I Stand With My Feet In The Water Letting The Icy Waves Bury My Feet In The Sand Erasing My Footprints

My love for you is not Always declarations and Milestone celebrations Or flowery similes Of the moon and the stars And what lies beyond death

More often it is you Laughing across the room Because the cat farted And I am enduring it Because I want to cuddle Even though she smells

Even when you cannot taste Your favorite kind of tea It is still a soothing friend Tending to you in sickness Wrapping you up in its arms

You were high up in the trees Looking far out to the seas And I'd climb up there with you If I only had the ability to So tell me what it's like up there? The sky wind blowing in your hair The rain as it starts to wet your face A rainbow with no resting place You take the branches two by two Climbing down looks so easy for you You told me you had fun in the clouds That I make you smile on the ground We live just down that winding road Where we live a life that's slow I watch you live out all your dreams And you are happy with me it seems

The sky is dark Like it always is now The wind is strong Winter's frozen vow

The clouds gather In harmonious sorrow Time stopped Between now and tomorrow

Nevermore shall I hear your sweet whisper hello My body lies beneath a hundred blankets of snow

I passed death Slipped beyond his light Into my dark Surrounded by white

I no longer feel There's no sense of cold No heart to beat No love to behold

And in the sun I sparkle with an ever mystic glow My body lies beneath a hundred blankets of snow

"I will never have a husband" I tell her, as the sun Peeks through the branches, Turning the dark blue sky Brand new shades of purple and orange.

I think she wants to be my man, To care for me the way a Man cares for a woman In a place when only this form Of devotion is allowed.

Sometimes, on these nights She curls her love into my fingers, After sneaking through the maples And oaks, careful to avoid the Streets with newly added lamps.

"You wouldn't be my wife?" She asks, in that sorrowful way She always asks, because she does Ask, with words or with her eyebrows Tilting upwards and sideways.

"I could never be a wife." And neither could she, not Even with me, not here in my Room or in this house or In anyone's home, not with anyone.

Sometimes she wakes me Dressed in her neighbor's shirt And pants, stolen from the line, Her long brown hair tucked into Her brother's formal hat.

In the day she is the embodiment Of elegance, her long flowing Hair pinned with decorations, Long expensive gowns, delicately gloved Hands that have never known labor.

Then in darkness she stands beside me Pulling her dead grandfather's Pocket watch from her borrowed Pants, giving me a wry smile Because she knows I am lying.

When she strips off her costume And gets in bed beside me I am hers, and this is our secret Marriage bed, two women making A life together in the shadows.

And I have lied, because without Ceremony or rings, without witnesses We have made vows, so when I tell her I will never have a husband, really I mean I will never have one publicly.

In the day she is hopeful as we walk Arm in arm, lazily through the orchard She whispers, "come away with me" Though I say nothing, because here We are simply the dearest of friends.

As the birds begin chirping She gathers her clothing, some To be worn and others returned, She kisses me goodbye, just until Tonight, when she will propose again.

If I write you You will never leave You will be with me When you are not

If I write you You will stay mine I will have you Even though I do not

He loved all seasons, save winter. He lived his life in winter Because he was winter, And he never really loved himself. He buried his heart beneath the snow, Became the barren, dead tree, Accepting a world of numbness.

I loved all seasons, including winter. I lived my life in summer Because I was summer, I was, am, and will be the sun. My heart beat strongly, It was warm, on fire, Embracing a world of passion.

We met and we collided, Creating spring. My sun melted his snow, Uncovered his heart, And after many years He discovered rebirth, renewal.

Our first dance was a tango, Parading on the dew. The smell of fresh grass, Fresh starts and new beginnings. But spring began to end And he awoke from his dream, Begging for winter to come again. Thawing began to sting And he missed home, His many blankets of snow.

I tried to follow my lover. I brought the summer heat along, And he could not find winter. He barked at me, “You cannot play god, You cannot change the seasons.” I explained to him that I did nothing, We changed it, We merged and created spring and fall, The lovely, romantic air.

So he in turn tried his hand, Bringing forth dark clouds. “There will be storms,” He warned me.

First there was rain. It poured down above us And as he ran for shelter I grabbed his hand, Leading him out into the fields And I said, “Let it rain, let it soak us. Let us dance And the rain will cleanse us.”

My lover was afraid. Afraid of what I might see If his skin were washed, His face wet, hiding tears. He created thunder and he warned, “There will be lightning, There will be flooding.” I kissed his cheek and said, “Then I will build us a boat So we can sail to safety.”

But he shook his head, Thinking I did not mean it. I stood in the spring field As he ran off to winter. Still, he looked back at me Not being so far off, And he watched as I stood firm As the water rose above my ankles. “He will surely run,” My lover thought.

The water reached my shoulders. There was nothing I could do, For summer had many rains And fire would only drown. I would surely drown as well, The water rising above my head.

My love, my beautiful love, Saw at last that I was his. His to love or leave, That I would always Be waiting in oceans for him.

His heart felt my summer breeze, Felt my year long devotion, And he, the god of winter, Ended the storms, Ended the rain, And as he stepped upon the water It turned to ice. A vast, frozen lake, He ran across to where I now, Was buried like his heart.

He called to me, “I am winter, You are summer. Bring forth the sun.” And I did. The giant, burning sun Melted the ice around me, Freed us both from fear, And he held my hand As he added more heat to the sun, Evaporating the water, Returning the lake to a field.

When the land had dried He kissed my lips, His frost to my fire, Bringing back the spring, Returning the field to gold. We lay in the shimmering grass. My lover and I, We love all seasons. We built our home in that field And we never again played gods.

I want to be somebody's songbird The same unclaimed way The earth is the galaxy's Or roots belong to the trees I long to be somebody's

I want to be somebody's songbird Create a new sound Compose our very own tune Whistle in the afternoon Singing come home to me soon

I want to be somebody's songbird A finch or a sparrow Even brown stands out in snow Under winter's dark I glow Somebody already knows

I don't like anything I wrote today It's all too depressing And I'm not depressed I don't think

It's just January dragging me down Down into the snow No one's dreaming of white anymore No one's dreaming of January

The grackles are sitting in limp trees Shifting around quietly, waiting For the ground to thaw But it will be several months still

Winter comes to me As an old familiar friend Wrapping me up in its Dark nostalgia Its shadow arms holding Me gently in the day

Grey skies merge into White covered earth The blending of light Colors suddenly Fading into an Afternoon blackness

The cold is my comfort Its wind is a weathered Hand's gentle graze Slowly feeling my face Like winter is remembering What I feel like too