Courage.
I have it.
I tamped down the irrational anxiety,
screaming at me to stop,
and let the smooth music
glide me across the edges of the dance floor.

I almost chickened out when he saw me.

But I didn't.

I kept walking.

He met my eyes,
and at the same moment,
we slid towards each other,
hands outstretched,
and asked the other to dance.

It was one of the best blues dances
of my life.

May every blessing pressed to me
be turned instead
on the young couple
that's been married
for just under an hour.

May the sun shine as brightly on them
as the sunflowers
strung about the cathedral.

It's been a beautiful escape,
this time away from work
as I prepare for a wedding.

I think I shall miss
this calm relaxation
when the week of rest ends
and I return to my jobs.

I read through the night
-pushed away the dark hours
with stories of light
-and now that dawn breaks
I will take my rest.

To be refined/reused

The sun may have melted
Icarus's wings
in that desperate flight-
but it was the sea
who dealt the wounds.

Maybe I'm holding onto sanity
with just two fingers,
but better than
with only one.

Just when I think
I have finally slipped free,
Regret slams back down
like a vise I am one inch short
of escaping-

He is built the same
as this shade-once-a-young-man,
all skin-and-bones frame
with wiry muscle you don't expect
holding him together.
He even has the same concave indent
in the center of his chest.
He's a runner,
occasionally drawing,
quiet and reserved at first
who diligently works.

The similarities burn
until differences surface-

Dedication to multiple sports,
not music.
He draw ideas and images,
art not the plans
for something he'll later build.
His eyes may be blue but they're dark,
and he is not broken,
at least,
not in ways he's not trying to fix.

I will see this youth for himself,
not for the friend long gone.