we were fortunate
to share each millisecond
in each other's lives

up at 2 am
— chasing after something lost
like I'm losing time

the alarm goes off
I'm fighting a war in bed
it's against myself

perpendicular
short hand at 3, I waited
now there's just 1 hand

can you trust me like
you trust gravity to pull
you back to the ground

no one told me that
aching for someone, for love
would be this painful

W,

I don't think I'll ever trust you with my heart again.

Love,
ML

isn't it lovely
the moon is afire — can I
hold your hand, and stay

though the night is deep
and the moon is alight — please
hold my hand, and stay

the PARABLE of
the ALL-NIGHTER: "is sleep just . . ."

a SOCIAL CONSTRUCT

empty bed, half-light
didn't mind sleeping alone
'til we did last night

microgravity
behold, this astronaut's set
to find V⊙YAGER

oh how intimate
his fingers comb my hair, to
trace lines on my nape
and see things I'll never SEE
like the inside of my ear

keeping a secret
was a spark in my bare hands
'til it was  —  the SUN

don't be surprised if
my heart is at the bottom
of a barrel of
flowers and pointy daggers
— mind the cuts as you reach down

this crowded room is
a battlefield where we take
turns stealing glances

I can't tell him
he's beautiful
— because then
       he'll know
         why
           he's beautiful
             to me

the earth was a wide
and blank canvas — now you're my
FAVORITE COLOR

BLUE BIRD: if you can't
in one hundred and forty
characters, then don't

summer sun, high noon
little boy tied to a tree
it's midnight, full moon

head on my chest, I
trace his curves with my fingers
like a book in ⠃⠗⠁⠊⠇⠇⠑‎

bridges look best when
you're in the water — best crossed
                             when with a lover

we buy things with cash
to win people's hearts, kindness
is the ¢urrency

I always liked storms
so I chased after you, and
danced under your rain

looking at your eyes
I welcome your gentle breath
warming both my cheeks

my brain's a chem lab
and the chemist is asleep
— HELP THERE IS A FIRE!

sometimes people choke
on something edible or
wild — like his secrets

you took your shirt off
on your back was half a wing
inked — like my longing

your bare chest sculpted
my eyes — hammer and chisel
a thief you welcomed

your lips hugged the cig
tasting its soul — why am I
jealous of a stick

two sticks — you lit one
offered me your cig — wished you
meant         your bed             instead

confession: I thought
the THREE-BODY PROBLEM was
an old ****** case

I have yet
to understand
what it's like
to have
had touched
and tasted fire
raging

to have
had melted
from a warmth
given off
by a source
other than
my own

and to have
been molded
into the image
and likeness
of a space
I didn't
create

I have yet
to gain
the CONFIDENCE
to cast fire
that comes with
having had
tasted you

if you're looking for
CONSISTENT, search no more — I'm
                                  consistently tired

the world's a tightrope —
I fear nothing when we're each
other's counterweight

who's to say my life
isn't full at twenty-nine
to each cup its own

treacherous are my
own thoughts — for they are daggers
I hold on the blade

talking in the dark
speaking only with our hands
I found warmth and light

lying beside me
you're the sound of heavy snow—
storm in December
just the reason to stay put
curled up by a fire —
                                       your fire

even my own eyes
deny me of my own tears
— what else can't I have

dip your long fingers
in me     — I'm a lake,
                                       deep,
                                                 dark
veiled,
            calm with desire

flowers and dried leaves
these GRAVESTONES neatly ALIGNED
  just like office desks
    and cars stuck in traffic jams
      and spreadsheets with empty cells

I used to want to
have kids, but no, not in this
dire economy‎

living alone, I
thought the sea was a distant
dream — 'til I cried one

when I say don't stop
I'm pleading more to myself
than I am to you

    don't stop giving in
   'til the shape of your back is
    the shape of his palms

   don't stop yielding up
    'til your secrets liquefy
   into his whiskey

   don't stop submitting
   'til you see the skin under
   his chin sleek and flushed

will you call my name
again, the one with double
letters where yours have

dough in the oven
and a lover with their past
— these things won't rise if
you keep opening it up
digging it, calling them out

I don't understand
how you can be more tempting
draped, than naked — you

you — standing still, strong
like David and Venus — un-
drape me already

I was a dreamer
you, a wanderer — you left
                 while I was asleep

lights on or lights off
does it really matter, when
either way we'll smash

YOU emanate GRACE
that to say — you're beautiful
would be           REDUNDANT

I don't wish to be
where you're not — your absence has
embittered life there