Love

You cannot stop another from loving you.

There is only one decision –

does their definition match yours?

I didn’t even know I had a choice.

There’s a voice whispering in my ear.

Its breath one of prickly pear and open spaces.

A scream as well.

Something from a winter long ago.

But mostly now it just reeks of dust and sunshine.

Of places unridden and worlds unknown.

Deep breaths, back stretches, and unending trails.

The nightmares have almost all but gone.

It is in my heart to wander.

It has always been that way.

I glance down between dusty boots to see the tracks of deer and elk.

A javelina.

The animals travel this road and we are but another.

Below an old broken windmill we stop.

Metal blades and rotting posts strewn about.

The tailings of a long dead world. It lives on regardless.

Sometimes I don’t know where the words are.

I dig deep and come up empty.

An imposter within myself.

I have no appetite, only thirst.

The food and wine turned inward.

Their depth an unknown sweetness.

But don't fall in love - I am not that woman.

There is a runner in me still.