middle ground

when i saw our differences
as irreconcilable
i, too,
found no peace.

but when i saw them as merely
expressions of our pride
i knew
we could create
middle ground.

~

RNH

distortion

if you were taught to be the mirror
once you find yourself
you will look
for a reflection, too,
but if you search for yourself
in the wrong
kinds of people
you will find the image, also
distorting you.

~

RNH

Without Bounds

You were not made
To hold your love inside
You were meant
To give it away
So when you feel yourself start
To splinter
Know, love is boundless
You will not break.

~

RNH

Traveler

When I go to a new place
I want to taste the food they eat
I want to see the land where they live
I want to learn the language they speak

When I visit a familiar place
I want to chat with old and new friends
I want to order my favorite dish
My favorite drink
Have it all at my fingertips

When I return again to my home
I want to cherish the time that I have
With the people I love
I want to travel, but always know
My heart stays wherever you are.

~

RNH

perimeter

i have dreams of running
away, so you cannot leave
me, i
have nightmares
about opening
the door and finding
no one there
not even myself
isolated in an empty room
white, as the medicinal tape wrapped
over my wounds, red
as the cherry tongue that lies
to me, recklessly, sweetly
narcosis, repeating
the restless circuitry
of my dreams, keep
me click-clacking the locks and tracing
the lines around my voraciously
shrinking
perimeter.

~

RNH

Pride

Pride
took out her boat
opened the sail
endeavored to leave the sadness
on shore
set out to row
braced for the wind and the rain and the storm
but met only the ocean
endless and boundless
vast as the ache that broke deep
in her heart and the waves spoke
of freedom, the fragility
to rise and fall, fearlessly
she turned back her boat
and steered
home.

~

RNH

Constant

Silence stole drawn breath
Snared fleeing disbelief
Broke knotted certain stance
Rose with a bloom
Relief in expression, in a small
Sigh
Love,
I am constant, I am here.

~

RNH

Dismember

Squandered what you made
The feelings flew off, frantic
Like sawed puzzle pieces, cardboard
Splinters threatening
Dissection
Dementia
Dismembered
The integrity that you once held, sure
As the numbness in your
Fingers.

~

RNH

the blades

patient through the breaking light
the seedling waited, counting not
the passing days or endless nights
the sky transformed by will and thought
and each new cloud morphed into promise
possibility, as close as content  
just as the blade pushed through the darkness
your fate is what you make of it.

~

RNH

the process

the journey cut
in half
left extra
time to contemplate and puzzle
and rethink thought
rolling like dough, softly
between
my fingers, sometimes
needing the pound
of a fist
to process.

~

RNH

at the entrance

there are so
many pairs of eyes
under so many
lights
they glitter
refracting their bending
lines, i
look at you
from between two
shoulders and the space
feels the same
as when i am
standing right next to you
entranced.

~

RNH

river, long

the journey was a crooked line, a river
running through
and down a hill of fragrant flowers
waves of red and fuchsia bloomed
and heavy with their scent of heaven
richly tinted, changed the sky
so that the distance did not matter
as long as together, we
arrived.

~

RNH

forever

took one foot out of the slipper
took one hand out of the glove
removed
one finger from a ring
and promised
to never disappear again
forever
is not a symbol
it is the way you live
and love.

~

RNH