Open
“The wound is the place where the Light enters you” – Rumi
I enter the womb to release
rejection. Love sings through blood
to churn this muddied river. Her mother
was a bastard-child born into hunger
fed on want and the dust of lies
but she gave me the name Truth
forgetting what I would remember
to wash the film of hate
Indifference is a rip
-tide. Despair, the sandy
floor. Light is the sky
of the heart and I rock
my body
open
She danced into spring
in a red dress
She was fire
catching life. Unbounded
Unbridled. And he watched
from the center, steady
yielding to her energy
as it spread, opening
to the rise of need
A red bud
unfolding into wings
They met at the center
where he waited
becoming one
an expansion of flame
dancing
against night
Twinned flame
I unfolded the black body
of night to find light
in the center. Warmth
spun a silk cocoon
around my heart, uniting
the orange fire we share
Twin soul, I see you
mirrored in flame. Me.
You. Black. White. Yin.
Yang. Darkness. Light.
The half of a whole
that is me. You, though,
are the side that wavers,
too light for solid form
Intangible, switching sides
I see you best unfocused
The light within, now without
until I bring the hood atop
our flame and solitude falls
like a brick, crashing
density into this body
called life
there is no map for grief
this I know
grief is water
raging the chambers of the heart
grief is noise
ugly
loud
heart-breaking
grief is the absence of touch
the ache of memory inside skin
grief is silence
where beauty dwells
with love
Our bodies weep salt
of mother tears
forgotten memories swim the blue
river of veins searching for air
truth is a code of genes
resequenced in each birth
fear, a pattern of dis-
ease when left unraveled
to break the code release
fire under your skin
to break the code
burn free
The Choice
You are a seed of stars
ready to burst into light
don’t wait for sunnier days
when the ground unfolds
its green bed and life wakes
in a chorus of color
inside of you an eternal spring waits
ready to bloom
it can grow with each breath
kissing forgotten cells with love
where will you place your sacred
lips? To whom will you give life?
fear is a vampire
a vacuum
a black hole dissolving air
and light into the void of darkness
but you can chose where to send
your breath, your light
your love
you can choose
in each moment
how to live
In the space between hope
the refuge of want hides
inside amorphous wings
you were not born to wait
for the golden sun to shine
upon you
shake this dusty
delusion
feel the heart break
the cage that holds it
dance
stagger against the beat
until you find
rhythm
inside
search
stumble
explore darkness
and you will reach
eternal light
When did we forget
To dream inside a ravished land-
scape mal-nourished by greed’s stagnant
waters. Fear drips gray clouds
until the sun burst from that place
called hope.
When did we forget to wake
beside love? Nightmares spread from the inside
trapping time in their blind search for light.
We carry the memory of balance
on a scale of truth, waiting
for the collective heart
to beat a steady rhythm
again. I have seen promise
slip through cracks. A child
too small to carry someone else’s
pain. I have seen joy flash
brilliant hues in the blink between
darkness.
The story of re-
birth
is a crepe paper blossom un-
folding
silence
into
words
Peace rests
in the
center
specked with light
that travels
on the wind of truth
Hear me weep a thunder-
storm. I rain
down
voice
in flashes to break
open
this brittle shell that remembers
night and the harvest
of shadows
Sometimes I crave a glorious battle
To rage and wage a war with another
But to what end? To inflict my pain on
the other whom I believe has caused it?
To even a playing field that has been
trampled on one side? Then we can be
equal in vengeance and strife. Equal
players in the game of justice. To achieve
peace inside. Fool, I say, you harbor
malice for no purpose than to starve
love. The light inside dims to hatred
the desire to show another who is
right and who is wrong; who is better
or worse; who deserves glory when
what you really want is more love
Look inside. Shed the armor. Who
are you protecting? Why do you hide?
No one can stop your light from shining
except the darkness of your own demons
The Light Behind the Story 