Roses and rust and rivulets of blood Rubies and robins and radiant flame Victory red lipstick of defiance Red flesh of cool plums in summer Winking red of garnet facets in grandmothers' rings Washington Reds hanging from autumn apple trees Red hand prints representing the missing and murdered Blinking red lights lining dark empty streets Red dresses whipping and swirling to tango on stages Crisp red uniforms of Beefeaters on guard Red sports cars cruising the streets of LA Cardinal red of Stanford Sports Crimson Red and Columbia Blue of my high school Cherry red inside a pie Glossy candy apple red Ripe red strawberries perfuming summer picnics Enflamed red of flushed cheeks Sacred menses red Red haze of rage blurring vision Bruised red of kissed lips Fruit punch red staining faces Watermelon red dripping from hands Red wine glowing in glasses Berries bright red in winter snow
Spring has arrived Birds sing sweetly In quickening branches bursting with blooms My winter soul peers out of bleary eyes Before I pull the covers over my head
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
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.
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
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
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
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
Words Wishes and Wisdom 