in a moment i can imagine myself there.
we know we are here, and it doesn’t matter how we got here.
i think of you and this day in a time that is later.
i don’t need to find you now to work out the details how to get there.
i just know it’s the way you hold my hand that matters most,
the way you hear me when i don’t speak, and hold yourself toward me as if we are still flirting our way into each other.
why don’t we check ourselves in now to the rest of our lives?
© r.e.l. 4/2/15
i figured out a way
if you were here now
looking into me
i would tell you about my heart
and its secret wish i promised
to notice that
i am inside you
and now
i figured out a way
to not miss you too much
© r.e.l. 2/3/15
submitted to Thursday Poets Rally week 80 on Hype Park Poetry Palace on 2/14/15
my voice as it describes you
come to me with your confidence
and all
that you know i want.
you don’t expect me to be someone i’m not,
because you know i am vulnerable, right?
you can see the tenderness in
the reality of my defenseless heart.
i like my voice as it describes you to me
…and now, i have something i need to tell you
in person.
don’t ask me to show you what it’s like to lose a beautiful heart,
mine.
don’t let me go another day before i tell you i love you.
© r.e.l. 1/2/15
Won Perfect Poet Award in Thursday Poets Rally week 79 with Hyde Park Poetry
confidence in me
inching toward you breath by breath
i miss you today
© r.e.l. 1/29/15
I nominate Sina Saberi
tell me why, as we sat on a bench
you loved me.
i dare you to do it again, like the waves that crashed into our scene, unannounced.
we were sitting on a bench as the bus came by.
we didn’t take it.
we were there instead.
inside ourselves, building us.
tell me why we keep that memory a secret
from our days today, alive and awake
with present words and thoughts and senses…
tell me why that day goes unnoticed now,
the day we knew that you were a part of me…
© r.e.l. 11/9/14
image: Daniel Marquardt (Heart Nebula)
you float as i know you
in the days when i loved you more than i loved myself
i floated, like light, above water, above myself
to a dream that is hard to forget
(i never forgot)
words that were dying to be shared
as hearts, sacred
opened up to melt onto the floor
together to protect each other, to protect themselves
voices whispered
tears of the past, of the present, of the future broke
presence that would live on and become patience
© r.e.l. 11/1/14
all at once, rebellious
sometimes i think i like chaos too much.
i can hide in it.
it’s like the chaos of a coffee shop, while concentrating.
i like to watch it build up, so that i have it, so that i can swim in it.
it soothes me to know its presence–its opposite of order.
it is rebellious, yet a container to work within, to be all things.
all at once.
it is also a puzzle, a trail to follow, to connect dots, to follow the rope on my way out.
it is me, my chaos.
© r.e.l. 10/24/14
a memoir of a special time
encapsulating every inch, touching.
i imagine how your hands clasp mine.
we are a bravery that led to senses.
of understanding whispers, or of character in windows of time.
of future times, slowly with deep eyes.
like beautiful surrender wrapped up, frozen…
follow me to my heart that risks. vulnerable, slow down, slower. testing the dream, flames shift.
where your hands are a metaphor for your heart waiting for strength and a voice, waiting to begin and not end. to feel safe and live inside me to tell me your beautiful words.
© r.e.l. 9/28/14
little voice
dear little voice inside, you can have whatever you want. you choose.
your way is beautiful, its protection and opening, on cue according to rhythms and instincts. you are alive and i hear you pulse. i feel you hide and then come out with wide eyes and inviting heart. it’s perfect to shine when you do, and not because others fly by your serenity, or wish to light your fire. be you.
© r.e.l. 9/24/14
do you know?
do you know that i will lay my strength beside you and surrender?
do you know that i have it in me to wonder if it can be brave enough for you?
do you remember
that i miss you?
do you know that my smile was always for you? it was hidden at the bottom of me.
do you believe that i am typing these words just for you?
do you know that i dreamed i was wrapped in you last night?
do you ever think of my shadows or yours when you brush against me?
do you remember our silent moments that connected us despite our lack of patience?
do you believe that your eyes melted me each time then and still do?
© r.e.l. 9/14/14
dear precious tears
who are you, precious life?
stay with me in your presence
that breathes even when it doesn’t try.
you see the potential that i don’t see in myself.
you cry sometimes
and prefer to hide…
surrounded by pillows, no one can see your face,
your weakness,
and you don’t have to be something you’re not,
something you feel others expect.
dear precious tears,
it’s ok
because you only come when your heart is shining
transferring all the opposite into you.
your water is not fear or anger
but freedom.
you are expression of desire met
beyond imagination, by your side.
you are delight at being enough
to be intimate
to be wanted.
you allow me to know that my space is safe
and you know what you need to say
when no one else is listening.
you are my gift.
