The river seems calm tonight,
From up here.
Or do the waves lap roughly,
Like high winds.
Navy looks pretty under
Gunmetal grey.
And the seafoam bridge cuts through
Misty skies.
Traffic noise from the city
Drowns my mind.
Thoughts can be nice but can be
Poison, too.
You may see your wings spread wide,
Diving low.
But featherless arms won’t blunt
The impact.

I would say,
“Where are you now,
While I am at my lowest?”
But I know you
could say the same.
So, here’s the
Difference.

You chose to go it alone.
I called for your support but
You were confused
And couldn’t tell the
Difference.

I used to be the one you
Could rely upon. But now
You choose no one,
And I see a
Difference.

You had shakes from withdrawal.
But mine are from fear and
Isolation.
Can you see the
Difference?

I wish I could have changed things then.
But you shut me out, cut contact,
Pushed me away.
So, what’s the
Difference?

You knew that I’d been struggling.
Everyone’s known, it’s not a secret.
But I work through my pain while you
Decide to eat it.
See the difference?

Have you ever been in the throes of suffering,
In the deepest trench of the deepest ocean,
Food spoiling to bitter mud in your mouth,
Sand gritting your teeth like a dollar store nailfile,
Water pooling in your throat, suffocating you,
As you fight back from sobbing,
Because you’ve spent your 27th hour lying in bed,
Moving your feet in and out of the greasy sheets,
Trying to manage the hottest cold, and the coldest heat,
Yet body still, eyes fixed on the wall across the room,
Toddler screaming somewhere in the house,
And you wonder how drowning from an atrophied throat
Would be recorded on your death certificate.
Then you pick up your device for reprieve,
Only to have some ******* pontificating
Over whether a 19th century *******
Had a point
About the need
For suffering.

You should die.
Not for our difference of opinion,
But because you’d condemn children
To homelessness,
Hunger and malnutrition,
If it gave you
A tax break.

You should die.
Not for a difference of values,
But because realizing them would mean
Women’s lives would end,
Silently
By hanger
Or razor.

You should die.
Not because you pray differently
Or pray at all,
But because your faith tells you
That others should believe the same
By force,
Fire,
Or famine.

You should die.
Not because you work hard
Or have much,
But because you think those who don't
Are beneath you
And can expect
Nothing
More.

You should die.
Not because of your fear,
But because it rips babies
From mothers' arms
And cages fathers
In El Salvador.

You should die,
Instead of I,
Because I protect life,
While all you believe
Ends it.

You should die.

We lie entwined in bed sheets,
Saturated with our sweat.
Pungent scents of *** and wet,
My lips still on your neck.
----------------------------------
Tracing streams of *****,
My tongue across your breast.
Your ***** swell is quick’ning,
My ****, your lips, our breath.
----------------------------------
Pelvis slowly thrusting,
Head swimming through your lips.
Hips bucking from desire,
Slit gliding shaft to tip.
----------------------------------
Chests are steady heaving,
Arms wrapped ‘round bodies drenched.
Hands groping ***** firmly,
Eyes closed our mouths enmeshed.
---------------------------------
Bodies met so many times,
Passion aching as before.
I need you, crave you, love you,
I lust you, even more.