I promise 
cross my heart
pinky promise
I’m not who they say

I didn’t do those things
my hands where too
busy holding this pencil
my mind to distracted
by words

words that speak 
louder than I can
if I could find the
proper metaphor to
convey my intentions 
and explain myself

but been out of excuses
and hope for some time now
the truth is
no one was listening 
anyway

he wrote poems that 
spoke to me
almost at me
almost for me
so I read them
and cried
he was writing my thoughts

Astro projecting 
my thoughts unknowingly 
towards the north

the north winds 
are always cooler on hot days
in August here in Kentucky 
and the lake has 
gotten so dirty
cooling off in the water
is out of the question

I sit outside a lot these days
cry a lot 
these colors are so pretty
they are
and they hurt my eyes 
dilate my pupils
cause all was so mute 
for so long before 

I’m changing 
and fall is almost here
his favorite season he says
so together the leaves
and I get brighter

yellows and orange
reds and on occasion 
purple veins of the leaf
that fell a little early

I have fears 
questions
lots of them
not for him
but to them

am I the leaf that falls
the tree that grows
or am I just the season
do I just fall 
then a year from now 
fall again

problem with questions are
they hang with time
and from what I hear
have no rules
and have free will
so they answer when they chose 

he said he would help me
and I believe him
eyes like his don’t lie
I’ve looked into them
his honesty almost frightened me
the thing is he has been
helping since his words
first touched my lips

home, yes
he is my forever home.

Jennifee D English