Exposure

the eye that
is my mind
blinks;

a camera's
shutter I can't
control

unfiltered, captured
committed before
there's time to
turn away

internally,
I am part darkroom

processing, soaking
sifting in solution

with resolution
comes clarity,
without -
the pain of
wasted effort

beauty lost,
what I might
have learned
vanished, erased

still the absence of
remains;
committed to
my internal paper

Weight

he asked me once
how is it you can
carry all this -
this weight
upon your back

figuratively,
or as metaphor-
neither matters

what he sees
is smoke and mirrors,
I fool so many

my heart today gray
with restriction

grace and ease-
peace of mind
elusive as the wisp
of song on someone's
radio, blocks away