a glowing smile 
slipping into the waters 
as sun calls it a day

a dancer kicks at the foam
at the edge of the sea 
and laughs at the warmth 

a touch of magic 
in bubbles and rocks 
holding down the landscape 

love words whispered 
with only stars to hear 
and a myth goes to bed

they’re cold and sparkly 
endlessly interesting but distant 
so abstract as to be everything -or dust

there are no answers there
just as there are none in clouds or leaves
-they all fall with time 

but who cares about time
in the moments of suffering
when no direction feels right 

the stars are a clock or a bear 
or little dream beacons 
disappearing from view in daylight

the rhyme has fallen away
leaving leaves rustling 
with rain shimmering
little mirrors throughout trees

you only have to look 
without needing to

She remembers feeling whole

inside the strange wool coat

with a fuzzy muffler and warm hood.

The way the night looked blue,

the way the snow sparkled 

just as it settled on the road. 

It may have been a forced march

through childhood 

but she always knew 

her body was not her own to keep

and what lay beneath

was something without a name

that would always be hers,

in a place with green and florals

and lots of birds on the wing.