I drove you home thinking how about how much I did not want the night to end,
It was quiet, save for the ambient noise as we drove through the freeway,
I glanced over at you, your face, your thoughts,
a  mystery.
You said to me “Do you ever just listen to the silence?”
and then suddenly it was as if I was in a special place,
a special place I only knew of,
a secret chamber I retreat to,
and yet you so effortlessly walked into it,
perhaps you already knew of this place,
perhaps you already knew of the silence,
perhaps you had been there far before I had,
these thoughts raced through my  head,
I replied to you after a few seconds of reflection,
“yes, I do listen to the silence”

He was afraid of losing me
And I was afraid of him.
That kind of game quickly destroyed us both

A vehemently charged electric shock of events
Made an innocent trip to The City to visit a friend transgress
Into a less-than-innocent night in a more-than-pocket change hotel room
Behind the closed door, conversations were tasted instead of heard
Fingertips grazed and hungrily circled inner thighs

For two restless hearts who searched for dreams
In the affectionate eyes of someone else instead
Of their own shut eyes and a resting head in bed,
The City that Never Sleeps seemed the most peaceful
At five in the morning in a bed with two lost souls tangled
Together, a jigsaw puzzle of legs arms and misplaced emotion.

She found her oxytocin from his soul-warming coffee laugh,
His black rampant hair and the inebriating feeling of being wanted.
He found his from a backwards desire to repair himself by fixing her,
By making her feel safe with a theatrical saint-like performance until
The vulture he masked overpowered and devoured her.

She is simply a coffee addict, hooked on his warmth and
Deliciousness and his laughing mocha eyes that resemble
Hot black coffee mixing beautifully with milk and sugar.
She’s dependent on the quick fix of brewing a fresh strong ***
Of happy! percolated with objectification flavored beans
Until she finds a way to concoct the happiness without the beans.

He, on the other hand, harbors something far more sinister.
For while she only intended to drink in his warmth
And let him drink hers in return,
He consumed her whole
Spread his wings
And instantly returned
To making circles in the sky.

You held out your hand, inviting me
To dance barefoot across the cedar
Splintered wood of your living room floor

Despite my guise of grace I am not
Capable of keeping your quick pace
The glass slippers I misplaced around
Midnight helped to hide my two left feet
Knobby knees and numb toes stumbled through
One  two  three  one  two  three  one­  two  three

We danced till the sun interrupted
Not with my tongue-tied toes but with our
Chapped Lips, teeth, pink cheeks, racing heartbeats
Fingers waltzed across your warm soft flesh
Memorizing skin maps and tracing
Constellations of belly buttons
Palms, spines, collarbones, and speckled chests

In the abrupt light of afternoon,
I rushed to leave before you saw the
Disheveled remnant of a Princess
Still in her dancing dress, but shoeless

You searched for long-gone slippers as I
Faintly heard you ask my name beneath
The echoed slam of the palace doors