22.

Laughter speaks the stifled mind
the silent heart behaves
evading depth for easy jest
in comfort we live enslaved
For words intrude the inner space
they question human health
why disrupt imagined peace--
we hide behind false wealth
The quiet things we do not hear
the sadness left unshared
to fracture fragile circumstance
we often do not dare
Thus we drift and stray ourselves
professing family
but soon we find the thread undone
to tremble in calamity

ancient

See you see me
Our shadows behind the trees
You were me and
I was you, playing chapel
beneath the dark blue canopy

And now I stand on
far-off shores, limbs
strong with other craft
I glimpse your back, a
curious glance, aware that
the branch you hold bears
scars of me

Letters carved on leaves breathe
affections to the wind
"I miss you" but
who, to you, is "me"?

I am flesh but I am ghost and
I tremble soil and soul
I live in whispers that
kiss your mind, I am a
ripple in your tide, I
quake and stir

But I fade and now am
dust to sift between your hands
You touch old thoughts like
constellations grand, unknowing that
the stars deny your reach

Primitive and distant dreams
from clay I drew a different me
Yet still I have you anchored here, and
you hold onto me

With ropes we strain our
lands towards us, with
hands we stretch
across this ravine

The universe unfurls before us, but
still I reach for you, and
still you reach for me