You taste like decaying leaves
and October's bad habits-
when it’s halfway through February
that still haunts these bones.
I have allowed you to
claw your love
into my arms
and chant into my
uninterested ears
for much too long.
I wish I was one of those girls
who could say wild flowers
grow up through my nooks
and my crannies just to tear
through my skin, screaming.
I’m just that dead eyed deer
on the side of the road dreaming
of shoving a pen down my throat
and writing these verses inside out.
I am no scribe, prophet, or spell caster.
I know it.
My skin knows it.
My pen knows it too.
Years and years
from now
my mind will d
I think it’s selfish
how I have compared
every other kiss
to yours.
( After all-
good things don’t
invite themselves into the lives
of little girls who categorize
their disorders by the scars
on their wrists and who
allow strangers to hang them
from their necks like wishbones. )
But, no one’s hands
have ever staked claim
to this scavenged wasteland
like yours-
not even my own.
And it’s hard to forget that;
please forgive me.
As you wil
You told me
I was November’s ambrosia
sweet on your tongue.
But now all I feel
is discord, sieging
and overthrowing
the 3,000 year old tree
inside of me.-
Centuries to grow so tall
and strong-
9 mere minutes to
fall.
You no longer smile anymore.
And I am here,
silent as stone-
the carcass of a dead...
wild thing
hoping you don't leave me
on the side of the road.
I’ve been sitting on your doorstep for three days.
Here are the nothings I left under the mat:
i.I do not feel like a lion anymore,
an alpha wolf, a hyena or
any other strong-willed beast.
ii. Today,
I want to take my scars
out to lunch,
feed them your eyes,
& your tongue
until it bleeds sorrow,
and “please forgive me’s”.
iii. You wish I never existed
as you grind those words
into my wrists like they are
red hibiscus blossoms.
& I’ll have you know
I am a flower, bloomed,
rooted deep into the soil.
You are just a combination
of 26 letters-
an “I wish…”
tick-tock
tick-tock
tick-tock
tick-tock
I am the second hand
starting and stopping
and spinning around
again and again.
Words for the minuteman
who couldn’t keep up—
one shouldn’t give up
again and again.
She slept for an hour,
moved for a second;
twelve times, she reckoned,
again and again.
Slaves to internal gears,
a matter of time,
we turn on a dime
again and again.
And the cycle repeats,
always required,
endlessly tired
again and again.
Twenty-four hours pass.
Déjà vu sets in.
The end, I begin
again and again.
tick-tock
tick-tock
tick-tock
tick-tock
Concealed sound of
music
written in my bone;
different sense of
lyric
than a rolling stone-
sources of my
rhythm
still remain unknown.
To remain sane
inside my brain
I create a clone,
and now I hope
my brightest dreams
will not be chased
alone...
A commitment to
silence
purposely artful,
an adhesion to
balance
overtly hopeful-
ultimate test of
patience
like a time capsule.
To hide this pain
inside my brain
I resist her pull,
and now I see
my darkest fears
are best embraced
in full...
Black and white,
courage-fright,
middle ground
firefight-
and now I see
my inner self,
a pen and paper soul.
End with the beginning
of a thought;
or not.
Questions still left spinning
in my head;
soon dead.
Confused people grinning
at a joke;
I spoke.
Common refrains hanging
from a rope;
no hope.
Potential love banging
on my door;
no more.
Universe returning
to a point;
endpoint.
Entropy and breaking
down and out;
no doubt.
But while I'm breathing
lukewarm air;
a prayer-
let what remains of me
retain some potency.
Dry and empty husk
bathed in Calvin's musk
let out light,
burn out bright,
never night
or dusk.
Broken-fingered hand
buried beneath sand
let it be,
heavenly,
never sea
or land.
Scattered
secrets
dating
washed-out
pieces
fading
desert
rainclouds
waiting
ocean
shorefront
caving-
too hard to explain.
Give yourself a name,
step into the flame
freedom whispers
"please leave all your fame
right back where you came"
bleeding faster
over wild game,
of which I lay blame
bring me deeper
lest I become sane;
twice I'll say the same
take me away,
take me away,
little hurricane.
Please don't
ask me how my
heart tastes-
you know better
than I
that all things worth
having
are normally
bittersweet,
and I know I can't compete
if I leave this incomplete.
Please don't
waste a bit of
nighttime-
you know better
than I
that all dreams worth
sharing
are forgotten
easily,
and I know I'd never see
unless it was meant to be.
Tell me
what made you cry
today?
Might it be the
sunset
fading westward
slowly
into darker
horizons?
And your tears reflect the moon;
last vestiges of sunlight
in the mirror of your soul,
illuminating burdens-
and I saw it too...
the bittersweet rings true.