Vision+Voice

Standing on the corner
By the lamppost
Mismatched socks and cuffed jeans
Her hair wet from the rain
Her coat, worn and tattered
She stood smiling
As she walked
She swayed
To music only she could hear

The dusk sun mixed with the shower
To produce a glow
To match the golden energy
That radiated from her
Only she could look so bedraggled
And yet so delicate
Like she was dancing on air
As she floated up into the sky
With such a slow
Simple
Splendor

The light turned green
And off we were
In different directions
Into different worlds
To lead different lives

But from time to time
I think of her
The stranger on the sidewalk
Imagining her voice
Breathy like laughter
And what would have been different
If I had said hello

It’s just a shoebox.
Except… it’s not.
It’s filled with memories.
It’s filled with photos and smiling faces,
It’s filled with plane tickets,
It’s filled with souvenirs,
It’s filled with entire friendships woven in single bracelets.

I search my messy closet, I open up the shiny cardboard Box,
with the white Nike sign bulging out against the dark black,
the memories and emotions all come back with a single glance.
I close my eyes,
Tears run down my face.

I stand there blinking in an ocean full of still faces.
Every shift of my body looks like a wave of my arms.
The frozen expressions make me feel alone.
I thought I would be zooming to meet them,
but instead I feel like I’m zooming away.
Their voices ramble on, but their mouths make no movement.
I feel as if I’m the only one, so alone, so scared.
And then the still but colorful ocean turns black,and I panic even more.
The frantic clicking doesn’t help as their voices fade out.
And then there is silence along with stillness.
It’s empty and cold, and I feel so, so alone,
as I sit there in an ocean full of still faces.

It is very cold outside, hopefully I don’t mold myself in ice.
I love the cold, but not that much.
I heard it’s supposed to get down to 1, at least it’s not at none.

Everyone has a skin color
Everyone has a body size
Everyone has their quirks and flaws
That people might try to despise
But with everyone having
Quirks and flaws
It keeps us intertwined
Like an unbreakable bond
Knowing we are one

We must stand
Hand in hand
In harmony with one another
Brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers
We must accept that now is our time
For the hill that we must climb
Waits for no one
It just takes someone to dare to climb it

We are bonded together
And we blend forever
And and the symphony of this country never ends
It just keeps going and going
Writing itself into history
For the rich, poor, middle class
White, Black, Mexican Asian
Our life is all a mystery
Yet each life is intertwined into another’s story

History is yours to make it
You grab it and take it
You shape it and make it yours.

We sit in our homes all day
never getting to play,
I understand the circumstance,
but I just wish I could dance and prance.
People have told me time and time again
to try to understand,
but I never have to courage to take their hand.
I guess I just wanted to say,
that I miss the times when we could dance and play,
when we could run and have fun,
but at last that is all the past.
But this isn’t our doomsday not yet,
for if we set our path we will escape this evil wrath.
And if we do so in this way
we will emerge stronger and stronger everyday.
If we help one another and unite each other
we will get through these tough days.

Where are you leading me, barren land?
The winter came and froze your thoughtful face.
How many steps made their imprint
on your nose and cheeks?
Do you see the sky with your eyes,
the pools left by the drizzle?
Are you blind during droughts
When the liquid of your irises sinks deep
into your heart with memories…
of the clouds and their resemblance?

Did you see your face in the clouds?
I saw mine.
Did you see it dissolve as the droplets fell?
I saw mine.
Did you see it in the surface of the fresh puddle?
I never saw mine.
I was disappearing in the wilderness
of the neighborhood’s park,
As if the wind could blow me away.

Perhaps I was a mirage.
I had no mirror to check.
How could I be when there was nobody to see

but you?

Why are you scared, child?
Is it the roar of inhalation?
The endless consumption?
The little turning, creaking wheels?
The gray tail that curls and twitches?

You used to be so rough
with unyielding shouts
to thwart the noise and keep the wheels at bay.

Did you shrink while your body has grown?
Didn’t your teeth and fingernails sharpen?

The machine has entered the living room
yet you cower.
I will lead you if you need help.
I’ll scream, so you’ll regain your voice.
I’ll bite the white plastic surface.
I’ll tear it with my claws.
And the machine will crouch, fearful in the corner.
And the glue will give out.

Its pieces will hit the ground
and lay apart
while we sit on the carpet before the couch
in the falling dust of our triumph.