Ink In Her Eyes

September 30, 2007

"What happens when it's all over?
Where do tears go when they've dried?"
She stared up at her father,
With tears of her own burning in her eyes,

Her father drew her near,
Tracing the trails dripping down her face,
Closing his eyes to search for the words,
That might take her grief away,

“There is a place,” he whispered,
“That hasn’t any rain,
And when those tears spill from your eyes,
You keep it alive with your pain,”

“And what of the pieces,
From my heart when it breaks?”
Her lower lip trembled,
Voice beginning to shake,

“G-d conducts an orchestra,
Every time you cry,
And the shards from your heart,
They become stars in the sky,”

“But what happens to those people,
Like Mother who left us?
And if we bury them in the ground,
How do they get to the heavens?”

A faint smile,
Leaked across his lips,
Not because he took joy in her pain,
But because she had delved into his,

And as if G-d had intended,
The wind began to blow,
“That was the kiss of our angel,” he said,
“And angels can fly, you know?”

When Forever Ends

November 27, 2007

Put out the flames you’ve named passion,
The hate that lingers on your tongue means little soon after,
Meaningless fervor when you sleep becomes dust,
When love seems so far don't settle for lust,

Cradling material you think the tighter your grip the longer it stays,
You forget to remember that memories fade,
And when forever abruptly comes to an end,
The treasures you’ve embraced disappear from your hand,

So hold onto the things you can never clutch,
Cherish the moments you can never touch,
You can never be empty when you befriend infinity,
Accept G-d’s invitation to attend eternity,

Hero

June 19, 2008

“I want to be a hero."
He announced that night to his dad.
“I want to be noble and great.
“I want to be strong like Superman.”

His father thought for a while.
About a dream too impossible to be true.
And when he was done he knew what he’d say.
To a boy who had said more than he knew.

“Are you noble in character?
“Is your courage deeper than you can understand
“If the strength you seek is inner.
“Then you are stronger than Superman.”

“I want to be extraordinary.”
He said when he spoke again.
“I want to be bold and daring.
“I want to be brave like Spiderman.”

“Are you bold in your boundaries?
“Do you dare to move against the grain
“If you stand firm in your beliefs.
“Then you are significantly more brave.”

“I want a magnificent cape.
“I want a gleaming sword.
“I want to fly through time.
“I want to turn over the world.”

“If you see what I see, son.
“When you look into the mirror.
“Then you too will come to see.
“That you are already, in fact, a hero.”

Gods of Self-Deception

May 8, 2009

Maybe you’re invisible. Maybe your vanishing act was caste.
Maybe you’re a ghost in your own home, a stranger moving by too fast.

Maybe every torch you’ve lit extinguished. And maybe no one’s ever cared.
Maybe you’ve disappeared in the eyes of the world. Maybe you were never even there.

No. Each breath you take is given. Each move you make is watched.
The slightest contraction of the chest is whispered, granted to beat and permitted to throb.

So maybe you’ve got holes. Vibrant flaws that scream and sear.
Maybe the condescending whistles really are, the only things you hear.

Maybe you’ve been begging. But no one’s let you in.
Maybe you’ve been playing this game forever. But He’s never let you win.

Still every fall is measured. Every scar you’ve razorred, mapped.
Every hurt is predetermined. Every skin you shed is kept.

Every smile is carved and painted. Each cry you sound, composed. Every
lump in your throat, created. And the gun in your hand exposed.

So maybe you really are just as small as you imagine. Become a servant to perfection.
Maybe you’re really nothing but you’re image. Fallen to the gods of self-deception.

No.

Every tear you've cried is counted.

Every word you utter, framed.

Every thought you’ve thought is written.

For, every moment G-d repeats your name.

Wand In The Sky

April 13, 2009

I could ask “why“,
Like I’m the very first prey to wonder
Like only I’ve been touched by the hand
That claps the most terrifying bolts of thunder

But who would value a question,
That's been echoing for years before me

When “why” never numbed their cries
Or silenced the skies inside me

I could ask “why“,
Until my thoughts are entwined in tangles
I could watch and cry until I’m hard inside
While demons make love to angels

But “why” would never keep me safe
Shelter me from the depth and aches
“Why” would never take my pain in its lips
And suck the poison from my veins

“Why” isn’t a question to be answered
Under minds and eyes growing starry

There's no wand in the sky,

And "why" isn't His form of sorry