Life Jackets on Aisle Gun - Haiku

On Wal-mart's gun aisle
I found all the life jackets.
Risk my life or drown?

The Fun We Have

We sit

Our knees, sometimes elbows touch

We stare intensely, neither backing down

We push buttons

We know the right buttons to push

We have to know the right buttons to push by now

There is strategy to this

Knowing the right moves to take each other down

Knowing the right buttons to push

Over and over

We clash into the night

The rounds have no limit

Pushing all the right buttons

We feel the vibrations

As we clash through the night

Words yelled in combat and love

As the buttons keep being pushed

Furiously we rumble

Our hands moving expertly

We take turns taking each other down

We keep pushing all the right buttons

Until finally

Both spent

Tired of pushing buttons

I arise in triumph

For I've finally beat his ass in Tekken.

Holding You

A storage unit on the north side of town
Holds most of you
What was inherited of you
These things are not just things
They hold pieces of your spirit
Memories of you I can't let go
Memories of you I want to keep locked away
No one can take them from me
When they don't have the keys

An urn in the northern part of the state
Holds most of you
Literally
A smaller one sits on my shelf
With a smaller amount of you
I'd like to think it watches me
Protects me from harm
But ashes are ashes
And dust is dust

My apartment
Holds some of you
These things could never belong to me
For they are yours
But your smell has faded from the couch
Your unused phone sits on my tv stand
Reminding me that I can't ever forget you
I accidentally called myself from it once
Your ringtone ripping through my soul

My memory
Holds half of you
The 27 years you lived since you had me at 27
54 is way too young to depart
Your demise was unfair
Playing fair was never apart of life
But just like you taught me
I'm going to find a brick and fight back
Resurrect you through me

My heart
Holds all of you
Will never let you go
Wishes for you in my dreams
Talks to you subconsciously
Hears your wisdom answer
Yearns to hug you
Misses you every day
Hopes to see you on the other side

The most terrible moment in my life

Was the day I realized she might be gone

Can you imagine

The only super human you've ever believed in

Able to leap school buildings in a single bound

Tear down adult and child bullies with a stare

The first person to unconditionally prove to you that love is real

Might not be there

She, literally half of the fiber of my being

Champion concert supporting, sideline cheering, soccer mom-ing,

While working full-time, Goddess of Single Mom Land

Would be gone

Impossible.

Just as religious fanatics, hippies, and PETA members have their ultimate source of belief

I was invincible in the thought that she was invincible

My Immortal.

Neither vampires nor werewolves were a match for how long she would be here

Until that day.

The day the silver-laden stake pierced her

The day medical science and modern medicine

Mistakenly walked into the room with kryptonite failures masked by excuses

The day the light left her eyes and with it carried a piece of my soul

And then the last day

I had been wrong

Never more had I ever wanted to not be wrong

She COULD leave me, and the world would continue to turn without her

She'd warned me of this truth but such a claim had to be untrue

It HAD to be impossible

They say that the truth hurts

But never could I have known it could be like taking shotgun fire

To the heart

Terrible moments happen in life

But the most terrible leave paths of destruction

That no perfect storm could ever aspire to

All we can do in the end

Is pick up the pieces

7

Soak it in little one

You were loved from moment one

Moment one we knew you were present

Moment two we wanted the world for you

Moment three we were afraid for you

Afraid we wouldn't be enough for you

But what we want most is for you to soak it all in

Soak it in little one

These words spoken through womb reach you

Let them be your first lessons

Let them teach you that parents may worry

Parents may not always know what to do

Parents can be weak for they are human

But YOUR parents will be strong for YOU

Soak it in little one

Love, nurturing, care, and memories

Remember  your time before we met you

Use the backflips you riddled me with

Remember them and keep your childhood as long as you can

Remember how our voices made you unleash them

Remember being nothing but yourself; don't ever let that go.

6

I was born in the year she was 27

Still young, feeling old

Married and loved

Life ahead of her

Watched me grow

I spoke, learned to run, played outside

I passed tests, did my homework, worked hard

"Graduated" from elementary school

"Graduated" from middle school

High school and college, to adult

She watched me, pushed me on

Words of encouragement and love

Stronger than the titanium in my body piercings she disliked

She loved me even when I wouldn't love myself

And in the year she was 54, she left

She was born in the year I was 27

Still young, feeling old

Married and loved

Life ahead of me

I'll watch her grow

Help her be more than I could ever imagine

Teach her words, watch her run and play

Help her with tests, homework, show her the value of hard work

Graduate with her through life

See that she becomes a strong adult

With my words of encouragement and love

Stronger than her teenage rebellion I will dislike

I'll love her no matter what, always and forever

And when it's my time to go, I hope to retire in her heart

Just like mine did for me

5

Mother Nature cries

Throws tantrum, pitches fit, screams

My car gets "clean" free