labyrinth

hands on my back, fingers curling into one another
head turned away to hide the bubbling laughter
held by teeth clamped on lower lip, eating lipstick in the process,
jaw aching,  tears welling up in mirth
tiny pacing steps on the edge of the glittering spiral path
strewn with possibilities and newly-polished old questions
i kick my feet playfully as i take a slow step
trying not to leave footprints, trying to make them indelible,
i flash a deliberate crooked smile upon the invisible eye of the universe
knowing i will never catch its stare, knowing it could see me even in sleep
the edge of the path shimmers invitingly
and i taunt it by running my toes along the slippery rim
no, i will not leap even if i were pushed
instead i will trace this map carved upon the ancient stones
and i will try to solve the labyrinth mirroring my own heart
my bag of rune-bones rattles against my body, eager to prophesy
i start a slow dance towards the center of the sacred
by drinking in the magic of the mundane, gathered from every day
that i have been trying not to love you in the way that usually
gets me broken somehow, for no apparent reason other than
being un-chosen.
anyway,
i will bask in the sunshine today,
believing, for a while, that i crossed your thoughts this very minute
because of the scent of coffee, or because of the particular
shade of blue smeared across the sky,
or because you overheard a conversation
that could have been a beautiful poem.

spilling

i have been spilling myself
a lot lately; tell-tale signs
of hastily wiped-up inconsistencies
track me down, like bloody
footprints;  i brim with laughter
that whenever i move
i splash, almost reckless
in my abandon, believing
no one would really know
or understand;
i drag my old shadows
for effect;
but it seems like
the brightness shines through
my claims of broken-ness
and thus everything seems to fall
within the realm of the ridiculous,
including this love shaping itself
with every time i laugh with you.

night-sky

we were always entranced by the night-sky,
throwing our head back and watching out
for shooting stars, wishes ready
and all that time all I wanted to do
was lean over and kiss you, perhaps
the stars were just waiting for me to do
just that, to finally fulfill the story
they have been trying to tell,
bound by the silence of distance
but now, we have covered enough space
between us, you have begun to
think of me every day, perhaps it was
the scent of freshly-steeped tea,
or the arched ruins of a cathedral,
or maybe even the sound of a word
conjuring up voices we heard in dreams
the night-sky waits above us, patient,
watching us wait for signs, staring back
towards that vast darkness melting into the sea

unsaid

in our trepidation
we invoked the god neruda
hoping that the crashing of waves
will appropriately interpret
and punctuate what we wanted to say

recognition

i feel that i am on a pivotal point
something like standing
on the threshold
breaking through
the karmic cycle
of my past lives

something has clicked
into place, was it you
or is it my recognition
of the handprints you
have left on my soulskin?
like marks of belonging
indelible, unquestionable

unspoken

your smile upon me tonight
sent a thousand unspoken questions
settling on my soul like
dust motes, unseen
the answers hover above us,
watching, waiting
t be called, only by naming
can they manifest
and we have kept our mouths
shut, having lost
the capacity to define

between

let me work this out
I'll figure it out somehow
in between falling asleep
and falling in love
the answer lies hidden
in dream dictionaries
tossed aside for more
portentous interpretations

i

ii

iii

iv

Visit my main homepage

Acknowledgements

Boogie Jack's Web Depot