Contents

-The smoke dissipates into the air. The window is open. He didn’t notice until she left. The cold. He stares out at the city lights; somehow they look a little different now. A little less magical, perhaps. There’s an ironic smile on his face and he lights up another one. To keep warm. He would follow her, and she might come back, but he understands, and he doesn’t. He feels, a certain, weariness set in, and his eyelids weigh. He takes one last hit off his cigarette and as he exhales, it feels as if his energy leaves with the […]

January 28, 2005

Boxes

-She’s made up her mind and she packs her things. Everything’s together and she has to separate hers from his. There’s no anger, maybe just hurt, maybe fear. She does it gently, as if everything he owned was somehow an extension of him, and she doesn’t want to hurt him. But she’s determined, now, to leave. Maybe she thinks if she stays she’ll be the one suffering the worst pain and her heart is already aching. It’s hurt too much already, not with him, but in life. Maybe she’s the one getting short changed, she thinks, and she can’t let […]

January 26, 2005

Yellow-Latent

-He resuscitated her, the image of her, if nothing else. She had been absent from his mind for years, except for the occasional thought of what if. The thought itself had been so ephemeral that it was hardly a thought. But it was that dream, her resurfacing. Like with most people and events he had encountered in the length of his consciousness, when he attempted, he could never remember them well enough to remember them, simply a vague impression, but in that dream, she was more real than she had been at any point of their material acquaintance. It made […]

January 20, 2005

A Political Rant, perhaps

-“Everyone has an opinion, everyone has an opinion,” he says, “everyone has an opinion.” And let’s just leave it at that, he doesn’t have to say it, it’s in the words. “If you haven’t been there, you can’t say. Marines, ten year,” he says I’m trying to see the bigger picture, and maybe it’s a little arrogant, and maybe I shouldn’t, but I can’t not, I have to and I do. I do try. People dying and we’re worried about Christmas, Nike, New Year and the EGR valve on a Saturn. Thinking about plasma TVs, a television world without worries. […]

January 19, 2005

Siren

-The shape of you as you dance, the thoughts splash like watercolors in my mind, a cascade, vibrant and emanating somewhere inside. And what did we hope to find over the steaming cups before us, both, two, you and I. A misperceived reality, possibly the impetus to envy, the movement that led us close, the grazing of my hand upon your back. There was something there, I thought, but I could always be wrong, it’s happened in days past. It has happened often enough and I don’t admit, don’t want to admit, that I too am human and sometimes, let […]

January 18, 2005

Fluttering

-Poetry always comes from my thoughts and I think I’m learning. We don’t possess anything in this world. If it comes to us then it’s a blessing, and if it stays it’s only greater.

January 17, 2005

Someday

-They sit in his car, the water trickles down the windshield, as the raindrops fall. He’s telling a story. Something to do with a couple of friends of his. She makes those gestures, the ones that make him think Gui yop ta. She watches him, almost as if waiting for something. She knows. And there’s the moment, he leans into her, his eyes on her, and their lips touch, softly. He pulls back and almost without missing a beat, he continues telling the story, smiling a little wider now. He looks at the door, at the handle, at the umbrella […]

January 16, 2005

To Give Yourself

-To give yourself, without the fear of an end, when everything is ending. Looking at the situation, being reminded of everything that has been before, and to give still. Believing in a dream, had as a child, perfection, knowing the world, imperfect, is still rich. To look into eyes, glistening, and believe in possibility. The wick’s fire burning, calling out, as a whisper, the sweet, soft, enchantment, that maybe, part of the dream world can exist within our own. To hold tightly the hand within your own, the warmth shared between two. And softly, gently, open your hand and let […]

January 14, 2005

To be alone

-I’d never leave your side if I could help it. Some would call it the darkness of my soul, the weakness in me and its binding force. Perhaps. Just to hold you, or be in your presence. The warmth that comes from you, like no other. And every time our worlds collide, I have a harder time letting go. The words come quickly in your asking, “I understand, I understand,” and then you go. Leaving me, departing from me; I watch you go. The smile on my face collapses and my breath is labored. It’s a frightening place, to need […]

January 12, 2005

Cast a Spell

-The music spirals in the air between them, they look onto the road ahead. His smile still lingering, her hand in his. The car turns, right, right, right, then left. With each turn she sways to the side. With each right, she sways away and he tugs gently on her hand to keep her close. With the final left, she comes a little closer and the muscles on his face, tug a little more, widening his smile. She looks at him and she smiles, also. There’s something wonderful here. The car stops and the engine idles, then becomes silent. He […]

January 10, 2005