Surrender

Her hand touches the water tentatively

Quickly she pulls it back and waved it gently

In the cool twilight air

She looks up and down the shoreline

Searching for signs of other people

Seeing nothing

She is satisfied that she is alone

She peels her clothing away from her sweat-dampened skin

Discarding them in a pile of sandy fabric

Crumpled and abandoned

The crisp breeze feels good as it blows

Across the bare skin of her back

Every inch of her is alive

She revels in the anticipation

Savoring the moment

That lingers so exquisitely

As she stands on the verge of freedom

Then she moves forward with purpose

No backward glances

Her feet carry her in a joyous dance

As she disappears into the waves

While they crash on the shore

This is the eternally renewing cycle

Of death and rebirth

Rapture and release

There is no one there to see

The dolphin on the horizon

As it takes flight into the air

Surrendering itself to the dying sun

And it is at last in a place

Where it’s soul is complete

It has found home

It has become one with

The last moment of light

Beyond The Blizzard

I can feel the snow falling within me.

In great white flakes of peace

There is a blizzard behind the façade of gentility

Who can know that it is there, except the one

That holds the small, crystallized ice chips

Within their hand

To watch them melt.

Then comes the realization that it is slowly

Making the pain disappear into numbness

Hold onto your small ice chips, child

You will cry when they are gone

Is it because they are no longer there?

Or pain’s unmerciful return to consciousness?

Or

Is there something else within you

That cries for the ice itself

Melting from your frozen heart?

It’s only fear, child…mere fear of the blizzard ahead

But do not let it overcome you, my dear

Keep the fire burning bright within your heart

Only then will you see

It is worth the cold and pain

Just to learn to appreciate warmth

And the joys of watching the snow fall

From somewhere safely sheltered

Shadow Locked In Light

In my dream

I see a shadow

Lingering just out of my sight

Standing in the darkness

Weeping silently

The salty droplets fall

They land…each one shattering

My heart

Desperate tearfulness

Passing over my own

Parched lips

The shadow calls me in its mind

Beckoning

Pleading for freedom

Telling me I hold the only key

To the locks that hold it captive

I heed the call

With every step I take

It shrinks further

Into the darkness

The ring of light that surrounds me

Seems to cause it pain

In fear I turn away

I try to run

From my shadowy presence

I cannot

The separation sears my soul

Causing a painful hollow

A cavern in my heart

The eternal wound

So I sit

I wait

For the shadow to come to me

And there it stays

Just out of reach

Remaining always

The splinter in my mind

Light with shadow

Locked in eternal struggle

Wishing to embrace again

Finding no comfort

In the knowledge

That together we share

A single soul

Separation finds me

Incomplete

Forever

Shadow locked in light

The Unwritten

Pure, innocent, child

Faithful of the world’s good

Loving, kind, compassionate

A generous, willing, carefree spirit

This is what I was born as

Torn, frightened, jaded

Cold, shivering and naked

Lustful, full of desire and jealousy

A soul tainted from within

This is what I became

Forgiving, full of hope, a dreamer

Faith in life’s uncertainties

Cautiously trusting, a heart full of love

Daring to lift myself up

To look the unknown in the eye

This is who I am

Who will I become?

The future remains as always, unwritten

A blank page waiting for the next

Pen stroke of my life to make

A mark that will last to eternity…

Surviving the Hunter's Game

The sun spills it’s warming rays down

Covering my shoulders like a blanket

My bare skin absorbs the light and heat

Turning a tawny golden brown



I walk with purpose, steadily

The footsteps fall one after the other

Over and over, pulling me closer

This is the day that I get my life back



I have made the decision to hate you

I will feel no mercy or compassion

Just as you had none for me

When I had to live beneath your gaze



I'll always carry the memory of your eyes

How they would change at times

To those of a hungry predator

Narrowing on the weak or injured



I saw the next move enter your mind

I watched as you would prepare

For the ecstacy of the hunt

Your muscles twitching in anticipation



Your lips curling back to bare your teeth

Half smiling from savoring the pleasure

Half sneering with unlevened hate

A throaty growl rumbling in your chest



Even when I saw you ducking down

Inching even closer to your target

Stalking with the stealth of a animal

Caught in your gaze I'm trapped



You strike when I least expect

I’m blinded by trust and innocence

My naivity keeps me primed and ready

To fall victim to your attack



It was far too late for me fight you

When I realized what you were doing

For your eyes had narrowed, focused

And they came to settle on me



You found it easy to make me stumble

Yes, I fell quickly to your predation

But what you were not expecting

Is that I would get back up



I saw your fascination with my will

I was more challenging than you’d planned

My strength held me up when I felt I’d fall

It steadied my shaking body from within



You never counted on having me stop so soon

Or watching me plant my feet, determined

But most of all I remember your surprise

When you realized, I had turned to fight



You watched my eyes as they filled with rage

I had seen the fear you held inside

My lips pulled back in a most wicked grin

And I saw your foot step back...a first



I knew then, that your suffocation would end

Along with the fear and the threats

I broke from the chains you’d held on my mind

And the coward you are shined through



Just as brightly as the sun that now warms me

A summer day that will not hold you in it

You have no power over my soul anymore

For I am the one that would never fall prey



I am the one to survive your bloodthirsty hunt

And the reason I came out as the victor

The one thing breaking me free of your chains

This predator could never be your prey.