Stiff with a dull ache,

my bones take their time towards the door.

I choose the corduroy road- out by the bogland.

Biding my mountain climb~ instead,

I near the barren terrain; where in first glance

is seen as plain- in short grass.

But aside, a whispering breeze heard shows a closer look;

a muddy pool stained, water dark with rain.

Tears dropped; blighted leaves, curled~ overlay the bedrock.

As toiled fragments of a summer long gone, still circle.

There, along the edge, the Lodgepole glares down the rising marsh.

While fissured bark of a Cottonwood peels back,

avoiding the pale cast of abandoned remains.

For beneath the surface lies the deluged umbrage~foliage forgotten.

A distorted decay of recollections; silent, from the winter freeze.

Another Limber pine twists away, shaped by the wind; eroded on the peat.

~Jessi (image and poem)

I am sorry 

I still love you

even when

you strike

my body 

with malice. 

Jim Jaw skipped gaily through the fields of sweet cremewillows. He frolicked about on the mushy lemon-colored grounds. He was barefoot. He was fat. And he was happy. The sun was beaming down on his bright orange head and the birds were singing their songs to his improvised dance. Up and down he bobbed along, every few minutes plucking a little white cloud of gooey marshmallow goodness from off of a long glossy stem. Humming all of his cares of the world away, swallowing each sticky blob with a sense of triumph, pretending they were the burdens of society being consumed in his pleasure. His older sister was across the field swinging from the licorice trees that fringed the pond of mint jelly. She hollered for his attention. "Jim Jaw!" she called him. "Look at me! I can do a back flip!" But Jim Jaw paid none. He was too occupied stuffing his face. She persisted again calling his name at the top of her lungs. "JIM-BOB (out of frustration) YOU LOOK AT ME NOW! DON'T YOU WANT TO BRAG TO ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT ME!" She succeeded in getting him to stop gorging himself to death as he turned around with a face plastered with sugar and stared at her blankly from across the field. Berry-Jade grabbed two thick tarnished pieces of black sticky branches that dangled in front of her from the rest of the tree and tucked them between her thighs. She put both of her hands around the necks of them. Like Tarzan she swung through the air letting go midway and tucking her body into a ball landing belly first in the gem-green jelly with an awkward thud. "Some flip," Jim Jaw muttered to himself. And then something sad happened. Something so tragic and unexpected. Jim Jaw stepped on an active cherry bomb. His orange hair blew right off the top of his head. All that was left was little orange fuzzies sprouting out from his charred little skull. His bib overalls were cinged to smithereens with only remnants of jean fused to his pudgy white body. His hands were gone, feet were gone. Melted away like a fudge pop on a hot summer day. Berry-Jade didn't hear the boom while she was submerged in the mint goop, so it came as quite a shock to her when she came to the surface and found the front pocket of her brothers overalls resting like a lillypad a couple feet away from where she was. She knew something terrible had happened.  She crawled out of the pond and ran across the field as fast as her legs could run. And then abruptly came to a halt. Her scream could be heard from the mountaintops. Jim Jaws toasted lifeless body was laying supine in a puddle of bright red shiny juice.  Active cherry bombs in the rural areas of Gingermoss meant only one thing.................

i.

i slide

down 

a gradually i

                   n

                     c

                       l

                         i

                          n

                            i 

                             n 

                               g

                                 slope

lined with razor blades

and slick with blood and tears

i don't know when

i don't know how

but i seem

to have reached

a moment

where i am 

ready

        to   

            fall

                  down

                          d

                            o 

                              w

                                 n

                                    d

                                       o  

                                          w

                                             n

and i am

a moment

away from giving up

on this meaningless life

ii.

i don't believe

that death should be

a surprise 

since it is

as i

     n

       e

         v

           i

             t

               a

                  b

                     l

                        e

as e

      n

         t

           r

             o

                p

                  y

and the passage

of t

      i

        m

            e

as they say, 

it's "inevitable yet unexpected"

so why cry

over spilt milk

that was already

fated to spill?

i wonder.

iii.

this is why

if one day

you should wake up

and find

              that

                     i

                        am

                               g

                                  o

                                      n

                                         e

do not be surprised

and do not shed tears

over this sinful existence

for i

am probably

happier

although there is no way

to achieve your dreams

even

      through 

                    d

                       e

                           a

                               t

                                  h

so

    i

      keep

               f

                  a

                     l

                       l

                          i

                             n

                                 g

We dance through the stars, you and I.

