still below the horizon

dawn

i could hear the uncertainty in the voice of wind
branches and leaves carried in a new direction
reaching out to pull me in
and i am made one with the wind
and i am clean in the water
dried by the heat fire of the sun
no longer weighed down
i travel over oceans to uncharted lands
and find that my heart is full of blood
that i am not alone
to watch the moon and fog disappear

circadian rhythm

entering the first circle

the last protective layer
of skin hidden from
the wind and the rain
the burning sun
raising voices over
the sounds noises
of tearing into the
soil the creation of
life endless forgiving
it grows beneath my skin
and up through my eyes
rooted in tissue and
hope the only words
i know to say carried
by blood and not
waves crashing onto
every empty shore

great harbour

chebucto

the sounds of quiet
thought reach
out to a sun that
sinks down into
a sea cool clear
voiceless my mind
heads north carried to
the forest the trees
the silence unbroken
words traveling on wind
rustling leaves
spreading life and
deep breaths new
beginnings rising
and melting away the
ice and snow breaking
free from the soil
up to my hands warmed
by my own blood seen
as i lift them
to the sun

american folk tale

john henry versus the steam hammer

a string stretched between
a sky and an
ocean that expand infinitely
over our heads underneath
our feet blood flowing
in between life heat
and movement constant the
rhythmic song of passing
time breathing and staying
awake without reason listening
to a voice empty
words that fill every
empty space inside closer
to the sun and
sleep and i will
look out over this
sea into time and
i will find a
light that once burned
my eyes wind and
rain my skin opened
washing away the sounds
of words traveling across
skies and oceans above
below between until my
hands fail and i
give in to sleep

it may be broken down

patterns

zero zero one two seven seven
the past is the past
and the stars believe
my bones are white
and i am open whispers
over skies closing distance
under oceans staring up into
the white light of suns and
sleeplessness holding every
breath until its pure and
blue opportunity fulfilled
and realized traveling to
futures unimagined hidden
between my skin and the
soil where my name is buried

the circle makes much of modern civilization possible

a circle a circle

i was born built
to see things in
natural light and
air over water
or growing from
dirt soil earth
take them from
their homes and
lay them to rest
where they belong
take me from my
home and lay me
to rest where i
belong in this sky
in this water in
this dirt soil earth
under natural light

it's only words

a stack of wood

white clouds fall
white rain
over and upward
to heaven and
space infinite and
endless expanse
expanding forever till
i hold my breath
till i let it go
and lungs fill empty
with voices and the
smell of grass and flowers
my hair grows longer
and i hide my face
a little more each
day until i am new
and i am old
each day by this river
and these trees
is another breath taken
in the life of a world
far from forgotten
and far from its
final days
i wash my hands and face
and say nothing until
there is nothing left to say

is a task far more complex than was imagined

hold true to the linear concept

early morning stay
stay up all night
long sheep and stars
and the bottom has
fallen out of the
sky and rain drips
drips drips all
over the world and
people with without
umbrellas rush home
home home their
beds warmly waiting
to lie awake asleep
alive and the page
turns in book after
book and the story
is told and over now
when eyes close and
tell it over again in
our minds and each
ends differently and we
all have different
colored eyes that make
staying awake look
white and sleeping
red and blue and black
and if i can stay
awake asleep longer
no longer than a day
two days five days
when will this story
end or begin on the line
that divides us all
in space spaces real
reality my own two feet
have carried me this
far and how will they
carry me further now
that the streets are
wet and my skin is
covered in water and
ash and sunlight from
an ancient volcano
that i read about on
my first trip to sleep
in days days days awake

changing the surface of the earth

again we were asleep

six months seventeen
days underwater
only rising to
the surface
to feel the warmth
of the sun
on our faces before
returning to the breathless
expanse of ocean
beneath us where there
exist no limits and no
boundaries to keep us
from losing ourselves
or one another

if only this lack of oxygen were real and possible

green and blue and white

pangaea

word after word
written until blank
spaces stretch into
oceans of sleeplessness
and open skies
the kind that make
stars brighter calmer
a world moon island
covered in white and
silence until continents
reconnect and oceans
surround us all waves
wash away every word
making us whole pure
and the earth will no
longer be scattered and
distance will be the
past tense of desire
hope lift our
voices with open hands

sometimes people aren't the same people in our sleep

dreams of the legless

every time the wind
carries me
i hold on
i break my neck
circular motion

everything is everything else

its like that time i...

it makes it all alright
taking breath after breath
after breath
a heart full of blood
a head full of suns and other worlds
islands and oceans
i want you on my side
to open my eyes
and offer them to the sun
distance is silence is distance

circles last longer...

zero zero one two seven seven

youre still in my skin
and every time
a wave washes ashore
the wind carries
salty air and sunlight
to my lungs
and my face
its only distance
its only time
but oceans and trees
are greater than this
they connect our breaths
every movement
carefully calculated
and if one star
doesnt shine anymore
then another will take its place

it just won't go away

...an island somewhere in the Indian Ocean

the words are
written on skin
they are escape
meaningless
and full of
blood
our bones accept
the waves and water
the sun warms
mind and heart
the sky is bigger
blue and empty
here we sing
with voices of wind
carried out to
nothing
and our voices stay with us forever
we have created
life and eternity
we have rid ourselves
of breath
awake always never to sleep again
our blood is light and air
our skin is the sun
our bones are the ocean
a tree grows in the middle of us all

afternoon nap

places that we cannot breathe

dont let the wind blow
the sun set
the tides rise
i dont know why
just dont
neither dead nor alive
only together
everything forgiven
now our words
mean nothing
we hold on to one another
as we are swallowed
by something greater
it is living growing
not human (but it thinks and it feels)

