Was waiting for her, but her mind kept pushing and pushing hard against it
She fought for years against people seeing her naked And when she finally let him in Her hopes vanished when she realized that he was no longer in it like she thought he was Like she started to become Honey oozing slowly from the butterfly’s lips Let me kiss you before I scream And wake up from this dream One day she will have it Love in its purest form But for now she works on perfecting her craft Creating art for the soul, art that feeds hers Because with it, through it, and by it She will fall fast, and hard, and find it And never let it go Whatever that is meant to be hers She will love fluidly and fearlessly And never regret it
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Cheryl lifted her hand to caress his face. His irises glowed like Yemaya. “Goodbye,” she said. “Goodbye,” he responded. “I don’t know when I’ll see you again,” she continued. “I know,” said Robert, smiling. “I know.”
Cheryl turned to leave. She walked towards her cab and turned around once more. “Bye Robert,” she waved before getting inside. Robert stood and watched her leave from his doorstep. She was moving across the ocean like she’d always wanted. He loved that she was so determined to build the future that she’d been craving. Once upon a time, he had felt the same way about traveling. But he was settled now, and he hated the idea of starting over anywhere. Plus, he was determined to start a family with the One, whomever that would be. Cheryl was leaving behind six years of their friendship, of their phone calls, of their dinners together on patio terraces. Sometimes in April, Cheryl thought to herself as she settled into her cab, winter comes. Robert stood in the doorway of his house as her scent drifted farther and farther away. He turned to walk through his living room and into the backyard. He would plant a new garden that day, he decided. He looked up at the clear blue sky and saw two birds flying overhead. I love the spring, he told himself. He started laying down seeds. His backyard was already awash with budding green leaves and colorful rose buds. The sound of the cab’s engine continued to trail off in the distance. Sometimes in April, was his new favorite thought. Sometimes in April, he continued to think, summer feels like it’s here. That day was Robert’s last day of rehab, where he had been for months. Cheryl had visited him every day and their friendship is what saw him through. They had been through laughter and many tears together. She had fed him when he couldn’t eat and made him cool compresses when he was too sick to get out of bed. He knelt down on the ground in his yard and began parting the soil and planting seeds, one by one. The birds he had originally seen continued flying overhead. The sound of the cab’s engine had definitively faded from his street. He knew that wherever she was, Cheryl would have what Robert could not give her. Both of them knew that a future together was unlikely, but their past had been filled with so many happy memories that neither of them would forget. The cab made its way to the airport as the raindrops on Cheryl’s window began washing away the tears from the faces of the passing houses. Some six plus hours later, Cheryl landed at Aéroport Charles de Gaulle in Paris. When she exited, she hailed a cab with an illuminated taxi sign on top of the car. The air outside was crisp and cool. “Bonsoir, Avenue de la Porte d’Orléans, s’il vous plaît,” she said to the driver, as she opened the back door. Out of nowhere, she heard loud squawks overhead and looked up. She saw two large birds flying high in the sky, first side by side and then chasing one another. “Ha,” Cheryl remarked out loud, before entering the cab. The cab driver took her luggage and placed it in the trunk. Cheryl bundled her jacket tighter before hopping inside. The car took off down the gray cobblestone streets that were lined with café terraces and budding branches of green. Cheryl wasn’t exactly sure where she was headed – believe it or not, she still needed to find an Airbnb – but she knew that she was headed to where she was meant to be. The two birds followed, all the while chasing each other, as the cab carried Cheryl to her destination. The two birds continued to fly and dance in the air. It seemed as if their dance involved following the cab as it made its way through the city of lights. Back in his yard, dusk had fallen and the wind had picked up. Robert had finished planting for the day and came back inside, where he started a fire. He was really looking forward to tomorrow because a new day would come. He was finally going on a date with someone new. He took comfort in the fact that Cheryl was going to live the life that she’d always wanted in Paris. The street lights shone bright in their respective cities on either side of the Atlantic. Tomorrow would be a new day for both of them. Sandra closed the book as she finished reading it to her daughter, who had fallen asleep. The buzzing of motorbikes grew loud and faint in a continuous cycle outside her daughter’s bedroom window that overlooked the busy Parisian street. “Legend says,” Sandra said to her sleeping daughter in French, “that one of the birds died of heartache after losing sight of the bird it was following and never finding it. But others say that that’s just an old wives’ tale. It seems that in the end, no one will ever really know.” Sandra turned off the lights. And with that, she, too, went to sleep for the evening. I never wanted to be seen in public with you
