Currin

Currin Dec 2017

the crinoline in the corner
blinks twice
at the mascara
spinning on the vanity
slowly leaking blood

house cats pirouette down hallways
of marble and steel
ripping their claws out
as to not interfere with their work

******* don’t last forever
they say
two years max
three if you deflate them
every night before you sleep

there’s a lily
in the dining room
who pierced her tongue
with a cufflink
she once wore a crinoline too
you know

her sister works at a diner
from four to close
no scrambled eggs here
she’ll say
it's over easy or nothing
sausage on the side

but the crinoline
is too close to the fireplace
and the cats
don’t know how to love
while the lily
stopped being beautiful
when her sister melted
into the frying pan

a spark punches the crinoline
upside the face
and a ****** cannonballs
towards the toilet
drowning in bliss

Currin Dec 2017

Periwinkle

I have a rainbow for a mind.
The colors are there, always in the corner of my vision and since they won’t crumble and go away I’ve decided to accept them.
It isn’t always easy.
When the boy from physics yells my name it is navy blue.
And when he runs down the hall after me the sound his shoes make is orange, orange in short staccato bursts.
And then he punches me, hits me, teases me for something I can’t control and all I see is the sound of his fists beating against my skin.
Red, red, blinding red.
And the noise grows and the colors come at me in all directions.
Red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, violet.
Red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, violet.
And suddenly I can’t take it anymore so I squint my eyes shut as hard as I possibly can and I scream.
(My scream is periwinkle. It has always been my favorite color.)
…
I have never once seen a black and white movie.
All my dreams are in color and my memories are too.
I see colors when I’m talking on the phone, listening to the radio, sitting in the corner of my room where it is just loud enough to see the sound of the air conditioner, making itself known with little beige waves.
All my life has been red swirling with yellow swirling with pink swirling with blue swirling with purple.
I have a rainbow for a mind.

Currin Dec 2017

first floor bathroom

Floors frigid like ice
against my bare legs. I count
ten speckles per tile

At least one-hundred
tiles per stall but it’s hard
enough to focus.

Paper rolled in *****
that can’t seem to hold their shape
Unraveling.

Lead scraped against stone
making everything dull gray.
Names scribbled over.

The lock screams as it
slides to the right of the door.
Seemingly mocking.

Three large, cracked mirrors
stare unyieldingly through me.
Five minutes ‘till class.

Currin Dec 2017

multitudes

Be mad.
Be wild.
Get upset.
Cry, at least as often as necessary.
Scream.
Yell.
Embrace the darker part of you utterly and entirely.
Be afraid.
You are not a single rose garden.
You are an entire world,
containing both sunshine and thunderstorms,
and maybe even a tornado or two.
As Walt Whitman once said,
you contain multitudes.
Let your inner fire rage on;
it is part of you too.

Because, my dear,
you are LARGE.
You are more than just a six by two rectangular cutout of a human being.
Your thoughts can start fires.
Your words can change hearts.
Your emotions can illuminate everything at least within a ten mile radius.
You are not just a piece of sand on a crowded beach.
Hell, you’re the whole beach,
and the ocean,
and the mountains,
and the city,
and everything in between.
You are LARGE,
and I hope you never forget it.

Currin Dec 2017

elephants have anxiety too

How embarrassing it is to be human.
Always failing,
faking,
flailing,
falling
never once realizing the power vested in our souls.
We are like elephants, arguably the biggest and strongest creatures in the animal kingdom.
Yet until we learn to harness our capabilities,
we will always be scared of a mouse.

Currin Dec 2017

Electricity

I can see your hand as it reaches towards me
Slowly, slowly, ever so slowly
(I should have known you would be just as timid as I am)
I count your fingers as they make their presence known against my back.
One, two, three, four, five
Each one a little dewdrop of warmth
Making that small section of my back almost as warm as my blushing face
Your thumb starts moving in lazy circles
Light, so very light
So gently that I am not even sure if you are touching my skin,
perhaps just the small bubble of air around it -
Either way it feels electric
You are a current
And I know I am at risk of being electrocuted
But you are making my hair stand on end
Physically you are touching my back but in my mind it feels more like you are touching my heart
Shocking me again and again and again
I never want to get used to this feeling

Currin May 2016

are any of us ever really full?

A brain and a soul.
Just a brain and a soul.
A brain and a soul,
and a big gaping hole.

A brain and a soul,
and the weight of the world.
Can a brain and a soul
ever act in accord?

A brain and a soul,
both happy and sad.
My brain and my soul,
feel both good things and bad.

A brain and a soul,
learning more everyday.
The brain and the soul,
slowly paving a way.

A brain and a soul,
expectations on lock.
Fearful brain and a soul,
angst running amok.

A brain and a soul,
what could be more true?
With a brain and a soul,
panic often ensues.

A brain and a soul.
Just a brain and a soul.
A brain and a soul,
and a big gaping hole.