It is the way you look at me
that caught my attention

Left me wondering what
is hidden behind that

I may not have any idea,
let me tell you
that for some unknown reason
I have loved it

I saw a Stone Lady looking my way
With her eternal grey eyes
She held a stone water jug
She was staring intensly at me,
So I asked,
Stone Lady, what hidest thou in thine  unblinking stare?
To my utter amazement,
She replied,
Eternity,
You temporary thing.

Waking up
in arms
that don't fit.

An unfamiliar room
that reeks
of alcohol and sweat.

Clothes scattered
along with
my inhibition.

Their fingerprints
now forever burned
into my skin.

A need
that consumes
absent of emotion.

This part of myself
I carelessly abandon
in bed sheets.

I'm not sure what happened
my first night at the
symphony -
it was a dark October
& you brought the
thunderous wonder of
        the Oregon
                   sea

I'm not sure what
touched me as your notes
lead me
to the pier -
      I'm drowning in idolatry
               for your beacon
                     & chandeliers

Imagination
Is
An dream
By humans

Lands end begs so many questions

being selfish is seen as a flaw,
but what if it’s my saving grace?
what if, instead of giving,
I start keeping?

there are parts of myself that have disappeared
because I was naive enough to believe
that all those who received them
would hold my pieces dear.

when they left,
they took my pieces with them,
bits of my naivety, impulsive first times, and moments of happiness,
and turned them into weary nostalgia.

maybe I wasn’t enough to make them stay
or maybe I was overflowing with too much that it scared them away;
the reasons are unclear.
all I know for certain is,
they didn’t know how to take care of my pieces.
they were simply a temporary foster parent
who refused to adopt them for the long term.

I didn’t realize it in those moments-
how much of me I kept giving away
and how little I had left for myself.
my heart has grown tired from missing parts of itself that have not returned.

for my heart,
I am learning to embrace selfishness,
to start hiding parts of my soul from others,
and to only showcase my pieces to those who will cherish them.
the selfish behavior that the world often shuns,
may just be the protection my heart is aching for.

If society was a person
it would be a girl with
perfect hair.
If society was a person
it would be a burden too heavy to bear.

I society was a person,
it would have rotten insides.
If society was a person,
it would be a Rottweiler
or a runaway bride.

If society was a person,
it would be a student
and ideas it would seek.
If society was a person,
it would be as sharp as a mountains peak.

If society was a person,
it would smell like sweatshirts and gigs.
If society was a person,
it would hide behind colourful wigs.

If society was a person,
consider it suicidal.
If society was a person,
its acts would all be genocidal.

Society is a thing,
heinous but misunderstood,
Society is ruined,
like the embers of burnt wood.

We broke it
Not bothered to fix it
Want to know it
Want to change it
Go and understand it
Change it
Break it
Make it
But I’m just a writer,
What should I know about it?