I noticed that
  the poet that you loved
         put a book together.

I wanted and still want it
   to have and read
           and to breathe in that new book smell.

To dream of us reading it aloud together
...to dream of us doing anything together again

Two days ago you drove past -
I worried that we are left
with no other tense

Software won't scrap the user,
and trash won't toss the consumer.
When first made amenable,
then loved 'til resentable,
it's pitiful to be the toomer.

I
The more water I drink,
the less acidic I find myself to be
                                                           over time.

The grinding away at the back of my throat slowly abates
my voice grates otherwise, worn and weary,
bleary-eyed.

II
The more air I breathe,
the less oxygen there is for those
                                                           around me,

unless the cycle ousts the poisons flowing from my mouth,
my neighbours suffer for my presence with baited breath.

III
The more time spent thinking,
           the deeper I am sinking,
                    until the two things I need most overwhelm and undermine me

d r  o   w    n     i      n       g        .         .          .

IV**
The concentration of a consciousness
smears across the gradient
toward absolute dilution

A restaurant's closing at the corner of Front Street and Central
. . .  I've never been,
but I've glimpsed through the windows decor that was sure ornamental.

(Word on the street's that the eats were alright - the plates were too large - but the waitstaff were nice! Patrons, served tiny portions, were alarmed at the price - 'til they drank the last drop of red wine)

The place had a name before this iteration
They called it The Tempest before renovations.
I had been there
  - I'd been pleased by the service,
          been famished, then satisfied,
             and surprised by dessert -
     I'd been all kinds of things.

I had been cheesecake and you were crême brulé
and for a moment we shared a plate.
It might have been just the right size,
but I can't quite remember.

Were the waitstaff pleasant? - I desperately hope that I was...
The company was one of a kind.

For whatever reason, The Tempest closed,
and the place that has replaced it has closed,
& who knows what will be on the corner of Front Street and Central next?

all I know is that
                   all kinds of things
stop being
              a piece of cake