Am I an Us or a Them?

I was certain

we had irreconcilable differences,

    that you felt contempt for me

 or even hatred.

 

I reinforced boundaries,

    protected my tender heart,

        and shut the rusted gate

    which led to that realm.

 

I secured the gate,

    hid the key,

        and declared the heart within

    battened and safe.

 

And I stayed away

    as dust gathered in those shadowy chambers.

 

Today, I feel your hand

    lightly brush mine as we

        mourn,

    side by side.

 

Probably unintended, I think, and that's fine.

 

Then again, 

    a spare touch,

        your soft fingers

    slipping into mine.

 

We wear the same grief in our eyes,

    and our hands 

        remember love,

    more than words cracked with age.

 

Hands, softly touching,

    eyes forward,

        all sounds cease

    in the swell of warmth across this iron gate.

 

Like a sun-bright morning,

    I feel the key

        as you press it into my palm.

 

Tenderly, you say

    Sweetheart, 

        I think it's time to go in.   

 

 

 

 

 

The Emporer

We tried to be good citizens.

We voted and kept up with the news,

We tended to the health of our communities.

 

We care.

 

Yet, here we are, in a world which celebrates despots

    at it's finest banquets,

as was demanded.

 

Now, we look to revolution.

    We revisit a past, where cruelty 

        faced courage and sacrifice,

    and was found wanting.

 

We stand up to bullies,

    We do not negotiate with terrorists.

 

We are patriots.

    Mama and Papa bears

        Protecting our nation

            With teeth. 

 

 

 

 

Melody

 

Traveling a life
     along these bones
Stretched highway measures femur
     Dark hollows through ilium
A quake in the belly
     Breath whispers a night sky

Heart pulses bright
        through stained bars
     Singing,
        open up. Open up.

And sometimes
     in moments kaleidoscopic
        and hushed
that cage does open up
     and a light drapes out
        which cannot be seen
A viscera that cannot
           be touched

But a song,
                yes,
       A song who can be sung.