tinderness
i bite
my tongue
i mean
my thumbs
but i’d like it
a lot more
if you bit them
it’s summertime again
sweat running down foreheads
friends quickly licking ice cream cones before they melt
forcing laughs between ancient relations
near midnight
they take off their clothes
and jump into the creek
the slimy water somehow refreshing
it being hard to distinguish their laughs from their tears
everything seemed to be baked in sex
but i took off my clothes
and climed into bed
alone
and waited
until the heat became too unbearable
and they all stayed inside
and there they cuddled themselves alone
and breathed
and their nostrils noticed the lack of their scent
and their eyes saw the subtle changes in their appearance
it had only been a week
and more was to come
the heat’s still too hot
and i stay inside
watching everything unfold
waiting for summertime to end
waiting for the end
waiting to start afresh
waiting
i try to remember that nothing lasts
still regretting every decision
Delusions
I indulge in:
Rain is courage
Thunder makes you free
Fables are my secret history
Stories never end
Gardens become magic mazes
Ghosts make a difference
Words open new realms
Reality remains being
one bowl of cereal
away from a homicide
The church bell rings, echoing down the holler.
It beckons all to come and join a verse of
Amazing Grace or one of the other cherished hymns.
Everyone gathers, all avoiding that front pew.
The preacher opens his King James echoing
a 2,000 year old call to repent. He warns of the
fires of Hell and tells of that Holy City built by
God’s own hand. He tells how you should love
your neighbor but keep your nose out of their
business all the while. He tells about that man
named Jesus and the blood stained cross. He
recounts it like he had been the one who drove
the nails in his hands. He delivers it with such
passion even the old woman who hasn’t smiled
in 50 years can’t help but clap her hands and shout
amen. He gives out one final echo asking all to rise
and begs for a sinner to become a saint on a tear
stained alter. After a while he slowly bows his head
hiding a tear for the lost soul that didn’t come and
quietly says a closing prayer ending with a loud
Amen.
my Jabberwock
cold, black, hollow inside
I named it, it only seemed right
so much time spent together
whiiirrr vvrap vvrap whiiirrr
the refuse of my daily life
neatly and viciously handled
food for the otherwise silent
whiiirrr whiiirrr vvrap vvrap
one sheet, two sheet, plastic card
I’ve been pre-approved
enough to cover the national debt
released from cardboard confinement
its reward for steel teeth
my bubble wrap desire
to shred the world
And I howl unto you,
the back breaking over a glass of cold water.
Within seconds, my teeth are lost
in a sea of ivory and sunburnt cells;
the waves stop crashing and give up the fight.
And I howl unto you, the confused beast sleeping in the afternoon.
You are forgotten by the outside world, a mere
byproduct of nocturnal neon lights and the neverending noise.
You don’t cry anymore, for no one will listen.
And I howl unto you,
the pathetic ghost that finally wakes up.
The sun has already set, the world has left you behind.
And so in the dim glow of your phone set against
the cerulean walls that birthed me, I watch you howl
into the night.
i sit and stare
at the hole in the hallway
where my fist busted through
the drywall back in 2009
it reminds me of you
it reminds me of us
a deep-rooted puncture
through a seemingly sturdy
yet fragile barricade
fueled by frustration
and empathy
a mesh screen holding the mud
and crumbs together
to pretend the wall
was nothing but a mere fragment
paint and cement
to hide the blemishes
like a slight knock
wouldnt cause the crater
to crumble into ashes
thats how you looked at me;
like you had watched the men
work for hours
patching the hole
that was forever left unfilled
but you talked to me
like my fist slamming
against the wall caused
every single beam that held
your house in tact, to disintegrate
and instead of patching me up,
you left. you moved into a better house
with modern design,
where the word “demolished”
rolled off the tongue
like a word you couldn’t pronounce.
you are the reason
i find it foolish to believe the saying
“everything that’s broken, can easily be fixed”
because this hole in the wall
we’ve been stitching up for years,
will always be soft
and we will sit here, broken together
looking at the hole in the hallway
where my fist busted through
the drywall in 2009
and see its nothing more
than a dent hidden behind
an excuse of why we’ll never make it.
all the pages have been turned
she closes the book
closes her eyes
dissatisfied with the ending
she’s going to write
a sequel
