Fearless and ferocious
This little tiger has moxie,
If I’m not careful,
Watching for the details
Going to my coffee *** like a thirsty gazelle,
He may just pounce to bite me!

Proud lion,
Standing upon the cardboard mountain
Eyes darting to passer-byers
As he sits tall

BUT WAIT

"What is that?"
A flick of his tail
"I must attack"

And he does,
Chasing himself in circles
Dizzied until he flops flat,
And concludes his dance
With a little spell of a nap.

What a silly thing,
My tiger, lion, cheetah
House cat

I promise I’m not trying to tear you from your energy
Shadows dancing in you like your enemies
A matinee of all your memories
Ping pong nerves trying to tear you out of me
Still beating despite the scars etched in effigy.

I still see you when the lights get low,
Glad you haunt me even I can do this on my own
Got a few demons on my shoulder keeping company.
I’d give you my soul but it’s out on loan
Signed documents to give me closure
If only for exposure
Penning my words a one way discourse
Discussed in my disgust, but who am I to bemoan?

I’m just traveling on distant shores,
Sinking to the bottom,
Losing myself in lore
Pretense in my pretend
My fiction is makeup over the real
A bruise concealed
But the truth revealed is my pain is raw like a bad tooth
Exposed like a nerve root
Play violin chords in my heart strings
And watch as I dissipate.

Do you still see me when the light gets low?
Do you know I haunt you when you’re on your own?
Glad to keep you company
Spare me a moment for your sympathy
As we mourn in morning light
And give me the night, the night, the night .

I'd lay in the sun
Til I turn to dust
Never searching for stars again

I'd sail the oceans
Until seasickness is all that I am, Dehydration second nature

I'd circle the planet
In the worlds smallest plane
Til my ears pop
And I crash in flames

I'd lay in a tank
Making friends with
Spiders and snakes
Til fear paralyzes my every nerve

Simply to never
feel this way again

I crave you like serotonin,
Breathe in your pungent, intoxicating scent,
As it fills my senses, leaving me breathless and yearning.

My stomach churns, signaling the onset of desire,
Your absence feels like the neglect of a lover,
And I implore you with outstretched arms,
To embrace me once more.

I need you like blood,
Circulating through my veins,
Pumping an endless stream of energy,
A source of focus for a lion hunting.
I yield my strength to surrender with weakness,
To know you, to touch you.

I find you in fine ground, brown, powder,
Nestled at the base of a round, cylindrical container with mesh windows,
Covered by a closed dome roof with a small hole for puncturing,
I place you in the harvester’s hole.

I place a kilned clay rain holder under the dripping swell,
When I press the blue button,
I unleash you like a monster,
And I become the hunter.

The blackish-auburn rivers flow hotter than the summer sun,
Dispelling into the ceramic,
The aroma ensnares me,
Overwhelming me with emotional attachment,
With impatient tapping on the flat marble.

Each last drop of you,
Shockwaves of adrenaline,
Shooting down my spine and back to my brain,
I grasp the thermos,
Add the Arctic soldiers,
As I pour you into the field of one,
Undone, but cooling your temperament,
I add the oat milk, diluting your melanin,
Revolutionizing the way color works when you beg me to stay.

Caramel sweeties,
Tangled in your bitter,
Swirling into a harmonious mixture,
Tasteful, perfect, *******,
I am forever yours,
In life and beyond,
My truest lover.

Iced Coffee.

Soft, milky white, creamy,
Rippling with the tides’ collision,
A heat envelops me,
Dripping with sweetness,
I’m parched, yearning for sustenance,
Sustained rhythms, syncopated patterns,
Ripping through the night sky,
Carried out in falsetto, sung praises,
Affirming every sequence,
Clenching with squelched wrenching,
With felt panting of lost breaths,
I stand upon the precipice,
In parallel with this blissful moment.

May we expire this little death,
Together as we sink to catch our breaths,
Enshrined in silk and Egyptian cotton,
Entwined like ivy vines,
I’ll be yours if you say you’re mine,
We can tangle endlessly,
Lovers at midnight,
Sweet like caramel,
Stuck to each other through thick and thin.