I kiss like
a thunderstorm,
crashing into your lips
with the force of a
hurricane, I haven't felt
the rain in far too long

There is a promise
sealed to your mouth,
a record you can feel
beneath your tongue

reminding you that
I'll stay forever
locked in your eyes --
I won't move until
you break your gaze

I kiss like
I'm dying, the candle
flickering down to
the wax, no amount of
kindling can revive me
from a death like this

And when your breath
unfolds from the back
of your throat, you'll
kiss me back to life,
falling back into step
with everything
I knew before,

your bricklayer's tongue
chiseled between
my teeth --
we fit
like rungs on a ladder,
pulling me back to the surface

I kiss
like a firestorm,
knowing that
one day
something
will ******* away

We all go through trials
We all have our crosses to bear
We all have those things
That we wish we could get rid of
Those old bad habits that nevere seem to cease
That seem to grab us and keep us from breaking free
Keeps us from truly letting go
We all have our guilts
We all have pain
We all have times
When we feel like life is just a game
And we are set to lose
When it seems like every decision we make
Ultimately leads us down the wrong path
When we can look back
When we want to kick ourselves
For making those mistakes
Its ultimately what we do during these trials
That really tell who we are
If we are willing to accept what is
To learn and to grow from them
Figuring out which direction you need to take
You can move through them with confidence
Understanding that its just life's way
Of kicking you when you need it
Helping you to see something
That you might not see otherwise
If you keep wallowing in yourself
Not truly accepting the lessons
Constantly making the same mistakes
You can never move forward
Never getting to a better place with yourself
Remaining stuck to repeat the same old groove
Until you finally figure out
What it is you are going through in the first place

Humans yearn for a gush of sun to overtake the sky,
scraping and cracking us in red bloom,

or a cough of water to pour from an unseen throat
and slice through, like tangled hair.  

Nuclear warfare as vivid as second-grade sound effects,
every circle of hell that can climb into your mind,

maybe even a tattered zombie apocalypse.
It lacks class, but isn’t that the point?

Alas. We won’t get a dinosaur ending,
or a clashing of the gods.

Our insects and our imaginations grow smaller by the day,
and the meteors don’t like our kind of gravity anymore.

Instead, this blue marble will soup into itself.
The ice cubes will leak, and then skyscrape up again,

we drill up and down with our fingers
and the leaves will fall and eat forests in flames.

It leaves a membrane of smoke in the sky,
but don’t worry. I don’t. The world ends slowly.

There is a mineshaft
in my chest -- my heart
scales down the lines,
dropping into my stomach
graceful, a trapeze artist
descending from above

There is a tranquility
here, a blinded heaven
scarring across my eyelids

This ghostly skin
shakes me awake,
screaming ripping
like paper between
the sheets, I am stuck
with a glue I never spilled

The lotus unfolding
back and forth, a
sick dance twisting
in front of me,
the memories in my
head convulsing
like they're trying to
restart my heart,

I always knew
the end would be
brighter
than the beginning,
the candlelight
of my birth
painting pictures
I'll never get to see

because this heart,
it weighs me down
a death I never felt
roaring in my chest --

And this waterfall
will never
reach
the pond.

Hello gorgeous, haven't I seen you someplace before?
Open with a line like that, you be lucky not to be shown the door.

I look ten to fifteen years younger, maybe I'm blessed
Sometimes, I put myself to the test
Once I had a boyfriend eighteen years younger than me
We lasted a year and a half.  He thought I was thirty.

And sometimes, I see him, a guy who I like
I sidle up slanted, you know, slithery ****, it's what they like

You have a drink, it's a whole different world
Your fear goes out the window, thrown away, out that door

You been here long?
You like to dance?
Doesn't matter who says it, so long as you're in a trance.

Yeah, I like that.  You're really fine.
We are both really having a good time.
You get a little closer
You can smell his alcohol breath
And in that moment, it might as well be ****
Cuz it's a kind of intoxication
In itself, just the chemistry, this temporary cohabitation

If he's young, he might be ready to go
Let's go back to my place
I know no one will know

Sometimes I did that
I never was afraid

But now, I just slither, and drink, and bathe
in the silliness of it all, these instant connections
The shape of his hand, that shy guy smile
The square jaw, with the stubble on the side
Oh yes, men, oh my
The young ones get aggressive, let you feel what they've got
You're not supposed to do that in public, do they care?  Not.

It's all so fun, so just in the "now"
Someday I'll venture out again.

There've been many, from two coasts, two continents
And I'm here to tell you, they are heaven sent

There's a Freud street in every city in Israel
And I am living proof and here to tell
There's a very good reason for this
His descendants are an important part of life
For those of us who missed
Important pieces of the puzzle when we were growing up
And then they came back to haunt us, and really messed us up

All those women, staring at me from across the room
So thoughtful, so introspective, looking at their latest catch
Knitting their brows, trying to make sense of that
Which I never could,  not all by myself
If I could, I would have, maybe just read a book off my shelf

When I think of all the hours
I've talked and tried to understand
It would add up to a short lifetime
In a simpler land

My current one's my favorite.  
She lives in my former hood
She's a ****, she's progressive and she'd heal me right now if she could

But alas, there is no short road
there is no easy end to this
You must be quite committed,
You must spend a lot of money and never miss
an appointment, because if you do, you'll trip
And before you know it you'll be back in the dip
where you started
That would be a shame
For a problem is a problem by any other name

"There is no other way but through"
I've read so many times
I imagine a stuffy, grey haired man speaking that line
And yet, it is true
As painful as it is
If it were easy, there'd be a lot more sane people in the world
And we all know it's not like this