She had a dissembling way
about her.
agenda concealed and opaque as nightfall.
her smile
conniving
making me wish i left sooner.

she met with him
in room 184 of
the love motel
the plants were dying sooner this fall
and so was she.

she’d yelp as he tightened his grip
around her waist
making it harder to breathe
making the guilt harder to bear
-with every gasp
she only thought about his heart wearing away within him

and when it was dun
she gave way to tears as he wiped her
chest.





hard to smudge regret

when i was four
id stand there in awe
seeing a baby cloud almost floating
from the ceiling
and so id chase it
and swat it when it got in arms reach
so i’d ball up my hands in fists and
unfold to find nothing
but clammy palms and pen marks

every
time




i was never good at attaining things
that descend from the sky..

we did red wine face masks and
after she used mamís’ shiseido eye cream without asking

que rebelde i told her
her face started to change
lips started to curl

no me hablas así
no soy tu amigíta..
Got it?

si permiso ‘uela..






at least i tried to bond