Iowa/June

The path was narrow, but wide enough to realize there was a journey ahead. She searched for the key that she had lost. Gravel twisted below her as she dug into each mathematical step. The beat began and the rhythm carried her body. Faces formed in the trees, voices echoed from the cliffs, and the river carried the bodies of those who had not succeeded. 

It all came into character.

Alabama/October

I want to see you again...along the beach or in the forest and when that day comes, let's run. Run through the trees, the snow, and over the mountain to the river where we can dive into each other's skin; lose ourselves within each other's minds and never come back to the realities of the world, but would you do it?

 And if you would, could we stay like that for a little while? And if it didn't work and you left would I see you again? Because I would really like to just see you again. I'd wrap the vines of my soul around yours so we can grow uncontrollably and confusingly into each other and when the root of our formation breaks the surface of the earth, we'll finally be able to grow separated but connected. 

As the years go on, our bark will become strong within our own roots and leaves will change their colors with the changes and we'll peacefully grow as two separate beings in a world of chaos, but it was good to know I saw you again...

 Kansas/September

I once spoke with a wave from the ocean. She said she grew from the rocks and eventually blanketed them as she hit the shore, moving specks of sand in and out of the tide.

 She claimed to know everything and became friends with the moon. They traded gravity as if it could be manipulated to do the wrong thing. She pulled and he drew near, bringing the stars closer to the sea. 

She pulled me to the sand and beckoned me to the depths. I dragged my fingers along the sand and rocks as I went deeper and deeper feeling my body spiral through the waves. I reached the bottom where glaciers hovered above and the moon’s light struck through the ice touching every boulder below and caressing my skin as it lit the ocean floor. 

As my back hovered over the sand at the bottom of the sea…I opened my eyes and witnessed the moon drawing closer to the waves, finding pieces of the mountains and beaches to mold into the stars. 

She whispered, “swallow the stars, mold into glaciers, and take hold of the tide.”

Chicago/March

I don't want soft milky makeup covered skin...i want freckles...all over...and wrinkles by my eyes that create waves of light that reflect off the blue and flow into your veins. 

I want cuts, bruises, and blisters along my hands and fingers from digging through boulders.
I want my eyes to water from the wind on a mountainside, not from gaining half a pound...of common sense.
I want to manage to get dirt under my nails from digging for worms every day and then dirt within the crevices of my palms as they twist and mangle their bodies within my hands.

I want harsh indents in my knees from rocks that lay along a riverside where I place my lips just along the surface to taste the life flowing inside.
I want leather skin from the sun and the dust along roads that lead to nowhere but my own home, because anywhere I choose is mine.
I want my feet sculpted to the shape of movements I've created on worn paths that have been traveled on...they would be the only shapes that could carry me through the rest of this life.

I don't want what I had, I want what I need. My body is made of nothing, but flesh and bone and if the flesh is not good enough for your ever so watchful eye...I will take my bones and build temples through this forest so you find yourself exploring and can't help, but marvel on what you didn't see before.  My flesh will stay motionless on the ground, because that's all it's really good for...a blanket that covers when it's cold outside, but when the sun's out it's not needed.

I don't need much and I don't want much, what I do need and want is the grooves in the tip of my fingers to touch every living thing on the planet; my feet to twist in mud made of every ounce of water that reaches soil; my hair to catch every ounce of dust and fragment of mangled grass that the wind has picked up, blown, and specifically placed upon my head. 

I want your eyes to meet mine. Place your hand to my chest and put your ear next to my skin.  Everything you feel and listen to is a song I've created.  It's the beat of every step I've taken and the hush of every breath that has escaped my lungs and rushed into the world around us.  

It's all for you and I want you to dance to this...