Paint Strokes

Paint slips out of brushes
down the drain after a
much needed...
therapy session.

My mind remains relaxed
from the sigh of relief that
accompanied each stroke
that altered white canvas
into beauty, however
unique.

And I study my yet unfinished
masterpiece, working out
the finishing details on the canvas
in my mind,

even after the lights are turned out,
and he paint is left to dry.

When the Words Won't Come

Sometimes the words just
won't come.

They get stuck tumbling
around my mind,

taking unnecessary meetings
with a heart that is just now
getting to know itself.

And sentences break
into words that break
into memories

that eventually turn into
feelings, a cycle that continues
until nothing remains.

The words are lost;
metaphors meaningless.

But even then,
I remain.

Fleeting

The future is daunting.
But I am fearless now.
...well, almost.

And where my fears surface,
so does my strength.
Where my fearlessness fails,
so does my weakness.

Or at least I'd like to think so.

Memory Bank

She closed my eyes for a second and remembered what she had been trying so hard to forget. Lying still, allowing the memories to rush over her like floodwaters, she felt her heart start to race. That's what happens when you have too much time on your hands; you slip into the wells of your soul and dig up old wishes that never came true.

And even as the wishes clung to her neck, threatening to take her under, she realized that it wasn't all for naught. At least she had the courage to keep wishing, even as the wishes piled like loose change in her piggy bank heart... Even a pile of pennies is worth something.

Mona Lisa's Smile

It's about that half smile,

you know the one.

It creeps across your face,

ever so slightly,

and is gone in a flash.

But it reminds you that

Life is Beautiful,

and so are You.

It happens when you least expect it.

Maybe a song on the radio,

a one-liner tossed between friends;

or even a memory, 

that passes just as quickly.

It's that smile,

that feeling,

that makes it all worth it.

Heart Stereo

She turned the stereo off
this time.

Usually she just changes the
channel;

but not this time.

She couldn't bear to hear the
first line

Of a song that only reminds her
of you.

So she turned the stereo
off.

But her heart knew the words the
stereo

Couldn't say...
Wasn't allowed to say.

The silence couldn't drown them
out.

Nor could the Nebraska air blasting
in the window.

So she turned the stereo on,
put in a mix and sang at the

Top of her lungs.

Moment of Silence

Floating under a blue sky,
watching contrails that
disappear with my train of
thought.

And this moment if beauty
turns my mind from
a never-ending flow to
a blank canvas.

As the sun falls lazily
behind a cloud,
I fall into a moment of pure
bliss, that can only be
explained by the absence
of the background noise of
my thoughts.