sunday

the beauty is almost unsettling

tightly woven
kaleidoscope homes
built with old trees and rocks and hands
...the hearts and hopes of people spilling out
onto sidewalks

I am careful not to stomp or crush
or be too envious

cobbled paths curve
connecting roads to thresholds
lined with weeds and bees
and blossoms
in various stages
of grace and decay

fallen limbs lashed and twined
make gentle borders
guarding ancient earth medicines
and tonight's green salad

carefully stacked stones become shrines
for daffodils and rings around fragrant lilacs

impregnated mounds of dirt
anxiously yearn to give birth
to wrinkled green leaves
and baby soft petals

...cherry blossoms dance against a periwinkle sky

the bones of houses bend and arc
sighing from trying
to keep
it all
in

just as hearts hold love and memories
bricks hold the dreams of yesterday and tomorrow
...glass remembers
...the soil speaks
...wood weeps

this walk is my church

baptized by droplets of dew

unbound

finally free

to breathe
to speak

but not without guilt
...unwarranted
unwanted
unearned
guilt

this too shall pass

the words
they break free
from their prison of teeth
and fly from her heart
like doves caged
for a thousand years
.....set free

for so many years ...she stayed small
for you

...kept quiet
for you

...shut her eyes
for you

now tightly bound feathers
unfurl and uncurl
and spread wide
for the very...first...time

aching and sad
but thriving
...alive

missing the touch
but the emptiness
feels good too

look at her

she can love you from this place
and love herself too
finally

free

-----------------------------

these words were once dangerous
so she kept them inside
but the day is anew
and she will no longer hide