photos of my journals

wordplayground

running

dancing
january 13, 2006 | after you signed off

you disappeared too quickly and
there is a sea of unspoken words
stretched over these miles, and
this time it is your distance,
not mine.

i step forward and back, afraid
i might cross a line without knowing
where it lies, yet knowing it exists.
have i said too much? or maybe not
enough.
excerpt from crazy and back
february 2005

the music stops and i realize i've been sitting here over an hour. my legs are crossed and i've been sitting on my hands. i was doing nothing. i was lost in my mind doing everything. does this place make me crazy? i think i'm running from her but i realize she's gone so there's really nothing to run from. is this really me here, should i be here? should i be freezing my ass off in a place i hate with people i love? but there are people i love here too. and there's this place. the bird bath is still chipping. i've gone to crazy and back and some things never change.

[ tagged: ashley, running ]
once upon a time i walked away
november 16, 2004 | 02:37 am

backtrack to being that girl:
hang up the phone, take death, and roll it into a cigarette. smoke. and leave. say good-bye. leave. drown in school. leave. repair the cheap fairy that broke in three. leave. cancel these online accounts with no borders. and leave. leave. leave. and leave again.

failure.

realize:
that girl died with a swan dive. and jumping was easy and falling was fun. twelve stories to the sidewalk, shivering and stunned.

there is no going back.

and bitterness fades. becomes your best friend, holds your hand. makes you a better person.

charcoal on my hands, perhaps for the first time since she died. i missed that. the black shadowy mess suits me well. that girl may have died but there is something to be said for rediscovering who you are in moments like these.

[ tagged: ashley, running ]
wings
november 11, 2004 | 01:45 am

my wings torn off so that
i might never fly away and
miss another moment,
i would ground myself
out of necessity.

i would lose the ridiculous fantasy
that i might save the falling
after i couldn't catch
her.

prove that i am not any one
thing or moment.

torn to break my association
with the world where
i couldn't contain or
appropriately direct my anger.

i might live her life
four times over, but
i too would never fly.

wings torn off so that
i might believe 
i once had wings.
excerpt from then you
december 25, 2001

i was always in such a hurry
to get to the next place,
the next person...
i wanted so badly just to finish this life.
i've rushed to so many good-byes
because i needed to leave first,
because i wanted it to end on my terms.
i was always running,
realizing who i had been once i was miles down the road.
running afraid - racing to any end in sight...
[ tagged: running ]
running running running
july 17, 2001

running running running
now that something's gone wrong
i sat and did nothing this whole time
i stayed on the sidelines by choice
i listened, i wrote, i occasionally called,
i was never really there
but now, now that it's too late,
i'll fight for you, i'll stand, i'll cry
i'll come running running running
but i was never really there
of course, now i'd gladly let you
nag me, slap me, tell me lies
now i'll listen, i could even really be there
but you won't have the energy
to pick at our imperfections
to lift your hand to slap my leg
to even keep track of the lies you told
i'll come running running running
to find i don't recognize your face
but i was warned of that
i'll have nothing to say
[ tagged: family, running ]
dear mother
march 28, 2001

dear mother,
i have something to tell you,
something you don't want to hear.

i revert
to a seven-year-old
crying over spilled milk,
afraid to admit
that my grandfather was dead
or that 
i never believed 
i was eating the body and blood 
of your jesus christ.
i believe in something
september 26, 1999

i believe in something
believing is truth with or without proof
i believe in death
everyone i know has died in some way
to life, or love, or happiness or drugs
we’re dying everyday
i believe in escape
running away from the madness of my mind
thinking it won’t come with me this time
avoiding what might possibly be real
i believe in pain
in the heart, or the mind or the body
crippling pain that leaves us devastated
reaching out for something to believe in
i have to believe in something
something good, something real, something all·powerful
something that doesn’t die or run away
i believe in something
something worth believing in
[ tagged: faith, running, death ]
mom
august 23, 1999

mom
i saw you in my dream last night
you were waiting
watching me
i still don’t know what to say
how do i explain
myself
?
so i drove away
without looking back

mom
i saw you in my dream last night
you were silent
hating / loving me
you’d packed up my things
i was nervous and
afraid
how do i explain
my life,
dreams, thoughts, actions
?
so i walked away
without looking back
[ tagged: family, running ]