Steam Rises

The severely fractured
Community rebuilds itself
As the steam rises
Off the roofs of each house
Off the tops of our heads
Releasing anger
Before we lay down for bed

What a beautiful prison
We have made for ourselves
In uninvited confinement
This is your home
Look around
Much better than
A cardboard pillow
On the ground
Surrounded
By bars

Certain losses are irreparable
Not so much as lothario
But sleeping on the back porch
Is only a fools errand
If you don’t like the stars
Are you a stargazer?
Pole perch for love
A pending warning sign
Free the doves…

In a rocking chair of forgiveness
We smile with lips of
Relentless upheaval
Resilient retrieval
Catching the tears
Of strangers
Who are our sisters and brothers
On the street

Rest your head on me
Let me be your shoulder
Of confidence
Beneficence for
A moonlight blanket
Caressing you in a
Pendicle sleep

Take my hand as we
Walk together in splendor
The value of what we become
The difference after the mystery
Subsides in the wake of a tide
That seems unbearable

I have a makeshift wagon
That can get us through
Any part of town
The lights are on
Traveling along an
Emotionally solid ground
Steam rises as we
Find our way
Back down

© GÄ

Chainmail

There are no chains
Upon my heart
There is no restraint
For what flourishes beneath
The powerful beat
Of my inner
Rum pa pa pum
Would you like some
Of this endlessness
Bitterless love?
No shackles no tethers
None can trammel
The hamstrings
Of my sensitivity
I dream you concentrate
On me my love
I fancy an incubus
Of lust will welcome us
Onto the veranda of
Our daymares
Bathing in the sun
Moonlight resolves
Our nightmares
One by one
I kiss this pear
In remembrance of
My imaginary flair
For you
A make out session with fruit
A dash of patience
Cupped with mastery
Will do
If I wrote you a letter
Would you answer?

© GÄ

For Us

For everything we’ve fought for
For ourselves
For our loved ones
For our animals
For the kindred fire
That burns between us
Even for those that didn’t
Necessarily love us
We fight through the tears
We ask questions like why?
Is this punishment?
Let it be said that
All of this is happening
For us not to us

© GÄ

Debauchery

I don’t mean to be a screwball
I don’t mean to be a nut
I don’t mean to cause a raucous
I don’t mean to make a fuss
I’m just trying to lend a hand to
Have a little bit of fun
I’m just trying to unwind you
With a trumpet and a drum
You can bring your favorite person
You can stay in bed till noon
We can have a little soirée
I’ll cook all your favorite foods
First we’ll skinny dip at midnight
Hang our clothes on crescent moons
Dance like nymphs amongst the forest
Ride albino caribou
Why not next float down the river
Redirect the stratosphere
Meet the dolphins at the mouth of
Where the ocean’s crystal clear
Watch the comets kiss the mountains
Write love letters in the stars
There’ll be no more second guessing
On our rocket trip to mars
Then after we return
From our galactic weekend cruise
I’ll slip you into bed
And rub your head all afternoon
I know it’s rather comical
Indeed it sounds unlikely true
But don’t be skeptical my love
I’ll pick you up at half past two

© GÄ

Don’t Freak Out

Crazy frenetic
Cagey
Don’t leave
Your spacey
Socially distanced
What does that mean
To a lover
A first rate
Hugger
A moment in time
Setting everyone up
To draw
Non-intimate lines
Cabin fever
No instant
Reliever
Patiently waiting
Don’t think about
Dating or any
Kind of contact
That’s new
Even our mother’s
Must stand over there

In my dream
I see this practically
Easy to reach
Bridge that
Connects us to
Being with
One another
Tomorrow
Fast forward
To tear through
Like a bandit
Wearing a cape
Carrying a
Magical vaccine

Death has a way
Of controlling us
Love has a way
Of beholding us
Don’t freak out
It’s only a blip
It’s only a short trip
To stay

Tomorrow
Tomorrow
I love ya
Tomorrow
You’re only
A day
Away

© GÄ

Devastation

Kills the devil in its soul
Few make it out
Of the home for the insane
Even the sweet smell of jasmine
Can’t coax them out of the waiting room
But you have my love
You arrived

Unlikely to all the doctors
Who said you wouldn’t make it
Whom thought you’d even fake it

Sometimes

When you broom away the debris
The rotted leaves underneath
Still have a bit of red in them
Signs of life like you always had
Have had always

Walking through Venice with
Hallucinations of lost love
It wasn’t always like this
I mean before adulthood set in
Before the stones beneath your
Bare feet felt as cold as they once did
Seethed with a new heat that made you
Dance and also breathe differently

