the scent of her sweat
cigarette ash on my skin
she says, "don't forget."
as she whispers to my ear
the story of how we met

a wan moonlight wades
the pond of the cold tiled floor
beaming existence
I could look up yet choose a
reflection of its presence

they don't know, nor care
they laugh over her battle
of despair and rage
of how she crawled to get to
that desk they see as her cage

I looked at the bay
it glared back streaks of sunrise
a soul at my shore
the fleeting burn tells my own
I have known those eyes before

enlightenment in
perceiving one's existence
comes with suffering
of knowing one's nothingness—
reason to stop existing

your dark ocean eyes
surpass the depths I have known
will your tides be here?
if I ever scared your waves,
will you want to conquer fear?

with faith I prayed at
your halls, awaiting advent
a priceless heaven
until they charged some coin for
a bottle of your spirit

long streets make tired feet
her words formed intersections
as if roads could rhyme
from the last dead end, i hope
to walk with her one more time

the flares of my eyes
are nothing but a warning
that fire seeks the air
found in sacred cavities
of your heart and memories

superfluous really,

my insatiable pursuit of ecstasy
and ruminations of slaughter
only to find my ferality
alone in introspective cacophony
waiting and waiting for prey.