That night he reached for my hand
My fingers corroded.
Every nail of mine rusted over and began to crumble;
But, I kept holding on and fought against all the chemicals in my body working against his touch.

When he talked, I tried to keep up with simple conversation;
However, every time I went to speak
My lungs became oxidized.
I would choke on every letter that managed to escape;
But, I still said things I probably shouldn't.

And as he kissed me, I felt my mouth
Crystallize entirely.
Snowflakes frosted my lips and my teeth hardened into quartz;
But, I allowed it to happen over and over because
He always "loved how my smile shined."

When he was near, every atom in my body buzzed
Pressed against my skin and bones.
All protons, neutrons, and electrons collided against each other.
Fighting to escape
As if the cells that made me knew as explosion was near;
But, I didn't listen because I thought chemistry was just about balancing equations.

Red is unique.
Red is love,
But also anger.
It's passion.
I've dyed my hair red
5 times and my father says,
"You're being fake."
I am a force to be reckoned with,
I do not answer to fake
Red is unique and he doesn't see this.
You can't make purple a natural color for hair
And you can't make brown an unnatural color
But you can soak me in ginger
And make me a glorious fire truck
Let me will rain on others.
When I started wearing makeup
It was a passion I couldn't afford
So I ignored it.
I would hide in the bathrooms though with the few things
I could buy myself
And I'd mock my Father.
Red lipstick made me a *****.
I didn't wear it in public,
But on that bathroom floor I flaunted it.
Pink didn't look right on me
And purple made my teeth look yellow.
Red was bold though.
No one misses red lipstick,
Not even on an unfamiliar face.
Red's not my favorite color
Or anything.
But everything I do will always be red.
Red will hold my hate.
Red will show my compassion for anyone who was kind
And lent more than a judging glance
I am a thousand different waivering things,
But red will always be me.

They put her in a
Curtained cubicle
Surrounded by
Beeping machines
And all types of
Wires and terminals
A trashcan and
A dripping faucet

When they rolled her in
They gave her
Morphine
Sodium chloride
And a pat on the head

"She's lucky"
The nurse said
As he lowered the gurney
"A lot of people have
No one show up"

And he left the room
Pulled the curtain closed
We were left with the
Tranquil beeping of
Faceless terminals
And the dripping faucet

Another nurse came in
With a clipboard
And started asking us
Questions
Apologizing for
The beeping
"It's like Chinese
Water torture"

Then she left
Pulled the curtain closed
And when the
Heart monitor
Started beeping
We pushed the
Silence button like
They showed us

We were left with
The sterile squeaking
Of the soles of sneakers
And hollow whispers
In the hallway
And the dripping faucet

Your lips
never quite
tasted like poison,
they seemed more like alcohol,
and I didn't know
kissing them
would be dangerous,
until I died. //

               03.23.15
                     -          Poet
                                 (db)