Rolling Over
Suddenly Rolling Down!
leaving the earth
reconnecting with jolts and bumps
faster now
with no places for the eyes to focus
no object close enough to grasp,
air, then sky, then grass, then dirt, then air
then the delightful sickness!
and the laughter
and the landing
then brushing off and racing back up the hill
to feel the butterflies again


all rights reserved of course

You may not believe this,
but I'm thinking of you,
as rain pours down,
on this humid summer night,
my skin feels damp and hot,
and the feeling reminds me of hot summer nights,
not so long ago,
riding bikes under stars,
looking for ghosts in the vineyards and fields,
counting stones in country walls,
wondering who built them and how long ago,
tracing angels and epitachs in moonlit cemetaries,
skipping rocks on pools named Diana,
walking to the end of the road,
our road,
holding hands meant so much,
damp and dreaming,
still wet behind the ears,
amazed by breaks in the clouds,
that let us see the moon,
laying on blankets, in a field covered in dew,
waiting for the sun to eclipse the moon

Alone

When you stopped loving me I started pretending,
Oh and I was a good actress!
I convinced myself that you still loved me,
that this was a phase you were going through,
that all I had to do was be patient,
that if I just waited you would tell me what you needed,
but you couldn't tell me...you probably didn't know,
I know that you didn't know that I would do anything to give it to you,
I forgot to tell you how I felt, I didn't tell you that I still loved you,
I wanted you to only feel responsible for yourself,
I wanted you to be with me again,
but when you were ready,
and I never told you, loudly, directly enough,
I asked to be near you, I offered my shoulder,
I was available for you, but I didn't assert myself,
You didn't know how much I would be there for you,
You didn't know how much I ached for you,
I should have told you how much it meant to see you smile at me,
I let you go by accident and now I am the one alone.

I will rise from the ashes of the bonfire of your love
I will emerge scarred but whole
I will be the rainbow after the storm
and you will be only the memory of a bad dream

She changed my world.

She made me tie my shoe,
I'd no idea it was untied.

She made me stand up straight,
I was unaware of my slouch.

She told me to tell the truth,
Was I telling lies?

Yeah, I was telling lies,
She was the mirror of my condition,

She held everyone to higher standards,
I was unaware I had any,

She opened my eyes,
And changed my world.

In only one night,
She changed my world.


as usual, all rights reserved, Sharlene Thornton

Please keep me.

Please keep me gently
in a little box inside your heart
where it's warm and safe
and you won't forget
even when life distracts you
what I've meant to you
and what you meant to me

Please keep me quietly
so I can rest peacefully
knowing that you have my memory
deep inside yourself

Please keep me always
even when you need the space
in your heart
and I will keep you just the same

Please keep me faithfully
knowing that I do too
and when I look at the stars at night
I'll know you are looking too

Please keep me thoughtfully
think of me when you need to
and when you want to
and know you always have me
my friendship and my love
deep inside your heart



all rights reserved Sharlene Thornton

Babble

what is this nonsense that babbles out of your mouth like a stream over rocks,

why are you so blind to see the truth right before your eyes,

pretending that everything is alright will not make it so,

the blood rushes in my head and it's all I can hear,

this anger consumes me, this frustration,

it is like a disease that slowly deteriorates my soul,

why can't you just accept my limitations,

do I have to be cruel, yes I will have to be cruel,

anything to stop this incessant babble