Perception

Sitting here thinking about perceptions. Such a nebulous thing. Changing with each new experience and opportunity. My perceptions have been altered. Altered for the better. My perception of myself, of life, of the things I'm willing to accept, of the things I'm not, of even small things. I've always considered myself a "collector" of experiences. I'm in a phase where I'm allowing myself to experience things again that I thought lost. I'm getting to share those experiences making it even more special. I am hoping this not only continues but that there is further alteration to my perception. Continuing to perceive the world and my environs with wondrous eyes once again, with a full heart, with care, would be all I could hope for.

In Time of Need

Deep breaths, in and out

Relax, you've got this

A deep caring tempered 

With objective realism

Is brought to all you do

And it shows mightily

The interactions I've witnessed

Have been rife with empathy

Replete with wanting the best

For them and to see them

Grow and succeed and be happy

So keep doing what you do best

Mold those minds and show them 

There are always those that care

A Lie

There is a new truth burrowing itself into my cells

The truth of soft lips, and cool fingers, and warm arms

The truth of a gnarled finger trailed along her pale jawline

The truth of kissing her neck and becoming lost to the world

The truth of tracing words on a wrist gently with my pinky

The truth of piercing eyes that see me for all that I am

The truth of the timbre of her voice exploding in my brain

There is only one lie left to dispose of and eliminate

The lie of my life ever being the same, unchanged, pedestrian

The truth is an irrevocable change for the better has occurred

A Workday Haiku

Reaching across a

Simply grained wooden table

Feeling your soft touch

Wild Grapes

Stop, slow down

Take a brief moment

To simply notice

All the wonderful

Sights and moments

That are blooming around you

One might even see

A towering elm festooned with leaves

Vines curling, winding, and twisting

A pair of green-grey eyes enchanting

Smile that brightens a sunny day

A soft hand that touches with warmth

Or even a bunch of wild grapes

Bolts

I can still feel your lips

Struck by a million of

The gentlest lightning bolts

Emanating from a soft 

Persistent Summer storm

Fresh rain smell permeating

The very air I breathe

Electrifying

Pale

There's a big problem I have

Pale skin is always, always

Compared to alabaster

Or porcelain, you know

One of those stones or

Man-made ceramics that

For all their beauty

Are simply cold, hard

And achingly lifeless

And that simply won't do

When the arms that held me

Are warm, and so full of life

That the simple act of touch

Restores me and breathes 

New life into my smile

The Carolina Sky

Brickwork looming above me

Towering into the midnight blue

Carolina sky, few clouds scudding

Obscuring those diamond points

Of distant stars and planets

I notice it all, take it all in

But it pales in comparison

Because you're there, warm arm

Wrapped around my waist as we walk

Mine around your shoulder 

Giving me leave to breathe in

Every last miniscule particle 

Of how you smell and feel

In this moment only wanting one thing

Our lips, to meet.

The Human Brain

Serendipity is overused

Fate is so utterly cliched

Coincidence tenuous at best

Words are escaping me

But that doesn't stop the feeling

Cannot stop the stacking up

Of all these little minutiae

Details and thoughts piling on