Sal Gelles

Sal Gelles Dec 2013

I'd tell you every story
and every tale I have
If you'd ever actually
                                     listen.

But I see there's no      hope
in reaching you today.

So I'll just keep you
hanging there, lost,
where I want you,
and this grand scheme stolen from
                                     love.

O transient depth,
how moved am I
that you have moved on,
deeper now than I.

O transparent death,
how human are we
that you take us all,
and leave none behind.

Remember me, as you shall,
and I remember none
for none have reminded me
of what we once were.

                                      Entwined.

Sal Gelles Nov 2013

slight sanctity in blood

torn, shred,
and what was left, partitioned,
awaiting ripping.

ripe in sunlight,
dense from weightless life,
it sits, waiting.

there's nothing
to fulfill anymore, expectations
wait for disbursement.

distressed,
dressed to the nines, tens, elevens,
until the twelfth hour;

waiting, consistently
for another slip of their finger
to slice through skin,

porcelain, crimson,
beauty, pain, life, love, lingering;
waiting takes too long.

Sal Gelles Nov 2013

Blind Faith (Magic Hat Summer Series)

Unspoken adoration
for strength I can't see in myself,
that I see in you everyday,
and it builds, stronger and stronger.
I know if I couldn't hold myself up
you'd be glad to pick me up
and take me home,
and wash me off; revitalize me.
I can't see how you feel so vulnerable
and misunderstood,
when I've been watching,
silently, as you struggle to see it yourself.

*And as I struggle to ever get your attention enough to really tell you how remarkable you are.

Cases of beer costing $50, cartons of cigarettes, half-gone half-gallons of bourbon, and silence is all I was hoping for lately. The dreams over, and I'm left still dreaming that one day all the right words will come back to me.

Sal Gelles Oct 2013

cancel that last order

I'm sure I don't need another drink tonight,
seeing as I've consumed my fairer share
of spirits, fermenting grains, and *****.
I just can't have another tonight and I dare
try and not spill it out the way it went down,
as it's finally settled in, and I feel it all now.
It's sinking in, and the intoxication's bound
to drown me in something more than sorrow.
In fact, I may have another, but probably again tomorrow,
same time, same place, as per usual. You should know me by now.

Sal Gelles Oct 2013

(blank)

blank,
expressionless,
still and iridescent,
yet, motionless,
seen, heard;
inaudible
explanations
out of principle

to spread something you can't quite scrape across your face enough to show emotion;
unable to find words to use properly to ever say
what it is that haunts your beautiful mind.

Sal Gelles Oct 2013

farewell fair-weather friends

you're all gone
or dead
one of the two
maybe caught
in limbo.

it bothered me
for a while
but days passed
and i've found
it hasn't phased

*every emotional problem i'd had with your lingering somewhere in my head.
i just hope you're doing well in whatever it is you're doing anymore.
i don't want any calls, texts, or salutations. i just want you to know now you're gone,
and that i was there the whole time you were leaving, trying to pull you back in.

Sal Gelles Oct 2013

matchsticks

i feel the flame,
closer now, almost burnt,
and it lingers there;
between my fingers and the fuel,
waiting to cause some real damage.

a shudder at some burn
throws it all out; extinguished
in a second, all from a thought.
the task it was to be used for,
now completed. cancer's a ***** to get

*and an even bigger ***** to leave.