Comfortability as soothing as it sounds causes you to slip
The more relaxed you get you start to loosen your grip
Stay on the grind and ideas never stop flowing through your mind
But if you steadily dread the fast paced haste
Then your dreams,
Just like the others before you,
Will all go to waste

This morning I remembered the harsh edges of my dream.
There were checkered flannels, red t-shirts,
and some kind of clock just ticking.
All of my shirts had holes,
just between the shoulder blades.
As if I'd finally grown my wings.

You pushed me down the stairs,
I remember the sound of my bones,
cracking as I hit each step.
Snap, crackle, pop,
like a meat sack full of rice crispy treats.

The feeling of blood dripping between my eyes,
down my neck, between my *******.
Seeing my bones exposed so easily.
Leaving me below, staring up at you.

I am at a standstill
Standing still on the path of life
People are catching up to me
And now they are passing
Family, friends, lovers,
Overtaking me
They don’t turn back
They leave me here all alone
They have their goals on their minds
So they walk and walk
Disregard their surrounding
And on and on they go
Till all I can see is their light flickering in this abyss
They are moving on without me
Leaving everything behind
Precious and what not.

I stop here
I will not move on
I can’t
Can’t just leave all these important pieces of my loved ones
Thrown away and abandoned
I pick them up
One at a time
Cradle them in my arms
Take in the memories and emotions
Infused them into myself
Protecting and treasuring them
I am staying here
In this one spot
It is not my destination
But it is my sanctuary
I’ll be standing here
From one day to another
From a year to decades
From century to eternity
Picking up the broken pieces of people
As they throw away who they are
To achieve what they want
But when they come running back
Looking for what was once lost
I’ll be here
Returning them what was theirs
They will be on their ways again
And I’ll be standing here
For eternity
Preserving the pieces inside me
For those who will be returning.

“i have something to tell you”
she whispered
i looked at her and could tell
exactly what was on her mind
her words were written all over her
like a third grade chalkboard
etched with multiplication tables
her eyes were glossy
and the only bit of color in her face
was within her cheeks
she looked as if her lunch was about to come
right up into her lap
her fingers were writhing
her eyes were roaming around the room
  holding the worry that consumed her
she told me that she had never in her life
been so in love with someone
and that she was afraid

not afraid of me hurting her
   but afraid of her hurting
because if there was nothing
in life that she gathered
the lesson would still remain that
she would always
get hurt
she would always cry
she would always break
eventually
i gently took my hand
to the side of her rosy cheek
and croaked,
with what seemed like cotton in my throat
and liquid coals in my eyes,
“i know”

she looked into my eyes
and i into hers
in the way that only lovers do
and with our lips pressed together,
her hand passionately grabbing
the back of my head, gathering
  fistfuls of my hair as if it were anchoring
  her to the harbor of clarity and understanding,
with my hands gripping her hips
  as if to steal her away from the
atmosphere for a minute,
we sealed our fate
  as libidinous lovers
   (but also ingenuous best friends)

*k.n