Vision+Voice

Everything in this neighborhood has an assigned color
Grass is green
Thanks to the automated sprinkler system hidden in the
Dark, brown, soil
Flowers are pink
Roads are black
And houses
Are blue and gray

The sharp angles on each second story roof hurt my eyes and
I look away, instead staring at
Identical street signs
Identical sidewalks
Identical trimmed bushes
In front of houses
Houses painted
Blue and gray

Every window is covered in heavy duty window shades
To block out
Sunlight
Blue skies
Neighbors
And anything else that happens to pass by
White shades on empty windows
Empty windows on walls
Walls, painted
Blue and gray

In some neighborhoods, the houses are eclectic
Like the buttons you gathered from
Under the couch cushions
Tucked between books on the book shelf
Fallen off shirts that are too small
But here
All the buttons are from the same factory
Sewn in neat rows
The same size
Shape
And color
Average
Circular
Blue and gray

It is easy
To get lost here
In this maze of identical streets
The same house
The same yard
Over and over again
Blue and gray

Our world is fading
We are fading into the carpet
That covers old hotel rooms
The random dots on the carpet describe our whole universe
Everything we have ever known
Will be walked over
The carpet
Is the color of soldiers uniforms
The carpet
Is the color of the houses
The carpet
Is blue and gray

Every house
On this block
Is blue
And gray

I wish that I was rich
I wish that I owned a horse
I wish that I could do the splits
I wish that I had a puppy
I wish that I had more board games

For christmas is here,
Let’s go spread some cheer,
Let’s go have some cookies and pet the reindeer,
Let’s go get a tree,
Let’s wrap it with glee,
Let’s fill it with pictures of you and of me,
Let’s go straight to sleep,
Let’s not make a peep,
Let’s hope Santa Claus comes with presents to reap,
Let’s wake up next morn’,
Let’s run without warn,
Let’s pick up our presents with gift wrapping torn,
“A phone! A hat! My favorite toy!”
Said all of the kids with all smiles of joy.
Let’s all go and play,
Let’s not waste the day,
Spending our Christmas the jolliest way.
The feeling is clear,
Best time of the year,
Do not shed a tear,
For Christmas is here!

I am so tired
So very, very tired
My back hurts from crouching
My muscles hurt from strain
My arms ache from rowing
My eyelids feel heavy
From the moist, humid air
Surrounding our small canoe
My friend sits behind me
Her oar,
Licking the water and splashing
The sides of our boat
Our small sail
Just for show
I’m watching ahead
My oar, just barely kissing the surface
The fog is so dense
The air thick with liquid
Gray clouds drift about
I can only see the dark blue of the lake
Just two feet ahead of me,
My friend gives a sad sigh from behind
She is exhausted
We have been rowing all night
And all day
I close my eyes
To give my throbbing head
A few minutes to catch up
Suddenly I hear something
A sound so faint
It is the soft splash of an oar as it hits the water
Not too far away
I open my eyes,
I look around
My friend hears it too
The sound becomes louder
Through the fog I see
Another boat
Rowing at a steady pace through the mist
But then they drift away
I am about to follow them
About to say “Wait!”
About to lift my oar
And paddle furiously after them
But I don’t have to
Because just then I see the faintest
Bit of light
I can see it on the fog
The droplets glisten with the glow
Like sparkling diamonds
Floating through the misty air toward me
The light comes from a distant shape
Tall and elegant
Yet sharp and foreboding
The fog gradually disappears
And I can see the boats
All heading towards the same destination
A Great
Gray
Castle

Floating

On the Lake

The wild cat wakes from its nap.
The tiger roams the forest for their next meal.
He lowers his head ready for attack.
He pounces at the small rodent silencing their squeals.
The birds jump and start to flap.
The tiger kneels,
And feasts on his snack.

All thats left is the bone.
Admiring the land,
Looking at the place he calls home,
He stands.
He lays down and groans.
Places his head down on the moist land.