flatten your tongue
slip it between your teeth

n.

your little lips
forming an elipsis

o.

put them together
and may you declare
a word you’d so carefully deny—
no.

you spell it out
on table tops
shout it
from the rooftops

and when cursed hands
seek to defile your shrine
may you exclaim
"i am mine"

I hope I'm not too
Obvious
I hope you're not too
Oblivious

Sitting here in the dark
Afraid to go to the park

I might burn like a vampire
I feel like a wild wire

I'm alone in this cruel world
No one to hold on to make life easier in this twisted whorl

I'm scared I'll die alone
But really does it matter the demons say they will never leave me because their bad to the bone

Children grown and gone
I'm left all alone

I hate that the demons inside has taken over my body and soul
Coming in one by one threw the keyhole

I guess the demon stole the key that I had hidden
Where no one could see in the kitchen

The key holds my soul intact
Now I'm left with a key hole open for the demons to be let in whenever they want to attack

They come and go with out fear
While I lay here in tears

I wish I'd made another key
Then I could lock the door to my soul for keeps and be set free

The demons have captured my soul
Turning my soul into captivity in the black hole

I want to break free
But it's not in me

For this demon is to strong
I've lost all hope in beating this demon for now I'll play along

I'll lay here a bit longer to build up my strength
For maybe one day I'll beat this demon who lives with me day and night driving me insane

I have a best friend
She's on the mend

I had to say goodbye
I couldn't take the ride

She'll only be gone for a short while
When she comes back I'll crack a smile

I'll do anything for my friend
As she does anything for me amen

I'm going to miss her but she'll be back
100 percent so don't unpack

Wish I could go and hold her hand
To tell her hang in there you got this understand

You are beautiful, supportive, interesting, and strong
You're my friend lifelong

Hurry back home when it's time cause
Your backbone is waiting nearby

Love you with all my heart because you are my lucky star

I hold you tight up against my body
I take you with me even to the party

I rub you back and forth
Up and down from south to north

I love the way you sing hard and soft
I just can't keep my hands off

I pull you close
From coast to coast

You are beautifully sound
I will never pass you around

Magnificently perfect
You have all of my respect

You are my best friend
Till the end

The most tragic story isn't the one written by Shakespeare
or Hans Christian Andersen

It is not about Romeo, Juliet and their forbidden love, dying together

Nor a man, a mermaid and their impossibility to live for each other

It is about a writer and a reader:
Where the writer has written down, in every language, every realistic & imaginable word & emotion for the world
But the reader doesn't even have a chance to read them

The most tragic story is about the reader who can not read, and in the end, the writer who will not write

The most tragic happily ever after is where the reader and writer end each other

I No Longer Live Here And There Is Nowhere I want To Go.
I want to go on a journey.
One that has no end,
But a car will only take me
From here to a place called there.

A train just goes from A to B
They require tickets to somewhere.
And a taxi willingly carries me
To a specific destination.
As long as I pay the fare.

Where can I find a journey that has no end?
I do not want an End.
I want to keep going
And leave everything else behind-
................
A boat would do it-
The horizon lasts forever.
But if I hit a storm,
Sink and drown
Death is a place, too.

I do not want to go anywhere-
Never stop,
Just continue.
...................
And hope I find her again

(Gerry Aldridge ©2017)

i had this dream
where i was locked in a glass room,
gasping for air with
thick fingers wrapped tight
around my throat.
the streets outside were crowded,
people stared and screamed,
but no one ever tried
to break the glass.

that's how monday mornings feel,
walking down halls filled with
well-meaning people who would
help if they knew how.
i am a butterfly pinned,
broken and bright and iridescent,
and you cannot look away but
what can you do?
i cannot ask anyone to stick
shattered shards into their skin
just to step between me
and an oncoming train.
i want no one else's knuckles
broken for my safety.
sometimes the wolves
outsmart the shepherds,
and i am softer than i seem
and not built to fight forever.

in my dream,
i kicked my boot bottom-first
through the glass
and sprinted a path through the crowd,
****** and breathless and bruised
and alive because
i know when to stop waiting for
things to make sense.
sometimes the monsters are
stronger than you'd hoped
and some things are not worth
holding onto.

i stopped seeing the shame in
running for my life
the day i ran out of other options.