AlL around me i see people
with painted faces
and glIttering clothing trying
much too hard to be
perfect.
but whAt they don't know is that I can see the
cRacks
creeping ever so slowly
across their whitewashed
porcelain
faceS.

I searched for a Sunrise
     And found it in the light of your Eyes
          Gazing deeply into mine
     Brightening my darkest days.

I searched for Comfort
     And found it in the warmth of your Hand
          Sliding gently down my spine
     Easing me just a little closer.

I searched for Happiness
     And found it in the round of your Lips
          Smiling sweetly, intensely my way
     Inviting me to kiss.

I searched for Peace
     And found it in the sound of your Voice
          Soothing me with the words you say
     Making me blush.

I searched for Life
     And found it in the depth of your Love
          Unleashing all mental and physical holds
     You freed me.

I searched for Heaven on earth
     And found it intertwined in your Arms
          Weaving bodies into one mold
     Losing myself

I searched for You
     The other half that makes me whole
          The missing mate to my lonely soul
    My greatest Discovery.


© Tina Thompson

I passed a woman
walking her dog,
and I smiled at her,
and she didn't smile back.
And as I walked on, I realized
I never really smiled.
Just parted my dry lips
in an O.

I looked to my feet
and saw an earthworm,
lying in the middle
of the sidewalk.
Dead and dried
from the sun.
And I thought to myself,
He is so exposed.

And I heard a dry laugh,
and it was my own.

howling loveless yelps into the corner of her eye while she's away,
some ghost of a neck-thin pulse.runs a chill down to her toes-
fingernails scraping good red lines down her arms

we stay up all night just to read you
you wear down your whetstones.
we stay up all night to hurt our eyes with bright bedside-

i wish i had a better word for you

a finger for a dead piece of glass
heads drifting side to side for insects caring down the sheets.
and on the wall there's light

but
these tongues you've had taste like old neighborhoods,
stolen shopping-carts sent through puddles that fill up the side streets,

dressing down to the sound of rain.

i know your demons,
and I kiss them on their pale and
broken foreheads to appease you.
i know the map of your skin,
of your bones, like white gold.

my hands are shaking
as the stars collide and
the dust of them lingers in
your eyelashes; and
i should detest you
by now, but you have
this way of consuming me
with the shadows in your
irises, but i

exhale- a breath like the
million before you came,
a plume of smoke,
radio static.

smoldering desire lights
upon my tongue and
infiltrates my thoughts.

and it is overwhelming,
everything at once;
our love may be a chronic
illness, but
the delirium is
hauntingly
beautiful.