Elements of a Smile

The Beatles said it was a warm gun.
Gandhi created a recipe for it
We're all on the search
for what we breathe in
unknowingly everyday.
I could drown in the vagueness
but I'd rather embrace the fire.

Let me see your face
free of shadows
in the sunlight.
You are warm
--relaxed.
Sunshine
drapes around
your neck,
the most delicate noose.
If this isn't happiness
what is?

Wake up!
Smell the citrus rays.
Carry it in your pocket
for days too fast paced.
Urgency is the worst coffee
so
slow
down.

I am wide awake
and I don't even need
another reason
to chase after stars.
I know they have been dead
for years.

But I'll dance for them
What other time is there
to do it?
We have the absolute right to.
You are the only person
in that very spot right now.
So take your space,
and smile.

Little Churches

We shake hands
and avoid eye contact.
We soak shoulders
while remembering.
"I'm so sorry."
"I'm here for you."
"She's in a better place now."
-- a phrase to mask the truth.
I don't know what to say.

Pews hold our shoulders back
pinned so we don't slump over.
Our stomachs scooped out,
clavicles exposed
as the tears
fall down.

Songs were sung that I didn't know
the words to.
Even worse, prayers I forgot.
Biblical figures names were dropped
like bombs exploding next to me
leaving my vision hazy.
I am in the wrong spot
but who's in the better place?

Is there allotted time to grieve?
Do we now place it in schedules
and measure time wisely?
I don't want to pen in my sorrows.
I'd rather really feel them
at ease of freewill.
Here I am though,
next to stained glass
looking at me all too happy.

I saw two young women
become blind by their
mothers' death.
Eyes grow grey with consistency.
All of our hands bleed glue
as we pray to god
who makes sinners pay
out of who's left