Thick Skin

There is magic about it The younger years when worry seemed fleeting And excitement hung in the air  Anticipation for all the things that have yet to come Running wild and naked through the dirt Splashing in pools of black Horizons disappearing into an infinite scheme of water and sky The sounds of cheering The cold lingering at my lips and being pushed away by the warmth of my breath My ears aching from the sounds of people talking And the chilling atmosphere that wrapped itself around me  I miss the smells Of a hallway freshly coated with wax The way the classrooms smelled of books Too many torn and tattered, but too many to be replaced So the smell remained Holding within them years of eager hands and youthful faces How many eyes have scanned those pages and breathed life into them I miss the anticipation of the bell ringing Counting down minutes and then seconds until I could burst into the hall Longing to catch a glimpse of someone I called a friend Dying to have a conver...

  Sometimes the weight of the world is far too heavy a mass And even the smallest things feel all too inconvenient a task It is a burden and a gift to feel so deeply To feel fear and disappointment, sadness and anxiety Because the parallel is joy and wonder, imagination and creativity And what a blessing those things are And what a blessing that I see them often in you Even when a darkness seems to descend over all of us Casting a shadow over all things that once held light And with all your might It is too much to pull back the veil on your own No matter how much light you conjure But in the eclipse of the worlds greatest defeat I am holding in my hands a candle Sitting atop this candle is a flame That I am always holding for you So you can find me when things are hazy When you can see no further than your fingertips A soft glow will show you the way back to me And I hope it will inspire the fireflies  To draw circles around your heart So I can find you too A perfect match A ...

  Your heart finds me like the river meets the sea Crashing in - two things become one So vast and so deep I have only one choice - learn to swim And I am overcome Consistently and effortlessly overcome by the soft touch of your hand By the sweeping sound of your voice Calling me to answer, calling me to be still And listen to the birds singing, to the rivers running And suddenly my feet too, running, running always toward you And you reach your hand back for me To walk along the path together, and we are free Free as those birds singing their sweet songs in the trees Just as sweet as the songs you sing for me in the morning You cast a smile in my direction and I turn to snow Melting in your precious hands I would cover everything as far as the eye could see As long as it meant that you would lay your body down on me The greatest vulnerability The highest compliment of intimacy I look at you and see a lifetime of love I can hear the longing whispers in the dark A little girl keepin...

  Looking up at the stars I have looked at all my life I see A familiar scene that has always made me feel at home Galaxies colliding far away and strings of stars hanging across the darkest nights The crickets singing and the sounds of pine needles drifting to the ground And crackling against the desert floor like sparks off of a fire I am home And you noticed the crickets singing Here in this new place And I found home in your voice and your face And to bring you to the woods that raised me To the mountains that made me Was everything I hoped for and more Where your body kept me warm at night And your smile graced me in the early morning light And in the reflection of the bluest lake I know Pink and purple clouds paint their way across the ripples in the water And I hope I am reflecting the best of you That I am giving you the love that you deserve How can the world be such a mess When there is such beauty as this Such calm and such stillness And for me, life is so much less comp...

  Your hand fits into mine like pieces into place They must be relative, time and space Because I’ve waited a long time to face The distance and cross the canyons and cliff sides Summit the great divides That may have existed once between you and I I will always wish I met you sooner I will wish that I could have shared every meaningful place Every cherished memory and all the moments missed But somehow you were right on time There is one fact I can’t refute That fate cannot dispute The way your hand fits in mine makes it worth the wait When we met I told you that you set my heart ablaze I was gold like the sun, basking in your rays Heart beating, crazed So in love that I craved Being by your side 10 months later and I know those feelings will never subside I will romp and play with you laugh all day with you I will be as loyal as they come Living in love that will never come to pass

The connection between us is so much more than physical My longing for your intellect and your imagination is equal For your emotions running high and low Your saddest days and your stunning glow From tears that could fill oceans And smiles that could stop a heart beating There is no denying that life is hard right now It is a humbling bow That we must take as we face the disappointment Of an empty room with no applause But the show must go on And if I have to pull matches from your collection And strike little fires here and there I will For you have lit so much for me with your matches My love for you runs further than skin deep And I’m sorry if I tried to spark electricity To start again that fire burning I know you love me- I never doubt it But there are canyons forming between you and me As we retreat  Deeper into our own psyche And I want to hold on to the newness I want to stay in bloom as long as I can Because we deserve to be excited To play like children To dream and to e...

Sometimes I wake in the middle of the night To find that the light has kissed your face I work to focus my eyes To see your hand draped over your chest My eyes are heavy with tiredness But I would let them burn before I missed a moment of this The peace that lays itself over you like a blanket Whether the warmth of your bed or the comfort of having me there - I won't dispute it The moon is hidden behind cloud cover But the apartment glows From the echoes Of a near but distant city That you have grown to love and I too For it brought you to me Like a bird set free And it is unbearable now to imagine it without you in it The bars do not buzz with the same energy The music does not urge me to dance My eyes do not search for yours looking back at me And it is sad to think that the city will live on Even when you are not here Because to me, you are the heart of everything Maybe I am just tired Or maybe I am already missing what I won't have The nights spent l...

