Circus Life

I want to sing,
but I have no tune.

Deep down,
there's a diva.

I reach out,
trying to fly
alongside your trapeze.

Straining for your fingertips.

The big top swirls,
the animals roar.

Beastly lions,
and courageous tigers.

I stand in for the ringmaster,
who is working the popcorn stand.

Feeling inadequate,
as I look around.

Everyone performs,
ingenious acts.

I only observe,
but I want to sing.

This tuxedo is large,
too large.

Chaos reigns in this circus life.

lights

bits of glass
remnants of small bulbs
lying hollowed

empty sockets

half goes black

strands stringing endlessly
with and without purpose
leaving claim to the fragility
and purpose of each individual

one misplaced word

half goes black

Solid Ground

I.
I was in love once.
Kind of.

It was more of a movie love, you know?
My heart raced whenever I sat next to him.
I thought our characteristics equated mate puzzle pieces.

But I really knew because my heart broke when he went away.

And then, I realized,
There was no lasting power,
And no mutual agreement.

Making my "love" anything but.

Leaving me to match phrases in books to something...
that may not have even mattered.

II.
Something real, something tangible.
As worthwhile as sand trickling and lodging on the webs of my fingers.
Romantically, our eyes meet lovingly.

But I really know we're more of a giggling sort.
And that didn't really happen.

Scratch that, start again.
I want a few years back to build a wall.
Of bricks.

This is what I think real is,
But maybe I should plant a tree.

outdoors

thick and ragged
extending to the sky
coated with the still clumping
spindly
snow
leaving shadows on the lower branches

perched above
watching the giggling glimpse
of a bright green coat
trouncing around the trunk

tracks down the road
barely visible
each minute bringing a fresh layer
covering