Tired of crying
tired of eating
but mostly my heart
is tired of beating

Ink
blots
impossible
knots
testing the limits of
a circular drive
one hand on the wheel
the other copping a feel
of his passenger mate
dutifully nursing her neonate
foot goes down
to apply the break
fracturing fingers
is what it will take
to lessen
the voice
avoid
the slade
move
the mountain
tell me, don't floaters
eventually get flushed?

I never wanted to be perfect
I never wanted to be sane
I thank you for the pain
and all the times you left me to drown in the rain

I applaud you for the example you have laid
Forcing me to be a woman, unafraid
A resilient woman who will never fade
A woman I would never trade
A perfectly imperfect daughter your toxicity made.

since December, the world has turned--
turned into a skeleton place
first far away,
now commonplace

society became a bare-skinned animal
whose bones rattle in the breeze,
the infectious air diffusing
entwining inside us with ease

this animal's labored breathing--
poison emanates from every exhale--
is creeping, swirling, choking, whirling
without a visible trail

this animal roams about freely
without a stay-at-home order,
wraps its tendrils inside each painful breath,
knows not of race, religion, or border

so tell me why we've not tried to tame it,
most wonderful governor dear, oh yes!
your disregard for us, proclaim it!
instead you'd rather have fear, and death!

any call to action now
will have us all still writhing
the lame beast will conquer us,
thanks, to the lack of timing

the bare ***** beast hunts night and day
its being can't be cast away;
arm yourself against its wrath
society must pave its own path

when you look in the mirror
i hope you see more than a reflection

i hope you see
hair tangled into nets that trap more than life
deep eyes that sailors are lured to until they drown
soft lips that can calm a hurricane
sloping shoulders that carry the weight of the sea
winding curves that even the finest navigators become lost in
a strong build that intimidates the sharks
and a spirit that can capture the horizon

because that's what i see
everytime i look at you,

my siren

i want to read you the poems i wrote you
so you can hear them in my voice
as it cracks in all the places you broke me
and blooms in all the places you loved

i want your head to rest on my shoulder
so you know where you are welcome
and your hand to be in mine
so you know where you are wanted

i want to read them in your room
so we can be in the place i fell in love with you
and i want the room to be filled with your thoughts
so you know how

i'm not real enough
when the rain
is not pattering against my bones

if my stories don't leave you raw
then let me take off your sweater slow enough to feel the goosebumps
before i kiss your skin away

for my tongue tells stories
far louder than i can scream

your languid lines
under my calloused hands

we see clearer in the dark