Remembering to Breathe

Occasionally,
I forget how to breathe
How to sit quietly
and let my mind seethe

Against all the walls I've put up
by my others' volition, or my own
I'm never completely sure
When I find myself alone

When light dissolves
into a starlight sky
when hands grow cold
after waving goodbye

When all has been said
but nothing has been done
and the mischief makers
have had their fun

When silence falls
like a blanket of snow
on the tips of mountains
and into the valleys below

When my only companion
is my own mind
My thoughts and my words,
no longer confined

Behind cold metal bars
so strict and unrelenting
Unless the fire's heat
lets them resume their lamenting

for the caged birds
locked in my head
until they are either
written or said.

So for now, I calmly sit
and take my reprieve
from daily life
and remember to breathe.

Take me away

Take me.
Take me away
where the minutes blend
into days.

Where I don't hear the rush
of cars in the street
drivers too intent on destinations
to acknowledge their feet

Take me away to the jungle
where the tall trees block out the sun
yet the earth is warm with life;
damaged by none.

Out into the savannah,
so wide and vast
with threatening creatures
lurking in the grass

Or to the ice,
where I can slide in the snow
like an awkwardly large penguin
there's no limit to where we can go

Take me away
from the city lights
from the empty buildings
and the noisy nights.

Disruptions of the brain

There are times
when words in my head
don't seem to match
the ones that are read

by those who are willing
to take the time
to immerse themselves
in my flow, my rhyme

the errant ideas
that set me apart
are nothing more
than words of my heart

the vibrations of my soul
that speak to you
in whatever way
they decide to