on wings of soft goodbyes

Do you see what I see

When the wind surely sighs

Heaven lifts the petals

On wings of soft goodbyes 

Do you hear her whisper

A gentle summer's breeze

Neath the cloak of darkness

A breath to ease my sleep 

Do you feel her presence

Adrift in sweet perfume

Dreams of penny blossoms

Bring me back home to you 

Do you know what I know

This life is never done

We raise our souls in hope

And know you're never gone

American Pie

Originally published in "The Crossroads Magazine - October 7" 

Where I can no longer see

What it feels to be

Unweighted and

Unafraid

Justice on its knees

Waging a war

I don't believe

Why does the blind man plead?

An ignorant place

lies underscore

Sense of grace

Bloody footprints walk

Eyes that are vacant

Still I do weep

In your great vessels of steel

We carry your greed

Across our backs

Our naked

Souls and brittle bones

Weary beneath

A heart still beats

Across this great plain of change

Trumpets sound your name

Herald your peace

Lend me faith

I beg you to bring

A perfect rose

To tide this rage

from high

From high the cold winds blow

across an ocean wide

taking you far from home

without you by my side

 

Wherever you now roam

forever you will be 

a part I must let go

a part my heart shall keep

 

Beneath an azure sky

an angel gets his wings

for precious is his life

as one our voices sing

A ghost that you can't see

A ghost that you can't see

Made up of broken dreams

Willful my disregard

Running like spent peace

Carousel rewinding

What I feel deep inside

Moving unrelenting

Wishing I could hide

Perfect imperfection

Untreading whence I come

Near and far unwinding

Far away from home

Deceitful your magic

Longs such wistful idyll

Pretending forever

Searching for you still

Naked I Stand

Naked I stand

With fallen leaves

Reaching heavenward

Soil my blistered soul

Tame the wretched

A glimpse of will

Faltering sky

Comfort me

Let your sun

Warm my grace

Untouched weary

Oh blessed rain

Shine thy face

In voice strong

Begging and pleading

For hope's sake

On breathy wings

On breathy wings, carry me

And lift my tired soles

Weary weeps, tears I’ve left

Oh, solemn heart

Knowing we must part

This dance we, with arms entwined

Neath stars a dreamer’s waltz

Holding close precious soul

My dearest one

Seeking what is lost

Lest winds unchanged, in gather

Unfettered voices we

Wail our voices, ringing

Shadows un-roamed

For all the world shown

What's wrong with me?

What's wrong with me

Aint, what it seems

Inside

A damn bursts

Thirsts

Whats left of me

It all feels

So bloody empty

What's wrong with me

All of this blue

Strangles

Casting stones

Alone

Won't you help me

Help me please

Pray for my release

What's wrong with me

Nothing to see

Missing

Lost in time

Cursed

This wretched mind

Spinning wild

Lonely is the child

What's wrong with me?

Contained

I am bound

Inside these walls

Walls and walls

Of shame

Impressed upon

My brain

Adorning me

The illicit

Letter A

Keep me here

For I am

Contained

this moon

This moon

Prideful it glows

Anchored in the sky

Shadows cast

Darkened light

My moon

Secrets unfold

Whispered in my ear

I am lost

Swallowed fear

Benign

Moonshine

Deny

What I

Cry for

On my knees

My lungs feed

Wolves

Prowling

Howling

Basic needs

This moon

His story

Romantic

Pedantic

Wishful

Glory

What lies beneath

Shimmering gold

Minds undone for

Want of the Sun

Frenzied Beast

Seeks to be free

This moon

Perfect for me

and when we started

And when we started

It seemed like love

We went forward

Like we knew what

It was all about

And when we parted

I fell apart

Falling slowly

Into what was

From a looking glass

And so here we are

Afraid to be

Making something

Of make believe

Only I can see

These tiny moments

Seconds of past

Hoping wanting

Another chance

Only nothing lasts

My tears I've traded

Still nothing lasts

A peace I know

Who fixes me?

Mends my broken

Makes whole again

What falls apart

Hugs me tightly

Kisses my tears

Smiles so brightly

When I am near

What I miss most

Since you have gone

Missing pieces

Feeling alone

Inside of me

Fighting for light

Wanting you here

Making things right

When sorrow grows

Seeds you have sewn

Nowhere is found

A peace I know

Ain’t nothing can

Take your place mum

Inside my soul

And letting go

A peace I know...

Creases

Seeking what lay neath the creases

Like crisp blue lines on sheets of white

This adventure in forgiveness

A story I have yet to write

Unburied is our forgotten

Things perhaps better left unsaid

Mighty the pen that soothes the sword

Holding hope, cradling our dead

Will you seek the justice I owe

Wanting peace for things left behind

Reparation and repentance

Wishing for what I’ve yet to find

Dark unveils a lonely sorrow

There are times I wanted to die

With this pen my voice it rises

Bringing rest for my tired mind

Bent

Bent and tired. Her hands cupped. Fingers entwined. She wept. I lay draped across her knees. Whispering that it would be okay. Grasping what she couldn't see. It wouldn't.

