Words so often render what eyes could never see.
—
Unknown (@AsSheWalks) November 22, 2011Words
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Monthly Archives: December 2011
To Love A Person
To love a person is to learn the song that is in their heart and sing it to them when they have forgotten.
Thomas Chandler
Coffee Shop Table
Scratched by
Students
Grandparents
Babies
Siblings
Lovers
Silverware
Coins
Coffee cups and plates
Books
Papers
Pens
Arguments
Decisions
Creating
Erasing
Sharing
Spills
Musings
Used by those
Wise
Wicked
Innocent
Deluded
Ignorant
Mad
Rushed
Focused
Works with
Smiles
A soft word
Can I take your order?
More coffee?
Here is your check
A hand over the loose change
Existing for another
Shift
Day
Year
Lifetime
Commercial lease
Refurbishment
Cleaned and cleaned again
Old wood pattern
Medium tan
Off white
Reflections of the ceiling lights on the scratches
Lines and curves
Heads tilt one way then another to see the next story
Shiny pictures of experience
Different wrinkles of age
More tales of years past
Another song from the road
A bard for dining patrons
Closing time
The owner presses the switch
Looks around
Sighs
Walks outside
Locks up
No more stories until morning’s light
Quiet
Late night waiting for the first rush of the day
Coffee shop table
We are its props in the play of life
Go Into The Arts
@Mentalbit reblogged this great statement about going into the arts: Bits and Pieces
Downtown Train
You said that you would meet me at the subway station
Dressed in your downtown clothes
Ready to go to see my friends
I waited for an hour
Twelve trains
Sixty commercials
A billboard change
I thought of you every turnstile open
Each announcement
All conductor calls
Long-haired girls of about your height
Lonely minutes with quiet nothing
You said that you would meet me at the subway station
Dressed in your downtown clothes
No answered calls to your cell
I see reflections of you inside the train on the other platform
dressed in their uptown clothes
I lean against the white tile wall
Arms outstretched
Fingernails scratching into the grout
Feeling the wind on my face
From the train that should be ours
You said that you would meet me at the subway station
Dressed in your downtown clothes
That knot in my stomach which I haven’t felt since before I knew you
ties my hope
The station clock does not slow
Does not stop
I’m going to find you five blocks away
You will tell me it was just a silly thing
in the voice you use when you know that I’m worried
We will go to the corner deli for two coffees in paper cups
and walk through Central Park to Strawberry Fields
Where we will be still
And hold hands
You said that you would meet me at the subway station
Dressed in your downtown clothes
I must go look for you now
Until I find you
Or you find me
My heart will still be here
Waiting for our train
Looking forward to seeing my friends
With you
Speed Limit
She flew past me like I was standing still
Reached out, grabbed my heart, and was gone
I caught up with her in traffic and could see my heart on her passenger seat
But she would not lower her window
And then she sped off
I knew her last year
We took many journeys together in her car
Which I knew so very well with me sitting to her right
But one day she starting speeding
And left me in the dust
I followed her on the freeway
Going 70
Feeling like 110
But she slowed down, took the last exit
And I found her in a supermarket parking lot
She rushed into the produce section and I followed
Demanding my heart back
Or some type of long-term lease arrangement
But she just smiled, paid for some groceries
And ran
I followed her to the market exit and watched the heart-thief drive away
Then I walked back into the market to decide who to call
Maybe my insurance agent
But I don’t think that I’m covered for heart-theft
And I decided that eventually I will get a replacement
Maybe even an upgrade
Gates
I passed the health foods store on Sunday
The store was closed
She wasn’t there
But if she was
My gates were locked anyway
So I kept walking
I passed the health foods store on Monday
The store was closed
He wasn’t there
But if he was
My gates were locked anyway
So I kept walking
I locked the gate after my heart was stolen and ransomed
After I lost my love and my innocence
After I put up my guard
After the pain
Was I keeping something in?
Was I keeping something out?
I don’t remember any more
I passed the health foods store on Tuesday
The store was closed
There she was
But she would not look at me
Her gates were locked
So I kept walking
I passed the health foods store on Tuesday
The store was closed
There he was
But he would not look at me
His gates were locked
So I kept walking
My key is lost in my confusion
I looked straight ahead
Should I turn my head and touch the tumblers?
Had the lock rusted shut forever?
I passed the health foods store today
Its metal gate was open and the store was busy
She passed me
And glanced at me
I passed the health foods store today
Its metal gate was open and the store was busy
He passed me
And glanced at me
We turned to each other
We went into the health foods store today
Past the open gate and the brown rice
Past the avocados and granola
Past the organic apples
Past the supplements
Past the cookies
Near the rice
We gave
Us
A
Key
Our gates are open
And nothing is missing
Orchard
Sunset reflecting from your cheek
Onto our red wine
Last week there was snow here
But, that was a different here
Other lovers on distant shores
Do not concern us
The tree behind us wakens and greets the season
With green and gold
Our world ends at the edge of your blanket
On the grass by the still lake
Your eyes reflect my want and desire
Our world ends at the edge of our touch
I waken the stillness in me
We are two beings in our own orchard
Flowers opening
Apples growing
The sweet taste of the harvest
A winter of the soul
The season’s opening of our hearts
A budding of love in the still cool early spring
We see each others eyes
Reflected in a glass of red wine
Snowlight
Winter calls us to our mountain
Just you and I
A few cold white months in our year
The low sun has a pale glow
Dinner with your favorite wine
Just you and I
Warm pie and hot cider are there
The roof protects us from the snow
We’ve settled by the fireplace
Just you and I
Laughter and smiles forever near
Always yes, we say, never no
Resting under a wool blanket
Just you and I
I stroke your face, sleep now, my dear
Let’s think of tomorrow, just so
Shoreline
Fog protects me from the heat of your stare
I struggle to keep pace with the ground cloud’s movement
Lest I be exposed
Water surrounds me
Walking barefoot in the surf
Over clamshells and smooth stones
Rolling waves from the horizon send
Whitecaps flowing through my toes
Yesterday I saw your face
Flushed red with sorrow
Accusing eyes reflected my own turbulent sea
I had tried to tiptoe through your world
But I am clumsy and I broke your shell
Morning mist hides my shame
The fog lifts
The surf recedes
I see my shadow on the sand outlining hot sorrow
So now I must go into the brown grasslands
My back burns from your gaze
Moving towards the forest
I clean the sand from my feet
And dry off my tears
I walk the muddy bank of a narrowing river towards a distant rise
A stream up a hill
A brook up a mountain
Touching the waters that flow to you
I climb to the top and turn around
Straining to see your shoreline beyond the horizon
Imagining your cooling anger
And knowing myself a fool
Sleeping inside a morning mist
And dreaming of your beautiful shell
I will stay until all my seas have turned to clouds
And I can hide no more
Wayne L. Miller 