there were soggy, downtrodden cigarette butts
on the stairs leading to her apartment
where fresh ashes smoldered--
the remnants of her newly-cremated self.

cleansing drops of saline
weep over salvation's tome

brace my sails to brave an ocean
afraid I'll combust if I go home

You could be my Jericho,

and I,

your blasphemous lover.

I wish that I had gotten an extended warranty on my body.

Who will I turn to now
when it falls apart at the seams?

Maybe if I hadn't tossed out the how-to manual...

...though I have a sneaking suspicion that it was blank,
and wasn't worth the paper it wasn't printed on, anyway.

I'm the crumpled soda can you used to kick around when you were a kid;

I'm the shot glass you emptied into the pit of your teen angst;

I'm the wine bottle that's going to shatter over your skull and **** us both.

The water was murky
with ashen clouds
and my thoughts were overcast
with fears of nakedness.

What do I do when the only person I care about
Doesn't know I exist
And is almost three times my age, anyway

And what am I to do when I'm only sixteen
And I'm not pregnant
So I couldn't possibly have any "real" problems

What am I supposed to do when I've run out of words
To say or write
And the ones I used to say and write were never really all that good in the first place

And what's next when I don't really feel like being alive
But then again
I don't want necessarily to be dead either

I'm afraid I'm your
origami imitant,
your paper tiger.

You caught me by the shoelace
and tethered me to your side
but I was born to float away
and be destroyed by the sun.

They say that you're too inept,
too immature,
too young to know better.

Don't listen to them;
you're exactly the shade of green that I was looking for.

You told me that I was only eighteen
and I had the rest of my life to love other people,

And you told me that you weren't good enough for me anyway,

And that it isn't even worth trying long distance because some girl you met online broke your heart in middle school,

And you told me that you'd still love me,
only in a different way,

And you compared me to your ex-something-or-other and a cloying cookie,

And I kissed your neck as you were leaving
and you rubbed the lipstick back on my dress.

I think I'd like to pick pocket your heart,
though the jury's still out on whether or not I'm keeping the contents.

Because I'm only reaching in there to confirm that your feelings are still home,
that somewhere in that torso of yours, your heart serves as more than a ****** conduit.

But before I could even brush against you to distract you,
I saw the "For Rent" sign stapled to your chest.
And when I knocked on your rib cage to place an inquiry,
I saw the fine print that read:
"Tourniquet Not Included".

But didn't anyone tell you that if you dam up your emotions,
they'll leak out and poison your brain?
That's why they say love makes you do crazy things,
and I don't know if I can stick around until you're certifiable.

My hollow regret fluttered to the ground,
bound by gravity
to fall as swiftly and ignorantly as my gaze.

a tangible taste
transference of grace

a snake forsaken
for old times' sake

look up
keep watch
a vigilant face

arise drenched in mercy
sins erased

They say that it's in the journey
and not the destination,

but what's the difference
between gliding
or plummeting

when the end goal is the pavement just the same?

she's beautiful the way she flies
with time upon her wings
a sussurus of sand elapsing
a due date for heartstrings

spiritual sussurus
whispering wisp
whip into shape
to give Thee a kiss

rebirth on horizon
labyrinth of light
radiant grace
raise beams of delight

mere moths swarming at The Source of Light--
fettered and fattened,
hatchlings born battened
to bonds of sin--
our ancestral birthright.

This feeling is familiar,
though you know her all the same.
A wrenching, tugging once removed
goes by a different name.

Take my hand
and take off into the woods with me.
We can meander
until we find ourselves together.

Let love nest in our lovely mess
and pray the bees turn their ***** to us
this honeymoon season.

Let's get cheeky,
toss our clothes
and our cares
into the fire,
and watch the flames lick their lips
at the bountiful harvest
of loose ends and broken heart strings
we use for tinder.

