I climbed to the edge of the rocks today,
Ten vulnerable toes padding the dewy earth

My fingers danced on the slick railing,
Performing a solo fox trot

And the passing breeze spoke,
Louder than I ever could
When we came here together

My cheeks flushed red,
I don’t like to remember that I miss you

Your lingering presence
Threatens my transcendence

all of the words
you speak
today and tomorrow
are in vain

for you do not wish
to throw rocks at my window,
you know very well
i am already on my doorstep
waiting for you

you love me in songs played
on tuesday afternoons,
gaps in conversation where
three words are meant to fill it
and faded journal entries
dated when time was blind

you’ve written disguised goodbyes
beneath my eyes
and subliminally (explicitly)
whispered (shouted)
to move on, move on, move on
each moment i’ve tried to draw you nearer,
you do your best to push me further away

but even from a distance,
you are still holding on

let me go
let me go
let me go

so i may finally
let go
of
you

I woke beside
a pitch black crust
like the dust
permeating veins.

I sat upon colidascope concrete
until morning
brought birds
to carry my neck
back to you.

I collapsed onto the shore
and cried all night
because I finally outran my shadow
and the seaside
refused to share.

I pounded my fists
into the sockets
holding your eyes.
They're missing,
stolen perhaps
by another set of cheekbones.

I scraped the sky
with nails like coal,
leaving streaks of blood
across east Ohio.

I sat on the ceiling
as the fingertips of July
stretched my mind
away from fire.

Does she rub your shoulders?
I hope she does.
I really do.

Crowns for a king
Irons for a slave
Handcuffs for a prisoner
Coffins for a grave

Dreams are so fickle a thing
Vivid, intense in the moment
You can feel her hand in yours
Taste her kiss lingering upon your lips
Hear the beautiful sounds of her laughter
But in a moment, all gone
The shrill screams of an alarm
Shattering the tranquility of a moment
Found only in your dreams

under the pink lemonade sky i left you.
not really, because you left me first,
but i left your memory there.
in the summer twilight i left you.
i left you for vast skies and glorious people
and pink lemonade sunsets.
under the pink lemonade skies i left you,
and under the pink lemonade skies i ran head-on into myself.

You won't love me 'til you're lonely
You won't see me 'til you know
You won't know me 'til you're ready
You won't be ready 'til you grow

In the daylight I am open
Floating light and free and true
Chasing after your shadows
Just to get closer to you

But when the sun's descended
And your shadow is no more
I'm down on my hands and knees
Groping and the frigid floor

I'm reaching out to touch you
Though you don't know I'm around
So I'll just wait until your ready
And caress your shadow from the ground

Mother I swear
I'll plant seeds in the garden,
forgotten.

I've got a home in east Ohio
and a palm full of bees,
like thunder.

Drawers full of whiskey,
mother I'm trying.

Static voices set the sky to shambles.