If I Fall Asleep Now Will We Pick Up Where We Left Off In Last Night's Dream? Lips Finally Locked In

Sitting on the curb The cement was warm And cracked Like the lines In our palms

Do you ever smell a flower And know that it's my favorite?

I put my hands In my sweatshirt pockets Like you might hold them

Have you ever looked toward the horizon And seen me looking back?

I could have laid down In the middle of the street And melted away Into oblivion With a smile on my lips

I'm both a brother And a sister A chameleon A shapeshifter I was the man I thought you wanted And woman again When you missed her

I've been handsome I've been gorgeous And being both Has been euphoric I've been everything All at once I am both malleable And formless

My voice is soft Fluid and cozy My body smooth And warm and homey When I speak to you I hope you hear My soul is steady And you know me

Even the wildest Of creatures Still long to be Held tightly Sometimes, If only for a Moment Even the freest Of beings Still long to be Kept in Someone's heart

You were high up in the trees Looking far out to the seas And I'd climb up there with you If I only had the ability to So tell me what it's like up there? The sky wind blowing in your hair The rain as it starts to wet your face A rainbow with no resting place You take the branches two by two Climbing down looks so easy for you You told me you had fun in the clouds That I make you smile on the ground We live just down that winding road Where we live a life that's slow I watch you live out all your dreams And you are happy with me it seems

I've missed you Did you know? I am shy to say so Exposed, unguarded I confess I've been longing

I was a lake And you were drought Or the absence Of you was the dry Cracking of soil When I needed water

So you are my rain My dear, my love Caution swept away Kissing in the Flooding streets, I couldn't care

But to tell you so, I've been afraid Foolhardy, but hear Me tell you again I've missed you So you know

Why does our perception Of gender Change the tone In which we read someone's work?

My woman is stoic My man is soft spoken Anywhere I fall on the spectrum is loud Or terribly quiet

There's a comfort in our conversations A hint of longing in our voices Do we pretend not to notice? We live our lives We make choices

You are the deepest blue I am the lightest of green Together we form the trees and sky We are the earth The calming scene

We walk on roads that are parallel Kicking the dirt up off the ground I carry with me our white flag Through the dust We make no sound

I felt alone in my skin No, worse so I was a hostage inside myself Choking on a growing body Suffocating in adolescence

My pretty hair was like rope Tying me to a chair Shackled, cuffed I wore a constricting costume That was too hot and sweaty

And I was stuck there Because my flesh Could not be pulled off Up over my head, yet My bones were aching to breathe

A man came out to pick The field of daisies The flowers so densely woven Entwined in each other That the ripping was Unbearable as they were Separated and potted Side by side in the window Their time together quick Their longing an eternity

No one reads an open book They only tear out handfuls Of their favorite pages Give the binding a final look Tossing it into the fire That scatters then rages

Stories of magic hidden A life so private Gone up in the smoke The erasure of the forbidden Secrets of the temple ashen No wondering mind to provoke