Can the people around me

smell my f l e s h

(rotting?)

Are they afraid

of the d e a t h

(behind my eyes?)

I have been this way

for a long

long

time

but I will smile

as my lungs **c  o l  l a p s e

one cigarette
then two
(or four)

every drag brings

another image
(of your face)



inhale
(crooked teeth smile)
*

exhale
(rough stubble brushes blushing cheeks)



Your eyes are rich soil
(nourishing copper rings)
tell me about the thoughts
(who keep their roots there)

inhale

(kisses like familiar embraces)
exhale*
(no danger in soft hands)

I’ve had a chill in my bones
since the day I learned
how fragile a heart is

and I am
so
scared

because the ice
that protects me is thawing
and the lake is deep.
What if we drown
trying to skate over it?

She grows her hair out
in hopes that it will anchor her

(to the earth)

earth that she so desperately
wishes to become part of
She stretches her arms to a sky

(sky she will never touch)

She watches clocks

(tick)

and she watches lives end
before they ever began
She will dig herself into fertile soil
to become beautiful
as the flowers that grow there

The spring air is sweet

bare feet touch concrete

and a breeze tickles

spring-loaded curls.



The newly painted porch swing 

is urged faster as I urge

another story,
anything you can bring

to memory.



We watch the sun
set fire to the sky

violent reds and deep purples

warn of the imminent twilight.



We rock gently

and Mother moon makes her way

into star dotted sea,

suspended above us

breeze turns to chill

settled in my bones.



I retreat to your arms 

my lips tremble confessions

but you sooth my tears with your own.

“All is forgiven, we’ll start again.”



Now I chip peeling pain
and watch angry storm clouds sail

like ships on the black sea

to smother Mother moon

those words ring clear as I tend wounds

inflicted by you.


As I try to forgive,

I wonder if you’ll remember

so you can forget.

-vns

i like my body when it is with your
body. It is so quite new a thing.
Muscles better and nerves more.
i like your body.  i like what it does,
i like its hows.  i like to feel the spine
of your body and its bones,and the trembling
-firm-smooth ness and which i will
again and again and again
kiss, i like kissing this and that of you,
i like, slowly stroking the,shocking fuzz
of your electric furr,and what-is-it comes
over parting flesh….And eyes big love-crumbs,

and possibly i like the thrill

of under me you so quite new

do not smile at strangers
do not smile at strangers
**** the difference
we are not safe
when the strangers are here
what if they take
our jobs
our homes
our children
give me your tired
so I can work them harder
give me your poor
so i can make them poorer
give me your huddled masses yearning to breathe free
so I can choke the sparks from their eyes
do not smile at strangers
do not smile at the others
**** the different
our way of life is not safe
when the others are here
what if they take
our money
our power
our class
give me your fear
so i can give you violence
give me your grief
so i can give you my silence
give me your allegiance
so i can give you liberty and justice for some