The kindling kindly spits embers at us
like ****** on sunflower seed hulls,
cleansed
and ready to be born anew.

on a tightrope of blessings
hands clasped in prayer
a twinkle of mischief
entrapped in a stare

no ocean in sight
yet adrift in your eyes
a score swells of Love
zeroing in from the sky

prodigal son clothed in cerulean
adrift atop my static soul

a tempest stains gray areas red
put to death the man of old

compose my composition
for a golden ratio shimmers anew

a whirlwind woman whipped by wisps
transfigured out of a precious spiral
reframed to behold a glorious ascent

forgiveness foretold seventy times seven
hopes outstretched and reaching towards heaven

when I dwell in You, I shall not want
pen my life story in a baptismal font

Spiritual Centrifugal
wring me of my wrongs.
Osmosis of my soul
keep me awake in song.

I rest my head on the palm of Your hand,
warming myself in its merciful folds

where promising promises of promised lands
nostalgically echo a Love foretold.

dip my toe in the mystery of immersion
dabble in dappling with dew

a cog in the wheel of cogitation
a mustard seed will birth anew

in trying times
energy expended
attempting temptations on the back of the shelf

cobwebs and mothballs
make light work of feasting
my apprehensive appendages
afraid they'll bite back

take butter knives to butterflies
alight mid-flight in a *** set to simmer

a concentration, clarification
dressed in Sunday best, their golden wings glimmer

settling susurrus, a flurry aflutter
a conga of monarchs one after the other

taste buds taking two-steps to make room for more
the doe-eyed processions march in counts of four

bare my teeth
lay bare my soul
before it's too late

a penitent paper tiger
praying not to immolate

manifesting an ephemeral destination,
we fools hasten to the west
where the sun sets opposing everlasting
a whisper of grace
pierces through the cacophony of death

fall into him
while I fall into You
a romcom encounter
in the absence of pews

ambient roses
martyrdom's smile
mariposas aflutter
to stay for a while

I found myself dancing in the whitespace
between yourself
and how you see the world,
traipsing around the floaters and stars in your eyes
like an animated recreation
of our universe expanding,
drawn out to eternity with you.

spiritual striation light my path
a focused array too hazy to grasp

my grip soft like putty
sand slips through the cracks

my hands unaccustomed
still grace everlasts

kaleidoscope of witnesses
chromatic starbursts of grace

inexhaustible spring of mercy
rain down upon my face

cure my faith astigmatism.
corruptible corporeal
fumbling in the darkness,
straining to focus on the Light.

now dawns the mourning of choice:
to be smitten or smote,
but a whisper of smoke--

incensed by yourself.

crossing over umbrage
on a bridge towards heaven
shading our eyes through fields of grey

through dappled eyelashes
look for promised remembrance

clamor to put away clamor
day by day

teardrop prism,
graceful dew
beaded upon my stillborn heart,

pool in the roots in my soul,
Holy Spirit take hold,

grant me an honorable transfusion.
make my dead end a good start.

burn faith into my eyes
an inverse eclipse to light the way
a passionless passion ever burning
a longing for an everlasting flame

a bouquet of jasmine
held with a bushel of pecks
to satiate a peckish heart

a longing way to go
we push past mirages
running while chaste
to a tangible start

a flammable affinity,
emblazoned for The Trinity.

we pray our perishable parish
won't expire 'til infinity.

my words a time capsule,
my longing a cipher.
my sorrow an ocean,
pay tears just to tithe her.

my breath ephemeral,
my feelings akin.
leave letters,
spell out my beginning and end.

pray on your wrist a wistful wish
shut your eyes to a bloodshot hue

born to fulfill a transfigured niche
umbilical grace shining through

prolifically infused with Life:
a steady seeping,
prophetic weeping,
climbing from the depths of strife.

map our trail in starbursts
kaleidoscopic eclipses in the sky

cosmos dripping from my paintbrush
stroking "what"s and stippling "why"s

questions, chromatic aberrations
a twinkle dancing in my eyes

a pause in time
my lips profess a parting, not goodbye

shackles of shame broken asunder
abreast of the ***** of forgiveness
transgressions lost at the sea of repentance

the tidings roar,
drowning out my plaintive, prodigal cries

the leprous sores of my soul
lapped and encircled by cerulean tempests

I boldly offer myself to be swallowed whole

two from a chrysalis emerge as one
a monarch born to glorify The Son

a crowning of glory,
a martyrdom beaming
ahead lies the kingdom
awakened from dreaming

deified detritus
shed my snake skin sin

the apple of His eyes
transfigured from within