Bird Call

Let the warmth of your heart

Breathe through your lips

The timid words of desire

Long-sheltered in your eyes.

May your skin no longer shudder

At the sweet touch of temptation,

And be accustomed to the heat

Emanating from my soul.

Take this moment and hearken

To the call of the winter nightingale

Who has waited, ever patient in the cold,

For you to take flight.

Zero-Sum Game

I gave you all I could,

And you took it all,

As I knew you would.

Me thinkest thou didst not protest:

You left me with a hole...

And took the rest.

Peripherally blinded, I saw but you,

And gave up my dreams

For all you wanted to do.

Deliver you from evil, I would,

I would fly you to the moon,

But for the lifeless legs on which I now stood.

And even faced with the empty street's end,

Just to wipe your tears

I would do it all over again.

Clear Skies

You obscured my vision—

A burning sun

That left me blind,

A man in the moon,

So hard to find.

Your soul took to my heart,

That much I could see,

But silent we remained

Because yours wasn’t free.

Your eyes drew me in

But you were still out of reach;

So I damned that invisible line

I knew you would never breach.

You belonged to the Sky,

Your story was tried and true,

And all I could do

Was wait for you to leave,

A nebulous cloud rolling by.

Crutches

You cry my tears for me

And age my years for me,

Hold me close and

Assuage my fears for me.

Your words turn on the light

When dark spurns day into night,

And you hold my hand

While I learn to fight.

Your face reflects my smallest sorrow,

The flecks in your eyes, my deepest woe,

But a slight smile you let slip,

And into recovery my perplexed heart you throw.

Hooked

I’m a fish that’s been hooked,

Flailing in vain to set myself free

From the fate of being gutted and cooked,

Knowing how futile my efforts will be.

Too weak to fight my captor,

But too weak not to fall for the bait,

Hypnotized, I near my oppressor,

Knowing the pain that awaits.

Paralyzed with the need to feed my addiction,

I’m caught in a timeless Catch-22,

But, despite the end that has been my prediction,

Know this: you can’t have your fish and eat her, too.

Figée dans un Rôle

Ce que je craignais,

Tu me l’as demandé,

Bavardant sans pause,

Sans cesse,

Sans savoir comment

Ta voix me blesse

Quand je sais que derrière

Tes mots c’est elle que tu caresses.

J’ai essayé de l’éviter,

Sans cause visible,

Sans succès.

Alors, je vais m’asseoir,

Puisque tu me le demandes,

Avec un bon sourire,

Toute politesse,

Bien que mon cœur

Veuille partir à toute vitesse. 

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

I’ve got a question that’s

Been weighing on my mind,

But the strength and courage

I can’t seem to find

To relieve the burden

That’s turned my heart blind.

The meaning of your words

I analyze and speculate,

The message in your touch,

I love so much I hate—

But in the end, I have no control

And think to leave it all to fate.

But when Destiny calls,

You can’t rest on your laurels,

You have to fight for your life

And live by your morals,

Search the entire reef

For that most perfect coral.

But what if that coral

Simply doesn’t exist?

Do I search the entire ocean,

Or do I desist?

Do I hold back my question,

Or should I persist?

I choose to hold back

And I continue to pray,

For hope, even in confusion,

Is enough to outweigh

The possibility of the truth

Not going my way.