it's hard to remember when/ 

when the throat begins to scratch at the mouth, begging to be let free

when the stomach begins its churning waves like an upset ocean god

Hair tucked behind ears,

Cheeks pink and glowing,

Smiles illuminated by the sun,

Weeping willow branches cascading like poetry

Onto fluttered-closed eyelashes;

Only for a second...

It all faded away...

Everything was so peaceful...

The white fluffy clouds past through the sky...

You could close your eyes and hear the ocean...

Only for a second...

The war was over,

or maybe it hadn’t begun.

The sky hummed like a sweet lullaby,

and the fields grew wild with unbothered color.

Children ran barefoot through puddles

It never happened

that everything was beautiful and nothing hurt

but if it did it would have been

lying in the grass

the kind that surrounds you like the ocean

and flows like a river

The deep, unconscious current guards

my hopeless human figure from

the continuous plume of silence 

echoing below my floating forearms. 
 

my pure body is tossed in a 

Her name was Violet, 

but she always wore yellow. 

I spied her from across the room as I hesitated in the sun-framed doorway, and she was beautiful.