She Speaks in Riddles (2005/2006)

She speaks in riddles
And answers questions with twists and turns
Her smiles are vague and distant

But her words rarely tell the stories deep inside
Stories of thunderclouds and lightening
Chasing winds too loud for her shaken mind
Darkness bigger than the thoughts she allows
Swallowing herself
Drowning in rain but never screaming

She listens to their questions and contemplates
Answering in complicated riddles
That sound so terribly clever
But amount to nothing

As she runs from what she does not know
Softly crying in the dark
Holding on to a tomorrow she can only beg for
Each night in semi-dark empty rooms
Drowning in her own thoughts

She reaches out and hopes for assistance
But only all too rarely
Because usually she just speaks in riddles
In twists and turns that keep her a step ahead of herself

Death -- A Dark Fairytale (2006)

Held prisoner in a tower
I waited for you to rescue me
You sent word that you were coming
And I watched through my tiny window

You rode up on your black horse
Wearing beautifully tarnished armor
Coming face-to-face with my captor
An evil dragon, with scales the color of blood

You fought awhile, I’ll admit
But retreated when burned by its fire
You cowered from its mighty breath
And as I cried, you sadly waved
And rode away

I watched with tears flowing down my cheeks
And slept an enchanted slumber
You snuck in another day
When the dragon was away satisfying its hunger

You took me away from the tower
And put me in your dungeon
Where you never ignored me
But tortured me, daily

I bled where you whipped me
Where you drug your sword along my skin
And I cried out in pain
Until I died

Then you asked me, with an accusing tone,
“Why have you left me?
Didn’t you know I loved you?
Don’t you know I rescued you
So you could be free?”

You didn’t know I finally was.

Adventures Never Taken (2006)

Mary watches monkeys at the zoo on Saturdays
And dreams of freedom
Imagining African jungles and South American forests
Thinking of adventures never taken
And roads never traveled
She feels the wind go through her hair
And wishes she were on the open road
Going fast through late-night deserted streets
Sweet summer air she never breathed

Choosing instead buildings cluttered with books
Stale air
Too many people speaking too many self-important words
And facts fell down upon her head like snow
She chose careful words and wove them
Material coming from threads of knowledge
Less experience than she could have had
But she devoured books like a starving girl
And choked out ideas that received nods and smiles
Giving up the future she dreamt of like flowers

But flowers die, and knowledge clings on
And she still glimpses a shadow of her former self
Clawing at the inside of her mind with neatly trimmed dirty fingernails
Years later she lingers alone, dressed conservatively
Remembering choices she made years before
As she watches monkeys at the zoo on Saturdays