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you laughed
i heard

i looked
you walked

and drove
passed me

i speak in words
because the body
has a language
all its own

some time
real soon

you will
kiss me

or I'll
kiss you

that's a
promise

Teachers, Poets, and Children

There are three types of people
Teachers, poets, and children
One who can sing
One who can dance
And the one who can
sing and dance with them

Fences

it's okay
to feel or to think
you're the only one
who feels this way
desperate

it's alright
to wake up alone
and touch empty space
the other side
of your bed

it's okay
to feel and to think
everything is
affecting you
good or bad

it's alright
to wake up alone
and touch empty space
and feel empty
desperate

Christmas Poem #5

Christ and the Human Condition
and Gift Bearers
and an Acceptance
of Everything More or Less than what is Given

Clearly I Did Not Know Jesus
He and His Words
were Marked and Remarked
Before My Time in Regards to Our Existence

in regards to our existence

i'm gonna be

the best damn person

i could ever be

tie your shoes

i'm not sure what those wires mean
but every once in a while
a pair of shoes
get laced up and draped
over one of them

it's just as good as graffiti
and i am more concerned about
who wore those shoes
and give less thought to
who tossed them up there

PICTURES, DRIED BLOOD & BLACK EYES

I WISH YOU WOULD HAVE TAKEN IT BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT SOMETIMES I HIDE IT IN A CHEST OR I WILL LIGHT A CANDLE ON MY DRESSER AND PROP YOU UP AGAINST MY LAMP BESIDE THE CANDLE IN A HOPEFUL WAY

CAPS LOCK

MY NEPHEW ASKED ME TO WRITE A POEM
IN CAPS LOCK
THEN HE ASKED
ARE YOU WRITING IT TO THE WHOLE WORLD
ARE YOU
HE READ WHAT WE HAD WRITTEN SO FAR
OUTLOUD
AND SAID
YOU WRITE THE REST
I HESTITATED
THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT I WANTED HIM TO SAY
HE SAID
WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG
HE SAID
IT JUST TAKES SO LONG SOMETIMES
HE ASKED
IS IT DONE
IS OUR POEM DONE
HE SAID
JUST BE DONE
JUST SEND IT

threading needles and untangling knots

the news hit me hard
but i'm always up
for being the hero

and you didn't ask
for money this time
you just asked for christmas

so i delivered
i used my savings
and that wasn't easy

but it was worth it
to see my nephew
in the grips of belief

we wish you were here
single working mom
this one's for my sister

pretty and perfect
sweet beyond belief
Jacey Lynne Zuniga

Natural

after Santa came
we took a nap
me
my mom
my nephew
her dog
and my cat
in my bed
i never slept so well

now Santa is gone
and my nephew
asked
outright
how he
fit through my
fireplace
and i said
don't you watch the movies

the sun is down now
the night is here
long
past eve
just now
you and me
and tonight
and you said
or should i keep moving

i can't answer that
it doesn't mean
what
i think
you think
it might mean
and tonight
i just want
you to be still with me

Fairy Tale

i am a fairy mermaid princess
a castle an emerald city
a rabbit an elf and a beanstalk

a cigarette is a magic wand
only i get to make wishes on
and my ashtray is overflowing

my new tattoo is a tiara
your aimless heart is a glass slipper
maybe i could try it on for size

my dishes dance sing and wash themselves
my bed smiles while i am sleeping
and i'm a beauty while i'm awake

poetry is every lamppost
and every street corner is you
and the whole world is a street corner

Cheyenne

tonight
not only do i have this new wonderful friend
but i have a free spirit
and my soul isn't heavy
anymore

