I remember

the day we first met
the color of your eyes
the smell of your hair
the shine of your smile
the joy of your laughter
the day i fell in love with you
the thrill of holding your hand
the shiver of your whisper in my ear
the texture of your skin
the warmth of your embrace
the press of your lips on mine
the taste of your kisses
the tenderness of your touch
the pleasure of your body moving with mine
the rhythm of your breathing while you slept
the smile you had for me when you awoke
the pain when you walked away
the silence of the words you didn't say
the emptiness where you used to be
the ache where my heart used to beat
the sound when i fell apart
the length of forever, broken 

darkness.

the music that brought me back
the friends who carried me
the strength to stand up again
the sting of the needle
the tug of the thread
the hurt of closing my heartless chest

living.
breathing.
forgiving.
a lifetime.

the shock of finding you again
the years rushing back upon me
the time i spent rediscovering you
the moment i realized i love you still, more

i was afraid

of seeing my heart, still held by you
of the pain of remembering you
of the joy of remembering you
of being hurt again by you
of opening myself again to you
of wishing for what i may not have with you

i asked, will you please

hold my heart for me a little longer?
help me find the strength i need?
help me up if i fall down?
help me open up myself again?
help me put my heart back,
dear friend?

©2014, Aaron Brown

The Air We Breathe

Should the swan feel sorrow
for the wind in her feathers
when confronted with envy
from a fish in the water below?

No.

The fish would die in the air above,
the swan would die in the water below,
were either to trade the wings
they use to fly in their own versions of the sky.

O,

Air they both need, to live to breathe,
but the way they each receive
is different, unequal, special
each neither right nor wrong, just

So.
©2014, Aaron Brown

What Happens Between

Two pens
Drawing lines
Making letters
Into words
Forming messages
Voicing thoughts
Revealing emotions
Risking much
To read meanings
Between the lines
Of the letters
Covering pages
Behind the pens
Of onetime lovers
Learning to be friends

©2014, Aaron Brown