She dragged her nails across pale skin, digging
into her flesh and relished in the the pain, curling
her fingers across punctured plains.
She bled crimson but it didn't satiate her guilt.

i tried so hard
to send you winter
in a letter

i went outside
collected snowflakes
and foolishly pressed them
into the pages
the ink ran
and my thoughts
melted away

i wanted to save winter

capture it in a bottle
and hide it
between my lungs
so my every breath
would be cold
and my voice
would taste like snow

i thought
maybe
if i could take
that bluish-grey sky
and shove it between
my ribs
and swallow
every
dead
leaf
you would see frost coated grass
and think of me

... and
i could give you
winter

f o r e v e r

Mike and I were best of friends
and we drank together
and walked home together
And we’d walk along the railway tracks
and Mike
was always the more observant of us two
Yes, I always looked up to him
He’d be first to point out any irregularities
and so he’d say:
“There sure are a lot of steps
along the way”
And I’d concur
and I’d say:
“Yes, Mike…
And the problem is
the ****** handrails
are so low down”

And you know what
Mike is gone
and I still walk back
along the railway tracks
and the ****** idiots in charge of the railway
after all these years
they still put a lot of steps all the way
and worse –
they still put those ****** handrails
so low down…
Some people never learn;
they never change

I shout these things aloud
And I look up to Mike as I say these things
as I walk alone

I hate my girl
Why?
Cos she’s a *******

On every date she just messes me up
The first one we were on
I said:
“Doesn’t this date
just make you long for another?”
And she answers:
“Oh, yes – but no one else would come”

And on every date
I must pay for her drinks and food
and must take her home in a taxi;
and so *******, I said yesterday:
“You must think me the perfect fool!”
And the *******, she says:
*“I keep telling you -
you are not perfect…”

my love
seems a creature of the night
the moon seeks her
     as she sleeps
to wake and write her verse
     for me

     my love
would be a child of the lake
a sweet water
     pirate
having stolen my heart
to bury as her
     treasure

Your once silky voice
has turned to gravel
to my ears.  Your
words are sandpaper
to my self esteem

Your personality has
been eroded by
bitterness.  It
sweeps away
all that made you
interesting, a raging
river of disappointment

Your skin is cracking
to the point where
I fear that any part
of you that I touch
will crumble to
the floor.  

If this keeps up
soon you will
be nothing but
a pile of sand

Another mess
for me to sweep
under the rug

This
sin
is
the greatest salvation we will ever know.

You've got a lot
of thoughts in your head,
like rocks in your bed
they keep you up.
Tossing and turning
dreaming about
buses, one that I'm on,
coming to see you.

I know it hurt you
when you hurt me
and I know
you didn't mean
for the apology
to sound so empty.

Kara told me
you aren't eating,
that the color
from your face
is fleeting, and
that the habit is there to stay.

You could
never figure
out
what was more
risky,
getting
lost
or standing
out in the crowd,
and yeah,
it's hard to make
mom proud
with all that *******
around.

I know your
neck is
still
aching
from the accident,
but beautiful,
taking medication
just isn't safe
with your
addictive
personality.
I know because
mine gets the better of me.

I know
you don't want
to hear any of this,
and I know
you don't want
to hear me,
but when you're
out of money
and you've
got
nowhere left
to go,
then I won't
sound so hollow.

Tonight,
I'll come over
tonight,
it'll be
like old times.
I'll bring the
gin
and my
violin
and we can
sing
this bottle dry.

I could
use a drink
right now,
yeah, I think
I could use
a drink right now.