Some pesky emotions
stick to my insides...
They cling just under
my skin,
vacationing
in rosy-cheeked 98.6° temps.
I try to shake them off,
they slide around,
bloom up to my chest, crest
over my shoulders, smolder
the insides of my elbows, rove
across my ribs, rummage
into my stomach, and
smack
stuck again
snug again.

Not sure if they ever dissolve.
I imagine I have developed
layers of them by now.
But I guess we all have.

I have this feeling... like
something is cracking,
fractured.
Deeper it goes,
fissures.

I gasp.

Follow the sun,
little one.
Follow the sun
open your eyes,
rise. But
settle, too, nestle
in, rest.

Quiet wonder and passion—
Smoldering embers waiting to flicker and then roar,
twisted, pointed, shapeless... boundlessly ****** into the sky

my stomach is knotted
my resolve is rotted
i hate talking to him

My chest swells,
filling with heavy emptiness.
Under this duress,
everything hurts.

today is the first hot day in a while
moisture dews on my skin just walking,
but it doesn't weigh me down

i feel lighter than i have in a while
my hair is brighter, not from the sun,
but it's pink, orange, gold like a setting one
or a rising one
yes,
a rising sun