Just so you know, I'm always

open to other ideas, but

should you

happen to want something else, something

ugly will rear it's head and

anchor it's fangs into your prefrontal cortex.

I'll Follow You (song)

You're my shepherd and you're my king;

You've promised me I don't need anything.

You show me the way to waters deep;

Your rod and your staff they comfort me.

And I, I'll just keep running,

'til I'm running back to you.

And I, I'll just keep listening,

for I know your love is true.

I'll follow you.

I know there are times when I may stray,

but your mercies are brand new every day.

When I am weak, you make me strong.

When I fall silent you are my song.

And I, I'll just keep running,

'til I'm running back to you.

And I, I'll just keep listening,

for I know your love is true.

I'll follow you...

Into the darkest of nights

for I know you are the light.

You call out to me by name,

You are always the same!

Always the same...

And I, I'll just keep running,

'til I'm running back to you.

And I, I'll just keep listening,

for I know your love is true.

I'll follow you.

I'll follow you.

I've felt

a lack of luster lately

but my soul

emerged purple today,

a vibrant crocus

bursting through the earth

to meet the sun.

Dawn

Your ghost

has haunted me

all winter long.

Early sun melts the dew

that lingers

on dogwood buds.

Dawn will banish you

from this new life.

Maybe, when the sun

creeps, a spider over the horizon,

your stubborn ghost will creep

into my dreams and vanish

with the morning dew.

The Mango Mandarin Smile

For Christmas,

my friend gave me

scented hand lotion.

Mango Mandarin-

her favorite,

she said.

I smiled

and squirted some

into her open palm.

I once read that

you have a thousand smiles

waiting to be smiled.

I can remember times

when I

didn't smile,

could have,

should have

smiled.

A thousand smiles

waiting

to be smiled.

There have been times

when I couldn't

stop smiling,

when my laughter

broke free

in the wind.

I wonder

- this minute-

how many

stone faces

won't smile.

And as I

run down

Little Whim Road

escaping

the wrath

of a blackening sky,

I smell

Mango Madarin

and smile.

Summer Breeze

whisper to my clear mind

of a place where I feel

memories that linger

in cattails, forgotten

by all but the willow

that stoops over a dock

where I once sat dangling

my feet in the water

watching the minnows dart

in between my ankles

and letting myself drift

past usual boundaries

and melt into the heat,

bird calls, rotting wood, and

new growth before I would

slip back to my other

five senses.