she wept near the grave of her father,
knees digging into the fresh dirt.
her tears watered the earth beneath
her limbs.
deep sobs escaped her throat.
her father stood near.
not yet enough energy to form
and apparition for his daughter--
maybe some day.

he could see others pacing beside
their graves--wandering.
with a slight tip of the hat
to another nearby soul
and a sigh towards his kin,
he vanished with a gust of wind.
she turned, rubbing her puffy eyes
wishing it were him.
disappointed, she lays down
on top of the soil, six feet between her
and the freshly departed.

When I say that you smell like graveyard I don’t mean it in a negative way
It not an unpleasant smell
Not in the slightest
Its familiar smell
One that i can recognize from a mile away
And go “Oh there she is”
It's a smell that i look for in your t-shirts or jackets
The ones that i steal from you to keep until the next time you get a year older
Because hey
You did it
Maybe things weren’t good
But you did it
You’re here
Your smell is one of the few things that’s kept me alive when i'm on my own
A graveyard smells like earth
Like an accumulation of grass and dirt
You don’t smell like earth but in a way you do
Earth smells damp and dark and occasionally fresh and clean at other times
Earth is home
In a way you’re home too
I look for you in crowded hallways
I find you in empty jokes and silence and whispers
You are a two in the morning text message
When my life is falling apart over the same girl
The one who no matter how many times that she rips my heart of my chest
I always end up letting her come back and do it again
You’re there when it’s almost night time but i just can’t be in my own head anymore
You’re there even when your own life seems to be crumbling in your hands
Sometimes i can’t tell that i’ve done something to upset you
Just that you seem to refuse to look at me
Or that there’s silence
Which isn’t necessarily abnormal
But this kinda silence isn’t comfortable
It’s like being trapped in a blanket of what did i do this time
I never want to have let you go
I never want to have to lose you
If there comes a time where i begin to wear away at you
I can
You’ve become such an important factor in my life that i can go if i need to
Because you’ve been through so much and you deserve anything
Whether it’s a galaxy on a string or your own personal constellation
You deserve it

for

          whom

                         does

                                     the

                                                 raven

                                                              cry

                                                                         when

                                                                                      all

                                                                                                that's

                                                                                     left

                                                                      are

                                             graveyards

                                 full

                     of
   dead

                       souls.

and in the graveyard of my lovers
i take care not to step loudly
that they might not wake and see,
how cold it is.
that i might not smash their corpses still

i put an arrow in my own heart
to wrench it out with might
and little will it bleed, if at all

i finally dug myself a spot
so i too can wait for footsteps overhead
warm in thick soil
only asking to be wrangled from the dirt,
here and there,
to see the cold.
stooping heartily into my hole
i whistle merrily

Walking the streets from
midnight to early morning,
is not unlike walking through
a graveyard at dusk.
You can see the ghosts of peoples day.
You can hear the echo of their voices.
You can feel their presence.
While stalking the streets
you pass under the fog
clouding around hazy street lamps,
look into dark windows,
and you’re as good as alone.
Breath leaves your mouth,
swimming around you like
the smoke of a cigarette.
The faintest glimmer of life
echos the streets you wander.
The silence screams louder
than your own thoughts.
You wonder what it would be like to die,
would you stay a ghost on these streets?

All full of lies,
The graveyard is dark,
Echoes and cries,
Of words turning to black.

Heavy from a past,
No one deserved and no one knew,
Under the stones will last,
The tears, the laugh, the voice of you.

I loved you in ways so innocent,
And I believed that you were strong,
But when your heartbeat came silent,
I heard the failed notes in your song.

All full of pain,
The graveyard's weary,
Under the rain,
The thought of you becomes blurry.

Heavy, exhausted,
Of a heart that's bound no more,
The freezing stones have grown tired,
Of carrying such open doors.

I loved you in ways you'll never feel,
And I believed that you were sweet,
But you will not know of that chill,
That you have crushed under you feet.

You've found your way out of it all,
One you can't understand nor see,
You crawled away, I built a wall,
So you never come back to me.

You can get a grip on my arm,
You can pretend I know nothing,
But all you do to me is harm,
Because you're not even listening.

And on my lips, the words are hot,
Cause your smiles won't help them to fade,
Where do they go, those never shot,
Those I've kept from your masquerade ?

And the graveyard is heavy,
And the stones are moving slowly,
The name of you they will bury,
Along with all you tried to be.