The pressure of the blade
so harshly cleaves
me in two,
the black jagged edges
it imprints on
each surface
of expression,

The Love
in my peace,
The Hate
in my weakness,

Fright will
rip through this face
with his fist,

tear off the blemishes
and misconfiguration,

leave it a
“justice-beautiful,”

Staring into the mirror
with admiration
and an
uncontrollable
lack in forgiveness,

“You're lookin' good these days.”
“I hate you, you ugly *******.”

It's been cold this summer,
I'm inside this delicate house
more than I'd like to be,
Watching through
the glass window - nature is a moving
picture,
in my backyard
the lake shimmers -folding with the wind,
The gray clouds are often brighter
than I expect of them,
The water rises to my lawn
at times,
A swan swims through it,
Her nose always looks so
congested
- eating the grass or the worms
and possibly
the small bits of wood
from my fireplace,
She's heavy and light-footed
and those eyes are
pitch black - wings absolutely white,

I remember the day
you went into the middle
of my lake,
The kayak ripped through
as your paddle
skimmed the surface,
The prized fight
with that swan
you were so beset on,
no doubt you were better
for the job,
My canoe right beside yours,
Maybe I saw her
fly through the middle - Her wings
wider than anything
you could have possibly expected,
Or maybe she broke your neck
with her crest,
Then again,
Could you have flown away together?

Here he is,
deep beneath me,
A small piece of paper
folded over eight times,
sipping on this wine – I see him now,
running away from you – he's right here,
Always wanting more
until I lose it all,
Everything forever
but the crest on my arm.

And here you are,
right outside,
lost between
the shortening chapters
of my life,
As far as I could remember
You've been
just a small step behind,
Balancing on a wire
not knowing
which way you go,
Finding what you wish for
just a moment too slow,

And here I've been
more than once before,
standing alone
above the broken
hardware
on the floor,
A robot with a
soul of soft gold,
Tell me “hope”
and I'll hold,
Tell me “believe”
and I'll be free,
Don't say anything
and you won't
know how far I'll throw
for you to see.

Call me Summer,
call me lovely
whispers under
your sheet covers,
Whoever you are - You're burning
intoxicated and lost
above those Fall colors,
outside the background
with your bright on blue,
Our bare foreheads
dripping soaked in sweat,
Lady, never warn me again
what's up ahead,

because
in my veins
you're ablaze
all day,

all day
til the night ash
wash me away,

day till
specs of white
reflect
in your eyes,

away till you
rise
this time
to stay,

And when
that moon
shine bright
like day,

we smile
in the night
as the
sun fire
fades

I am sick,

like a cold, relentless belief,
A complete picture cut by its frame,
Covering another,
Stuck together with glue
that only tearing mistakes
will remove,

We scurry through the room,
We relate with a clank
when
we tuck under the shield,
we bump into each other
like battery
don't feel,
You and you
and you and you
and me,
no - just me,

Asking "please" but
help is hollow,
help is a hollow hole
you find yourself in,
hands reaching from muddy walls,
grabbing and tearing at your clothes,
naked falling crawling stalling,
fighting all the way down,
head-toes head-toes
its all the same anyways,

The race with a sinless self,
rocks from the periphery
like a hot haze
it trips me up,
eyes wide open but
white-light-blink
you fool me once,
not a lie you fool me once
and don't fool me again,
I won't feel you again.

I'm sitting still
not trying to catch butterflies,
My shoulder's for the moth
flying around at night
by the light,
ghost white wings and dusty - flying and floating in circles,
they're amplified amongst the insects
swarming,
I spot her flirting
with the candle fire
that just one burn
will ash of her body – I know,
she lands on walls and crawls
the steepest of angles
near the tides of brightness
on the bay,
she wades in ambiguous patterns
creating dynamic shadows
of mistaken misdirection - fluttering up and down
throughout the present towards me,
She'll land with all intentions
of devouring the clothes on my back
and I'll let her,
The summer sun is a hot one

a white apple core
with skin so loose
it splits
every seem
open,
The juice
flows down
the lips
like words
the liquid
drips
on your shirt,

wait,

I can hear it
behind the wax,
I can smell it
below the burning
plastic,
I can feel it
against our skin
as you
touch liberation,

You smooth the nexus
against your brow
and the eyes
too close
with ideals
they close
to a dream
of a not too distant
reality,
You're awake.