On my knees

The voice I say I don’t have
gets too much airplay
The ears I do have?
Just painted on.
Twenty years since I lay in bed
listening. Your mouth moves
but I only hear the track in my head.

My needs scream, my energy penetrates
my desires demand, my desperation radiates.

When I hear you
I forget me.
I fear.
When I pay attention
I lose me.
I don’t want to hear.
I want you
to see me.
I want you to hear.

The tune, the harmony, of yours and of the world
would enthrall me.
If I would only let them in.

Tear the mesh from my face.
Cut the bonds that limit my understanding.

That I should speak,
yes!
But also
invite me
– often
not to speak.

Your story, your melody, your song
belongs here too.

I want learn how to surrender to your pretty air.

In my little town

In my little town
you let strangers in
by keeping the curtains drawn wide open
inviting their gaze
into where you live and eat

In my little town
you call it like you see it
by opening your mouth
exhaling all your words
into the face right before you

In my little town
you truly see each other
by looking with open eyes,
cycling by or walking
into the windows of their soul

In my little town
we announce to all who come
by, riding past our curtains – closed or open – of the
loving of our daughter
into existence and without.