Monday, May 27, 2013

Welcome Back To Your Life

I see your face
as you walk my way
and I can't help
but smile
because your face
isn't like any other
and today
isn't like any other
because I am here
with you. 

It's been a while
but you've made it through,
walked on fire
and reached the other side
of a life
you didn't think 
had another side
because you couldn't see
anything you wanted
beyond what you wanted
right now. 

But I knew better - 
I've been there too - 
and here we are
on the same side
staring eye to eye
at everything new
and our wasted youth
we've left behind. 

I knew you were better
and now you do too. 
Do you see it - 
the silver lining
and crystalline horizon
waiting for you?

We embrace the moment
and each other
for just one breath
and then you're gone - 
off to wander
the world
with new eyes
and a smile
I haven't seen 
since you were a child
of eight or nine, 
before the hurricane
of your life
washed you out to sea. 

How good it feels
to know
you are no longer
aimlessly wandering,
but moving about the world
engaged
and ready to learn.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

A Woman Unchained

I am a woman
unchained,
ably capable
of breaking away
from the lines
you've drawn around me
that never fit
to begin with
because
she doesn't exist.

She is a fantasy
I will never be
and don't want to
because she is
a shadow
stick figure
with no words
or heart,
just scars
from where
she's cut,
trying to
escape
the mold
you shoved
her in
without even asking
if that was who she
wanted to be.

I am a woman
unchained
thanks to ever woman
who broke the mold
before me
and refused to submit
to your version
of what a woman
should
look like
say
dress like
be.

I proudly move
through this life
free to be who
I am
and not who
you think
I am.

I am a woman
unchained.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Another Birthday Without You

As the sun sinks below
the skyline
and day gives way to night,
I light a candle
to honor you.

Today, 
you would have been 
another year older
if you had lived past
sixty-two,
but Cancer had other ideas. 

I did too. 

I had career changes
and wedding plans, 
the pursuit of happiness
and second chances - 
everything in a life
you can imagine
that needed you
and your opinions.

Now
I just have this candle
and it will burn to the ground
or until the wick burns out. 

No wishes will be made tonight. 
No cake will be served. 
No party hats will be adorned. 
No gifts will be exchanged. 

It's just me and a candle
and an unused wish
sitting on the balcony
as the scars of your loss
bust my heart and the dark
wide open for no one to see.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

10,825 Days

When you sit down
and count out
how many days
we had together, 
it seems like a full
and robust number.

But it's not. 

It is a life cut short,
bucket lists
forever interrupted,
a broken chain
of events
never to be connected
again. 

10,825 days is not much
when someone you love
is the one
who didn't make it
to 10,826.