© r.e.l. 9/3/14
Submitted to Thursday Poet Rally week 79 with Jingle Poetry
that which rises
you are that which rises.
and you know me to be the one who senses you now, a reprise.
did you know that i heard you last night when you spoke to me with your eyes?
you were the ocean then, yet not.
you were an ironic metaphor with clarity,
the kind that floats by unnoticed, hides in corners, or drops to the floor.
you were that which you cannot comprehend, even to yourself.
© r.e.l. 8/29/14
for someone special
show me why
show me why i feel as i do now.
that i know between your thoughts
is a search for the same
as me,
you pulled my arms around you closer
when i lived in the past seconds.
that you are
bouncing back at me, a reflection
this feeling looking for me
when you saw me smile before you,
and knew as you dashed off
that my seconds would remain, ingrained in you.
that without you
i would still be spinning in my mind
day after day
intentions full and alive
but closed up
to wait another day
to see something that makes me different
when you spoke while drowning in your words
and i heard.
that as the days go by
my dreams lead me toward you
not because of me
but because of you
and who you are.
show me why
i have made the choice
to traverse the edge of crazy
to chose you.
to love you.
© r.e.l. 4/14/14
submitted to Thursday Poets Rally week 80 on Hype Park Poetry Palace
submitted to The Poetic Bond IIII 7/12/14
image: Stinson Beach from Mt. Tam (credits: r.e.l.)
posted on Micropoetry 6/13/14 for #reflection theme
posted on Medium 4/14/14
even more than i imagined
i’m scared to really look it in the eye
(what i really want)
because i don’t think i can have it.
i can’t keep it.
and what have i done wrong to make it so that this is so?
i’m covering my heart and drowning instead.
i want my experience to hold me
because i can’t hold myself in this way.
in my dream, the seed that is planted makes me special.
i’m ready for it.
then it’s gone when i open my eyes.
then i want it back even more than imagined i did.
© r.e.l. 7/16/14
i like your whisper
i like your whisper…
from the start
you drew me in.
you don’t know this
but
i couldn’t hear
what you said,
that day.
but the words didn’t matter
it was your
whisper
that i remember.
© r.e.l. 7/14/14
a simple question
what i really want to say
is too real
that you are more
than i can imagine ever knowing
all of.
why is it so hard to ask you
a simple question,
the only question i have?
i miss you when the time passes
and i’m scared of being left alone
with only my words.
i want to be the answer
you’ve searched for.
© r.e.l. 7/8/14
Posted (partial) on Micropoetry 8/15/14 for #heart theme
in my search
i know deep down
that only the right thing
is happening to me.
i speak now to you,
my dream,
my core desire,
my distraction,
which will tie us together in a balanced state.
in my search, i have been sad
because of the inability to find
the part of you that is me.
but now i have it
when i can see your face in the present,
in person,
i am not worrying.
you tell me not to fade away,
to rest
and so i do.
© r.e.l. 4/23/14
Posted (partial) on Micropoetry 8/22/14 for #search theme
the look in your eye
you know how sometimes
the stars have a mind
of their own
as they move on their way
to find the best way
to mix with the look in your eye?
in your eyes
i see
the same
© r.e.l. 2/27/11
posted for Poetry Potluck week 24 (2/27-3/5/11)
featured in FREEDOM IN WORDS & ART on redbubble
shared on Ethereal Heights
posted (partial) on Micropoetry
posted on Medium
submitted to The Poetic Bond IIII 7/12/14
image © simeon schatz
i want to sit back in our dream
i want to sit back in our dream
in our chairs in the sun one afternoon
and just know we did it, the right thing.
when i finally said the right words
when you finally felt soothed and knew you could not return
to the life you once knew, nevermore.
when you finally said it right this time
you convinced me
your mind spoke, while drowning
and then it smiled, while crying
somehow getting through to me, it worked.
with me from that moment on
when i was there for you and you for me
in those moments when you heard my words
the time you looked in my eyes, pulled my arms around you closer.
you are the bright side of forever
a feeling that had been looking for me
it saw who i was
and sent me to you.
i had you
you saw me smile before you dashed off
knowing that my seconds would remain ingrained in your brain.
© r.e.l. 3/2/14
Submitted to the POETRY magazine
my secret innuendo® 