The blood
which would have spilled
from thin slits
of my skin
Was corroded
by the smile
which once
beamed from
your face.

I think it’s there now—
that thing we searched for all that time.
Can’t you feel it?
The thumping, burning, weeping inside?
Can’t you hear it?
The whispers in sleep, with eyes open, from under those deep hopes?
I know it’s here—
for the past week it’s kissed my thumbtips.
Do you know it’s here--
for months you’ve held a body
posing as my own.

I wore the ring all day,
Took it off to sleep.
In my dream
he was finally close,
“Will You Marry”—
“YES.”
That quickly, so unhesitatingly.
I woke up the next morning,
finger just as bare.
I put the ring back on
and wore the ring all day,
Took it off to sleep.
In my dream
he was finally close,
“Will You Marry”—
“YES.”
That quickly, so unhesitatingly.
I woke up the next morning,
finger just as bare.
I put the ring back on
and wore the ring all day,
Took it off to sleep.
In my dream
he was finally close,
“Will You Marry”—
“YES."
That quickly, so unhesitatingly.
I woke up the next morning,
finger just as bare.
I put the ring back on
and wore the ring all day

Trying to reinvent yourself

is hard.

Realizing that you need to

is harder.

But.

Loving yourself through all of it

is hardest.

she will not fill my spots
carved by the exploding shards
of our sharp love.

she will not occupy my trenches
dug so deeply
lined with
our savage pain.

because i
advance
in darkness.

(  a flag
has yet
to rise.  )