Uprooted. Taking apart a lifetime. Putting pieces of her in boxes. Selling her treasures for nickels. He loaded his pickup truck with nary a backward glance. The old house was empty.

A withered mind frail. Black walls filled with memories she could no longer reach. Fighting for her stipend. Warrior princess her ill-fitting crown. Grieving her Father. Mourning what would never be the same.

Finding our way. Muddled rainbows. Leaning heavy on broken shoulders. Our disposable smiles. Pretending what we don't feel. So frightened. Holding her life in my hands cupped in prayer.

A slow awakening. Life renewed. Joy and light, once slayed the dragon. Raising our voices bright again with song. There is hope once more in her old eyes. Peace in our new normal. Queen of our hearts. Restored Faith.

Swift comes the night. Unsettled winds across old bones. Death rattled inside her. Slowly her mind released. She shouts out my name. Eyes unseeing. Reaching for my hand. A final breath. She wants only to go home.

O'er majestic mountains and warm seas a silky wind. She is free and her journey begins.

Waiting for God

A small congregation of people gathered outside a church and I remarked aloud I wonder what they are doing and my daughter replied 'waiting for God'...which inspired this...

Waiting for God

I am waiting for God

For Him to make things right

To help me understand

To help me win this fight

I am waiting for God

To make sense of my pain

Hold my hands in His hands

And make me whole again

I am waiting for God

To take away the night

And fix all my broken

A sparrow lost in flight

I am waiting for God

No longer can I stay

I need for Him to know

That I am on my way

Shadows past

Shadows past lain

Like corpses

Strewn wildflowers

Wanting sun

Wishing away

Casted stones

Stolen peace a

Silvered hope

Faded is my

Redemption

Brittled bones

Of no sleep

She weeps for her

Fallen self

Stood ashamed to

Mourn a past

Cowardice light

Shine on me

sometimes water weeps

Sometimes the water weeps

Washing clean my sins

While I am asleep

Draining my lifeblood

Like fire across the ocean deep

Buried neath what you see

Broken are these bones

Pretending to heal

Taking everything

Lighting a match inside of me

Feeling betrayed

Wondering my place

All my prayers failed

Ain't no grace

This empty space

Who is this girl you see now?

So many faces

All the words she wrote

Picking up the pieces

A puzzle of what used to be

If she knew who she was

Maybe she could be

Free

Underneath skin and bones

Something you haven't seen

Would you recognize

Know her hopes and dreams

If it all lay buried beneath

A grave of banished

Dreams

Neath the stones where my mother weeps

Lay the weight of our unseen

Chameleon pretending

Is there anyone who believes

In this girl washed in grief

Her bloody bandages

Real

Tell me I am pretty

How proud you are of me

The woman I've become

Since you left me

How do I move on

When I feel so

Undone

Can I tell you a story

From so long ago

Once I was rooted

Once I could fly

Gone is the tide

Oh how time passes us

By

Let your Heaven Shine

Let your heaven shine

Fill me with your light

Tell me you love me

From a million miles

Let your star twinkle

As I fall asleep

Kiss my cheek gently

While I softly weep

Tell me a story

One from long ago

Take me home mama

I still miss you so

Let your arms carry

Take me way up high

Hold my hand won’t you

Stay with me awhile

When the morning sun

Steals you from my mind

I will see you soon

In my dreams tonight

In Sorrow

You came to me in sorrow

From tears of cradled despair

In bleakness I am swallowed

At my end I see you there

You give hope for tomorrow

A feather brave weights like stone

Frayed this rope I am tethered

Oh please won't you guide me home

From these shackles release me

On golden wings let me soar

Weep the child for her broken

Grant her peace forevermore

Beautifully Broken - A Collaboration

 A wonderful collaboration with my talented poetic friends - Lena Power & Senga Steel

Beautifully Broken?

I'd had enough when I was still a young child;

beautifully broken? I don't think so,

quite the opposite in fact.

There was nothing beautiful

in the way I was broken.

Broken is beautiful? I don't get that,

broken is broken, unless you can come back.

Senga:

But then, a little chink of light

In all the blackness

Hope rescued me

And placed me down for

Mending, with all the other

Broken souls.

Tissy:

In the mirror I can see

Your faces like mine

Wanting to shine, be more

All our pieces together

Keeping us strong, wielding

Our broken like wings

Waiting to fly

All our broken like fire

In the sky.

