its a cigarette singeing the fingertips
sirens crying to a deaf ear
a hammer smashed against necrotic flesh

can’t you feel that?


                                                      you are a wind that rails against the moon:
                                                                                    thousands of miles away
                                                                  she cannot hear and cannot feel you
                                                                                she can see but never touch

                                                    how do i feel after so much disaster?
                                                                         what world could we have?
                                                                                              what could we be?


old callouses thicken and spread
but the blood inside is dead
and the feeling fades
pressing again draws no special ache

bruises blooming like
lies from your lips like
nightshade in the dark

tell me the truth that i might feel the wind
the burn, the pain, the blood.
chip off the callouses and expose my skin
melt my heart to feel your infirmity

                                                    or else entomb me in the stone
                                                                                            of my own making.

My wrist is laid
down
alone
upon a table
large well formed feet
visible beneath the glass sheet
that's chilling to the skin
blood recedes from distant hand
until it gathers in a puddle
between the ulna and radius
a bruise of vague percussions
spreading up my little metacarpal
as it smashes vainly upon resistant stable
trying to steady the dancing toes beneath
a barrier so clear
the dust from last week's walk from work
are seen around a sole
that won't decide
where it wants to go
or if going can be defined
while blurred blue engulfs the cloudy witness
to my pointless movements
ontop
beneath
behind
the glass table

Hit me
Hurt me
Smack me
Bruise me
and you say you love me

All the boys that once lived in my heart,
they made bruises
and bruises gone
But you
made a wound
and wound however
leave scar

Too young for marriage
too old to stay with mom & dad.
But she hopped a bus following him West
and gave up all she had.

Skinny dipping in the salty sea
Infatuation in a rusty car
Plaid shirts and promises,
he was a thief that stole her heart

He gave her two babies
but she always felt alone,
between those wood paneling walls
his explosive temper was shown.

Beer bottles and ashtrays.
Tumbleweeds and sand.
Black, blue, and purple
painted by his hand.

So weak for so long,
she would cower in fear
Until she saw her children's faces,
filled with confusion and stained from tears

She left with just the clothes on her back
and two babies clinging to her hand
following the sunrise in the East
going home to mom & dad.

The cloud inspired me,
So I left.
I left without even telling you
And maybe I upset you
Or maybe not.
The thing is that once you leave
You never go back.
You walk, you run or fly
Towards him, towards her, towards them,
Towards us.
But wait.
We do not exist anymore.
We do not exist ever since I gave you a part of me
And left
Because the clouds inspired me.
But I took a part of you too.
A small souvenir.
A string of hair,
A drop of spit
Or a bruise.
Don't worry,  it doesn't hurt
And I know you have them too.
I saw them,
I felt them,
I caressed them
And I loved them.

The bruise has turned blue
But they still scream you.

She keeps her lips
sealed tight,
opening her heart to no one.

She keeps her heart
sealed tight,
letting her dark inside
see no light.

Touching words and
warm rays of hope-
don't heal her anymore,
but
make her bruises burn.

You burnt me
You've given me bruises
You've hurt me
So much it hurts to walk
You've strained me so much
I needed medical help

But I guess the best things in life hurt you the most
Food burns you
Exercise strains you
Sport bruise you
Shoes blister you