Playing my cards wrong like
Jim Morrison prom night bath,
lavender and drug fixings,
we all just hope I went
missing.

Sorry I only love you
until I wake up in the
morning.
I'm on and off like
sunrise sunset.

My mind is stuffed
in a box
in the attic.
I'm a heartbreak
addict.
Don't ever let me heal.

I saw your face today
For the first time in
Far too long

And it was somehow
A breath of fresh air

My eyes widened and I smiled
But my heart gasped
Aching for you
Aching because of you

God I love that face

More than I ever planned to.

Dead blood pours out of me
Out of this contaminated being
That is now me
Infecting my precious sea
My stale blood ruining it
Like it ruined me
I believe it's my heart
That makes this lonesome carcass
So utterly repulsive
Or maybe I've been in this sea too long
It has eaten away at me, now I'm rotting
And there is nothing left of me to see

i'm taking it more gracefully this time,
i'm learning to love
in ways that make you mine

i'm taking it more softly this time,
i'm leaving all of my
hard parts behind

i'm taking it more graciously this time,
i'm finding ways to thank you
for all of your time

ok
this is the part
where i say
"i am mismatched
like a pair of socks"

ok
this is the part
where you say
"that's ok,
i never wore matching socks
anyway."

Raw and uncut, the Poet
  sharpened his edge

The entry wound targeted,
  with fury bright red

The first cut the deepest,
  and clean to the bone

His wound bleeding freely,
—its suture unknown

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)