Footprints

My footprints are bigger than yours,

side by side we slide, one left, two, one right, a few.

The lining on your boots is doomed to leak,

a graying glue gathering along the edges

of your faux leather soles, singing a silly song

and then running away every time you step.

The falling skies cover the tracks we left behind,

to disappear in a river of strides,

but the soul you are painting

for me with a brush as white as the snow

that we plant ourselves in, is slowly freezing

inside me, one footprint at a time.

Pretend

I feel like I’m wasting your time,

pretending to occupy the space between us,

opening the velvet curtain looking back at you,

with but a confused stare I refuse to break our silence.

 

Remember that time I told you,

pretending I was past our break-up and all,

that my guiding light has run away into my future,

and I’m left to look at nothing but my two, lonely, hands.

 

I belong to no one, I can assure you,

pretending I am not a slave to my imagination,

hiding behind the truths that are so easy to find,

yet impossible to see, sitting so close to the other side.

 

Your beauty can no longer be compromised,

pretending it is no more but an asset bonding with success,

I know that, I’ve seen it penetrate not only my body,

but my mind, held at the mercy of every mention of your name.

 

How can I, with a path so shallow, feet so tender,

pretend that I will never try to do what others will not forgive,

pulling down the curtain to witness a reaction I fear most,

and follow the sunshine on a horizon that has eluded me all these years.

 

 

Set Me Off

Wake me up, oh dear winter,
Sing me your silky smooth song,
Free me from these taut-knit strings,
And set me off on my way.
Shine your starlight down this path,
Sprinkle some snowflakes onto my feet,
Pack me with the energy to make it,
For it is you I run towards.

Paper Bags

There she was, banked on the sidewalk, a tear marching down her eye.
Swollen shut, dancing side to side,
A broken-down chacha with no rhythm or rhyme.
Fluttering in her hands stood a paperweight bag, ripped on the edge, painted with gold, as she made her way down the greasy green road.
And then she stood still, a blank haunting stare, the screech of the tires and the death in the air; the wind dying down, like the surface of Mars, in the ghastly white light of the moon and the stars.
The pool oozed out slowly, red-tainted and dark, making its way down, in a river of muck.
And there stood I, open mouth-wide, waiting for silence to turn into cry.

Ride The Night

I just want to ride the night with you,
Along the moonwalk across this bay,
I’ll bring all my feelings, mighty and few,
So they don’t get lost along our way.

I just want to ride the night with you,
Crossing these stars and beyond,
Their soft lights glowing black and blue,
Casting your skin in a beautiful shade of blond.

I just want to ride the night with you,
As long as my eyes can see
Your eye’s corners, covered in dew,
Salt collecting there, ready to flee.

I just want to ride the night with you,
Until my body runs out of air,
Because that’s how I’d feel when I say adieu,
After you’d say you no longer care.

Obey

The swelling of an exhilarated heart,
a sudden jerk of desire shakes me loose from my unwanted slumber.
The throbbing continues, fiercely,
forcing my entire body to unequivocally obey.

A wave of the cold blue wind
sweeps away all the tangled up vines that remained in a ruinous love.
A flock of emotion nestles inside,
building a best of the lightest, most beautiful feathers I’ve ever wanted to see.

My pulse rises for the first time,
In tune with the rhythmic steps I make as I approach what hasn’t been.
My color goes from white to red to pink,
Shades of embarrassment, and fright that only a competitive dancer may feel.

I cannot believe I have it,
The fight to continue fighting, bruising my toes with the ferocity of each step.
I missed the flow of my body,
As it arrives at each final pose, flattered
With applause from another world.