When I was a little girl my dad assured me,
“Sticks and stones may break your bones,
but words will never hurt you.”
But he was wrong all along, because he didn’t know
You.

He didn’t know that you’d be gifted a tongue as sharp
as your mind. And how was he to know that beneath the glow of
your smile lay a row of teeth, ready to feast on my tender flesh.
Nevertheless, I’m impressed.
Because your lips, which once tenderly rested upon mine,
morphed effortlessly from a loving simper into a resentful scowl,
clinging to every syllable and vowel you
expeled.

And your eyes.

You’ve the kind that can burn holes through
my skin, capable of scalding even the toughest of souls
into recession. See,
I adored the way your eyes burned when they were
aflame for me. But today, I am meek.
My eyes struggle to met yours, for I learned that one solitary peek will
set me ablaze.

But still, I love you.

So light a match and tattoo my skin with burns,
for over the years I have grown and I have learned.
Sticks and stones may break my bones,
but words will never hurt me.

Lie awake
Goodwill paintings
Cracked tea cups
Wet nose kisses
From your kitten
Smile big you made it
Bask in reality you feel it
Settling in your sodapop veins
Cotton candy cigarettes fill your lungs
You swung from playgrounds into motels
And I watched you dropping weight
Like a broken highschool vending machine
Taking time between each menthol drag to
Talk to God about missing Mom
I wonder if she misses you back
She left you a note in your art box
But it's been locked since that day
You'll open it some day
Some day

Fate climbs trees while everyone sleeps at night but you;
She slips through the branches towards the star dusted sky;
Not a hair out of place or a scratch on her skin,
a nocturnal creature made to the likeness of the moon—
There'll always be a yesterday, but you remind me of tomorrow.

Your breath stained my skin
Your fingertips became a continuation of my spine
Your eyes told a story that your mouth denied
A bittersweet love song
I melted in the lyrics

I looked for your horizon today
In the shower I washed in your energy
In my coffee I craved your taste
Wrapping myself in your melody
Hovering in a state of denial

I saw your smile in a field of purple henbit
I heard your whispers in the air
On the wind I floated
My hair tangled
Searching for you in the shades of cascading sun

The hum of your heart beat echoes
Like the tread of my tires pounding on the pavement
You carry me to freedom
Like the image in my rearview and the miles ahead
An adventure that needs no map
I'd follow you anywhere

Tonight I'll wrap myself in a memory
Goosebumps linger on my skin
A craving that will have to wait
Until then

It hurts
The soft hands
Fingered. Snorted. Kissed.
The mouldy bread on the floor of her car
“Just breathe”

And let me know when you are back.
I’m back!

Oh, hey!
I wanted to go outside but

Frustration,
You should’ve come.
One shoe
One sock
Put it in the other room so I can’t see
“I think it should be there”

I don’t.
I know and I don’t.
Just a dress rehearsal
With his voice - not the body.
Just another rehearsal with him
The Math of Time.

It’s a blue-ish, purple-ish thing.

****
I hate today
I know.

And I don’t.