Sun Weary

From these eyes sun weary

My heart upon a shelf

A few seconds longer

Til I am not myself

With fairy dust sprinkles

A prayer or two aloud

Regrets I will send you

From high above the clouds

Few who mourn my passing

Know true the path I found

His word is my Bible

And I am Heaven bound

Blessed this road I travel

With many miles to go

Far from home please take me

Gossamer wings of gold

A single drop of rain

A single drop of rain

Like a tear will shed

Filling earth with love

And painting roses red

Grey skies though they darken

The sun will rise again

Let us bless the flower

Who sometimes needs the shade

Mother nature guides us

A tiny piece of grain

Everything has meaning

This single drop of rain

Take Me

Take me

On winds strong

Carry

Me like hope

Forgive

Past undone

Remorse

Moving on

This life

A mirror

Reflects

What is gone

Portrait

What I see

Ain't what

What I know

A seed

From what was

What is

What is done

Jump

Jump

Stand your feet

At the line

All your truths

Pushing at you

Like you was

Nothing

Making claims

On your mind

Preying

Like everyday

Ordinary

Screaming at you

Jump

Feels so good

The wind blowin

Freedom and

You are smiling

Like you was happy

Come on

Don't waste my time

You know you wanna

Jump

Chasing dimes

Swallowed up

Holding back

Every lie

Eating you alive

Look into my eyes

I am dead inside

Jump

Falling like sky

Falling like sky

A drop of rain

Bitter noise

Rushing sideways

Finding peace

You are nothing

This clinging vine

Pulling you

The brightest night

Wearing deep

Rise like the sun

Mad in chatter

Swollen tongue

Weep your willows

Releasing me

From fire swells

His breath thunders

Mighty crowned

In darkness sees

Fallen child

I ain't trying

What you see is all I am

Less is more I figure

A step from where I’m standing

In grace He delivers

Like nothing I am sure of

***

I miss your easy way

The gentle of your smile

Each breath you spent

Was heaven sent

Beguiled by your wiles

I miss your wistful kiss

The sweetness that you are

Your loving arms

And endless charms

My bright, shining star

I miss our what once was

And long for yesterday

No one can take

Your sacred place

Since you went away

Maybe this time

Another year like no other

Something new every day

Pieces of me they wander

To this place sometime somewhere

Wishes and dreams I’ve a million

Memories fill my heart like stone

Casting flies across water

Setting fire to what I know

Take your shadows from my doorstep

Unearth from stones sorrows frowned

Lift me up from my broken

This spell that buries my soul

Lay your heart on these hands feathered

A gift in silence I bring

All things past still my prison

Solace I can never seek

Won’t you lay with me forever

Uncage my heart, set me free

Suffer not for I am weary

Mama won’t you let me be

Chasing Happy

Starting early, a road I took

Missing something, overlooked

All my wisdom and all my good

Forever am misunderstood

Moving often pulling my roots

Checking boxes of things we moved

Ain’t no worries when nothing stays

Lost in the wind are better days

Who is she, staring back at me

Nothing familiar, nothing free

Catching fairies and selling dreams

Buried alive still no one sees

Chasing happy and wanting sleep

Darkness follows and hollow weeps

Ain’t nothing waiting, waiting for me

Swallow the night so I can breathe

Settling Debt

All these words spent

Anger and lies

Searching for something I haven’t felt yet

Irreplaceable

Still I am denied

On my knees ain’t making sense

Troubled waters like nothing

Barely alive

Fucking history what do you know

I held her hand and let it go

Barely clinging you throw at me

This shade sister a blanket

Putting your rage to sleep

Spilling blood like rain on fire

Blowing your smoke

Making your prayers count

Wishing on dimes

Wanting to believe

I am standing all alone

Full of holes

A god damned sieve

Ain’t nothing matters

No one I can shout at

In my corner webs of deceit

Lost and lonely

Talking trees

And empty fields

Cast aside my hands raw

My knuckles bleed

Weeping for a man

I no longer see

And for you mama

Like you still breathe

I need to let you go

So I can finally sleep

Haiku - Light

From darkened shadows

A lingering, brooding light

Wanting to let go

False eyes I cannot see

Prisoner inside my mind

Stories untold bereaved

Lost is the soul denied

Questions to answers seek

Diamond beneath a rock

Buried deep I do weep

Hands turning slowly clocked

Find me in your deceit

A mirror turned facing me

Looking hard a shard freed

Left without nothing

I am what I believe

Girl you are what you see

Somehow I'm what I need

Someone worthy of me

I am nothing

I am nothing

Skin and bones

Voice of dissent

Paying rent

Wishing

Knowing well

Ideas I've plenty

Seeking something

Still I beget

Past regrets

Pasting smiles

On mile highs

Pretending

This life fine

Yeah maybe

Ghosts expired

Set on fire

Lies and truths

Who explains

What we knew

Ain't noone listening

Are you?

Sweet Grass Moonshine

With lusty breaths

A wayward glance

Through delicate strands

A sweetheart dance

Neath midnight blue

On wings of sound

With your gentle breaths

My lover calls

Sweet grass moonshine

Twilight felled soul

Kiss my lips gently

Girl I did know

Nowhere

I ain't going nowhere

I am standing still

Old tracks on new skin

Pressing tin

And rambling weeds

Feeling my sins

Dime-store bags of candy

Paper sacks emptied

Sugared high rolling

Ain’t feeling

This juice flowing

Inside me

Spending all your dollars

I’ll spread my legs babe

Tell me you love me

It’s ok

Wearing these lies

Like a face

So tired

Moving slowly

Where I begin

Is where I end