i took the metal out of my face
but i couldnt carve the art out of my skin

i took the words and swallowed them
but i couldnt stop the thoughts from
strengthening

i lit a cigarette
but never smoked it
you said
you can take the
tobacco out of your
hands but not
the tar from your lungs

i looked in the mirror
so filled with regret
i felt it spilling out
of my pores
pulled the covers
over my face for days
woke up
and was the same

welllll,
nothing good ever
stays
but
i have a headache
that won't *******
go away

my septum ring
is the most consistently
crooked thing in my life

rumble and thunder,
on top and deep under,
furiously,
ardently,
tenderly.

I wonder.

I've been thinking about that tender phenomenon
The one that makes me consistently want to kiss your jaw
and the place between your nose and your cheek
when I see you staring into space
with your eyes soft and your face hard

I've been thinking about the phenomena of us,
All your things and my things, somehow unified
How full we both are, and on the cusp of something fuller