heading

whatever it kills to take alone

along the ocean
the circles written
across faces skies
a progression through time
space presses down
on eternity on the present
now is endless
now i am the line
straight through
comparing suns and wind and water
making all things the same

post title

chances on years

turn my head away
from the thoughts
empty endless numbers reaching
infinity skies and space
toward suns
breaking into pieces
to stay safe and warm
wrapped in wind and water
transformed
a mountain
rivers trees beehives
on my skin
i breathe or i sleep
running further away from standing still
two feet two legs two knees
i will grow my hair and my beard
till there are no distinguishing sounds

the watchman

till the earth and keep it

which forever will we be
if we fight and grow
and tear down walls
will our blood flow
rivers forever
will our breath
move branches and leaves
our thoughts
will move oceans
rocks and mountains
formed in dreams
become real
as our skin
the bones that built us
will frame worlds
we will not do this alone

i am still awake

a stream bed dried in the desert

humans think and feel
we are hearts and blood
bone skin nerves
oceans endless
wind on each others face
humans are life
and we are death
moving forever forward
opening our mouths
the sky still silent stays
a line that cannot end
our muscles
carry us
our minds
keep us
our hearts
define us
humans
we are breaths taken
underwater and skies
each day
that we believe
we are warmed
feel the heat
in circles
changing time we are the same

i am a dragon

there exist three lines

if we are to breathe fire
we must first breathe smoke
fill our lungs in the ocean
our hearts in the sun
our minds in the open air
until we are covered
in the same skin
the flames
will live in our dreams
home is my skin
and my thoughts
i am each step closer
to the sea sun
there is a circle
for each life we live
for every thought or hope
each circle
carries the blood
carries the air
carries the light
our breath is in our skin
our breath is in the circle

I won something.

The Madre gave me a Kreativ Blogger Award. Here's what she had to say about my words.

"7. Nathan at Words- I gave birth to this young man, the one full of insight and tenderness. His poetry is deep and rich, stark and raw. I love this kid. But then, I'm his mom." - the Madre

circumference

a telling retelling

i will stay awake
for two more days
for three more months
its the sun and the moon
the stars are the wind
the ocean is endless
in my head
the voice
clouds transform the inside
of my head and my heart
my blood is red
it is white
it carries me away
closer
my skin is stretched over my bones
do you see the rocks and water
the endlessness that lies beneath

it might be all about texture

last chance at first place

i promise you
as soon as i have a home
i will change my skin
i was the only one
to see the moment
can you smell it on me
its a black hole
and its never ending
but its warm and full
of life and energy
i will hold this
into eternity
and all will be settled
i will be new and i will be always

you should see the clouds over the bay right now

the only sunburn that ever matters

count it on two hands
breathe in hollow air
hold it in the past the future
breathe out the perfect words
its all blood and tissue
but its real and it feels like tomorrow
i walked into the ocean
the sun is here
the air is swimming
i will always have skin
its always on my skin
ive counted to ten now
and nothing has changed
everything will always stay the same
as long as the sun is here and i have skin

sixteen through twenty-five

is it possible this is an ocean

i can make the forest sing
this silence
to the top of the mountain
to the top of the tree
believe in both sides
of the sun
heat and light
accept the water over your body
forever always awake
and then we will sleep

an incomplete sentence

certainly

if i could
ever really
understand this
then maybe

simple

out of the room

carried to the sea
buried in the sand
skin burned by the sun
asleep
alone
awake
afraid
i believed
i held on to hope
we stand
at the same place
in different places
after everything
it was worth the _________

thanks

swfn say8

did i lose
too much blood
in the fire
and the fight
i cannot hide
behind my skin
any longer
all i feel
is on my face my arms my legs
water will not
wash them away
but they will fade away
in the light
forever does not last forever
but we will be forever
in water in wind

cuando

labyrinth

underneath a secret earth
water and wind flow
pronounce my name
correctly
ya no te espero
the feeling i am underwater
a tundra
no end no begin
a drop of blood
one for every star
one more for every hope
the noise of space
changes the way i hear
your voice
i stand on the earth but i do not think of the earth

things

tremolo

we all of us
have been born
in color
and light
we walk away
from it
we walk to it
we are waves tides
we are more circles
than lines
but we are learning
to become lines
to see colors
to see light
the wind blows across
our faces
and whispers
we listen we follow
change
it rains and we are wet
we dry ourselves
day in day out
our backs are stronger straighter
we swim or run
we fly as birds fly
we will be the sun
we have always been the sun

a few more lines

tie me to the sea

a monument built
to the sky
a sun
burns overhead
its no small thing
to cut off ones hands
i will place mine at my side
i will hold onto yours forever
i was dead once
the wind blew
the water covered my face
i could breathe still
i can breathe always
there is blood life
circular motion
i see no end there is no end

a few lines

being underwater

its all circles
when things become
or when they cease to be
a moon over a mountain
a line across the sea
you saw it too
but differently
i was closer
i am stronger weaker now
bones blood skin on and on and on

palabra

bones and little else

above water
waves
i watch my blood
bathed cleansed
from rocks and shorelines
arms eyes lips
lifeless pale blue
i still dream
still feel
live
i walk on water
i wake before the sun
i wake before you
life beneath each step
taken
a green garden today
rocky paths
years and years forgotten
yet still felt
my heart is clean now
free of shadow
of whisperings
humans think and feel
i am human
you are wind
you have traveled through
my branches my leaves
you are waves and water
washed over
my rocks my sands
speak quietly
speak necessarily
i am out of the rain now and i am dry