Twirling through as life swirls by.

Painting in colours no mortal can see

Inside of you is the lost piece of me.

Floating and dipping, time flowing fast

Running and tripping, this surely can't last.

Stopping and starting, pick me up yet again

Coming back stronger than we ever have been.

Down on one knee, at your feet I will stay

Tears of joy flowing, "yes" you say.

Planning and pausing, can this really be?

Will I truly join the lost piece of me?

Walking in white down the aisle of fate

With this ring, I take thee, Kate.

Cutting the cake using a spoon;

A small slice of heaven, our honeymoon.

So now we dance in the stars, you and I,

Looking back with a wistful sigh.

Our storybook ending has yet to appear 

Because the story continues year after year.

Shed your snakeskin

’neath your feet

spur of moment

       Just walk on down the road!

lone wolf howls forlorn

as sublime is savored

in willful nights

       Just walk on down the road!

sense and sup

the sinful skin

unlock handcuffs

of tight restraint

       Just walk on down the road!

grab the radiance

of smiling sun

ignite the sky

in pain and fury

       Just walk on down the road!

seconds lost

if you pause

your breath

find the place

where yesterday

absconds

       Just walk on down the road!

endless horizons

feel every sensation

of ecstasy

immerse waist deep

in fervent oceans

       Just walk on down the road!

Speckled robins egg

Cracked

Kidnapped from its twig and twine

No baby bird inside?

A stain of yellow gloop

Answered my question

In minds memory

Spasms in the crickets legs

Sputtering juices of neon orange cottage cheese

Why isn't the blood red?

Throat raw from my barking cry

I ran it over with my bike!

A misstep for my feet were brand new at maneuvering a two-wheeler

I am a killer!

In minds memory

Hot gritty pavement

Fallen upon-brush burned hands and knees

Fathers ashtray! My hands look like dad's ashtray!

Panic...and embarrassed that the trees were watching

They are all laughing at me!

In minds memory

Men too old to joke with little girls

Man with a bloody white tee

Pump the gas to play a testosterone tune

Wrench for hands

Gargling oil

Stumbled into his arms, planted my face against his beastly chest

The pebbly street conspiracy! Little stones tripped me

Took a long bath to wash off his meat grease

In minds memory

Neighbors pray to the sound of a jukebox garage

Teenagers conglomerate their angst with metal riffs

A call made to my parents "we are studying"

Quiet down, warned the police

In minds memory

Pine needles tangled in my hair, so fine and so soft

Sap, I licked and sniffed, perfume for the delicate puffy white wrist

Pay attention....

the dog wants to bite the back of my knee

Get to the end of the fence!

In minds memory

Home is where there is disparaging remarks

Baked into clumpy peppered-meatloaf

Grandpas jeopardy

A rocking recliner

And cyanosis on hands and feet

A comfort away from all of the neighborhood happenings

In minds memory.

I don't want this.

I don't want to mourn.

I don't want to accept.

I don't want to move on.

I don't want to heal.

I don't want to adapt.

I don't want to let go.

I don't want to cope.

I don't want to adjust.

I don't want to remember.

I don't want to forget.

I don't want to grow.

I don't want to grieve.

I don't want to learn.

I don't want to get better.

I don't want to be okay.

I don't want to overcome.

I don't want to withstand.

I don't want to fight.

I don't want this.