The Parishioners Walk The Oldest Streets Late In The Scornful, Spectral Night "Begone You Devil Spirits!"

Winter comes to me As an old familiar friend Wrapping me up in its Dark nostalgia Its shadow arms holding Me gently in the day

Grey skies merge into White covered earth The blending of light Colors suddenly Fading into an Afternoon blackness

The cold is my comfort Its wind is a weathered Hand's gentle graze Slowly feeling my face Like winter is remembering What I feel like too

I like the smell of steady rain The sound it makes on glass Quietly crashing Against the window pane The clouds a wall of heavy gray A day that's seemingly mundane

In silence he takes out the pieces And I pick out the strain Then he watches me get lost in Faraway thoughts that drift away He can't hear our hidden heartbeat Like a drumming through my brain I might have washed away Still here in water we remain

How do I give a voice To my anger When I have banished it To the corner For whispering? Like it is the child I am ashamed of, Or that if I were to Let it speak It might scream And never stop

I've passed off so many Thoughts to you, Anger, I'm sorry For making you bear That burden When I had never given You the chance to Grow strong So you might know how To stand by me

And I'm sorry, I never Trusted you Because you hurt So often in the past, I chose serenity, I needed it But I felt you, Simmering inside me Squashed down when All you wanted Was just to be heard

He is a kitten Licking my wounds His scratchy Little tongue Warm and wet Against my skin

Maybe for some It is too difficult Too strenuous To even think of Life filled with Softness or beauty

When forests Are always burning And the plague Is ramping up And societies are Divided and violent

Maybe some Will wonder how Anyone can find Hope these days When our earth Is crumbling down

But he rubs his Face against mine Licks my hair And I will not let Any cruelty Touch his world

You said my eyes Were so intense Like they were piercing you As if yours didn't Strike my face Like yours weren't fierce too

They say I keep Too many secrets But you know all of them You are my only Buried treasure Sapphire mixed with obsidian

I said you're in my blood Like caffeine Keeping my mind energized I see all the words You never say Just from looking in your eyes

I can't wish you happy birthday Because we are ghosts now Ghosts who do not linger On the same plane of existence

How abruptly we became memories While our lives were still Flourishing and so full How quickly the two of us vanished

I send you messages into the void Into the echo chamber of my heart Bouncing around in the dark I miss you, miss you, miss you

Sometimes I think I can see you Your face unchanged and wild But you are a wild dream That ripples away at my touch

Can you feel me reaching out Now that we live only in my mind? So many years since you disappeared The two of us remain only in me

Maybe you're wearing that winter coat Because you're not used to Places that snow Or places that make other people feel cold

And when you exhale all that smoke I can see your breath Air out your mouth Air coming out that makes no words

Maybe you're wearing that winter coat Like downy armor Standing so close and still so far from me In a jacket so lovely

I am with you in the morning When you are waking, Still sound asleep beside you, Cats curled around us As the light of dawn is breaking. I am with you in the evening As you begin to drift off, Eyes heavy and sleepy. Stay in my arms, I will hold you So you may rest deeply.

But soar freely, my dear, I will never hold you back As you fly through your days, Over the earth and over waves. Whether the day is cloudy or blue Some days I'll fly beside you, One of us a hawk, the other a dove. Other days I will be the wind Simply the air beside you, Or below you, or above.

Follow your heart, wherever it Takes you, to each experience That transforms and shapes you, You can take my hand with you Or leave it be. When you are done wandering And long to be held Like the sea holds the shore, Bring your weary, tired bones Home to me once more.

Forevers do not stretch Over an infinite Unimaginable amount of time Like circles that Were never drawn with one Line beginning and closing To create an eternity

Forevers have lifespans Just like eras and people When a person says Forever it is only as Long as they never change When I say forever I mean I hope to stay the same

So when we finally evolve When we grow and our Lives begin anew with Our atoms refreshed We let go of one forever That unfathomable infinity Closing just like the circle

Why does our perception Of gender Change the tone In which we read someone's work?

My woman is stoic My man is soft spoken Anywhere I fall on the spectrum is loud Or terribly quiet