Reconnect

The things that we dared not say so early
Dormant feelings we caged for our reasons
Showed themselves in those early minutes
And the anxiety forgotten

The beer that we shared,
When we first dared to share judgement,
Then weeks spent hashing it out
And the long wait forgotten  

How you kept your chin up
Though those many times you endured
How proud I was of who you had become
And the heavy heart forgotten

A dare to hope for some kind of future
Where the past could exist aside
To two people who reconnected
And the feeling alive for now

The things we dared not say so early,
Dormant feelings uncaged for our reasons
Came to light to our wonder
And here we are.

Laundry

To be noticed, to be remembered;

Ambitions of everyday toilers.

And whether possible, worthwhile, desirable;

One wonders.

The desperate pursuit for daily meaning,

Which upon reflection keeps one up nights

Or lulls one to sleep.

Is a fleeting resolve, a forgettable determination;

Each night a promise, each morning an excuse.

Amongst everyday struggles,

Big battles, little rituals, the grind,

Are so few noteworthy days.

Yet we are each other's muses,

Validated by our shared humanity.

Tonight, in the taco shop, the laundromat, the dive,

One thing held true;

The glint in the eyes of strangers,

When they recognized those souls they knew.

Everyday heroines and heroes ask not whether their days and lives have meaning;

Rather, what gives meaning to their days and lives?

And to that we each have our answer.

Lagos

Waiting on the dusty stoop

Of a little hotel by the sea

A rotation of Senegali youth

Take turns keeping me company

Face still smarting from slaps

Head still pounding from drinks

Belly still full from laughs on our stroll

Before our talk revealed our different paths

Sun still setting on the edge of the world

The panicing Atlantic keeps kicking up dust

My new friends console me, but they know they can't hold me 

And invite me back in for their drugs 

These Senegali men have seen this before

The harsh realities of a man come apart

On a lover's lane, where lovers still wait

In vain, for their lovers who never return 

China

Not once did it occur
To the bull in the shop
That he should be careful
Or that he should stop

Heart

Deep in the folds of the mind

Behind imagination and memory and fact

Are the sugar sweet grains of a feeling

Next to nightmare and faith and a laugh

The feeling's as complex as the stars

And grows like the flowers in spring

It makes less sense than disaster but all that it's after

Is to match you with that one other being

In front of the lobe and behind the eyes

There's a transfer of sight into spark

And the deeper it goes, the less you will know

About the light you make out of the dark

Past the lips and the clavicle and the skin

There's a sentiment a world apart

Not on the brain nor the eyes does it rely

That's why we emphasize the strength of the heart