Glass on Asphalt

Glass on asphalt 
Making a mosaic 
Of the mundane world 

-gws

Unlearn

I need to unlearn your touch 
The sound of your breathing 
Next to me in the dark
I need to unlearn a lifetime 
Of everything about you

-gws

Making Friends

She dressed for the night
Draped in shadows and silver
Making friends with the darkness

-gws

This is the Poem I’ll Never Write

Holding hands in matching rockers
Laughing about when we were young
You reminiscing about record stores and ska shows
As I tell our grandchildren tales of magic
Spending our sunset days in loving conversations
Each other's best bestie
Strolling into the ever after that follows the happily

-gws

The Cage

Inelegant and rough hewn
Invisible to all but me
Oppressive and injurious
This prison of grief and fear
Holds me fast
Arrested
The key to joy held tight in my hand
I wait for the guard to look away
So I can fly free

-gws

Redemption

Sometimes
The simple act of cleaning a toilet
Can feel like redemption 

-gws

Step Back

Everyone who has ever loved you
Have put their hands up and
Taken a step back
Now they are looking at me
Wondering if now is when
I will finally do the same

-gws

Rage Fire

The truth has lit a rage fire in my belly
Where there was guilt and pity
There is now a simple aching coal
Burning so hot it challenges the sun

-gws

The Rocky Path

I’m walking between worlds 
Both in a nightmare
And waking from one
Navigating the rocky path
One footfall at a time
Calling on my ancestors 
Those women who each
Did the same in their own way 
As I step out of darkness 
Into the healing light of freedom 

-gws

Burn

I sat in the flames as it all burned down
Trying to douse it with tears
But now I see things for what they are
And I step back to watch it burn

-gws