Tree Stars

Don't Hide Your Wings

Pieced together with scraps

Of holy books, bound with the glue

Of a mad and desperate hope

Hang them on your shoulders,

Shine with the terrifying joy of being known.

Indulge in the sacrament of transformation,

Commune with the highest powers,

Feel your sacred self soar

Out of your bones; float in the whispers

Of thin air and cold mists.

And touch the terrible, destroying

Light of the great and fiery sun,

Falling up into the clear and silent realms

Above; the light piercing through your

Gilded flesh, radiating silvery threads.

Shed your hallowed frame and return anew

Crash and scorch the forests,

Turn the desert sands to glass,

Strike the earth with the force of

Lightning, scream your name like thunder.

Rise, smoldering, skin in embers and blessed

Black char, step from your crumbling grave

Bring new life to desolate plains,

Cleanse the salt from the fields,

Extend your arms, and breathe finally.

Breathe new air,

Breathe in new lungs,

Breathe fire and flame

Breathe nothing and everything

Breathe, at last, you.

Potent Ponds

Steeping in cool waters

The saffron sun on the

Bowl of the pond.

Taking my vitamins every

Morning, the C in my veins

Mingling with the salt in my eyes.

I ride two buses to my chapel

Of peace, a set of flowing

Waters, unblessed but holy to me.

Pacing the dusty paths of

The preserve, I ponder the

Wild waterbirds, wandering.

The ducks, unburdened by

Prejudice, finding their ways

Along the tiny beaches.

The spice of life, I infuse my days

With the fine herbs of musical

Birdsong and chords of clouds.

Finalizing my day's work,

I board the buses home, busy days

Ahead, but for now, hallowed, heady harmony.

As a child I used to pray that I would get cancer

What my young eyes saw as an illness of honor

An illness that people rally behind

I wanted to have people who were proud of me for putting up a good fight

I wanted my suffering to be visible, less shameful

I yearned for someone to see me and know that I was hurting

I wanted doctors, church goers, my family, anyone at all to try to save me

So I prayed

And prayed

And prayed

I never got cancer

And I spent years saving myself

Now I’m an adult with a graduate degree and a mission

I will be the person who sees the child who is silently begging for help

I will be the one who tries their hardest to offer treatment

Because no child should suffer in silence

Praying for a death sentence so they can be seen

I write poetry on the bus because it's my only free time

Sleeping in and breakfast

Shower and coffee

Not necessarily in that order

Walking to the bus

Walking from the bus

Working

Working

Working

Sometimes sitting down,

Sometimes working

Walking to the bus

Walking from the bus

*

Cooking

Gazing into the abyss

Screaming into the void

YouTube

Sleeping

*Optional (but not so):

Migraine, Joint pain, Irritability, Talking

It Works!

For all those who need this right now. Stay strong! Support your friends and be there for each other.

THE METEOROLOGIST SAYS SUN

Fret not, the crocus

Has not croaked its last

The trembling toad

Awaiting a rushing spring

The daffodils dreaming of

Frolics and foibles

The barren trees waiting

To stretch toward the sun

The hush of the lark

The ice of the night

A breath held

A song remembered