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you used to buy the case
before the rest of us had the *****
you walked right in to that asian market on 3rd
and placed the beer on the counter
they once asked for your license
you told them you had a dui
they never questioned you again
When my ex took her life,
we were both newly single.
I was out of state,
she was out of mind,
and no one thought to tell me,
because, frankly, she had already
pushed everyone away years before.
We reconnected, while she was
seeing someone, who was taking
advantage of her, as she would later
come to explain. So when I drove
to her parent's home to pick her up
she was apprehensive, but only
because that's what she had been
used to, abused too.

We sat across from each other.
She told me how the last five years
have been long, and she missed me.
I told her it was mutual, but that
might have been a lie. My mind was occupied, hers too, but by voices that
weren't her conscience.

She told me how she
hasn't had sober *** in
a very long time. She told me
that she was a slob. She told
me she had two bottles of beer in
her bag. I had a bottle of whiskey.

We drank, and talked,
and kissed, and ******.
And woke up to each
other the next morning.
I pour her a cup of coffee
before driving her home.
And after the car ride I
Told her I would talk to her
later, and I did.

Then we ended our relationship.
And I told her I would talk to her
soon, and I planned on it, but she
beat me to the punch, and knocked
all the air from my lungs.
Ex killed herself a few months ago. Found a letter she wrote me. Brought back a lot of feelings. Been reading lots of her poetry since last night. No idea why I'm making mention. Had to get that line out of my head about "sober ***." So ******* sad. Such a shame.
Some may see
me as a writer;
a person who
spins words and
articulates emtotions.
But I'm not sure if
I see myself as
anything more than
a subtle manipulator.
I'll take a feeling
and it will become
a paragraph you can
see beyond farsightedness.
I'm not a seer, but God
help me if I've been
looking for my place
in the world. I'd like to
think that there is more
to my life than the
words I choose.
I've written dozens
of short stories,
and hundreds of poems.
Some say that there is
a novel within us all,
and I'm sure there is,
but that's not what I'm
after. What I'm looking
for is not a snap of the
fingers. Or a bulb
to flash. Not even a
seed to grow. What I
want is a teardrop
that falls in a lake
and creates a ripple
effect that slowly
spreads out. I want
a snowflake to hit
my tongue and not
dissolve from the heat.
Instead what I have
to give is a left hand
pushing a ball point
into paper, disrupting
the flow of the ink.
sometimes I wake up in the morning
and pretend I can start all over
that my forehead pounding will subside
and when I delete the messages I sent
they will be gone forever
I will work my job
my coworkers believing
I live a settled life
that I didn't drink the bar as dry as I could
or slept on a friend's couch with the girl
my friend wanted in his bed
I drink a cold glass of water
hoping it will breath life into me
and down ibuprofen like candy
the world creeps in through the blinds
and I tell myself I'm okay
I can't be too far gone
my phone vibrates and it takes
everything I have not to throw it
out the window
and drive my car east until
I no longer recognize street signs
park on the side of the road somewhere
and just be quiet for awhile
but instead I get dressed
check my watch
stumbling towards the door
because today I start all over
He claims thalassophobia
But explores in the deep
And relaxes in quiet certainty
The words that he should keep
For red from his heart, and blue
From his ocean
Combine in a muddle, a puddled
Emotion
What is it to crave?
An armour man in gold?
A wooden-fence, black silence,
A bearded, hat, high, old?

Maybe just a snifter smells
Or the ringing of a wondrous bell
Can find purchase in its soil
For my hands are cupped
I'm lapping up
The rain for milk has spoiled
Oh no, wanderlust!
You have broadened into space -
I can't afford that.
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