They never existed;
they sip lemonade with me
on a porch.
They ask me who I am;
I ask them to stay,
to blossom into reality
like a harsh lotus
I cannot touch
through the glass.

A beg you to crush me
my only demand
and you never disappoint

Collect all the sticks
because they and I
don't mix
Collect a strand
of her hair
in my hand
but please
understand
these were never my words
please understand
this was never planned.

The dead wash ashore
over and over
I ask for more
mercy
but there lies war
instead of a wild flower
that was somehow there before
amid the grass and stream
a wild flower
grown in my dream

Do the same things
over and over
to try and understand
why you can't stop.

Feels like
sunbeams
under redwoods
in clover

eyes

boil over

Scratch out words I meant to say
beneath the dark
standing stark
a thin veneer of your
fine fingers
your flesh
and your bones
Just tell me one thing:
Do you
oh
do you
still sting?

I reach for the gold,
stop short;
could I hold it
if I caught it,
if I caught you?
Do you see how
I meant to?

Stopped short.