under the radar

don't pick me
not now not first
don't notice me please
let me fit in
this time this once
don't pick me last
don't single me out

keep my head down
don't volunteer
don't ask please not me
don't make me different
don't make me wear that
don't make me go there
don't make me change it

don't' single me out
tease me
embarrass me
not here, not now
in front of my friends

they are shamed for me
they leave me here
alone, bullied, teased
singled out and different

let me go unnoticed
let me fly
under the radar

24 August 2008

© Cynthia Ryder

"O"

you would read to me
words, lines, paragraphs

i would draw imaginary
lines on your back

you imagined us
in scenes from the pages

i would kiss the lines on your back
then draw lines in imaginary sand

you would read words and lines
and be drawn to imaginary battle

18 August 2008

© Cynthia Ryder

13 August 2008

Spider silks glistening
draw us in we touch it
fighting snared regrets

bleed us dry poison us
spinning us round tightly
trapped in our own mind

© Cynthia Ryder 2008

12 August 2008

remembering yesterday

was fifeteen years ago

only one night, one day

of conversation and love

in before dawn quiet

whispering questioning

resistance removed

seeing you again for you

exploring you again

stripped of armor and defenses

laid bare in my arms

you bathed my soul



i knew then my misguides

excuses prevent questions

you knew you needn't ask



my drought ended

yours began again


years pass, questions remain

the game gets played

what if and only


i make excuses still

wonder if only once more

i could see your soul defenseless

laid bare in my arms

© Cynthia Ryder 2008

9 August 2008

let me devour you with my eyes

let me smell you

for the scent that is yours

let me touch you

follow the lines to the valleys

and plains I have visited before

let me have you

for a brief time

if only in my mind

let me feel your breath

that plays to my ear

that touches my lips

let me dip into the pools of blue

look into your depths once more

let me know you

let me, just for a moment, grieve

that i loved and passed

loved and lusted and lost


Salaam alaykum my love
--
--

© Cynthia Ryder 2008