in the sunset skies,
we see your beauty -
like artwork to the eyes.

when the rains won’t stall,
we feel your compassion.
it washes right over us all.

so in your absence,
though we may weep,
you are still here, connected
by the love that we keep.

like the little prince,
and his favorite rose,
you have tamed us now,
as the fox surely knows.

connections we create,
are life’s precious pearl,
and though others we will meet
through whom our hearts shall unfurl,

to us, dearest friend -

you are unique in all the world.

~

happy birthday

-v

scar tissue

a scar on my lip
from an angry dog’s kiss,
and a scar on my temple -
those teeth did not miss,

and a scar on my hip
from a slide on the street
and a scar on my ankle -
a stingray felt feet,

though the scar on my heart
overshadows them all
as it hides in the dark,
betrays none of the fall

into and out of
the love that we had.
how did something so good
ever end up so bad?

vicious dogs and their teeth,
startled barb without sheath,
can rip right through my flesh,
if my heart i can keep.

these wounds heal slowly,
more in mind than in matter.
i still have scar tissue
from back when i knew her -

a constant reminder
in the sound of her name.
i will be healed, but
never quite the same.

-v

loss

it is in the long, hollow days,
brimming with absence,
that i miss your company the most.

free from the grasping reach
of obligation,
only to be thrust
into the cavernous jaws
of isolation.

i claw for any inkling of
your receding light,
without which i can
no longer fight
this darkness that engulfs me.

this taunting, twisted
déjà vu,
this familiar struggle
without familiar respite

your soothing voice,
your gentle caress,
your warm embrace -
so far from me now, but
so near to my heart.

to truly know the gift
that was your presence,
only now, when you
are no longer present -

-v

perfect stranger

who are you
that faces me now?
for what are you asking
that you think somehow
i can offer you yet,
when we’ve only just met?

you look at me
like a long-lost friend.
i must look confused
as i wonder to no end
about the life that lies
behind those searching eyes.

how has your life been shaped
by trust and by fear,
by love, perhaps hate,
from those you held near.
what joy or pain today,
has brought you this way?

though you stand here now,
just in front of me,
between us lies a wall
through which i can see,
though no door can i find
into your world or your mind.

who are you, really,
if not a perfect stranger,
who returns for my love
with a face so familiar
and, seeking forgiveness,
looks back at me in this mirror?

-v

identity

i look forward to
getting to know you better.
who are you, dear self?

-v

rediscovery

when it felt like the love
was lost from my life,
had i truly lost
only myself?

—

here with you,
i am found again.

-v

resurgence

memories,
now flooding back,
of how things used to be.

your presence breathes
new life into
forgotten parts of me.

—

what does it mean
to fall in love?
a younger self once knew.

with you, it all
comes rushing back.
my heart restarts for you

-v

lighthouse

there she stands
and shines so bright.
she warns, ”steer away
from eternal night!”

her presence alone
relieves the plight
of many in need
of a guiding light.

_

but exhausted are the eyes
that captain this vessel.
internal storms appear endless,
relentless waves i must wrestle.

so shine though she may
with her desperate warning,
pleading, “turn away”,
so I may see another morning,

my fight ends today
against skies still storming.

_

so when the cliffs reach out
with their rocky embrace,
my weary hands reach right back
for an escape from this place.

-v