I don’t know what I’m doing
I don’t know how to adult
Waking up everyday to
Some new unknown challenge
I’ve been told that God doesn’t
Give you more than you can handle
They don’t tell you God lays out
A buffet of mild to spicy experiences
I don’t think I’m a fan of buffets
-gws
Hope is a soap bubble dancing in the air long past when it should have burst
-gws
I am no poet
I am an observer
A curious wallflower
Peering into the places most do not dare
The voyeur blending in and watching
Keenly aware of the scene and vibe
I am no poet
I am a witness
A lyrical historian
Peeling back the layers of what is obvious
Making note and taking measure
Commenting on the beauty and the bruise
I am no poet
I am a documentarian
A mental photographer
Describing the visage of the soul
Capturing the form of feeling
Casting light on dreams
I am no poet
I am an illustrator
A linguistic artist
Scratching lines on paper
Forming images from curves of ink
Building portraits from words
I am no poet
I am a woman
A single breathe in the wind
Performing no obvious magic
Sharing the same life experience
Human and divine
-gws
Isn't it funny how carpenter bees think themselves no less dainty than honey bees?
They faithfully believe the flower will support them even when the stem bends toward the ground.
They aren't exactly wrong.
-gws
Here is you bear
All worn from love
Or perhaps adorned with it
Your partner in your slumbering adventures
Defender against all that scares you
It is your beacon in the darkest night
It's felted heart doused in the
Nostalgia of your mother's perfume
Tangible reminder of lingering embraces
That will greet you again in the light of morning
Goodnight my little bears
Hold each other tight
-gws
I am looking for the counterpoint to my melody
A voice both hauntingly harmonic and intriguingly independent
That when blended with mine creates a masterpiece
-gws
Love feels like Pandora's Box of contradicting experiences
Love alights you upon a mountain top of elation
And sequesters you in a dungeon of anxiety
Love can feel like Elysian Fields
And Dante's Inferno
Love can make you feel like an accomplished genius
And the village idiot
Love gives your soul wings
And your body two left feet
Love makes poetry of your dreams
And salad of your words
Love inspires amazing highs
And devastating lows
Love is celebrated when it arrives
And mourned when it departs
Pleasure and pain separated by fate's coin toss
A game of chance we cannot stop playing
-gws
The days grow longer
Promised manifestation
Renewal and hope
-gws
You smile uncomfortably
Staring into the lens of the camera
Your shoulders pulled high
All of your self consciousness visible in your eyes
You don’t know what to do with your hands
You do not know how to drop your walls on request
I wish you could see yourself through my eyes
The photographer’s eyes
Eyes that see the sparks that spill off of you
Every time you laugh
The natural glow on your cheeks
The beauty of the asymmetrical smile
Caused by the single dimple
That only appears when your face
Is animated by genuine joy
The unguardedness of your body language
When you are feeling safe and comfortable
Hands animating your stories with
Increasing enthusiasm as you speak
I want the viewer to see the three dimensions of you
Hidden within your two dimensional portrait
I want the viewer to want to know you
Drawn in by all the small clues of you
Leading viewers toward the vastness of you
I want the viewer to discover your dimple
Question what crinkles the corners of your eyes
Be captivated by the joy radiating from your natural smile
If I have done my job well
Your photo will feel familiar to a stranger
You will appear as approachable as any friend
If I have done my job well
I will have created a likeness of you
That asks you to befriend and love yourself
As much as those of us who know you love you
If I have done my job well
You will have premised me to alchemize
A tiny fraction of your soul
So all who come to know you through your image
Will wonder what magic they missed in the opportunity to know
-gws
Your hearty chuckle we will miss
Your quirk and humor too
A life of leisure and of bliss
Is soon awaiting you
No more price checks for you to chase
Nor contracts or email replies
It's time to fill up that empty suitcase
And share your cheerful goodbyes
May retirement be all you hope
And these halls but just a memory
We just ask that you not gloat
As you enjoy your unfettered reverie
-gws
Words Wishes and Wisdom 