When I was a girl I filled my days with dreams: I built grand castles on distant moons, Holding court over a smiling, nodding multitude, Always admired and always the perfectly happy princess- In those dreams. In the nights of my youth, I’d often have dreams of flying: The wonderful sensation of weightlessness, Combined with the eerie perspective- Above and far beyond the cold, solid earth. For some time now, I’ve harbored great dreams of you: Your beauty is timelessly spellbinding and unequa...

Okay, so the good news is I got a "merit" raise this year. The bad news- my merits's only worth an extra $0.24/hr. That's miniscule- that's only (before taxes) an extra $499.20 over the course of the whole year. And it doesn't even have the dignity of being a normal number - like 25 cents or 20 cents - no, "somebody parsed out exactly how much more you were worth, honey, and you just didn't quite make the U.S. Quarter!" I would actually have preferred being given no raise to the insult of bei...

Life is the ocean and the shore, Powerful, boundless, beautiful. Rising and falling in a regular pattern, Its lovely dance remains unique: No two sunrises are ever the same. You and I in this ocean are small shells, Fragile, countless, miniscule. Sinking and surfacing at different times, Our small dance inside the dance persists: Moved without moving and found without finding. Love is the chaos of a trillion shells moving, Infinite, common, random. Finding and parting through timeless chaos, ...

You did not feel The jolt of electricity That shot up through my body from the center of the earth on its way to the sky, But only noticed The thunder that roared a second and an eternity behind.

Before I became a nobody, I remember feeling like a somebody, Whose morning sun rose bright on possibility, Whose evening sky shone clear, wide, and infinite, Whose time was purposeful and pleasure driven- But all of that was before: Before I wore a phone cord- A tangled fiber optic snake, Hissing a satire of hospitality, With a fatal vocal venom- Around my neck. Before I drug a desk- Such an immense, unmoving weight, Littered by redundancy, Polished with the sweat of useless effort- By my le...

This stiff, dead feeling, This flat as a pancake face I’m making- This is what I don’t like about being with you. Sometimes you’ll write me the most beautiful verse, Pay me compliments (in a whisper) that I’m sure you rehearsed, Touch me in movements so seamless and dramatic That I can only call them……theatrical…. Those times are great, No, those times are the greatest. I don’t know a woman who doesn’t want, At least once, To be the east and the sun like Juliet, Driving some young man to madn...

Our first moment was the tremulous white beginnings of plum blossoms - dripping with the freshness of spring, of morning, of all new things; beautiful, inspiring a devout silence, a hush falling on the first glimpse of paradise as wild perfumes promise sweet fruits to come!- Our love grew to the warm, round curve of wild plums- filling the eye with so much red and gold, so many paints to achieve the perfect picture; filling the mouth with the intensity of juices, the warm, incomparable sweetn...

Like a toddler, My thumb’s stuck out As I slip into full pout mode: Look at this pitiful face, Doesn’t it make you want to open The cookie jar, give me something sweet, And make me all better again? Listen to this hiccoughing whimper, Crying out, “Won’t you come back and pamper- Placate- please – hush me up in your arms, Just until I fall asleep?” Look at this chubby hand on my hip, And let’s not forget the stern pout of my lip, A force to be reckoned with as I scream, “No! I want that one! N...

Count the score: Still need more! More cups of coffee- Oh yes, with globs of sugar and cream- I dream on clouds of cream! More folded bills in my pocket- Spending power on which I rocket Higher and faster in a jet-pack powered frenzy! More delicious food in my stomach- I crave the way peppers burn and green mints taste! I could clear three dinners in one sitting with nothing gone to waste. More bling on my fingers- Yes, another way for my pockets to jingle jangle: Shimmering snakes of abundan...

I been a ramblin’ and a rollin’, Just a walkin’ away, So far from the home I once knew. In the wind I hear a callin’ From some sweet yesterday, Callin’ me back to you. There ain’t nothin’ – ain’t nothin’- Like my sweet baby’s lovin! If I could just hold him again, I’d do nothin’ – no nothin’- But hold him and love him, And that would be my heaven. I seen some beauty and some treasure, I seen rich men and wise men, And I’ve done about all I can do. And when men ask me about pleasure, I just as...