Heap not on this mound
  Roses that she loved so well;
Why bewilder her with roses,
  That she cannot see or smell?
She is happy where she lies
  With the dust upon her eyes.

To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of little leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know.
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe
The spikes of the crocus.
The smell of the earth is good.
It is apparent that there is no death.
But what does that signify?
Not only under ground are the brains of men
Eaten by maggots,
Life in itself
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.

If I should learn, in some quite casual way,
  That you were gone, not to return again—
Read from the back-page of a paper, say,
  Held by a neighbor in a subway train,
How at the corner of this avenue
  And such a street (so are the papers filled)
A hurrying man—who happened to be you—
  At noon to-day had happened to be killed,
I should not cry aloud—I could not cry
  Aloud, or wring my hands in such a place—
I should but watch the station lights rush by
  With a more careful interest on my face,
Or raise my eyes and read with greater care
Where to store furs and how to treat the hair.

“Being born a woman is my awful tragedy. From the moment I was conceived I was doomed to sprout ******* and ovaries rather than ***** and *******;to have my whole circle of action, thought and feeling rigidly circumscribed by my inescapable feminity. Yes, my consuming desire to mingle with road crews, sailors and soldiers, bar room regulars - to be a part of a scene, anonomous, listening, recording - all is spoiled by the fact that I am a girl, a female always in danger of assault and battery. My consuming interest in men and their lives is often misconstrued as a desire to ****** them, or as an invitation to intimacy. Yet, God, I want to talk to everybody I can as deeply as I can. I want to be able to sleep in an open field, to travel west, to walk freely at night...”*
-Sylvia Plath

all the streets i’ve walked become a neat little maze
under crete is a labyrinth
under los angeles is a cage
in my head forms a neat little map
cover your legs with your napkin
the monster in my head
says to cover my back

she’s looking for a sweet little life
she’s slumping over in her seat looking white
she may seem a little lifeless because she is
are you okay, are you okay?
are you?
no.

you put on a little periwinkle dress
you reign in your red hair with barrettes
now you shed the little periwinkle dress
in a gas station bathroom
to be less like a girl and more like
the smoke in your lungs
the pain in your heartstrings

you rip your red hair from the barrettes
it doesn’t feel good anymore
they don’t feel right
you go to goodwill and stare at the men’s button ups
in gaudy patterns and colors
shaken and sleight like your mind
some people’s eyes just chill your bones
you think it is safer to wear camouflage
in a city where pretty little girls
are devoured by minotaurs
when they wander out alone

don’t think about strange boys on the boardwalk
who are stuck in your sun glared eyes
the less you told
keep telling yourself it was wise
the lies you told
keep replaying through your mind
the wall rears it’s head
when he says the word *****
you ignore the warnings
you ignite the warnings
you forgot the warnings
hand him the lighter and watch them burn

they say they can feel your lightness
you tell them you are looking for a life full of light
and it lessens, as the sun drops
learn your lesson
they only want one thing
and you don’t want to think about it
but eventually they say what they really think
what they rashly think
what they readily think
the sniffing nose around the corner
you barely blink
the bull shows you the horns
you know you stink vulnerability

and you always get up to leave
just in time, the warnings
you disappear back into your well memorized labyrinth
your body and mind are warring
the minotaur is bearing down
the moments are fleeting but you carry the feeling
the moments are feeble but the fear keeps on teething

maybe tonight
you can do something different
try not to haunt
every place that you live in

STOP
CALLING
PEOPLE
"MOTHER *******"

DO YOU HAVE ANY RESPECT?

WHY IS "*****" AN INSULT?
WHY DO MEN CALL OTHER MEN "GIRLS"
WHEN THEY ARE "WEAK"?

WEAK?
WEAK YOU SAY?

A WOMAN BIRTHED YOU OUT OF
HER ******* ******* ******
SWEATING AND ******
IN A BATTLEGROUND OF AGONY,
SHE WENT THROUGH HOURS OF THAT PAIN
JUST SO YOU COULD BE CREATED.

do you really have such small respect
for the STRONGEST CREATURES on this earth?

**** IT UP, AND LOOK AT YOUR POSITION IN THIS WORLD.

WOMEN ARE NOT WEAK.

if you really want to test the strength of a *****
why don't you kick a man and a woman's crotch at the same time?

you can guess which one will be crouched
and holding their nether regions, gasping in
agony afterwards.

STOP BEING
SO
*******
IGNORANT,
AND RESPECT
THE *******
BEAUTIFUL WOMEN
IN THIS SPINNING WORLD.

Palms unite, a huddled crowd
And thumbs convene, as lips

A language native to the hands
This meeting of the fingertips

One by one (like stars) aligned
A congress of the quietest kind

For eyes it will unfold, unwind
Unheard, and yet, the word, defined

we drove down pacific coast highway
and stopped to bathe in the light
the ocean illuminated like a brightening lover
lost over the ocean, staring at the earth’s eyes

my fingers fit between your knuckles
when you fold yours into mine
and her smile feels real and bright
so i take a photograph to stamp it in time

nothing is wrong tonight
we have nowhere to go
so we just drive
that’s just fine

nothing is wrong tonight
we have nowhere to go
but we’re together and we don’t mind
everything is alright

chocolate cake fits in my mouth
and melts on my tongue
dissolves in my stomach
instead of sitting like a lump

my head is full of cigarettes
we mull over the afterlife
it’s all in good fun
the air is alive

the salt water kisses my hands
sand peeks from the lashes on my eyes
my brain doesn’t sit in it’s skull
like a *** of mashed up gum for a mind

i’m filled but not too full
i sing at the top of my lungs
it’s all in good fun
it’s all in good fun

i’m filled but not too full
i can touch the edges of the days to come
i’ve never had such little an urge to run
such little urge to run

i want to learn french,
but i suppose i've learned enough because
cigarette
is a french word isn't it?

Make a sausage out of me.
she screamed.

The color? I asked.
Yes. With all my colors.

Your nails pink
Hair gold
Eyes blue.

Skin?
Peel it.
She yelled.
It's torn
Tarnished.
Peel it
and make a sausage
In red.
She screamed.