You are not an island.
You are not the land beneath your feet.

You are starlight and heat,
the primordial chaos,
the cosmic repeat.
You are ever-changing
into something incomplete,
yet always flowing
beyond your two feet.

You are not the land, nor a lonely street.
You are not an island.
You are not concrete.

don't lie to me.

I've heard those echoes
with every setting of the moon.
I've heard those whispers
with every sunrise
that's ever kissed
the parchment of my skin.

don't lie to me.

I woke up with the constellations,
remembered in the silken threads
of mother time's embrace.
I cleansed my eyes of the gossamers
when starlight was but a distant promise
of a reality yet to burn itself into existence.

don't lie to me.

I couldn't cut it as a weaver
of honey ladened words
heaped upon the nebulae,
derelict between the flowing stelar algae
and that roaring darkenss from which
all things come.

don't lie to me for I have bathed
in the cold light of eternity.

it's the way the sunlight hits her eye
that makes her look so enticing,
like a glass of whiskey
on a thirsty day
of never being
enough.

it's that brown being lit up golden
through the windows
that tease a glance
into a broken
soul.

it's my fault for always finding myself
out in that desert, with nothing
to drink away the need
to forget about and
walk out of the
desert.

it's that jar of honey she sees the whole
world through that keeps pouring
and calling me to take
a drink of her
whiskey hued
irises.

my only defense is uttering out loud:
name's Ander,
and I'm an alcoholic.

she's got shadows in her hair
and scorpions hide in there.

her eyes drip venom,
incapacitating
all she glances upon,
turning a summer sunrise
into decay.

she's got shadows in her hair
and scorpions move beneath the surface.

her lips skitter,
chasing down
and breaking apart
even the sturdiest of mountains.

she's got shadows in her hair
and scorpions crawl under skin.

her teeth gnaw,
eroding
all she touches,
turning a broken promise
into gossamer strands.

she's got shadows in her hair
and scorpions dance within her skull.

her chest heaves,
filling up
and emptying out
the horizon.

she's got shadows in her hair
and scorpions bleeding throughout.

her heart roars,
shaking
all she treads on,
turning a lifetime
into dust.

she's got shadows in her hair
and I no longer care about the scorpions.

her hands shake,
holding my
immortal coil
in a death grip.

she's got scorpions in her hair.

I like the way you hide the wisdom in your hair,
Those starlight-silver strands collecting in your midnight.

I love the way you shy away from your age,
While the shadows dance within.

I adore the gray brush strokes
That entwine
And blend
On raven feathers
Of dark black hair.

witnessing the cracks
in your feeble armor
tears a whole
through a heavy heart.

I can feel the scars
upon your broken coil
and the salt flats
below your eyes.

he spilled the blood
of his bitter fists
upon that cardboard frame
the world calls your body.

he cleaved at the brittle coal
that is your aching bones,
yet you still carry yourself
upon the winter winds.

he spat in the ocean of your soul.

yet you hold on tight
to his arm,
as if he is the anchor
that keeps you safely in the bay.

and all you need do is obey.

fearful of the storm beyond,
of the deep blue of endless
possibility...
you stay within the confines
of a jagged little shoreline.

he is the rope aroung your nape
and you can't help but hang yourself.

a chance to deliver
auspicious nuggets of gold
flaked hope.

a small change,
yet one remembered.

a step back
from scorching ground,
powdered leaves,
broken bone
and
years of never.

a small step,
yet one remembered.

a fear unknown
to all the numbered
beats within a heart.
terror lingered,
envy of a self I've yet to be.

a fear,
unforgotten.