To pacify the acute anxieties
Reading or holding a friendly bird
Companionship comes along
When the garden gates are open
Sitting on the most compassionate
Bench in the grove a smile waiting
To tickle the corners of your mouth
A waxing crescent turned up
Growing wider at the sight
Of true loves wanderings
Down the path of violets
Toward you

My love

The twisted stairways of life that circle up
Aren’t really built for the emotional
Teacup climb that many often fear
Coming back down from
But even the empty drag of a cigarette
Tastes better than walking back down
The spiral steps thirsty
Never having even tasted a drop
Of the tea you went climbing there for

In the first place

The only unbelievable devastation
Is never finding the pathway
Like an atlas on how to be truly capable
Of being grateful for what our ancestors
Discovered before us
The things they tasted for us
That erased them so we wouldn’t make
The same mistakes and throw away
An infallible life chucked
Tossed into the outskirts
Of some back alleyway that
Unloved children end up in
But no

Not you

Venus found the new moon
Outside her Roman goddess window
Second planet from the sun and
Even as the second-brightest
Natural object in the sky
She still casts shadows
A radically different attractiveness
To someone who only wears her
Rollers in her hair in the same way
Every Sunday with the exact same flip

No you

You have a charisma that chooses
To enunciate the strength that is felt
Between two this is also what matters
To you and brings a fragrant flower
Wheel spinning the insights
To remind us that the appearance
Of ourselves in the face of someone
Other than ourselves like a mirror
Rockets a volcanic blastoff

Decidedly

Little inquiries popping up all around
Lovely cut rue herbs pruned into
Hedges that tell the answers
Peeking out of our mental frameworks
Solutions fire-working into
A beautiful bolt of lightening
An aha spark and there
Right there is where I found you
Making a picnic for two in the ashes
Not just for any occasion
But for a delicious buffet of
Unbelievable creation

© GÄ

Cut Loose

Did I help you
Break loose
Swing free

You know what I mean?
Like see a different side
Of yourself
Do I help you
With that?
Can I?

Reveal some perspectives
Are you open
To the fact
That what you know
May be holding
You back
Let me show you
What I know
Imperfectly
Every step at a time
Watch me roll
Out of control
With freedom
Bright light wings
Spread out
Laughing singing
Bringing you things
You never thought about
Or maybe you have just not
In the way that I want to show you

What if what you know
Is not allowing you to let go
Fully and completely

Grow

Maybe you don’t want to
See that sideshow
Let me know
Either way
Here I go

You can close your eyes
If you must
I’ll be there regardless
XO

© GÄ

Didn’t You

You make me quiver
Seriously
You make me shiver
Incredulous wonders
What you’re thinking
What you’re drinking
If you want to
Talk to me

Speak in quips

Wanna pick me up
And kiss me?
I’ll save the thought
Rest your lips on me
Just at the edge of some marbled toast
Smothered in my
Favorite marmelade

You’re like a cool drink
On a hot summer day
Splashed all over my chest
I couldn’t scream my way
Out of a hot blanket with you
But then why would I?
Better just to wrestle
The thing out
Like I’ve grappled
With the moon some nights
Dreaming about the
Dark light in your eyes

Get moody with me?
All lit up like a candle
That I could never
Blow out

If I walk away
From your tenderness
It’s just to catch my breath
Turning around selfishly
Is like meeting you
For the first time
All over again
But then

You already knew that
Didn’t you

© GÄ

Eyes of a Child

In the distant memories of love
And lack thereof
I remember so vividly
How it felt to have love
Come and leave

Innocent and beautiful meaning
Painted subtly
In colors of casual truth
Pure loves intent disguised by youth

They remind me of a picture
Unlike any that have
Stood before me
In the eyes of a child
In your eyes like a child

Every night that
I lay down my head
I feel haunted
Beneath what magnifies
How I sleep
In a bed of love
My heart’s conceived

Still I have no desire to erase
Or to replace
What I learned from
Taking that step
I love more and more
And with every broken heart
I grow in depth

And they remind me of a picture

Nothing will be able to chase
My heart away
Or cause it to break
Too many times because
A fire inside
That grows deep and wide
Fills the left side
Fills the right side
With a pure love
Of more than enough
Take what you want
And I will be here
I will be here

To remind you of a picture
Unlike any that have
Stood before you
With the eyes of a child
In your eyes like a child

© GÄ

More

I’m not even sure
I want to see
What I think I’m going to
But I look
Anyway

Don’t forget if you ever need me
I’ll come running

Don’t forget you’ve warned me
Pretend you’ve made a bargain
You’ve got to live up to

As much as you want love
I know you need your freedom more

© GÄ