CHANGING PERSPECTIVES

My mind gets stuck sometimes.
Trapped between perspectives
Where I am both the hero and the villain
Of a story that repeats throughout time.

Where no valiant action can be taken
Without being seen as destructive.
Where hearts can not be mended
Without first having been broken.

Sometimes the best role for me to take
In another person's life,
Is as the antagonist to show them
A mirror to their own inner darkness.

Go ahead and make me your villain.
Whatever makes you feel good.

FREEDOM

Freedom.

When I realized the jail cell door had never been locked,

And the power to leave was always mine.

The shadow of the warden imposed on the wall,

Just an illusion creating the delusion

That kept me standing still.

Frozen for years,

Afraid to choose between fight or flight

Because I’m looking into a funhouse mirror

Trying to measure dimensions that keep changing.

I had nothing to trust, and nothing to hold on to

Except the wrought iron bars

Of the cage around my heart

Which felt like a lot like safety when the rest of the world was crumbling.

But when you turn on the light,

The monsters turn back into teddy bears and coat racks

And when you can see what it is you’re looking at

Things that you feared before, seem almost laughable now.

And I breathed a sigh of relief

When I realized I was neither crazy, nor evil

Nor deserving of imprisonment.

They say freedom isn’t free,

But the truth is, it costs as much as you’re willing to pay.

THIS POEM HAS NO TITLE

Love holds no map or guided path,
Light doesn’t lead the way,
There’s no potion I can conjure up,
No magic words to say.
 
He’s somewhere in the details
Living in the space between,
Safely hidden in the nuances
Where he cannot be seen.

The heart can feel what eyes don’t see
And I’ve looked everywhere I can,
But he’s not in one single place
Because he’s a nowhere man.

THE VOLTA

For a moment you gave everything reason

Every lost battle, and every cold season,

You gave me your word that I tried to believe in,

But if I’m your queen, then this act is treason.

For a moment I felt right at home

You gave me a love that I’d never been shown 

And for a short time I didn’t feel so alone 

But now my heart just sinks like a stone.

Because for a moment you forgot

What I am, and what she’s not

I know it wasn’t what you sought

But I’ll admit, it still hurts a lot.

For a moment this felt right

In the dark I was your light

But you don’t want me, at least not tonight

So once again, I’ve lost the fight. 

Maybe another moment will come

We can have it all, instead of some

You can’t be coy, you can’t play dumb

You’ll have to earn your spot in my kingdom.

THE SHADOW

She's always been beside me
Just barely out of sight
Creeping in the corners
To stay untouched by light.

There's a fire deep within me
And she tends to the flame
The shadow of this ancient soul
The face without a name.

She comes up to the surface
In a scowl or in a smile
Then returns back to the darkness
At least for a little while.

PROMISES

You held me close
Then drew a breath
And then you spoke my name,

You made a promise
You couldn't keep
But I guess I did the same.

I can't compete
With the vows or rings
Or memories of before,

I gave you strength
You gave me hope
I shouldn't ask for more.

SUMMER'S SNOW

When holding on means letting go
And summer brings us fields of snow,
When everything we know is right
Must be pushed aside and kept out of sight.
That's what puts my heart in pain,
To see the truth and yet, refrain,
Because life does not make sense sometimes,
And turns righteous cause to petty crimes,
But if you learn to play the game
Life and love become the same.

FOOTPRINTS

We're twisting through the shadows
Of this never-ending night
Chasing through the darkness
A faintly glowing, distant light.
Our footprints tell the story
One that none will ever read
But our hearts will know the journey
Which is all that we will need,
To keep us on the right track
As we travel down this road
Two footprints will become one
Once we learn to share the load.