I have fallen in love with the way the silence of the morning fades into the day With the persistent drip of the coffee And the rustling of your shirt sliding down your back The softness of your skin complemented by the softness of the morning Your black t-shirt contrasting the bright light That hurts my blue eyes and my eyelids could weigh a thousand pounds And I would still fight to keep them open So I could see you again I love that even when you are up before me You will pull back the sheets And curl up beside me Press your body into mine And take the steady inhaled breath Followed by the slow release, the comforting sigh of love That eases its way across your lips And I have never felt this much love In the subtle touch When you pass by me, when your fingers graze my hand The glances from across the room, that challenge my will to stand My knees are often weak each time you look at me So I love the mornings When I don't have to stand When you are warm a...

A thin layer of fog is clinging to the earth And I am in love with her She talks about how the cherry blossoms bloom But she is blooming too Unfolding herself for the coming sun Readying herself for what's to come New beginnings hanging on the horizon Just beyond her grasp Beyond the rolling fields of growing grass Blankets of green folded over each other Her eyes reach for something further I long to hear her laughter Her head thrown back, and after The way she smiles at me Could bring me to my knees The seasons have come and gone And I still hear a familiar song That hums in my brain When I hear her sweet name Each day that passes I love her more And my heart does soar On wings of robins that circle back come springtime When I am reminded that this love is mine And hers to share Burning bright in the morning air

In my head is an album of moments All of the beautiful plaves we've been Things that we've seen Each moment more wonderful than the last So close to my heart sometimes it doesn't feel like the past And I have watched your eyes full of wonder Reflecting all the pretty things And I can see them all, plain as day before me But my favorite view of all is you When you stand before dusk as fireworks burst into the air Like stars exploding And clouds of smoke drift slowly down When water steeps up to my chest With your thighs pressed to my hips Your lips on my lips When we are in a crowded restaurant That serves the best food in town When I am with you it seems that no one else is around When my hand is clasped tightly in your hand When we laugh and play and dance When you look back at me and smile I swear my heart forgets to beat for a while Time stands still for you As I burn a memory into my mind And when I am alone I find That I flip through my albums ...

Each night that I hold you in my arms When the world falls silent And the wind grows warm In the still of the night There isn't a soul awake All eyes are closed, even yours, but not mine No, mine are fixed on you On your perfect skin The rise and fall of your chest as you're breathing My heart has never felt such peace As when you're laying next to me When your eyelids drift slowly closed Like falling leaves The way your eyes open in the morning Like a sweet sunrise Have changed the way I look at life I wear this calmness like a heavy coat A soothing weight Like your hand in my hand Like your body pressed to mine Like it was always meant to be there Two hearts in rhythm, neither scared To melt into the other To want, to dream, to be tethered To an uncertain yet exciting future Never knowing but always sure That you were meant for me and I for you That our love is pure and true And I promise you will always know Withou...

It is in you all the time, whether you see it or not It lingers in your mind though it seems something you forgot How to believe in yourself, how to know for certain That you stand proudly behind the closed curtain But once the rope is pulled and the slack is taught When the voices hush and the light is hot Upon your face When your mouth is dry and your heart begins to race You close your eyes to summon it You can hear the whispers in the crowd though you try not to succumb to it You begin to make out the words You begin to feel the weight of the hurt And you put yourself in a box that you can never be bigger than Closing slowly over time, crushing your will to stand And once where you were so proud, so confident, so sure Now you've allowed others to dictate your future But that voice inside you is always there-sometimes loud, sometimes quiet It can hide among the faces or it can raise its fist and riot And you will ask yourself all your life why you sat on the si...

I left As the city took its first breath  of morning And I am scorning these bridges for Letting me get closer And then sending me further apart From you and that heart The mountains are calling out to me Be steady but the birds are calling too and I just want to fly away with you One thing I know for certain Is that the butterflies in my stomach are fluttering Because you have been so sweet to me Dripping honey Off of your tongue With every song you’ve sung I carry your music with me always The way your body sways When you walk The way your lips move when you talk The way your hair frames your face The way your eyes chase The sun on a summer day I am carried away

I was with you when you turned 30 The age that women Begin to question The trajectory of their lives Whether it's stagnant or it climbs Ever upward, ascending Into their destiny It's something I admire in you The flicker in your eyes For you know you are a dreamer in your heart of hearts But sometimes it's hard to piece the parts together When you are weary from persistence Working coals into diamonds in your fists Trying to keep up with the demand With cuts on your hands And it's no wonder that you're tired It's hard to dream with anchors at your feet I’d give anything for you to feel free Free to hope and believe In the abilities That you possess Often I look at you in awe and witness How spectacular you are And I know you see it too That you are a star And you’ve got things to do Things to prove To yourself And I want to clear the path in your mind Tear away at the clutter, at the ties that bind You to disappointment and grief I...