The Painful Chapter

Lines

      I forgot how to say
    you forgot how to say
        so we don't say
between the messages sent
we said too much of nothing

Call Me

 "call me when you get there"

not text me
not send a heart emoji

"call me"

 somebody cares enough
to wait for your voice
on the other end

 to know you made it in
to know you're safe and sound
to know you made it home

 that was the language
of nostalgic tenderness

when a call meant more
 than a notification dot

 when somebody cared enough
to wait for the sound
of your voice to tell them

        "I'm alright"
"I'm good"
         "I'm straight"

safe departures and 
safe landings were
 prayed and hoped for 

 we say see you later
as if later has already
made a promise to be

 we know later isn't promised

 my love is

"call me whe...

Pocket Change

In today's economy 
 it's next to impossible
to make a dollar make cents.

The Trials and The Tribulations

Life called us forth before
we could reply

 A gift unasked a burden we
must bear

The trial of the test the
question of the "why"

 The sentence is the time we
serve

We mourn the things that
living takes away

 We learn that freedom
comes from being bound

Through the throes of
change we lose ourselves
each day

 Somehow in the losing we
are found

We practice innocence but
cannot stay that way

 Responsibility becomes our
artifact

We learn to care then we
choose what to say to those
we care for

 We answer life by giving it
our heartbeat

The trial is life

 The tribulation is time

The verdict is who we
become in the time we
served 

OUTAGE

the power goes out suddenly the bright city remembers what darkness is all about windows blackout one by one streetlights surrender traffic signals fall silent the skyline disappears we look up from our phones the battery is 50% the device needs power and the power is gone the sky was there the whole time now it too is gone no way to reach out how did we forget how to call when the phone goes dark we can't go live no way to broadcast that we're still alive we can no longer announce our existence or beg for help when we need assistance now we hope our neighbors in a time of danger are people we can trust we are strangers because we never talk to them and they don't talk to us yet suddenly they become the only people we can reach it seems none of what we learn about the light matters for long when darkness is sure to return we look for the light we search for the truth in our darkest hour we forget how to shine yet even a spark can teach the dark how to recede like water finding ...

Reserved Sovereignty

"Asking" when does asking
collapse into begging

  It happens when the hand
stays out too long 

 Waiting for a drop of water
to fall into the palm

Drawn from a well that's been
dry so long

 I ask my mother a simple question
formulated from a natural need

 I don't go any farther than the 
act of asking

I do not step across the border

 Where a request becomes a plea

 Mama became good at fixin'
broken promises of my father 

 Mending the tears inside me

 refusing to sacrifice my dignity

I usually leave the question on the floor

I turn away before it has the chance
to drop me to my knees

For I only give my God my please
 

The Painful Chapter

Walk Away

answers never came in spoken words in the silence of a room plans were delayed and calls went unheard shadows formed where trees should bloom seasons begging skies to change the current weather of ones mind the fog cleared from these eyes to see what was left behind When the sky is no longer blue When finally you know the truth the only thing left to do is reclaim the days of ones youth no final fight no grand goodnight no explanation left behind to say goodbye

Resolution & Revelation

Sometimes you have to write down
    your frustrations instead of 
    filling out a complaint form. 

A Stranger To The Familiar

You can return to 
    where you started
    without being the 
    same person who left.