Non Issues

my parents protected me

they treated me like a person

and let me make decisions


sometimes against my will
during those times

i would get a quick tug

be wrenched out of wonderment

sometimes it hurt a little

Fly on the Wall

on the way home
i caught every green light
and saw an american flag
larger than life
on the back of a harley
and i cried and wanted to give you the poem
that i wrote
while i was thinking about you
and tonight
while you were on stage
perfect in black
i imagined asking you to be my friend
because if we were
i could have read the poem
that i wrote
while i was thinking about you
and someone i love
cried tonight
openly and privately
and it made me feel like crying too
and this is the poem that i wrote
while i was thinking about you

visions

i had a vision of me
of us
walking down a gray street

but what i could see
was me
but through your eyes

it felt nice
to see
your me

somehow
that gray day
sure made my smile
shades and shades brighter

i like
winter
more now

Christmas List

i want to speak out of turn

i want to type out each word

i want a feather

or which ever one comes first



i want to not smoke as much

i want to not think as much

i want to not want

things that begin with a not

reoccuring

i felt awake
in my bed
late last night

then one by one
a procession
began to pass
by and through me

it was strange
lying there
feeling that

each time one passed
the wind picked up
then they were gone
and the wind died

one after
the other
and again

maybe i was asleep
maybe i was alone
maybe i am lying

but the wind was real

pastel

sometimes i understand lassos

it strikes me at the most peculiar moments

is as if a rope appears in my hands

perfectly knit and tied

lovely little thing meant just for me

to draw something in

realize i have to know what i want to capture

nothing outside of these moments

has seemed important or

changed what i thought was me

Creates a Medium

sometimes it is perfectly lovely to realize
nothing has changed
it is exactly the same
the sky is blue
clouds are imaginary
a cynic is a saint
to all the would be cynics
and today is beautiful
to all the would be saints

i'm not a turtle

if you know me
you know i get excited

once you humiliated me
i think it was a misunderstanding

i appreciate you
taking the time
to read something
that was mine

but i never asked you to grade it
you did that on your own

it's not that i don't want to say hello anymore
it's that I did and you didn't say anything

this is just
something that was
on my chest
now it's not

The Times That I Cry

i talk about it

but i never tell anyone

about the times that i cry

it's not very often

that anyone knows

that i am sad

i am sad
all of the time

everytime i laugh

or remember your face and name

it's because we have to die

so i want to show you

that we are alive

laugh with me
remember me

i am fatherless

and my family is homeless

we only have each other

mother sister brother

and li'l ol' me

we get by
we're really close

what gets me the most

what really tempers happiness

is the loneliness i feel

not knowing how to heal

the rest of the world

that's just me
that's why i cry

Sensitivity to Inanimate Objects

trash speaks to me
leaves speak to me
little rocks speak to me

they say

pick me up

so i speak up

i say

what are you doing here
look how pretty you are
where'd you come from

people look at me like I'm crazy

to: aah from: me

i am sorry
for the times I promised you i would
call you
and didn't


i am sorry
that your heart hurts and no one here has
held you
close enough

you deserve more
than a fantasy or a passing
of eyes
over you


i feel stuck too
and i don't always know what to say
to you
or anyone

i will say this
everything you do makes me smile
straight through
and sideways

keep going

coming off nerves is a real high
coming off a real high
can be a bummer

pretty girl wishes
are wishes for people
to stop seeing ugly


what is the meaning of
this warm december
you got me


practice daily
being the person
you want to be


if i were me
oh wait
if i were me


i just got
up for no reason
and swept all of my floors

well for no other reason
than clearly
they needed a good sweeping

you know what else
I might even mop today
you know I am crazy like that

elephant retirement home

i feel like our minutes could move the earth
as if you could put your ear to the ground
and hear us moving

the rumor is the weather will change tomorrow
well i heard it was changing everyday
i guess there's something special about tomorrow

sticky note

if you grant the expected
you have to grant the unexpected

I've taken to thinking outloud in my apartment

some things just don't appeal to certain people

one of my favorite things to talk about is my train of thought

falling in love is fun
can't wait to do it again

feel all big teeth and long nails

my lows must hover just above most people's highs

it's always a poem

I think it is fair to say I am a romantic

I've been using the word warp a lot recently
mainly because I have been playing records
and most of them are warped

feel like
I feel
like something else

self assessment

i love when the starch is the star of the show

i love secret magic music

I am suspended in space

showing up

two birds making circles
one heart shaped balloon going up up up

I think these birds will stick around this winter
they seem in no hurry to go any where

and you probably could see a balloon every day
if you were always looking for one

all this from five minutes
of looking out my window

yeah yeah

I swear to God
there is one voice in my head
or at least there's only one
that's answering


Today I spoke
to eight sets of eyes and ears
so I was extra thoughtful
of not swearing