alice and the birds

she takes them in the dark

birds of a feather

black silk of fur wing and night

leaving them bedside

i fly in my dreams

she didn't like to think of herself that way. nakedly. exposed like moonlight. didn't like to put herself through the interrogation. under a naked bulb. backlit with moonbeams. preferred not to ask herself the hard questions. where words like intent momentum personal responsibility glared under a spotlight of moons questions like why hadn't she married? where were her children? what had she done with her life that mattered?

so now, she makes preparations. she has taught herself to eat. to hunt gather prepare serve. she eats, alone.


she didn't like to think about what might happen if she set the words free. let the words gush spout geyser regurgitate. she might drown in ugly.

she has forgotten. no longer her self she is lost in herself. too much need.
she starts to bleed.

I love thee in each of one thousand smiles I give to strangers
I love thee in fleeting moments of courage when I’m face to face with danger

I love thee in the split second before the set of the sun and moon on the rise
I love thee in silence where all that needs voice can be read in my eyes

I love thee in moments made rare by Gods’s grace
I love thee the proof can be found on my face

I love thee with every hello and another goodbye
I love thee with my life , I am the question, you are the why.


I love thee. Valerie. My history.

what of myself dare i offer you, lover
may i profess secrets i doth tell no other?
or is distance and mystery what you so desire
to fan the licks and flames of our hidden fire?

A friend of mine asked if I’d write someone else’s words of wisdom in my own hand and gift it to her for her birthday. The birthday came and went. It didn’t get done. I’m writing this instead.

Speak from the heart not from the head. That means breathe. Listen. Listen to your breath. Can you hear your heart? Mine tells me to give more take less. don’t take no for an answer. be the answer to my own prayers . Then answer someone else’s. my heart says no boundaries when it comes to compassion and strict borders when it comes to judgment. It reminds me to walk a mile in someone else’s moccasins , especially if they don’t fit. I hear my heart singing for truth and celebrating diversity.. I hear it quietly accepting my own limitations and those of others and forgiving us, all. My heart rejoices with the innocent and reveres the wisdom of my elders. It shouts encouragement and promises deliverance. It whispers yes. Make love. Give love. Be love. My heart reminds me to appreciate today, this moment, each beat a gift.

I hear it whisper yes. And sometimes I hear it breaking.