for all who understand perfectly why perfection can never be,
                            and Adriana Barreiros~**


                                              <>
Todays new millionth sunrise bids me stand,
observe the river traffic from my kitchen window,
accept that my takings are debts,
a few, even paid back,
yet, most still owed,
for the origins of all my poems,
are oddly and oddity old,
unoriginal, second, third handed
as I look through the eyes of the dead,
and yours too,
this my unoriginal,
original sin....
(pretending  I am a poet)

i never used to smoke
but since you left,
it’s the only time i can seem to breathe

In this cold hard chair
Uncomfortable
While I felt my bottoms pressed on it
You raised your hand
Offering me the gift of
Conversation
Like a present
I unwrapped it
Slowly
Carefully
Keeping the packaging unviolated
Every word rings
Like a music note that knows no rest
Every rest
Feels like an extension
Of a string that connects
One from another
Your eyes
I indulge
As we exchange glances
Words fall on deaf ears
I am all eyes
For this feeling
Falls under no categorisation
Maybe this is
Unambiguously
Unaltered love
I thank you
I love you
I thank you
I love you

sleep tastes
like milk tea and cinnamon,
wind-cooled
for maybe fifteen minutes
drowning in sugar
so that your tongue is sweet and numb.

I used to wonder
why you slept so long
plaid covers up to your nose
pillow imprinted
with your crown.

now I know
that dawn often tastes bitter
and the remains of the day
sticky like pomegranate rot
when dusk arrives
like a cool drink in summer
I can finally slake
this thirst for something different.