My head aches in curses known only to man
so you dare treat my mind with your trembling hands
and now faced with tonics from which I once ran,
I comply to the system I never could stand.

I submit to your will, for I'm told you know best,
laying upon the coffin for my brokenness
you put my anguish to rest
the finite consumption of what you can't test

The judgements you made
on the state of my brain
only show you're afraid
of the sum of my pain

A rose has no intent to harm you, but she does nonetheless.
With no desire to hurt, she can neither feel regret
You asked for more and it gave no less
But you left her your heart when you met

I had no reason and no way to explain
When I walked away and took all the blame
I could not describe the intimate pain
And you knew all along our love wasn’t the same

With petals concealing the thorn underneath
The shy doesn’t dare to demand be left be
For had she unveiled the pain behind the sheathe
No one ever would grasp for the branch that broke free

So quilt in her likeness until you don’t care anymore
And patch her with pictures when she starts to look worn
Then you’ll lose sight of her beauty, forget what you cared for,
And you’ll wander away, remembering her only for her thorn.

A thorn in my palm
etches into my skin
so the blood of a rose
twice as deep
will seep through
the sheer petals
of my facade

Breaking bones by saving hearts
the brittle only shatter
Denial of the loving stream
the only move that matters

Bones once broken remain more fragile,
the muscle tear grows stronger
Self-sacrificial though I am undeserving
and you'll be willing no longer

Nativity scene number fifty three
signs shout "Silence and Prayer" overhead
Publicly kneeling despite words we read
Innocent giggles sound profane instead

Selectively ignoring just to fit in
ourselves to the mold of our past
secretly telling the priest of our sin
but bowed in the chapel of glass

Curse me in your
bitter defeat
As I saunter away in
shameless retreat

I'll hold up my face so my neck
cannot break
And give no regard to your
heart that's at stake

I hold your breath
with cracking lips
against your ear
I emit a hiss

too soft to hear
but feel instead,
a buzz to echo
in your head.

I bite your tongue,
a careful test,
and breathe myself
against your chest

Your warmth absorbed
into my light,
that bitter, cold,
consuming plight.

Beware of whispers –
refuse to feel
when from your breath
your heart I steal.