Pink sunsets and gold
We lay without clothes
The sky feels so close

Warm waters dancing
Colors romancing
Time never gets old

Just before I drift to sleep
I think about what you think
But I’ll never know

Pink sunsets and gold
We lay without clothes
Then the air grows cold

Blue summer is here
When you are not near
It’s our time to go

Just before I drift to sleep
Please don’t let me see you leave
So I’ll never know

Pink sunsets and gold
I lay without clothes
Wishing you were close

If this world were to ever turn red
Like ripe pomegranates or strawberry spread
You’ll feel the pull as I tug on this thread.

  Let me scribble all over your balmy skin
  With details about my soaking sins
  Until you’re covered with my poison within.

  Let me greet you with my ruby lips
  I’m feeling feline, my teeth might nip
  But there’s no knowing where my tongue might slip.

If this world were to ever turn red
Like opera curtains or a feverish head
We can put on a show in my backyard shed.

  Let me document you in this space
  You yearn for the power I make you chase
  Camouflaged in feather, leather, and lace.

  Let me guide your figure onto the floor
  Then obey and get onto your fours
  Fight with a devil and you’ll lose the war.

If this world were to ever turn red
--It’s really just a matter of when
There’s not a color I’d prefer instead.

Swerving in, I re-enter
A roundabout conversation
Driving mindless words
You make me flushed
It gives me a rush
As all of our cars
Scramble out of our garages
Directionless.

Salivating
Slide in
Sugar-searching serpent
You spark
In this ****
A naive mind
That this might
Work out
Before you
Tire out
Tonguing
Lemon-lime lollies
Licking your lips
For a confection
A bit more
Cherry

Walking in with high hopes
I knew that I’d fall
A cushioned landing waited below

Skin shreds with every reach, pull, and hang
Fingers bleed and sweaty palms
Slide and scrape against the rocks
The climb left me before I left the wall

With numbness in my hands and my toes,
But mostly my cheeks disfigured by nails
Pinning up a spastic smile
You had no belayer obligation
No rope tied on
My harness to your grip
A concrete landing waited below.

When I am at the peak of my span
These petals open, blossoming,
You step on my face and tell me
I am who you see
Through your cataractal lenses
THAT is me, who I am supposed to be
With my name stripped away,
And that a flower’s life is destined
For sitting still and smiling
For prying fingers to uproot
Its body from the earth
Then to rot in a broken vase.

Skin-deep,
I can tolerate you.
Flesh-deep,
You make me gag
but I’ll try not to *****.
Open up your heart and soul and everything else,
All that leaks out is musty air.

Like a plastic ornament,
You dangle unsteadily
On the bristles of a Christmas tree
It is my tremor
From our exchanges
That will loosen your desperate cling
From my limp arms.