Versions of Chai

Sunlight pours down and spreads through stiffened limbs like warm honey, inch by inch restoring life along with grace. The world relaxes into color as the outlook shifts from gray to green. SAD days are over-- time for the thaw.

Happy Ides of March! You may think it morbid to celebrate the day given its historical significance; however, the Ides of March has become more to me than the anniversary of Julius Caesar's death. It has become a family holiday for my sister and me--an inside joke between the two of us that none of our co-workers can understand since they don't share our literary tastes. As teenagers we had our own version of the famous prophecy associated with this day, "Beware the eyes of _______" (insert name of creepy guy that rhymes with March). As I said, only a true literature buff would see the humor in that. But this year, the Ides of March has become more to me than just a literary inside joke. I have decided it is a day to celebrate friendship and loyalty, a day for true friends to stand by each other. Although for Julius Caesar this day meant betrayal, it does not have to be that way. On the Ides of March I do not say beware, but take heart. For when Brutus comes I w...

The mask-- I donned it willingly knowing full well the consequences the sacrifices required Yet somehow miscalculating the placidity of my own soul After years of practice I think I wear it well-- that frozen smile But inside I languish beneath the mask drumming fists against the rigid facade Pining for a few unfettered steps outside the glare of the magnifying glass The choice I made this visage I wear weigh heavy on my soul how long I can bear it I do not know