reprise

and so it is again
we take out the script
and run our lines
mouthing the words
reprising our roles
sans conviction
locked in this
kitchen sink drama
we hit our marks
and each other
with insults
and crockery
and snark
and wonder
how did we get here
and how do we leave 

xeric

prickly cacti
standing apart
pointedly
guarding your heart
xeric and wry
your sense of humour
in matters romantic
a rather late bloomer
the most vibrant of flowers
you'll eventually display
after the showers
have come your way
affection discouraged
I'm waiting until
the rains show the world
you bloom lovely still

bailiwick

A hush,
a rustle,
the curtain twitches
and you are home.
This is your bailiwick -
an empty stage
waiting to be peopled
by the multitudes within
for the gratification
of the multitudes without.
Surrounded by your fellows,
well met
and in concert,
you tell truths
wrapped and unwrapped
in fabrication and elocution
for delectation and edification
and applause
and that moment
where words on a page
become a life lived
in acts.
 

extradite

Though he wronged me long ago
I find myself still troubled so.
The faceless monster he became
in memory, is still the same.
I'd extradite him, if I could
from my mind. He does no good
there clogging up my heart with fear,
fending off those who'd hold me dear.
I'd banish and send him to justice
but I cannot seem to trust this.
He built a wall I cannot climb
and oh, so slowly, over time
I've struggled at it, brick and mortar,
to tear it down, give him no quarter,
but still he blocks me, here and there,
encumbrances me everywhere.

haplology

some could call it lazy
the way you abbreviate
the short cuts you took
from you and me to we
but the australian in me
loved your haplology
as we raced headlong
barreling forward together
like children running
with no time for proper form
for diction or elocution
the correct replaced
by merry momentum
and our delight in it all

spontaneous

we collide
like atoms smashing
with words rapturous
and kiss spontaneous
electrons jumping
in exuberant
yet elegiac form
an explosion
of creation
heralding a universe
expanding ever outward
until the stars die
and we with them

consternation

sits at the table
feet swinging below their perch
hand grips crayon
determination radiates outward
tiny face scrunched
in adorable consternation
at the lines
to be colored within

the attempt
at conformity
soon abandoned
for raucous
wild scribble

so the tone set
for a life to come

I see it all
in a faded
photograph
of a you
i never knew

but have always
always known