"You and I" Revision

In the beginning,
We were just children.

We had a castle
And a village with horse-carriages
Cobblestone
Knights and merchants
And a forever-after.

In the beginning,
We laughed.

We were one,
Stone replicas of each other,
Twins,
Salt thrown into sugar.

In the beginning,
We had potential.

We had dreams
Of those days ahead of the path.
A white piano, embroidery, delicate lilies,
Golden circles that were meant to unite.

In the beginning,
We could fight the storm.

We clutched what there was
And doors opened and closed in our wake,
Still there was sympathy hidden
Beneath our skin.

Now,
We long for the days of pretend.

We remember the beginning,
When you and I were
We.

How did it ever become
You and Me?

The Garden

Without a word
You left a space














that hung in the air
like a stinging odor.


You were replaced by dusty portraits
And decaying,
Dried up roses.


After endured
The pain became
Like a seed in soil,
That enabled me to grow.

To reach as far as I could.
to enjoy life, and its warm pleasures
At my roots.
To stand alone,
Yet without fear of my oneness,
To Flower.

If your ugliness has touched many
As strong as I,
What a beautiful garden you have left behind,

To Flower.

You And I

In the beginning,
We were just people.

We had real hearts
And real feelings
And we slept with the sun,
Because there was always so much to say.

In the beginning,
We laughed.

We were one,
Replicas of each other,
Twins, if you might,
Without blood.

In the beginning,
We had potential.

We had dreams
And faith
And hope
Of a future.

In the beginning,
You and I were
We.

How did it ever become
You and Me?

The Family

The air outside was tight with laughter and shouts,

But inside the house was a room coated in fear.

They huddled together,

A family – joined - only in these circumstances,

And together,

A unit,

They prayed.

Standing on dewy grass,

They thrust fire into the air

And gathered ‘round the sun-porch,

Built three generations ago

By dark men with strong hands.

Oh, if we survive, they thought,

We will watch over each other in the fields

And teach the young girls how to peel potatoes

And the young men how to clench a fist.

Still the shouts grew louder

More urgent

And the first stone was cast through

The window.

The glass hit the floor inside,

A resounding echo bouncing off the walls.

No one moved,

Not even the young ones,

All prepared, for once,

As a family.

The Pigeon

Those fleas that escaped

earth and fire

died by the cold -- William Carlos Williams

There lay a dead bird on the concrete,

A measly pigeon

But it still counted.

She watched, the cold of the air in her eyes

And on the tips of her fingers

And scalp.

Someone was near her,

Had always been near her but faded into the walls.

No one dared to touch the pigeon –

To check for signs of breath,

To save its life or to call it an Equal.

It?

Why, did I just have the thought of a hypocrite? She wondered

And so she went to touch him to be sure

While someone near her groaned

And faded deeper still into the wall.

Surely, he was dead,

And perhaps his family would never know –

And he had died alone with no one

To mourn him.