blunt

buttons pop and seams invariably
burst, expectations
holding, clenching pride, grabbing
first
the priority
turning your head when i point
out the worst
then why
does the obvious
escape you ?

~

RNH

means to an end

my body will forget you
my bitterness, too
my grief will crawl into the unmade bed
and not cry for proof
that pain happens for a reason
when change must
predicate truth.

~

RNH

riddled

there will be so many holes in your story
the rain turns to waterfalls
the daylight, to flame.

~

RNH

at the bridge

at 5 years
you have spoken
first words, walked
first steps, held whole fingers
within tiny hands
bubbled with your veracity, cried
like you meant it
beamed with a thousand-watt smile

at 10 years
you have learned
your multiplication tables
the difference between having many
and having real
friends
rescued an animal or two
insisted upon
your favorite color
for everything

and at 20
you think you have it
all figured out
flailing around in your mischief
and your grief
both cloud your vision
both twist the key
in your many locks

at 30
you remember
childhood with new detail, old
connections wither and pinwheel
away
you find yourself
burrowing within a more
complicated definition
of love

and if you should reach 90...

may your family surround you
on all sides, may you forgive and be strengthened
by the grace to forgive yourself
keep growing
keep making mistakes
keep being courageous enough
to embrace the world.

~

RNH

signal

they say animals can always
sense violence in a person
sense safety in a stranger
smell fear
from a mile away
and the tail-tucked
ears down
flat, pressed
expression
makes me wonder
why her teeth bared
is not
signal enough.
 
~

RNH

cage of birds

pen in the rib cage
twists a little
stings and quivers
when you look away
and the words will not
make themselves visible
bashed against the white bars
screaming at your face.

~

RNH

howl

when the pieces did not fit
the anger peeled back such regret
that the edges stretched and splitting,
howled their agony
shook the depths
and filled the sky
with ringing aching,
burning lightning where no storm
had since existed and no one
would ever live
there anymore.

~

RNH

At War

One kind of war
In trenches, uniform
Knees in mud and rifle aimed
Struggles to find the burrowing softness
In death and chaos, stays
Constantly strained
Another kind
Wreaks havoc within
Yells at your frailties, clenches
Its fist and leaves
You holding your
Welts, your mind
Meanwhile
Searches for a weapon
Of its own.

~

RNH

Windows

While you fidget
I look through my windows
Hoping one day
You will let me in.

~

RNH

Immature

She looks like a bunny rabbit
And sounds like a twittering bird.

~

RNH

metamorphosis

photographs of the sky
remind me to stay hopeful
look with eyes lifted
to the bright horizon
every sunset followed
by a light, unbroken
every darkness
revealing
a new day.

~

RNH

Protection

In the rusted, climbing
Scaffolding
Twig nests
Embrace
Between the eaves
Protecting the unseen, proving
Even in the midst of collapse
Life will prevail.

~

RNH

enough

we were not enough
but we were
bound together.

~

RNH

the impossible

when Sea would not meet Shore
and Beginning not conclude with End
when the Balloon fought even its content
the very Air, unkempt
and every Neon Sign refused to reveal
its scintillating Thought
only then
would i ever
stop
loving you.

~

RNH

wolf

went hunting
with blood in her eyes
and light in her teeth
seething
reveling in the empty
and feeling
complete.

~

RNH

essence

through cerulean truths,
hand slipped through netting
fingertips twinkling through beads
clinking rings in the story
circled back
found the essence
the pool deeper than its own reflection
tiny droplets fell
the captured
words upon my lips.

~

RNH

hostage

they did not hold a gun to her head
just an answer
did not force her hands to be tied
but left the question
burning as the memory
of her two-year old knees
scraping asphalt
drug,
invisible,
for miles behind them.

~

RNH

ruby-red

there would be too many walls
between us, if i counted
them all, too many
isolated
incidents
when gathered, appall
the eyes-open sensibility
mutilated, withdraws
truth dripping
rubies from my finger.

~

RNH

backstage

with the feathers in your hair
you smiled in the darkness
us standing between
the heavy-curtained wings

relevé, 

stretch, 

giggle

every second closer

to the whole world
in the flat black of an audience
waiting
to be seen.

~

RNH

lattice

stitched together
toil and treasure
digging for empathy
under the wound
dragging the questions
nicked by every sharp
corner, ambivalent rock festooned
lying on my excavation--
the truth.

~

RNH