And you,
You with your wisdom
that you cherish so greatly
expounding declarations
gasping in between, enough air to burst your lungs
were they not solidified by dust

If you knew the hurt
the words stinging like nettles
drawing blood mixed with tears
which drowned corpses that did not stand a chance

If your strength lies in your wisdom
lies in the cracking, crumbling hearts of life's lovers
who are left to discard the shards of glass
that you said were of no use to them

Then watch the ash
hear it hiss in your throat
mix with the bile sitting on your tongue
why, the ash will seal your lips shut
and the wisdom will come for you inside.

little dark girl with
kind eyes
when it comes time to
use the knife
I won't flinch and
i won't blame
you,
as I drive along the shore alone
as the palms wave,
the ugly heavy palms,
as the living does not arrive
as the dead do not leave,
i won't blame you,
instead
i will remember the kisses
our lips raw with love
and how you gave me
everything you had
and how I
offered you what was left of
me,
and I will remember your small room
the feel of you
the light in the window
your records
your books
our morning coffee
our noons our nights
our bodies spilled together
sleeping
the tiny flowing currents
immediate and forever
your leg my leg
your arm my arm
your smile and the warmth
of you
who made me laugh
again.
little dark girl with kind eyes
you have no
knife. the knife is
mine and i won't use it
yet.

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

So they pried the nerves from my body
And there is nothing left to me
but the blood, streaming down my limbs
Like an invisible anchor to the Earth.
I will stand my ground.
There is nothing more they can take from me.

Bathed in dew
She comes for you
The golden thread of life to cut

The sails disappear with the sun
And your life
Your life passes with the winds

How did love scorn you so?
Why are you here?

But there is no time to weep
No time for pity

For Iris has taken your soul
Bathed in dew.

I saw you across the road
Standing outside the bar, the red light
illuminating your forehead.
Your muddled forehead.
The same one I traced lines over
Like an engineer, mapping
highways between your frown lines.
You looked back at me, and
I could no longer tell what you saw.
Hatred, remorse, curiosity
Perhaps a love that persisted.
But your eyes were cold
Like windows all frosted over.
You looked away from me, to your beer.
Drank your beer.
And I walked away,
all the while wondering if your eyes were following me.

When our words disappear
and our bones turn to dust.
When there is no one to talk of
our lives, our love, our hardships
the Earth will remember.
As the Earth remembers all those
who have cried onto her.
Tears seeping into her pores, forming trees
that will stand for lifetimes to come.
And the trees will remember.