Because I feared that people would notice our break up If they saw me alone again I never wanted to show our pictures Our beautiful smiles Looking so into each other As if we would have lasted forever So I hid my content And acted like everything was copacetic But instead of hiding you I wish that I had showed your face Because even though we are not and never will be together again It means more to me now to let the world know That I’ve loved She Waited
She sat, waiting for her father to call her, but he never did So she sat, waiting for a man to call her, but he never did She was always confused Never knowing which one of him she really wanted A father, or a man who reminded her of him So she waited and waited and waited And asked God why he never came She Left She was tired of waiting So she left But she didn’t know where she was going She was going to find someone who was not like him But all she could find was his reflection Is it my eyes? she asked herself Or do I need new glasses? It couldn’t possibly be that every man she encountered Reminded her of the man she wanted to forget Why does he keep following me? She wondered Because I don’t even know what the son of a bitch looks like She lied to herself “Hello,” she said to a stranger. “My name is Mary. What’s yours?” If she gave herself a new persona, maybe people wouldn’t know that she had been abandoned. In this world, she created herself. She was her own father and mother and trusted advisor. “What’s your name?” She asked the stranger again Unbeknownst to her, this stranger was also looking for something he’d lost “Richard,” he said. Maybe Mary won’t know who I really am, he said to himself reassuringly. “Wow, Richard,” she said. “You look like someone I know.” “So do you,” he said. “What are you doing tonight?” he asked Mary. “Nothing much, you?” she answered him back. “Meet me at the Adirondacks. There’s supposed to be a lot of fun happening around there,” he said. “Ok!” She loved that someone wanted to invite her somewhere. So she got dressed up in a fancy black dress and put on her best heels. At 8:00 p.m. she showed up and waited…but he never came. “Richard?” she shouted into the street, but got nothing in response. “Richard?” she shouted, this time ten times louder. She wanted her voice to bring him in from wherever he was. But Richard was stuck in a traffic jam. She left, just as he’d arrived. She swore to herself that she’d never date, or go out with, or make friends with someone named Richard again. I hate Richards, she said to herself. They’re so much trouble! And so untrustworthy. She’s Still Looking For what, she isn’t sure. But she knows it won’t be a man named Richard, or one who reminds her of her father. My wife is gone
She left in the middle of the night She told me we’d always be together But she left without leaving me a note We were never truly right for each other We tried to make it work But how do you keep on trying when deep down you know that you’re just not the right fit? She tried and resented me because she felt like I was turning her into something she was not I hated that she was pretending to be something I knew she didn’t want to be So just like that, we split Like a candle flickers in the dark One minute we’re alive, then we’re not And now, we begin the life we should have started a while ago Separate and new She laced her fingers around his neck
And kissed him passionately His heart sent shockwaves to Spain Bliss was their middle name Under the starlit sky The crisp cool air massaged their nostrils Tongue-tied They heard the faint sound of engines roaring Taking road trips to places that didn’t matter Because here it rained With glee "Je t’aime mon amour," she sighed "Oui, je sais," his lips responded As their figures disappeared into the darkening night Snakes slithering in gardens grow
Lamp posts light the way to docks barren Leaves and lettuce fall meticulously Patience wanes and hopes subside Tomorows yield the same Nothing more than darkness gathering In the same spot that made you sore Staring in the distance
Melting under the heat of your gaze Time stands still Hearts beat ablaze Fireworks in the eyes Love reigns supreme She loved the World because she always had friends
Black, White, Asian, Latin They ate and talked and politicked She stayed to herself when things got too much But always had her trusted few to rely on They were miles away But always present Her biggest love in so many ways Lived in another land very far away Years went by, but still they talked By email skype and all the technically savvy ways She never forgot the imprint her friends made on her Chinese versions of herself and vice versa Thoughtful people who cared about humanity First generation go-getters who conquered the American Dream Shining stars who exemplified what will and determination will get you No matter the obstacles thrown in one’s path She could call on her neighbor For tips about stupid stuff that kept her obsessed She spoke in English, dreamed in French, and danced in Spanish Prayed to her Ancestors in their Afro-indigenous ways And whenever she met someone new They always found hours of conversation to consume them No matter how different they were from each other Because the biggest lesson she learned in life was to know thyself And in so doing, the World becomes a part of you My pillows are my friends
Even when I have none, they are always there They cuddle me and support me, and make me feel loved They caress my curves in all the right places They dry my tears Ease my fears Hold my dreams Talk softly and sweetly And never abandon me, whether it’s light or dark My pillows hold my fantasies And keep me from falling They sustain me in a dream-like state Half alert, half awake They buffer me from the bumps of life And the hard surface of my cell phone When I realize that you will not call |
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