as i watch the candle burn
the wick disintegrates
wonder when it'll be my turn
to join the invertebrates
distant echo repeats
the sun sets ahead
the oak roots meet
the foot of my bed
a collection of scents
for only $9.99
down the aisle i went
for the three hundredth time
melt into a mold
a mindless distraction
an umbrella, rose gold
with hydraulic retraction
collect ash and soot
from time spent waiting
for a longing fresh look
at the end's very beginning
a battery powered candle
with translucent white plastic
burns surprisingly well
poison fumes are fantastic
i set it all on fire
and watched the polymers melt
i heard a copper choir
the burning heat i felt
i can't get too close
lest i run the risk
of singing my own nose
or encoding a compact disc

3 dollar kalimba
from the thrift store
only eight notes
never any more
3 dollar kalimba
plays a little tune
got it as a gift
of plastic hewn
3 dollar kalimba
heart shaped acrylic
lets the light through
of nothing in specific
3 dollar kalimba
that doesn't reverberate
too small a structure
to support sound ornate
3 dollar kalimba
with some added stickers
one of a rainbow
the other a faded picture
3 dollar kalimba
the eighth note is flat
but its melodies continue
in despite of that fact
3 dollar kalimba
how i love you so
your metal teeth ring
from high to low
3 dollar kalimba
forget what time it is
when i hear your sound
don't care what your price is

i love being outside
because i forget
what is inside
even just being
outside of a freeway
is much more freeing
than indoors' lack of leeway
the ground beneath my feet
textured with imperfectness
makes me okay to meet
a theoretical highness
live oaks are ironic
because of their name
they aren't really chronic
and i'm just the same
a grackle cries out
atop a power line
what are you talking about?
this forest isn't mine
a blackberry grows
during winter's reign
despite everything i know
i sink into the rain
a cat pounces upon
a small white rodent
i turn the laptop on
and write a poetic statement
cumulonimbus forms
shocking the ocean
one is forlorn
the other sits again
a bridge is constructed
connecting the valley
a heart is abstracted
another dash to the tally
a language created
means of expression
soil is sated
from decomposition
every beautiful thing
must be transient
it's making my ears ring
terra, stop the embarrassment

i wish i were a louse
so i could crawl about
and land on someone's scalp
rodion, exterminate me now
for such a time as this
take a final bow
before ceasing to exist
remove knowledge from within
a minimum wage job
blow on a dandelion
and turn down the volume ****
can the blinds be closed again?
from when i was a child
existence didn't seem so thin
the sauce is only mild
maybe i am mistaken
for i am still young
but will i feel the same
when the photo album's hung?
the opposite of a hobby
is a clean ceramic plate
the milk of human kindness
has gone past its expiration date
hand moves past the hour
writing within its margin
chronos will laugh
as i fertilize the garden
speaking to an empty sky
full of nitrogen and O2
if you really were here
couldn't i know, too?
mephistopheles knows
how long it's really been
spray insecticide in the air
an addition to the compost bin
don't mistake my words
for self deprecation
i simply wish that i
was unaware of termination

brush your hair
comb the edge
get rid of your blemishes
upkeep things
organize
nyquil for the idle hands
know you're wrong
don't say so
arguments are a lost cause
snapback hat
novelty
time for the collection fee
walmart brand
can of worms
guilty for the selfish hearse
you're alright?
yeah, i am
throw it in a garbage can
cellophane
selling pain
dip head in the ocean plain
saline eyes
retina sees
iridescence in the trees
shutter flash
phosphenes lie
LED painted sky
thumb moves past
impulse read
why don't you stay in bed?
travel blogs
saved to note
corkboard creaks, tilted down
birdcage closed
food poured in
aluminum paper thin
fields of wheat
eyelash closed
only at the tip of your nose
dusk rolls in
pavement hides
suburbs in your alveoli
inhale once
exhale twice
chew on tepid freezer ice

teacher erases
marker mistake
expo stains
still left behind
a tinge of red
under the blue

orange tinted bottle
poses on its shelf
tick
tick
tick
autoplay
auto isolation
tick
tick
tick
dulce de psyche
locked in cylindrical plastic
across a carpeted sea
tick
tick
tick
existential
educational
static rooted legs
cowering elastic comforter
tick
tick
tick
cranial jolts crest
water not drunk
and it will remain
needs dip
jewel hovering over head shifts to crimson
"go here"
X
"go here"
X
the great salt lake
was formed in a bed bound state
notification reminds
yet opportune remains deceased
an eleven pm google doc
tick
tick
tick
next stop
early morning

There are sometimes just too many words,
to use, to pick or say,
we think we have them sorted,
and then they slip away.
We know the right ones
and plan what ones to use,
until we get all flummoxed,
leaving ourselves confused.
I used to be good with words,
but they've vanished from my lips,
if you're good with words yourself,
please give me some tips!

Valentine's Day, I'd sooner choke.
On sarcasm, on cynicism, on smoke,
Pollute my lungs with tragedy.
Let me not hear sickening words,
Regurgitated love, deadened eyes,
Empty promises, reused lines.

A worldwide joke
That we are all in on
We all laugh along
Year after ****** year.
And you weep when love ends,
Falling away so soon.
As if the day
Would have fixed your issues