43)

I have chosen not to step away
nor resign
nor quit in this dream
which is the same dream
that I have had with me
all this time,
and as this pertains to me, specifically,
I have come to the decision
that I cannot and will not
step back, or give way,
and surrender another step.

39)

You never know who you are
until you find out,
and oftentimes,
even when we find out,
I am amazed when I see
how little we see,
or how seldom we notice
that we are far more
than who we think we are.

36)

I cannot say that I knew you
but I can say
that I knew you well enough.

I can say that I knew enough
to understand things
that perhaps,
maybe no one else
would understand
or if anything else,
I can say that I understand
the things that most people
would never dare to admit
or talk about.

31)

I find myself lost sometimes
or perhaps,
I am only hidden in plain sight
and simply put,
I am alive
and aloud
and living in times
of your so-called
constructive criticism,
unless, of course—
I disagree.

29)

Hello dear, Rogue
at least I can say
that I know you well enough to say
that I know you well
then, of course,
I also know you well enough to say
that I can call you me –

25)

I can see him now
young and unsure
but bold
confused
but he has yet to be confronted
by the basic rites of passage
or crossed by the times
that come with the typical
confrontations of life.

22)

She walks through her imagination
like a young girl
through faded fields
of sunflowers.

She counts her years on the backs
of ladybugs,
which represent more than say,
the imaginary rainbows
where she meets her destiny,
live, and in person.

16)

There comes a time
when you have to say goodbye,
as in farewell, and there comes a time
when you have to find what it takes
that makes you realize
now is the right time
to walk away.

12)

It’s been hard, lately
to think clearly without distraction
or to act without wondering
about the “what if” scenarios
that take place when hindsight
is in the forefront
and yesterday hangs on to me
like a child, pleading for me
to change my mind.

8)

It is not far now . . .
. . . the path to empathy
or to find someone
to empathize with, or to understand
or to find that something
longed for but missed
in the calculation
of which way to go –
Up, down?
Left or right?