Valentine

Take my breath away—

But give me your heart,

For your love will resurrect me

And my pulse will re-start.

Mirror

Standing on the seashore,

I stared down the horizon

And wondered if you

Were on the other side

Doing the same.

The wind whistled your name

And sent a shiver up my spine;

I smiled, closing my eyes.

I breathed in the sea air,

And wondered if that same air

Gave you life.

The sun rose,

And with it came your face.

I wondered,

Did my eyes start your day?

Did my lips bid your morning begin?

I entered the water and wondered:

Were you somewhere drowning in my soul?

Exile

You told me nothing would change,

So here I am, with so much to say,

But you’ve gone and taken my lips,

Leaving my words with no escape.

Time had never broken your voice,

Nor shaken your understanding,

And the binds of friendship had held

While Distance reigned.

Closeness had never been subject to proximity,

But our bridge collapsed under

A wind of separation

When friendship was exiled by Love’s tyranny.

The sun that once rose with your smile

Now lays its head to rest on a heavy heart,

And absence has dried your shoulder,

Once wet with my tears.

Diamond in the Rough

Over the dunes he stumbled

And searched each spec of sand—

Huddled, he sifted for a diamond in the rough.

As the sandstorm blew, he reached out,

Hoping to catch his raison d’être,

But, when the sand struck strong,

Stinging his body and impairing his sight,

His fingers flew fast instead

To shield his face from further disgrace.

Inward he was then forced to look,

And when the storm subsided,

He glimpsed a glimmer, a sparkling sheen.

His eyes, alight, shone now,

A beacon in the desert night—

However, they did not reflect the hidden gem,

But rather the diamond reflected the light in him.

Twin Peaks

There's a place I want to take you,

Where I've only been alone,

But this time I want to let you in,

You'll be the only one I've shown.

It's a place where no one ever goes,

The grass grows and the flowers bloom,

But now we'll go on our escapade,

Free of self-pity, free of gloom.

From where we stand the lights are bright,

The noise is white, the air is thin,

And behind us we leave a trail of dust

When we decide to take a spin.

Reverse Ending

You did all the right things,

You played by the rules,

Said all the right words,

Used all the right tools.

You chipped and chiseled

To break down the wall,

But in the end

You faced an empty hall.

You raced down to the other end,

But the window was closed,

Though through it you could see

As the bright sun rose.

And then, it hit you,

There must have been another exit sign,

For into the sun there walked a sight

To make you cry, "that should be mine..."

You missed it. From your fingers it slipped,

You didn't fight the fight hard enough,

You quit the final level

Once the going got tough.

At least, that's how you scolded yourself,

Kicking yourself when you were down,

While the same thing that once caused you to smile

Now only gave you reason to frown.

But cheer up now, Buttercup, you didn't lose the fight,

Because you can't fight for what was never yours.

So turn your back on the window pane

And open the next set of doors.

Hedgerow

Winter was quickly descending, but

The hedges grew wild with excitement,

Feeding on Autumn’s last breath.

The vines, they climbed

Down to the raging sea,

Strangling Expectation and

Desecrating Hope’s remains.

Waves of despair crashed

Upon the brow of Faith

And tore the veil of Desire

From its resting place.

The walls, unable to resist

The hand of Disappointment,

Let through a zephyr of Nostalgia.

A final surge of remembrance

Expanded, contracted,

And extinguished the light.