ticket stub

Carnival remains scattered across the grass
trampled by a thousand running feet
pulled by the flashing lights of the carousel
and the ferris wheel
and the look on your face
before you turned away
shut everything down
and left me with only
the torn stub from our trip
through the House of Mirrors.

polaroid

Your long, straight hair,
brilliant in the rays of light
outlining pastel white clouds,
whips behind you as
your delicate, joyous face,
(bright eyes, sweet smile)
turns in quick excitement,
you and your laughter
dancing on the air
running wild in that
rusted orange sundress
through the tall, leaning grass
in echoing silence of memory
and long gone.

crash landing

I can't let myself stop
to think about it
because my head
will float in the clouds
for only seconds
before my engine stops
and I plummet down
for a crash landing.


"May angels lead you in."

The way your eyes crinkle as you slowly display those glittering whites,
I wonder if you can still see what you're smiling at.

the list

Seeing my name beside
His and Hers
Yours and Theirs
sent a shiver through my spine.

How could I
ever be worthy to call myself
one of Them?

When would I
be enough to rightfully claim
that spot?

I will live if only to know that one day
I will belong
among Them,

among Us.

blinkers

Every human being steers a car with a flashing blinker: a bright, guiding light ticking to some uncoordinated beat. Staring out the windshield, you can watch the individual lights wink at you, each on its own, sometimes coinciding with the lights beside it, but only for a moment before blinking to its own drum again. Following directions, you switch them on at the next turn. But these directions are unclear and that street comes out of nowhere and you swerve, without a light, without a warning. You send a bolt of confusion and startling reaction through the drivers behind you. They question your capabilities on the road. But that turn was unexpected, even though you knew it was coming. Suddenly the straight street you'd been staring at takes a curve and you slow down to keep up. You tell yourself you are in control. You don't even know where you're headed.