rich with the depth
and intensity
of oxidized blood,
a plushness caresses my bare skin.

my fingers tracing against the grain of the fabric
slowly seducing
as the canvas
becomes duo chrome
the tip of my finger
a nymph
cunning and artful

the strokes
offering an insatiable
thirst
yet so in control

finally it succumbs
turning a tide of new color
permeating from where my touch once was
a culmination of sorts
leaving you enamored.

Let's celebrate indecision!
The weighing of pros and cons
The doubts and what ifs.
Rejoice in the feeling of uncertainty
When all the options seem equally weighted.
When doing what you please doesn't seem pleasing at all.
Suppose there was only one choice,
Now add five more.
Conjure up that feeling of confusion
Cherish that back and forth
Like tossing and turning at night
The uneasiness with which you approach
A fork in the road, which
Sounds more like a headache.
The longer you teeter the more you totter
Until at last! The decision seems made
...Or does it?

If only they made one brand of toothpaste.

you tell me that it's hard
and the news falls soft
on deafened ears &
a hardened heart
brimming with fears

I know you will be missing
something, you don't have
to utter a word, no sound
needs to be made
the silence resounds
our essence will stay

I won't tell you it's hard
rivers flow no second-
thought, clouds will
neutralize the day, rain
falls drop by drop,
the wolf hunts
and kills its prey

I'll smile on the garden
where you planted
plenty pretty flowers
the same tender
hands that tended
to me in our hours
the way we swayed
the way you towered
over me and myself
shaking beside me,
I will remember you

It's hard
when my fingers yearn for the rough of your skin
I imagine my arms extending like branches on a willow
twisting and turning on street corners
to make it to you
for one last touch

It's hard
when the cold encompasses my back
facing the empty dark
and holds me still
I imagine your head buried into the nook of my neck
your heart's slow beats pounding against me as you sleep
as I wiggle under your heavy arms

It's hard
when the blinding light pierces through my eyes
as i try to regain consciousness
only to turn to my side
and see the pillow untouched
the crinkles exactly how they'd been left the night before
I imagine waking up to you pulling me closer
as if the waves carried me away in the night
waking up to your scrunched up nose and tired eyes
leaning in for a kiss
that never materializes.

I've let you close enough
To see the whites of my eyes,
Taste the bittersweet of my words,
Close enough to smell
The sweet of my breathe,
Feel the delicate shudder of my body
Under your oversized hands,
Hear the quiver in my low voice
And I'm left with nothing to say
but
"Come closer."

The bugs in my head won't go away,
They've taken up permenant residence in my brain,
I can feel them at the nape of my neck -
they're crawling deeper into me,
Eating away,
Eroding my mind.
If they insist on staying
I hope the memory of you is the first to go.