Is Anything Worse?

You wish and want
More than you should
Crying at the moon
And digging your hands
Into this sand.

A desert
Of your own design
Nothing to say
To bring her back.

She loved a man
Who chose his sorrow
Over her.
Is anything worse
Than a woman scorned?

Like those before her
She dug and sweat
In wells which brought
No life.
Only realizing it too late
Did you decide to try
And dig along with her.

Yet while your hands
crept near hers
Her gaping heart
could not have been farther.

A woman can only take so much
Knowing she is not enough
To summon your courage
Is the surest way to end her.

When Love Begins

When does it start?
That first tug at your heart
When her eyes transcend green to
aurora borealis staring back at you?

When golden brown takes on
an entirely new meaning
As you watch the sunlight
caress her head
When does love begin?

When you cannot bear
the thought of living without
her laugh, her face, her heart?

I do not know
I can only tell you
That when it does happen
It will not end with death,
Searing words or the famine
Of distance.

Indeed, nothing was sweeter than
The day he took my hand
Bowed in utter helplessness
and passion.

His words, only for me, only for me.
My words, only for him, only for him now.

When does love begin?
Will it ever end?
Don't ponder it any more
The night is passing
Go dance with her.

I am afraid
Of the approachable.
Those you think too long of
Never released
For fear of losing your fortress
In the end.

I am afraid
Of the prolonging
Those who take their hold on you
In every place
Where you have tried to release them
Since the beginning.

I am afraid
Of the longing that never leaves
Residing inside deep
And dormant.
Appearing at moments
Most inopportune.

Those, dear friend
Are my true fears.
The discovery
Of my mistakes intertwined
With a recollection
Of your double-take.

It cannot be changed
I fear
By none, save you.
If you will.
Could you try?
I wish upon this star
Tonight
That you would.

The Shadow

Brushing the hair
Back from his face
She watched the shadow
Draw its way
Along the wall
Beyond the place
She called her home.

Tears welling up
From the knowledge
That rose up inside her
And always denied her
A certain peace of mind.

She could not touch,
Rename or replace
The memories that
Always defaced
Those other ones

At times the newfound freedom
Of a mountain moved
Is more than it can take
And many times finds its way
Back to the place it once called home.