The evening swells slowly,
Growling at the fleeting heat.

I’m unafraid of the night that moans.
I howl my own dark lullaby to exhume the moon.

The ache of deep thunder rests in my chest and
Reminds me I’m smaller than even a star
That glints meekly on a black velvet gown.

I melt like the ink of the sky on the end of a day.
I dissolve like the flakes of snow in the rays of the sun,
To feed the earth
And beneath.

The sea drinks me down, and me it.
Every creature below was once mine.
Now we share in this gorge that splits land
And we see we are kin.

Splash.
I'm lodged in your vein.

Blood oozing from your now

punctured skin. From the polished,

wooden floor, to your plump big toe, I dart.

My fingernails clawing at your cells, keeping

my thin slice of a body imprisoned within. Soon tears

will flow with blood and I'll try to hang on longer. Hang on

until silver tongs rip me up. I'll take palm-fulls of your injured flesh as souvenirs. My presence will stay, covered by a cloth, slowly seeping

deeper, turning your muscles green, suffocating every

plea for health. Infection will spread like the cracks

in that polished, wooden floor that gave me life.

Your arteries will begin to tighten until your

limb altogether becomes useless. It’s

funny how someone as puny as

me can have such a huge

effect. Maybe you

should wear

shoes next

time.

Holding water in her mouth,
She looked about to cry
The salt inside would eat her up
And leave her raw and dry.

She could indeed just knock it back
And swallow up the sea,
But this would give an endless thirst
That would not let her be.

You’d think why not just spit it out
Onto the golden sand,
Push through your lips that salty gulp
Erase the pain at hand.

But all she had to quench herself
Was this Pacific’s best.
She’d rather die this way in fact
Than drown like at the rest.

The garden’s purr is ripe with dragonflies,
While sun drips down and licks my freckled cheek,
Then sinks by inches, seconds at a time.

The sky turns pink with specks and lines of green.
The man inside the moon grows restless yet,
When day has died the night will reign supreme.

The creatures of the night let down their hair,
Stretch out their limbs and bask in dark delight,
While fireflies explode newly unchained.

The stars that hid glow bright to prove their life,
While eyes of mine grow cloudy, tired, and shut.
Still blind to all the myst’ries of the night.

I lie down flat, avoiding hills of mud,
Till dark runs out inviting back the sun.

A little lamb with hooves of black
Asleep atop rich bales of hay
As heavy thunder fails to wrack
A little lamb with hooves of black
The stallion’s ropes - once taut - lay slack
As braids of rain untie and spray
A little lamb with hooves of black
Asleep atop rich bales of hay