Between You and I

There's another world in your eyes.
I can see it when I stare:
a heartbeat in time with the flicker of a candle's light.

I can hear it in your voice,
something familiar.
A bridge between your world and mine.

Can I leave, though, my own world
which I have so carefully assembled?
Can I hide forever?

Meet me on the bridge.
We'll sit with our legs dangling off the side.
You can whisper in my ear.

Words like silk.

Still water or flash floods?
Warm meadows or mountain ridges?
Crisp autumns or perpetual spring?

Your world or mine?

Catalyst

It has been
distant as Orion for a while now.
So nearly out of sight that I dreamt upon it, instead of
reaching for it.

I wouldn't recall
its enveloping warmth--
the life it gave to even the most somber of nights.
On purpose.

To remember
hurt. To think of all that
had once been got to me every time. Feeling alone
among all

who still possessed it.
And even more so among those who didn't.

I am
the master of the fickle
fine. Clench your teeth through the pain and
it's a smile.

Nobody could
possibly be able to understand
what it's like to feel like everything is holding on
by a thread.

Patience,
it turns out, truly is a
virtue. All good things come to those who
wait.

You came along.
Just in time.

You.
Someone who knew
who knew what it was like to live in a cage.
Alone.

Someone
who escaped and flew
and lived. Living now with a true smile and a truer
laugh.

All that's left
is to thank you for what you've
given me, in the only way I know how-- through
words.

You've given me the greatest gift:
Hope.

Front

Independent. Immune.

She is fearless.

She is strong.

All those around her

“know” it.

And they all think they see it.

But.

Look. Look deep inside.

Past the walls—past the pride.

And see the girl.

She is afraid. Trembling.

She has fallen, and

It’s dark.

So dark that even her own eyes

betray her, and

She can’t even see herself anymore.

She searches for light

for anything to remind her that she’s

still real. 

She lights a candle.

And another.

And another.

They are dim,

but warm.

And warm means that

She’s still living.

So many candles are lit, though,

that as she lights each one,

another runs out of wax.

No time for tears.

----- 

Turn around.

Flip the switch,

That’s been there all along.

There is a light that

never flickers.

Never dims.

Just say a prayer,

He’ll meet you there.

Wherever “there” may be.

She makes a decision.

An empty space at a table.

As the room floods

with white,

she rises to its heat.

It fills her body and

she remembers

who she is.

A daughter of god.

A princess.

A belle.

Her vigor renews,

she blinks her eyes at

the blinding big world.

And changes it.