in the secluded shell
            of night
   crimson lips unseal
                                                                ­  
 cosmic stillness stirred
   flower ripples tinted
    with touches tender
      on quivering skin
                                                            ­      
       in moon’s breast
     burns a fire tonight
the primeval fire of passion
              in it melt              
   crystals of our emotions
               pristine  

            a night-sky
            bliss-soaked
             bejeweled

  stars hanging complicit

"dont let yourself break"
they say through hardened jaws
pulling their ropes tighter around you
never letting you b   r   e   a   t   h   e
because that would give you
too. much. power.
the moment you start to crack
they pull tighter and tighter
trying to keep your body together
but eventually
everyone
breaks
and everyone fails their test.

i come from a city of sleeping
ghosts that do not remember
where they were born: i keep
raw honey in the attic of my
mother's mother's funeral
home so somehow they
will learn to be bittersweet -
i only need them when
i'm craving tea, i think i'll
die before learning to sleep
without flowers and sugar
pressed to the cave of my mouth
as a raven hiding from
man's shadow
and the
night.

I am standing
on the edge
the void is within
my reach
my mind says
jump
but my body
just freezes

I wonder
what it's like
to live life
til the last minute
the last centimeter
will I
regret it?

When I'm standing
on the edge
the world is silent
it's empty
as if it's watching,
waiting for me
to jump
to stay
but it's too late
because
I
am
already
falling