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  May 2014 Algernon
Makiya
E
you have a downward symmetry about you, your mouth rests a bit too deep in your
chin, so to speak, you
speak in skinlight   my eyes slow to
capture all of you at once, b eaut  iful

honey, you
could speak in deep tones, rich and creamy
hard to swallow but   just
another
bite

and yet your words bubbleout like brave
little warriors - they emerge in such
formation and
present themselves
, not to
question
Algernon May 2014
my mom showed us how to love
taught us love in a kitchen
I love you - wash the carrots
I love you - mix the batter
I love you - grease the pan
I love you - 250 degrees fahrenheit

I'd like to peel an orange
throw the rind at your face
take turns kneading bread
have a pancake flipping contest

So let's rummage though the spice drawer
rub cinnamon on your skin
let the thyme sink into your palms
breathe in the anise, exhale paprika
sprinkle pepper over your thighs
toss salt over your shoulder
kiss me with vanilla between your teeth
touch me with hands steeped in cardamom
slip on the linoleum
kick up the curry
put the kettle on make it sing
smash a tomato between our hips
throw everything left into cast iron
and simmer on low for 3 days

I love you - mince the garlic
I love you - don't burn yourself
I love you - pass the butter
I love you - smash the plates
I love you - stir stir stir

so honey?
sugar?
flour?
eggs?
you grab the spice rub
and I'll set the table
Algernon Mar 2014
a frying pan full of potatoes
and one glass of tea
because you've only one mug.
complaining about my cold feet
while pulling me closer.
taking an hour to find a parking spot
in a city made of streets.
letting go of your hand the minute we arrive
picking it up again when we leave.
I almost called you by her name once
but I bit my tongue and swallowed her name down
with a glass of water twice a day or as needed
Algernon Mar 2014
I was told when I was young that I was precious.
And thus -
I didn't want to bleed because I thought my rubies were spilling out.
I didn't want to cry so people wouldn't take my sapphires.
I thought my crown was inside of me.
But instead of a treasure chest, I discovered, I was a firework.
Assembled so neatly just to explode.
Put together just to fall apart.
Cigarettes only become useful
after they're lit on fire.
So pull me out of a little paper box and burn me up?
I've always worked well under pressure.
I only work well under pressure.
And because of this
I pocketed every lump of coal I found in my stockings
knowing that if I pressed it between my palms I could make a diamond
I guess that's why my hands are always *****
sorry sir - I can't shake your hand today -
I'm making diamonds
maybe that's why I held you so tight
why I placed my blackened hands on your shoulders
and pressed so hard
not knowing of course
you already were a diamond.
you already were a diamond.
Algernon Mar 2014
i build you out of ***** dish towels and empty teacups
clean ashtrays and yellow porch lights
i painted you with cheap restaurant crayons
wrote you with letters off unregistered license plates
decorated you with my mothers stretch marks and stick on earrings

i folded paper airplanes out of tomorrows newspaper
i sent you messages tied to the legs of sparrows
that both forgot how to fly nor knew where to go
i kept our memories under the fireplace
the landlord wouldn't let us use
i carved your name into the dining room table
so every time i had my cup of coffee
i woke up and saw you
Algernon Mar 2014
loving you is like grasping a rose/maybe a pretty piece of glass/I mean/ you caught my eye across the garden/across the street/you/sticking out of the sand/so I did what any other kid would do i/ ran across the street/ stepped over the vegetable plants/ trampled the daises/ i kicked up sand/and i clutched you fast and tight/and honey i know you've got sharp edges/i know you're covered head to toe in thorns under those leaves of yours/but i'm holding on to my pretty flower/my little poison frog/tighter/and/tighter/and i know when i/i know that when i/let go/let go/go/you go/you go/you/go/go/when i pry each finger/each finger/ off of you/whenever/when/i do/i know/i know/i'll look down/at a blood covered palm
Algernon Dec 2013
This is the ground where I crumbled

My arms landed on the sidewalk with a thud
And my leg rolled into the street
My fingers sprinkled the pavement
In the radius of these 5 feet

While my toes tumbled downhill
My ribs spread open like a book
My spine slithered away
While my muscles spazzed and shook

My lips stuttered and tapped 3 blocks east
And my ears curled toward the ocean sound west

My ankles turned into diamonds and waited to be found
My blood boiled and sank, simmered through the ground
My hair curled in a flurry and like a tumbleweed swept away
My skull rattled and sighed, “oh darling not today”


My chest melted into the sidewalk
My thighs could run without the weight
My veins ran rivers, my capillaries cried “stop!”
But even they knew it was too late

So my hips skipped to a playground so they could finally swing
My throat cleared the road because it wanted to sing
My shoulders hunched and knew at once the number of candies in the jar
Then I pitched my eyes hard and fast who had never seen so far

My teeth assembled themselves in lines and marched off in a hurry
The knots in my back sprang loose and clung onto the nearest worry

My nails began scratching their stories into the busy road
My knees sank, relieved at last, of the lightened heavy load

My lungs inflated and like a balloon let go and floated
My tongue, without teeth, went and wagged and gloated

My feet followed my ears and sunk into the sand
My eyelashes, then drowning, sought to find dry land,

My skeleton
drummed out
the beat of
my heart

And that was the day
that I
fell
apart
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