First there is the prep.
The roommate.
Wearing salmon colored pants.  
He has Shaggy from ****** Doo
On his left thigh.
The alcoholic.
She has a drinking problem.
She is in denial of her drinking problem.
She hangs out with the loners.
The loners.
Unkempt, unattractive and fat in all the wrong places.
The blond looks like Tom Petty.
The one with dark hair, glasses and braces
They live next door.
Living together but segregated. 
Wild cards.
All of us.

©Gambit '13

She has red roses as asterisks, the star-shaped things
that are just scar shapes on me

and with her, there is
pollen
that she'll drag her fingernails across. She will
sprinkle colors on your chewed up,
cratered lips, saying you

will look beautiful and
feel full again. Well, I'll be the one to kiss you next
with grains of sulfur glued to your cheek

the rotten taste
making it so your mouth glows in the dark. I
know where to kiss and never tell: I
am sure you must notice my cigarette burns when

the lights are out. I have lit myself
like a candle,
and say
I cough from the smoke because no one can know
that I swallow all your poisons for you.

i know where to find ghosts
just take my hand, and we can go where bubbles
never burst

where the sun hits particles of dust

where cars in rain
and streetlamps have those bursts of light that
extend farther than the bulb

dandelion fields, clubs where singles know how
to make hearts with cigarette smoke

where holes are carved in dirt that has never
been caressed, where
bruises go

when they are no longer on your skin

because i know about
searching for what is left of the dead with fingers
cupped like a shovel, knowing
you were the last thing they ever touched

well,
they're not just in the ground
ghosts are somewhere in the air i promise.

Grandmother, woman of the wise.
Please teach me all that you know.
For that that pink ribbon that you wear every day.
Tell me, say that you love me and you will never decay.
Tell me, that you’re strong and you’ll fight another day.
No you’re not a savior, but you here for a reason so stay.

Grandmother, woman of the wise
I look back and feel you’re nurture.
You’re soft sweet elegance; you’re discussions that were relevant.
You’re smile, so calm and serene.  Believe that this is just a phase.
That tomorrow it will all go away.
Grandmother…

Please look me in the eyes, tell me don’t worry baby.
It’ll be okay, that the Lord has a reason for everything.
Go to church on Sunday and pray. Thank the Lord that your
healthy and go about you’re day.

Grandmother, I now only wear this pink ribbon for the memory.  
To acknowledge how strong you are.  That with belief life takes you so far.
My prayers go out to all who lost ones in the past.  Don’t worry their looking down smiling and proud.
Of you, so remember time heals all who are hurting life will get better.
So, wear that pink ribbon and smile, because we’re one of many united standing in a vast numbered crowd.

I sent it
At three AM
On one of those nights
Where silence gets violent
And I'm alone in my head.

I told you about the
Tiny pink pills
And how
If I took eight
I would sleep forever.
I gushed that
They were hidden
Under the toothpaste slathered
Countertop
In my bathroom.

I told you I loved you
But that
You weren't enough to stop me anymore.

I did actually consider it.
It was one of those nights.
But at some point,
As I laid on top of my comforter
And shivered under the fan,
I realized that
You weren't going to wake up
And convince me out of it.

I also thought
About how my mom was
A light sleeper.
How the floorboards would sound like
Orchestras
And the cabinet
Would be the symbals
To her.

I fell asleep
Numb,
But naturally numb,
And woke up wondering
What you would say.

You didn't say anything.