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Seven days
Seven days repeat them
Repeat them over
One by one
Seven by seven.
Here we go
Seven colours the sky smiles
Seven times seventy
And seventeen years
Seven levels of hell
And seven sins to send you there
Seven princesses
Sailing seven seas
And seven sea monsters to sink them
Seven lies and seven truths
Seven wonders
On seven continents
That I will never see
Seven dreams
On seven nights
Seven kisses
Seven kisses
Seventeen years
Seven years for complete cell replacement
And it’s been seven
Seven years of plenty
And seven of famine
(which are we in?)
Seven seconds to count down
Seven candles to light
On seven lampstands
7-Up and 7/11
Seven days
Seven days repeat them
Repeat them over and over and over
Seven years repeat them over
Seventeen repeat it over
Repeat it over
Repeat it over and over
Seven cells replaced in seven
Seven tears cried in seven
Seven out of seven
And seventeen years
Seven dwarfs and seven demons
Seven secrets
Concealed by seven lies
Seven torches we bear
Seven oaths and seven gemstones
Seven spells for seven curses
On seventeen days
And the Seven Years War
In seven days I built myself
And in seven seconds I’m destroyed
Seven feathers fall to earth
Seven stars all align
And seven Gods stole my soul
Seven slaves owned by seven masters
Seven burdens
Seven burdens
Seven prayers leave my lips
Seventy Hail Mary’s to save you
And seven angels
Seven sweet friends
That left me
Here’s what they don’t tell you
Seven lives mean seven deaths
And seven joys mean seven pains
Seven sisters mean seven funerals
And seven suns mean seven rains
And seven
And seven
I’ve been stuck on seventeen
For an eternity
Repeat it
Repeat it over
Repeat it over
Seven
And seven
And seven
Teen.
Seven days
And I’ll be home to a house I’ve never seen
In a country I don’t belong to
And a language I can’t speak
And it’s all just seven
And seven
And seven
Teen.
There is no such thing
as a note-worthy conformist
This came out of my mouth one day, and I thought it was genius.
The rubble lay out, along the broken path
And our dreams sit in dissaray
Imprisoned in a land of destruction
We manage to evade the flames
We hope one day we will be freed
For curiostiy now controlls us
In a land where the wreckage is stacked miles high
Hope is all we can hold onto
Hold onto your hope.
I still wear your t-shirt that I stole
from the backseat of your truck,
underneath some brown paper bags,
few spare cables, and and a crushed beer box.
There was dirt on both sleeves, but we just made love
for the second time, in your best friends bed.
I left without waking you. Just like you left,

farther and faster than I did, with a ****** parting line:
you’ll be fine.
And yeah, I guess I was fine if fine counts as holding
myself together with two pieces of tissue paper
and prayers that started with “Dear God,”
always ending in “why bother.” But I wear

your t-shirt. Have you ever had to weigh
the idea that you haven’t heard my voice
in over a year with all the faces you meet
in the bar, under cheap white Christmas lights,
or any of the girls you send home before breakfast?
Because I have. They’re heavy. Your world

has become so separated

and I’ve found a way to wear my heels to work
even though I walk thirty blocks, and I’ve learned
to sip my coffee before taking a gulp, to reach for things
instead of just expecting them to arrive, but I still wear

your t-shirt. *You’re the strongest person I know.
 Oct 2014 baby bukowski
athene
VI
 Oct 2014 baby bukowski
athene
VI
i had a thing for legs
back in '06
the way the bones fit
inside the curvature of flesh
and bone, if i could fit
inside them
and seep within the marrow--

i'm kind of cookoo
but it's her fading warmth,
pallid breath, that last
little bit of life which
makes me whole
sleep well tonight,
i will always be watching
over you and from inside you
Trading “I love yous” like playing cards
in the backseat of my car
and my hand doesn’t look very promising.
They say you gotta know when to hold ‘em,
know when to fold ‘em,
but I am always walking away
when I should stay
and vise versa,
I just don’t want to hurt you.

This game we have been playing
is fixed and unfair
and you have some tricks
up your sleeve,
I can tell.
And I can skip my turn
but I can’t leave.
You must think I am
a joker for the way I keep
breaking my poker face.
I can’t help it,
you’re just so good at this.
My heart sinks every time
you ask me what I have to give,
because I would go all in for you
if it was worth the risk
but at the end of each round
all I can say is “go fish”.

— The End —