Under
The canopy tree
My shelter
Of light
Pulled me
Into its shadow
And
There
Operosely so
I remembered:

In memorization
Of varied
Maths
And
The columns they path
And
How they became
Feminine
And all about how
She looked and felt
Underwater

She was
Pale
And
Pearl
And diamond light
Off shore
And
Off the shoulder
My boat still afloat
Yet her waves indeed
The sinking of me

But then
In the peril
Of natation
The shiver
And the taste of salt

What entered my heart
Was the same
As filled up my lungs:

Anticipation:

The microcosm of
Pain
Or pleasure
Or both demises
At once

Think you've mastered the English Alphabet?
Try saying it backwards.

Dinner by candlelight
underneath the stairs, down
in the bomb shelter,
dancing to love, peace, and paranoia.
An evening called quiet
resentment, where there's
canned goods and children's games,
Duck & Cover,
or if you prefer,
Heimlich Maneuver.
Then little sleepy heads
go gently into their bunkered beds.
They might not outlive
the threat, but
the plan has a half-life of a chance.

The day you feared is here!
They've been pressed
into service.
Oh, new Dad
don't be jealous now.
Sharing is caring.
Yes, they're still your
PlayStations.
But now they've received
a higher calling:
To nourish your offspring.

Love is a blindfold
--you're content in not knowing
how it will end.

Where have you gone,
my dear friend?
Margarine's a mess
I just can't defend.
O Madame Butter, fry
for me!
You're my everything,
can't you see?
The one and only tasty spread
I'll let cover both sides
of my bread.

You were one-in-a-thousand
my 2-ply friend

But as our time together
nears it's end

There are a few things
I need to say to you

Number one

You were so strong
to take all my crap

Number two

You always rolled
with the punches

And finally

Even though you were
slowly unraveling

You were never harsh or abrasive
but soft & gentle

Emptying yourself
as your time grew flush

How will I ever replace you?
May you now rest, end piece...

It's a bad dating sign
When even Alexa
Starts ghosting you

Pinhole sunrise
Sodium lit
Murk and ambiguity sleep together
Down in the seabed

One moment of calm in a chaotic rift

These dark vessels
Of the fourth plateau
Scheme vicious pastimes
That live by night

Orphans of the smog
Attiré par le chaos
Soldiers of false beliefs
Progress the beauty of destruction

Their slogan:
"Making better mistakes with tomorrow"
It has the sound of a long goodbye
It lights the final flare

~
A diamond is forever.
Don't leave home without it.

The complete man
Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.

Snap, crackle, pop.
Pleasure you want. Protection you trust.

As fresh as an autumn breeze.
Maybe she's born with it.

Think different.
Make. Believe.
Have a happy period.
~

A thoroughly washed,
non wax-coated,
pesticide-free,
organic
apple a day
keeps the doctor away.

Fireworks are a blast
Until they go off
In your garage
With you trapped inside

What comes after 'Z'
cannot be expressed
by letters or words.
I'm afraid, it's a bit of
snickersnee.

For they have their say
in our struggles and fears,
in our laughter and tears,
in our sighs and moans,
to deep within our bones.

They're in our very own
heartbeats, great and small,
in that place within us
where some rain must inevitably fall.

Where they came from is no mystery,
but we each tend to use them
in the secret hours
of our private history,

like a trail of breadcrumbs,
like a bridge we jump from,
never mindful,
never loyal,
always on the tip of our tongue,
and there it toils...

The best exit strategies
Provide a running start

~
I know your glow
it moves on tracks
of never-ending light

illumine, my dear glimmer

an ornament of love
spiraling along
flightpaths to each other

one maybe a failure in flickers

yet another a successful sparkle
drifted down gently as snow
about the tactile lanterns
of your hands and face
~

As the white noise
Filters out
I'm once again
Left to the tedium
Of my own thoughts

Waking to detachment
Dressed in fragments
Sorted feet of clay
A step away from heaven

Rather obtuse
A weighted word
Under the tongue
A syllable away from heaven

People that came before
Places that came after
Things we labelled ordinary
And missed a chance at heaven

When did you become
A somnambulist, my dear?
Where the disconnect?
About the time your ache
For outlying places began to moon-wake?
I get the sense
You knew long before me
Our days of limerance had culminated.
As if something remote
Had stolen you away.
Do you remember the twinkle
Of twilight in each other's arms
Or was this phosphene?
What then was love? Cafuné?
It's no matter.
The sweet smell of rain
In the air now tells me
Something's brewing, and
You won't be happy
Until what was "us" has been
Washed away.

She lived on
the outskirts of sanity,
took up jogging
to outrun the rush
of other voices,
burned a sick day
organizing her own criticisms,
shaved her legs and edges
for practice sake,
trimmed her disorders
as "normal" girls do,
bought a fancy dress
to envy but never wear,
made marks on the calendar
to believe she had places to be,
like the local
coffee shop,
where they serve
a favorite flavor,
somewhat stable,
somewhat frenzy.

incubator
technological mother
wi-fi our blood vessels
to your eternal link
make us passionate machines
symbiotic connections
programming a love
continuously on update
in lieu of heartbreak
in lieu of heartbreak
in lieu of heartbreak
in lieu of...
fail
buffering
abort
retry
error

So here I am
out on a raft
just me and my anxieties
trying hard to get
away from a vessel
taking on so much water
I think I see Jack and Rose
swimming towards us

There's a thin line
between simple
fashion faux pas
and the sin of visibility

She'd rather go commando
than be found out
hark! 'tis her own sisters
who will roast her alive

~
Solandis

Solandis

Colonizing the past so we can dream the future

~
Stellify

Stellify

Heaven's at the bottom of this glass
~

A summer of twigs
And disposable cameras
But the skin was shy
And others were watching

So we shifted these walls
And dimmed the lights
To a thousand unclosed eyes
And passed through in eclipse
Of future rhapsody

Having to eat our own words
should give us food for thought.