when the air is cold
but the sun beats brightly
i am caught in the middle
of a land war between
two perfectly balanced forces
wherein my body
is the battlefield and
my mood is the spoils

pull don't push
to reflect on the glass
several months removed
realize what you lost
and what you gained

how your ambition changed
how the light has brightened
how before you never knew
and now you're wiser

to know that water is
air to the creatures in the
sea and that this is the
act of inhaling when asleep

we see best when our eyes are closed
but you're too afraid to try it

when you coat yourself in silver
and shut your eyes
and fly too high
and breathe in rain
and tell your lies
you oxidize

your skin turns blue
and rots away,
exposing bones
bleached like snow
you've flown so low
they'll never know

so you hide away
and cry for help
and no one comes
until you've died
deep in your cave
in need of light

you strike on stone
and light a match
and burn yourself
to light the way
back out of hell
and into life

you know you can't
make everyone like you
at best you can hope
they'll tolerate you
never hate you
they're always late

i've spent so much time
thinking about this
and how it keeps failing
and whose fault it is
and how to stop it
and how to return from it
and i think i've found a
solution

to break a death spiral you
must first disengage
state intentions
be friendly
care for one another
at arm's length
love from a distance

triangle twenty
trips around the sun
chances to breathe
to start anew
remember my mistakes

when you set up in
the weeds i'll
ride the sun to
the nighttime and
say hello to my
most beautiful secrets
and introduce the ones
you'll never forget

when i'm feeling blue
i'll play in the puddles
in the road and
take my time in
the rainfall until it's
time to head to bed again

the sun will catch us off guard
burning away the temporary
cold, offering up a new
chance at being brave
in the face of that which
we don't recognize
and may never know

and then we'll leap
through triangle twenty
and ride the waves into
infinite truth and hope
everything turns out okay

we got married under wreaths of roses
wilted and wrapped in white lace
spinning in the dark
no gravity to pull us down
no force to slow us
no air end the roll

wed in false names
signed in ****** blood
sealed in false vows
caught in a trance

we lived so happily
for years on end
in a beautiful white house
with beautiful white walls
and bleached grass in the yard
and bones in the garden

the sun's in the sky but
someone sealed the moon
in the floorboards

i am not hidden
covered in newspapers
draped head to toe in red
head veiled like a fugitive

you are not hidden
you are blue, white-tipped
like a mountain in the snow
surrounded by a vast sea
with hands that can break crowds
but don't bother doing so
with a gaze that fells clouds
but it isn't worth the time

you're all alone
but for a million waves
and a thousand stones
and me