You don't know me But you think you do I am the one who rides The one who looks out from the eyes with impartial curiosity I am here I am, also, not I am the third person perspective Existing in a first person world Standing in front of you But hiding in plain sight -gws
A Book of Images by W.T. Horton & W. B. Yeats Published 1898 What wonderment do you contain Are you an account of actualities Or a tome of terrors A book of observations Or imaginings Your title so simple Your cover art surreal With its hand drawn landscape Or is it a dreamscape Did you inspire Did you create controversy Did you find a home on many Victorian library shelves Or did you gather dust in obscure bookshops Unnoticed and unread Your goldenrod cover calling to patrons like a beacon -gws
Wake them Dress them Feed them Then it's off to school Pick them up And bring them home Provide a snack or two Help them with their homework Hold them when they're sad Help them learn to regulate Themselves when they are mad Attempt to feed them dinner Then it's time for bed Pick out a book or two From favorites we have read Bandage up their owies Make sure they brushed their teeth Check beneath their beds to prove There's nothing underneath One last kiss for comfort And then to tuck them in Then off to sleep for mommy To begin it all again -gws
Dear Book Boyfriend, I missed you. I can't wait to spend time with you. Who will you be this time? Are you tall and dark with a brooding manner, Or are you dapper, dashing, daring, and dangerous? Will we play games of will, Or will you lure me with chivalry? I'm ready to match wits with you. Ready to be Incensed, Worshiped, Betrayed, Persuaded, Enthralled, Rescued by you. I am ready to despise, Entreat, Crave, Trust, Betray, Rescue, Surrender to you. Are we friends this time? Lovers? Strangers? Enemies? Will we live a fairy tale, Or a war? Will there be a cliffhanger? Don't tell me how our story will unfold. I'd hate to spoil the journey. I will join you soon, Amongst our wood of dead trees. My kettle is on, and my blanket is ready. I cannot wait to fall in love with you again. -gws
The most sensitive area of my body is my mind Exchange thoughts with me Stimulate me from the inside out Engage me in metaphysical intercourse Lead me down your roads of contemplation Let me chase you through the field of your philosophies Make my pulse quicken by describing your deepest passions Touch me with your dreams Your secrets The intricacies of your core beliefs Take me on a private tour of your sacred spaces Turn me on with your vulnerability Make me crave your speculations Let me ache for the details of your considerations Expand my mind to bursting with our conversations Until I stop your mouth with the heat of mine -gws
Today I chose to stay present I chose to stay in sync with my breath I chose to stay with the rhythm of my resting heartbeat Today I chose to just listen I chose to release my assumptions I chose to keep my defenses sheathed Today I chose to show up curious I chose to leave my assumptions aside I chose to suppress my desire to make judgements Today I shed the skin of old behaviors I chose to make conscious choices in the face of old fears I chose to prove to myself that I can evolve -gws
How do I stay away from you When your shadow fits so well with mine How do I wipe you from my thoughts When I can't seem to wipe the memory of your lips from my skin How do I give you up when all I want to do when you speak Is stop your words with my mouth When all I want is to feel your hands on my hips How do I walk away when I see the way Your eyes drink me in when you think I'm not looking I crave you with every pulse in my veins And the way you bite your lower lip says you crave me too But we have so many reasons Reasons Rationalizations Justifications And the truth is I don't care I am not strong enough I don't want to deny this draw It's like gravity Keeping us in orbit of each other I don't want to deny this chemistry That no alchemy can seem to alter So fuck it Let's burn together until dawn -gws
Grief smothers
It slows minutes to seconds
Linear experience is arrested
And time becomes one, disconnected moment
Followed by another disconnected moment
Like a damaged film reel
Jumping from one stepping stone to the next
Each leap a gaping chasm
Light too bright
Sound too loud
Words have no meaning
Colors leeched of their vibrance
The body feels both weighted down and untethered
Feelings resonate acutely beneath numbness
Does life still make sense when it feels senseless?
Is it possible to live when one cannot seem to draw breath?
Grief feels like drowning
Tumultuous and savage
Full of ache, helplessness, desperation
Roiling and hollow
Swinging like a pendulum from feeling too much
To nothing at all
-gws
Born deep inside of me A glowing ember begging to ignite To storm, snap, and snarl A crimson shadow sharpening its claws Scarlet eyes stalking opportunity A monster lurking just below restraint Whispering dark pleas for release Begging for me to drop its chains So its primal fires can erupt And burn down the world Howling triumphantly at the joy of destruction -gws
What a glorious idea What an inspired place How great it is to have a place that is full of art so bad that it becomes collectively good I imagine this is where all prestigious macaroni art dwells Where macrame goes to retire I imagine walls covered in construction paper turkeys and Christmas trees made from hand shapes Cases of scout lanyards Shelves covered in lopsided ceramics And so many Bob Ross paint-along landscapes I imagine pedestals exalting junkyard sculptures inspired by Degas Portrait galleries more closely resembling the work of Dali and Picasso than might have been intended What a wonderful concept to celebrate the underwhelming The failed attempt The work that only a parent could love (from the back of the closet) Let the awkward and unwieldy The uncomfortable and misunderstood Be transformed into other people's treasure -gws
Words Wishes and Wisdom 