Vision+Voice

On the large bed
the dog lies down,
licks her paws, yawns;
scratches her ear;
flips over,
big inhale, exhale,
closes her eyes
and droops her mouth open.

–I Started With it All–

Here I’m stopped and I wonder about things
Riding my bike
Wondering why
Is this just another mystery
It’s so entertaining
I ride past memories with old friends
from the past

They moved, never saw them again
So I…
started over
I read my writing over
And I
just can’t explain

The nostalgia, how insane
I read all of the the kind letters you gave
I looked at all the drawings you drew
I remembered all of you,

Oh, how much fun
we used to have together
But I
just can’t explain

Are you mad at me for something now?
This is so insane

I wrote to you,
hide and seek with them
Played board games with her
sleepover with Jaylen, too

And now you’re all gone
so I wrote a song
Don’t know what else to do
now that you’re gone, It’s true

Oh

I started with it all
Poured my ideas onto pages, oh
But now I’ve read
it all
Now I’m stuck still sitting here, ‘cause I

started with it all
Poured my ideas onto pages, oh
But now that I’ve read
it all
I’m stuck sitting here, memories fading, no

(Music)

Tear at the pages of past
I don’t know if I can last
Feeling like I was abandoned by some friends,
and I know some never said goodbye
And now I sit here, shy
Reading all the letters I was writing, until he stopped writing back
I think that I’m loosing my grip

Are you mad at me for something?
I’ll never forget the past

(Music)

I wrote to you,
hide and seek with them
Played board games with her
sleepover with Jaylen

And now you’re all gone
so I wrote a song
Don’t know what else to do
now that you’re all gone

I started with it all
Poured my ideas onto pages, oh
But now I’ve read
it all
just last year,
Now I’m stuck sitting here

Just be real, just try,
‘cause some of you
never said goodbye

Guess that you just forgot that life
But I
just can’t explain it right

Oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

I know three of you got step families
But after that
nothing was the same to me
I
just can’t explain it

Just last year, I’m stuck sitting here
in this neighborhood we played in
Watching time turn tables
And not wanting it to
But while all of you left, I stayed

Here
My bike parked in front of the park
Down the street that changed so much

Feels like I just stayed in the same tree
And let the cold seep slowly in front of me,

I wasn’t ready for that change
Why can’t life stay the same?

(music)

How, just how insane
this is
Just write back,
just text back
Just say something at all

Just throw anything
so I don’t have to sigh and
recall
that

I started with it all…
Poured my ideas on to pages, oh
But now I’ve read
it all
just last year, stuck sitting here for ages… oh

(Music slows to a closing)

after George Ella Lyon

I am from playing cards
From pots and pans to forks and knives
I am from the garden,
Full of mud and grass
(It tastes like rain.)
From the big plum tree
To the milkweed by the porch
From the roots
So deep in the earth,
We forget they’re even there
I am from no shoes in the house,
And a radio tune with music playing loud,
Humming songs I know by the first note
I am from the dinner table
With tile floors
And plants climbing the walls
From Jess and Josh,
Countless late nights
Laughing at jokes I didn’t understand,
And watching shows I didn’t know the name of
I am from karma,
Which will always come back to get you
A pair of sharp teeth
That are sure to leave a scar

The golden strands are prickly
The spotted fur is soft

The goat is mighty sullen
I like my horse a lot

The swing can go quite high
And when my energy is low,

I jump on, grab hold
and let the swing go

I walk under hot blazes of light
As my red hair tumbles, burns bright

And when I ride
I’m not alone

Teddy, my horse
is with me

The wind blows between my hair, and
I’m riding pretty swiftly

Except that he’s just walking
We’re going around the ring

But I don’t mind, I suppose
I love my company!

And the cats, ever so beautiful
They hid from me at first

But really, they just shouldn’t
I’ve known them since weeks after their birth!

I pick one up, on my lap he goes
He’s soft and very young

I sit on the porch swing that isn’t mine
and watch the little kids play and cry

It feels like all day, I always think
It feels I’ve been here so long

And later, it’s finally time to go home
Until next time, farm I rome

And horses I have known since young
Plus roosters and their evening drum

Goodbye cats who meow and hide
Goodbye farm dog who runs behind

Goodbye funny guy who calls me
“Jillington!”

Goodbye little boy who wrestles with his friend
Goodbye nice person who’s friends with Kim

Goodbye dirty goats
And waddling ducks

Goodbye captured lizard…
and good luck

Goodbye old farm friend of mine
My heart is yours, and yours mine

I’ll be back

A should be anything
A poem should be free
A poem should be you
A poem should be me
A poem is outside the lines
A poem is outside the box
A poem is throughout the world
gathering our thoughts

He runs around jumping
As i grab the leash
I start laughing
When i struggle to put the collar on
I open the dog with a smile on my face
Ready to have a race
I began running as i pick up speed
Then see my dog step on a weed
He stops running and starts to whine
I look over and see him limping
I grab his paw and pulled out a splinter
Oh what things the world brings this winter

World against one
Take your time

But don’t take too long
They’re moving on

Now it’s time
You’re rushing
Almost ripped the pages
and sat there for ages

Get in the car
Drive south

Don’t know where you’re going
Sometimes, it’s okay not knowing

But don’t go too fast
and don’t go too slow
There’s so much you know
and do not know

So turn around
Drive upside down
and reach the other side
The circle’s big, and you, too small

There’s just nowhere to hide
in this world against one

I am a writer,
a dancer, a fighter
I lift people up with my heart
and not just my pencil

I jump through hoops of happiness
and juggle bricks of sadness
Some days,
on those days

It happens
But I write about it
Dance about it
Fight about it

Because that’s who I am
I am a writer,
a dancer, a fighter
I lift people up with my heart

and not just my dancing
I toss bricks of emotions on paper
And spin hula hoops made of sand around possibilities
until I get there, until I make a five year long goal

come true
I listen to people reading their stories
and I put their voices together, plus mine
to make one

Ever since I was young, I looked at the stars every night.
I always thought they were beautiful, shining so bright.
But what I never knew is that one day I would be shot up in a rocket,
And experience something very few people will ever experience.

238,900 miles away from home,
Walking on a surface unknown,
I saw it. The Earth.

That little blue marble that sustained life,
That little blue marble with its gleaming oceans and soaring heights,
That little blue marble just sitting there in the vast void of space.

All of a sudden I felt bitter and cold,
Are we alone?
Is that tiny blue planet the only place we can call home?
Is there any life other than there?
Anywhere else in this void of despair?