The Tree

I have lived here for longer than you know or understand.

My memory runs in continuous loops deep inside me.

I remember when you were but a child and would play beneath me.

Matchbox cars and Barbie dolls, G.I. Joes and Polly Pocket.

I would shade you from the sun and watch your little games.

As you grew older, your friends played in my shelter as well.

Climbing, building forts, hanging a tire swing from my strongest arm.

I remember the times you would rest your head and arms against me

And count to a hundred because you were it and the others were hiding.

The day you fell off me and your parents rushed you to the hospital,

I was frightened because I could feel the blood from your forehead on my feet.

You avoided me, all of you avoided me, for weeks after.

I thought I would be all alone, doomed to life as a sentinel,

But you came back and climbed me again and again.

In the winter you built snowmen beneath my bare body.

In the spring you would open your lemonade stand beneath my new canopy.

In the summer you would swing on that old tire until surely you thought you were flying.

In the fall you would clean up after me as I readied myself for another harsh season.

When your curfew was set early, you would climb down me to meet your friends.

You had your first kiss in the privacy of my arms.

As the storms raged on I would tap and scratch at your glass wishing to be in there with you.

You married your one true love beneath my shelter and you still kiss here every evening.

Now your children play and swing and climb and gladly I hold them for you.

Moonlight

Weak compared to your bright rays

Cold porcelain to your vibrant flame

I am Moonlight.

Deathly pale to your unending glow

Wavering always to your unyielding strength

I am Moonlight.

Where you create brightness and shade blocks

I am the seeker and illuminator of the dark

I am Moonlight.

Cast into shadow or mistaken brilliance

Your secrets will be known by my pale shine

I am Moonlight.

Hide in dark corners or slink beneath the horizon

My glistening presence will always follow

I am Moonlight.

Heavenly Father,

I run to You when my armor shatters.

I call out Your Name when ghosts scream mine.

I beg of You when I need aid this world cannot give.

I scream at You when I feel I have more than I can cope with.

I ask of You when I need my sins forgiven yet again.

I look to Your Guidance when temptation surrounds me.

I turn to You as my Compass when the roads are many and I am lost.

I place myself in Your Hands when my battered body needs healing.

I pray to You and only begin to realize a lifetime in prayer could not express all I feel for You.

Father, I thank You for being the Constant Strength, Merciful Friend, Loving Healer in my life.

You hear every prayer-whispered or screamed-and You answer in Your Wisdom and Love.

In Your Son's Holy Name,

Amen.

Just Be

Laugh and I will laugh with you.

Talk and I am here to listen.

Cry and I will be your shelter.

Scream and I will fight your demons.

Breathe and I will count every precious breath.

Shiver and I will be the fire to warm you.

Bleed and I will bandage your wounds.

Sleep and I will be the arms to hold you tight.

Run and I will run there by your side.

Take a stand and I will take it with you.

Fight and I will be your soldier girl.

Burn and I will be the balm that heals you.

Sicken and I will be the nurse at your bedside.

Ache and I will ease your every pain.

Mourn and I will be your strength.

Love and I will love you.

Be and I will be with you.

They

Who makes up the rules?

Why do we obey?

Let us think for ourselves.

Let us make our own choices.

Who decides what we should do?

You answer "They.  They decide."

But who are They?

I've never met Them.

They censor our words and actions.

They try to take away our dreams.

Why do we allow this?

It's time we speak for ourselves.

They shame us for unconventional thoughts.

They call us fools, crazies, idle dreamers.

But what about Them?

Is it not crazy to be conformity's priest?

I have a voice They cannot silence.

I have a pen They cannot stop from writing.

I have a presence They cannot destroy.

I have a dream They can never take from me.

My mind is my own.

My thoughts are boundless.

My words and actions are brave.

Can They say the same?

Have They ever stood in the rain,

Without benefit of coat or umbrella,

Just to feel the raindrops caress Their faces

As They danced to an unheard song?

I have, I have.

Have They ever penned anything on a scrap of paper

Or a napkin, Their palm, Their closet door,

For the pleasure of beautiful words,

Words that mean nothing and everything at the same time?

I have, I have.

Have They ever loosed their inhibitions

To the point of fantasies and daydreams

Of the impossible, the never-can-be,

And moved to make it reality?

I have, I have.

Have They ever done anything

To defy Their own rules?

Have They ever done anything,

Anything at all?

Memory

Where did I lose you, my little one?

My girl child with your caramel curls,

The one who helped and smiled and charmed,

Where did we part ways, my angel?

I see you in every Halloween night,

In the Princess, the Witch, and the Cat.

Your "Trick or Treat" trill and "Thank You" drawl

Haunt me as I sit on the porch, waiting for you with candy.

Every Easter I pick out eggs to stash treasures in.

I search for the big metallic ones you always loved

And the basket is always pink, your special pink.

Echoes of joy float through the halls as your memory hunts the bunny.

In the summer, I see you playing in the pool,

You and your brother tossing a Nerf ball back and forth.

How you looked never mattered nor who was watching.

You took refuge in the sun and your precious youth.

I still find gifts for you at Christmas and birthdays.

Remember how you used to love Barbie and the Spice Girls?

I wait for you to unwrap them, even if your arm is still in a cast.

You managed back then, if only you could still manage now.

What would you think if you saw me now, saw me as I am?

Am I what you thought I would be, could be, should be?

Little one, would I make you happy? Would you smile?

With hope and dreams, would you come back to me?

Life In Cliché

Success is struggle.

Knowledge is ignorance.

Existence is nothing.

Remembrance is loss.

We are one and we are separate.

Nothing is everything we have.

We come full circle as life is death.

Sickness is health.

Suffering is faith.

Hatred is passion.

Emptiness is completion.

Our love is one with our enmity.

A snake is eating its own tail.

We create life as we destroy people.

Power is weakness.

Corruption is truth.

Reality is pretense.

Hearing is silence.

We are what we bring and what we take.

Living is contradiction unending.

We are burning as our flames turn to ice.