Deep shadows creep upon the walls
They're alive!
And they need just one thing
(A small sacrifice)
Let your fear swallow you and engulf you in flames
It's all they need
Come alive with horror
Let the shades in
And let them steal away your goodness
Surrender and light yourself on fire with terror
Join the dance of the hours
As they still and stay eternal
It's all we need
Just your blood, and just this once
To make a memorable midnight
To hang up in the stars

Open windows
Leaving pastel curtains
To flutter in the breeze

Wilting white gardenias
On the table top
Rotting sugar-sweet

Images of 3-o-clock
Hanging in the air
Suspended like stale smoke

I want your heat
In the vast emptiness of
My hole-riddled heart

The curtains are filled
Like sails with wind
To reach paradise somewhere

Just the bare minimum
It's all I want
The basest animal of you

Of you, or anyone, right now
You have me flustered,
Thoughts swirling in flurries

Because all I have
Is a sigh or two
To fill the empty silence of lust

And all I need
Is a smile or two
Before I'll invite you along

How can this be!
Such mediocrity shames me
But I'm still left with the ache of wanting

We were content
And the world rushed by us
And wondered at our state
I delighted you somehow
And you'd struck just the right fancy
We laughed, and did not care
For the trite sentiment
They tried to peddle
And as we sat together
I would watch your words
Slip from your mouth and fall
To the ground
I gathered them up like jewels
And understood, but did not need to
Enthralled by the light reflecting off of them
Making stained glass patterns
To dance across the air
We filled the holes torn into us
With each others' silences
You were precious to me
I was an addicting distraction for you
Beach-sand, sea-shells
Cherry-blossom paintings
Upon paper umbrellas
You do not complete me
I do not need you, but
You let me complete myself
Unashamed and wild and whole
And what more could we do
This is not love, or ever will be
Not as the majority defines
This is just the essence
Of the hazy morning
A catalyst for our
Lifeblood to mingle in

Your arms cage me
As if the bird wings beating in my heart
Are not to be allowed
I know you'll leave
And I'll lay cold and bleeding on the floor
Afraid that you will come back
But wishing, longing to have more
But your arms will leave their memory on me
Casting jail-bar shadows on my emotions
Is it so terrible to have my love
You won't answer that question
You'll just shake your head
And my love will grow stillborn in me
Bare and neglected
You could have my heart on a platter
But it would chill in the shadow
Of your turned back
And as I died I would reflect
How beautiful and cruel you are
So for now I will let myself be caged
And I will pretend that for once
You want my scar-striped heart

whisper-soft
my arms close around empty space
i'm chilly
with a contrast of your heat
to match holly berries

my mind rambles nonsense
while your sweet scent lingers
and I crave the silence
of new snow

rolling out of bed finally
makes me feel like Rose
after 100 years of sleep
my eyes with silvery moon dust
and a quilt like a royal purple robe
i am the empress of evergreen needles

brother of mine,
hide-and-seek
is no fun for me
when you make it so easy
your eight-years-yesterday feet
showing underneath a curtain
of deepest blue

i catch you like a fish
squirming in water, and cold
warm you with a hug and quilt
your happy, golden smile a reward

little boy, how do i save you
from the world
how can you hold such genius in your head
while my own mind empties out,
graying matter growing sluggish

i think it's all i can do
so instead of sitting
to stay warm
we dress up like eskimos
and romp through a frozen fairyland
naming it for itself, a snow day

We stretched out on open ground
To soak the sun from the air around us
I your child and you my gateway to the world
And we watched as butterflies kissed
Flew away
And kissed again
The flowers planted in fairy circles
Too-long years and years ago
And I cried to see you laughing again
How long has it been
Since we painted each other's lives
My finger-paint scrawling, full of innocence
Your masterpieces of mother's love
How long? too long
I cannot know how the years weighed heavy on you
While I flitted around as free as a bird
Or as sweet as the nectar
In Persephone's veins
Oh my mother, oh my sister, oh my dearest friend for life
How much can I show you
Of my soul
When all that I know is poured out from you
You know it all
You've seen it all and yet treasure my meager offerings
I do not have a grasp
On how you work your magic on this gold-dust filled evening
I cannot see how to give back
I do not know, I do not know
You are a Goddess to me

If I lean a little closer
To your smoky-smelling vest

If I kiss a little slower
As you breathe your dying breath

If I tell you that I love you
As the tears roll down your cheeks

If I stay to hold your hand
As days turn into weeks

If you don't need me anymore
Because you are all healed

If I don't recognize you now
Because the past is sealed

If you find yourself alone again
But long for one last chance

If you whisper my name to me
I may spare you a glance