violet

turning toward the future
with uplifted face
like a violet
grateful for the sky.

~

RN

unearthed

i didn't need to be told
or discovered
to be written
in truth
i knew who i was
on the inside
and that was enough.

~

RN

/ cut /

i thought that you could
take these things away from me
the people i cared about
the moments captured
in photographs
and as i grieved
i realized
these people
are forever in my heart
and there,
you can never
reave.

~

RN

let it fall

to not chase
the next star
but let it fall
in your hands
by creating light 
in your fingers
interwoven
with hope.

~

RN

a place to sit

startled by the presence
the showing of care
the face of innocence
turned and offered
a palm and a place to sit
and a friendship
blossomed
beside me.

~

RN

dunes

tumbling down the sand dune
and the wind howls hot
against my limbs, scratched
by tiny particles, beige and brown
stacking into mountains
blown into nothingness.

~

RN

crawling

imagine that you could not walk
but could only drag
your little legs
behind you
and how you'd yearn
for the simple things
to search
to follow
to explore
with unhindered freedom.

~

RN

in letting go

i could not breathe
and so i had to let go
and in letting go,
i could breathe.

~

RN

eggshells

sliding on eggshells
a surface
too yolk and slick
the chaos of anxiety
the never-done
always doing
crushing
under feet.

~

RN

jury

jury to the deadline
sat and stared
at the date and time
coiled into a pinecone's 
grip in winter
ready to snap
at the touch.

~

RN

swish swish

swish swish
shifting like this
down a snowy mountain
curves aware

of the direction changes
and the energy changes
as the attention changes
so does life.

~

RN

called life

joy in riding the bus
in looking out the window
in noting the birds
and the jackets on the people
joy in noticing the harmony
on this bumpy ride
called life.

~

RN

radiant

when you let your inner light
shine through
imperfections and all
oh how
the sky
began to sing !

~

RN

earthquake

the shift in perspective
was an earthquake in the distance
and a sliding glass door
much closer
until i could bear
to look past the pain.

~

RN

stung

it was disappointing
and it stung
but it wasn't
the end of the world.

~

RN

shell and bean

curious--the bond between seed and flower
strange--the connection between shell and bean
wonderful--the body and its breath and power
awed by the overlap
between you and me.

~

RN

with a breath

to set things aside
instead of holding onto them
to release them
as, with a breath,
this is mercy.

~

RN

the clatter

and the feeling rolled
as far as you pushed it
like a toy train in your
nimble hands, reckless
enjoying the clatter
of the crash.

~

RN

pinnacle

when you cannot see
over the hill
when the future looks
as one big unknown
horizon
and you feel you can only
put one foot in front
of the other
keep going
there is a pinnacle
to every climb.

~

RN

her voice

her voice
makes my bones vibrate
to a different time
and place, the rhythm
of a younger me
in love
with all the wrong things.

~

RN

she grew

she grew
comfortable with mirrors
when it didn't matter
what she looked like on the outside
but if who
she was on the inside
was someone she could live with.

~

RN

auras

auras lining up
worlds unfolding
colors glowing
tapping into all that
potential
love and patience
on your wings.

~

RN

comfort of home

"i just wanna go home,"
the wail of an overtired,
loving child
her comfort and delight
in the rooms
within these walls.

~

RN

winter day

as cold as icicles
as freezing as wind
cutting through the cuffs
and zippers
of my coat
is this day.

~

RN

just a few

curled up in a sense
of relief
and overwhelm
just a few 

breaths
away.

~

RN

untie

when i realized 
the power 
of an untethered heart
it was so easy
to let loose
my own
and give it away.

~

RN

carts

sometimes your shopping cart
disappears
sometimes you don't have
what you need
when you need it
or so you think
until you go outside and find
there are many shopping carts
and people willing to help you.

~

RN

bookmark

i put a receipt there
a place to hold
a page i should've torn
but kept going back to
longing to remember
needing to relive
those words
one more time.

~

RN

slow down

when the horse hooves
clatter through my mind
the highway that turns
circuitous
I stop
and breathe
and find a place to sit down
the reins wearing a permanent
groove in my hands.

~

RN

Blister

it helped when you stopped
picking at it
and then i was allowed
to heal
the abrasion of one too many
'i can't do this'-es
leaving my heart raw.

~

RN

the train

they say that you are a
passenger
eyes wide
windows
for the separating
the paring
of leaf from idea
word from binoculars
and fluid as the train
upon its tracks.

~

RN

dreaming

dreaming is a dip in water
a tiptoe in puddle
three thousand leagues
deep, so easy
to lose oneself in the memory
liquid covering,
your skin
on my lips.

~

RN

the wonderful thing

when you stopped being afraid
of what you wrote
or what you said
stopped juding the output
by the input
stopped needing approval
for this next step
looked at the wonderful thing
you created.

~

RN