Walking down the sidewalk of my suburban neighborhood
Littered with wild flowers clumsily drifting across our path
A path beaten down by the hurtful feet of children at play
Flowers struck down from the bicycles speeding past

Until one day, one particularly flower caught my eye
Red, full, leaning deliriously into my field of vision
I plucked the top from it's green stem and pressed it to my lips
Sweet, soft, and fragrant I traced my eyes, cheeks, and lips with it

Then stuffed it in my shirt, hard, against my chest
So when my mother took my clothes off to bathe me it fell on the floor
And I screamed and cried and picked the crumbled petals from the bathroom rug
Raced to my bedroom, **** naked, to put it somewhere safe

And every morning I'd stuff the wilted petals and stale sepal down into my pockets
Until finally there was nothing left but the dust of a once beautiful flower
Heartbroken, that is the day I realized beauty is to be admired, not suffocated
But realization and affirmation are too very different things

I hope I am right not
to allow my body to drag it's lifeless parts back to you
to bathe in your distorted clarity

I wake in the dark parts of the night
when beings battle their ghosts
and sleep dances with death and
I find my right arm attempting to escape my 12x12 coffin
fingernails clawing the wood floors
escaping down the hall
to get out the door
to get down the street
to get to your bed
to touch your nectarous skin

And I would eagerly follow
in pursuit of my runaway arm
but gladly finding coherence in your kiss
your kiss of such insane sanity
that my tastebuds long to make sense of

But I've learned to lock my doors
less to keep predators out and
more to keep my wondering parts in
because heaven knows
they'll find the cracks under the door
and pick at the window's fraying screens
and in the morning I'll find them scattered about the house
and pull them back to my chest to put me
back together
again

She took a break from her diligent work to acknowledge the blood as it flowed,
dream-like,
towards the sterling drain.

Mesmerized by its beauty and the sheer fact that the body is
completely
at the mercy of its owner,

she wanted to stop but knew his scent still
clung
to her skin,

so she grasped the steel-wool with raw hands and continue scrubbing.

Life shouldn’t be about being successful or not.
It should be about being good to yourself and being good to others.
Nothing else really matters because, in the grand scheme of things, this life we live is temporary.
So do what you want because it’s not going to matter how much money you’ve made.
Drop out of school if it’ll make you a better person.
Spend six out of seven nights sleeping in a hammock in the woods if it makes you feel full.
Soak up the sun until your pores are buzzing, then go live the beautiful life you’ve been given.
Float on clouds and talk to strangers; pour yourself into art when you feel too heavy.
Live your life how you want to because success is not a one way street.
It sure as hell isn't a paved road.

You licked my wounds and bandaged the lacerations,
but I picked at my scabs,
stuck my tongue out,
and ran about with wild eyes
and untied shoes.

Let me use you just how I want to
Let me kiss you when you try to say no
Let me smoke half of your cigarettes
Because if it's killing you, well ****, let it **** me too
Let our ribs grow together like roots under the pavement

Kiss me like you want the world to stop and stare
Kiss me for all the lovers who just don't kiss anymore
With lips like water color, Let me see them bleed across the page