Sunlight filters down,

Piercing through fluffy white clouds

The golden rays are comfortably warm,

Wrapping the earth in their embrace

The breeze is light,

Gentle as a newborn fawn

It flows through emerald leaves,

Skewing them this way and that

Birds chirp, their melodious notes ringing

Through the crisp, clear air

They flit from tree to tree,

Carrying songs of resplendence with them

A beautiful, wondrous day

Basked in the eternal magic of nature

August ridge-line

Crowned with snow

Commands its charge;

Valleys, below

Supplicates

With waters shed

The life beneath

By streams are fed

The messengers,

At its behest

Summer sweet,

Springs do refresh

Long as its wealth

Of treasuries

Remains the king’s

To share with thee

photo credit:

Slow Dancing (USA) by

Paul Christian Bowman

Your Love Wets My Flesh

My heart stays forever warm,

when close to you.

When away from you,

it burns brightly.

Longing for your touch,

your kiss,

your embrace.

Your everything.

To me, love is always just that,

Love

Whether between a man and a woman,

Or a man and a man,

Woman and woman

Love is a binding force that affects us all

We all deserve to feel it,

To bask in its warmth

Never should it be a question of gender,

Rather one of compassion shared

Love is love

Because love exists in indefinite forms,

Linking person to person,

Filling their hearts

No matter the shape it takes,

Love is love

The way it should forever be

The page rubs against my fingers as I begin turn it

Lost in the words on each piece of paper

I look up

Listening to the birds sing to me

Sitting quietly not even the squirrels seem to notice my presence

I like it that way

Their quick hands and feet move swiftly up and down the tree

surrounding it

Two of them chase each other as though it is a game

Unfamilar with their voices I wonder

What their saying

Higher up in the trees

The birds sing to one another

A song of love that only their math can comprehend

Can they see me?

Do they care that I'm watching?

I swing softly in my chair

making sure not to startle their afternoon play

I look up

Little pieces of light wink at me through the leaves as they sway

Inhaling softly

Taking in the oxygen that compliment my lungs

The book still lays flat on my lap

untouched and waiting to tell me more

I begin reading again

with the silent chirp of bird in the background

singing their love song.

A girl named Rosa once moved,

And was forced to attend a new school

She spent the first few weeks of class

Utterly alone

Until one day, another girl in homeroom

Decided to take a chance,

To risk embarrassment

The girl's name was Ruby,

And fearlessly, with a beaming smile

On her gentle face, she extended a hand,

A promise of friendship to Rosa

Shocked, but nearly moved to tears,

Rosa shakily accepted

That soft, but firm hand

Years and years later,

When the two girls were much older,

They still walked alongside one another,

Warm hands clasped tightly together

An expression of forever

As I awake, I find myself in the middle of nowhere. All I can hear is the rustling of fresh leaves against eachother. How did I get here? I arise to my aching feet and take a few steps. After looking around my environment, I stuffed my hands in every one of my pockets.Where’s my phone? With no plan of how to escape this maze full of dark colors, I began to walk one direction. I will eventually get out of here. My clothes were hurenously dirty–one reason why I found nature dreadful. I abruptly stopped as I heard something moving around in the nearest bush. My heart began to rapidly leap out of my chest. Out popped an adorable, little bunny. There’s no threat here. With every step I took, I began to notice the millions of shades of greens, browns, grays, and reds spread throughout nature. I grew tired of walking and that’s when I found this tree stump. I’ve spent two hours just sitting here enjoying my surroundings. This is not in the middle of nowhere. This is the middle of my soul, mind, and heart.

you crushed my bones

so I grained them to dust,

I drank my heart through a straw

I glided on the surface of madness

to see what’s under the ice,

the lake was frozen

my insides

howling at the moon

my fingers touched your breath

I burned in the heat of your skin

my bruises were

flowers that I picked last night,

my voice carried a whisper

a wordless song

to the sky

breathe in, breathe out

you screamed

but you can’t breathe without lungs

a tune plays out as the cold

grows thicker

cry me a river lost soul,

stand on your fingers

to reach out my love

slowly now

the ice is fragile

and your grip

no longer holds

the dust

that was once my bones

breathe in, breathe out

you screamed

but you can’t breathe without lungs

*

What if I told you I was ignorant.

disobeyed my mother

neglected my father

and was

detatched from myself.

What if I told you I am at peace.

listening to my mother

praying for my father

and I am

okay with myself.

What if I told you I will be happy.

rejoicing my life given by my mother

making everyone proud for my father

and will be

loving myself

I will be loving myself.

I will.