Jewels

Somehow,
as I look up at the turquoise-copper sun-setting sky
I am simultaneously reminded
of grandmother jewels

Wire and shining stone
treasures from a far desert somewhere
and you,
or more truly, us

How somehow despite being hard,
thin and unapologetic as strands of copper
and smooth and placable
as round blue stone
we fitted together,
oddly,
but together
just like some of the most beautiful things,
together.



Jewels by Dakota Farley

Motel Mornings

When the dawn light clatters against the windows,
and it's racket seeps through the shades and curtains

When the small sounds of stirring daytime
build into a tidal wave of waking,
drowning our brains in consciousness

When we once gain begin to recognize,
to relish the feel of skin on skin,
the smell of last night's love

When we open our eyes in increments,
only to get lost in the sight of one another-
the parting of your lips,
the curl of my hair-

Only then will we know the pain of parting
and how grating is goodbye

Leaving us on the sheets,
and alone
rejoining the world.


Motel Mornings by Dakota Farley

For Corey

I look at myself in the mirror
and I think of you
Its that close to my heart, this song of you and I

Your brother was your side-kick
and probably still is
but you and I were just as thick
for all that what was ours
didnt resemble yours and his

While you might have left me
I havent been alone
Theres parts of you with me
these pieces are in my pockets,
weighty, like stones.

You showed me how to own
what I liked, what I was
To say it out loud in uncompromising tones
To tell people, not when they asked
but just because

Its because of you
I love over sized jackets
that smell like smoke
and tucking my hands
deep into their pockets
finding eight ball keys, lighters,
Swisher Sweet wrappers
and receipts
for food you bought
for you and me

Youre why I like parks
Just sitting in my car
listening sometimes to the radio,
others giving voice to my own thoughts
just to hear how they
bounce off the windshield

Youre why I like fields
driving through them and
imagining myself as safe
and anonymous as a tall
piece of grass, only as lost as I want to be

Youre why I get tattoos
on my birthday
Using the occasion to
poke holes and flood myself
with ink
Pictures that yell out what
this heart is loud enough
for evne the most blind and
deaf to purposefully misunderstand

So, when Im asked
why months of your silence
hasnt made me stop
waiting for you, I laugh
in their questioning faces
because I could never hate you
without first hating myself

I know you never had much use for my words
going about your deeds silent and uncompromising
but please, hear me now
When I said I couldnt live without you
I didnt mean that your leaving would bring me death
but that until my last day comes
you will always be with me
For Corey by Dakota Farley

My Haunted House

My past is full of poisons, precious
my heart, a home for horrors past
Once, these devils near overcame me

Gladly, that moment didn't last

But as you wander in those corridors
in those chambers of my heart
Beware of shadow creatures
and from lamplight, never part

I have chained them in these inky places
and once in every while, dear,
for you, those Ghostly claws may reach

Still though, as I said,
with me close by to guard you,
there is nothing real to dread
and with this warning comes a question,
a hope, a siren call
are you brave enough to love me,
full of darkness, demons, and all?

My Haunted House by Dakota Farley

In Your Land

In your land, in your broad flat
plain land
we took shelter in small towns,
eddies around which the wind and
railroads thundered
It smelled me, tasting the soles of
my feet, painting me with its
burnt colored dust
What is this forest child, this
daughter of mountains and
foothills
Smelling of lakes and bracken
creeks and clay?
I, a far wanderer with a gypsy
heart
Will always reek of frost and
orchards. In Your Land by Dakota Farley

For Elizabeth and Tyler

Its smiles in the morning and
holding hands in the car

smiling silently and listening
to you soaking up sunshine

finding us in between the lyrics
and the static on the radio

touching knees and tangled shins
under restaurant tables

whispered laughter and breath on
earlobes

Its kisses on knuckles and fingers
grazing jawbone

It is all these every day intimacies
that outshine loud sung devotions,
claims of affection that shout
down and bully doubt to give
cover to empty promises.
For Elizabeth and Tyler by Dakota Farley

My Apology

If only I could reach deep inside,
and find the right words to apologize.
Id dig them all out and make a rhyme.
To show you just how sorry I really am.
You'd feel the tears behind my eyes
and see your face in my dreams.
Maybe then you'd know
what your forgiveness means to me.
My Apology by Dakota Farley