Scattering shy leaves Skittering down two by two In Fall’s breeze they sink Forming such a golden path Blind-folded hearts can follow

Anticipation Generic butterflies swarm Twists, knots, fluttering They find no golden nectar Only number two pencils

Once my beating heart Matched steel drum lines to-to-toe Teaching metronomes But now my beat has fallen Into syncopated depths

Just for a moment To glimpse from dusty pages A single white flash Tenuous seconds follow Until a roaring reply

To hide in plain sight Something we all yearn for, but Our differences Do not belong in the mud For mud cannot be polished

A stone for a head A dauntingly fragile nose Sudden convulsions To lay my head down in peace My vestigial heart begs

I pray for the day When my mind is clear Silence, sweet silence Schemes and impulses forgone To live without a shadow

My Grandfather’s last dream In a deep sea of white, heavy thun… Until a peaceful respite blinks What will it bring? Will the rain… With their piercing showers, will…

Distractions of youth Parade like bright spring flowers Always on the mind Entangling my weak heart To the land of mud and ice

To puddle one’s words Few are willing to admit Myself least of all To fall and land upon earth Closer to Earth than before?

Such sweet aroma Breathe in the color deeply Exhale precious wafts Crisp Citric spiral peelings, Fill my compost disposal

Such an empty sky Countless pensive glances are Over and over Swallowed swift, before their time If only I could keep them

Bickering tree frogs Endless croaking back and forth Dream a soothing song One where two branches can meet In this capital forest