I’ll show you the ropes,
Step one: tie a noose

© Matthew Harlovic

Your neck is bruised and red and raw,
dear dream.
Your pulse is feeble, last that I saw,
dear dream.
Your eyes, they have lost that light,
dear dream.
Your soul has given up this fight,
dear dream.

This you know in your heart,
dear dream.
That you were never meant to be a part
of the soaring hope and flourishing start
expected of you by them,
dear dream.

The noose,
It tightens around your neck,
dear dream.
They’re telling you you’re a wreck,
dear dream.
You are given marching orders, ‘
dear dream.
You are given reckless borders,
dear dream.

The noose,
It tells you how to feel,
dear dream.
It tells you when to heel,
dear dream.
And when I tell you to run,
dear dream.
Catching you will not pass for fun,
dear dream.

The noose,
Waits for you in light and dark,
dear dream.
Waits to douse that spark,
dear dream.
Flee, my dear,
dear dream.
Hide, my dear,
dear dream.

The noose,
It waits patiently for its due,
dear dream.

There’s no “I” in noose but there’s one in noise

© Matthew Harlovic

The musician cries
As he sings a sweet song
He feels the same way
As he has for so long
The feeling of love and
The feeling of worth
Has all been crumbled
And put in the dirt
After a show he gets peace of mind
Finding room to breath
But still not all are kind

That night they caused him to crack
Pushed him to the limit
And that was that
He wrote one last song
Recorded it there, played it outloud
In case someone cared
Noose made from the strings of a guitar
He walked off the staff
And stopped his metronome heart

I.


Her name was Anne
She had pretty eyes
One morning
She was not able to open them
When liquor shined in her throat
And chased after the pills

II.

I never got his name
But I heard he planted
A shell inside of his head
Pushing his thoughts and dreams aside
To make more room for itself (to grow)
Until they spilled red on his pillow case

III.

Her name was Lily
She was expected to become
Everything and perfect
But the pressure around her neck
Was tighter
Than the ones on her shoulders

IV.

Her name sounded like a constellation
You see on a summer night
She dipped herself into the ocean
And pretended
That she was a mermaid
She pretended
That she didn’t have an angry father
She pretended
That she didn’t have a crying mother
She took a gulp of the ocean
And the ocean
Rose and swallowed her

Hold me the way Arizonans hang to clouds
during monsoons,
The way bards capture
moments into creation,
The way wings catch air.

Run your fingers over the scars
on my skin you never knew about,
Don't ask,  just feel.

Whisper sweet nothings into my ear,
Make me believe in a better time than now.
Show me
that this
is only
the beginning
to long nights
spent in each other's
breaths,

Breathe me.

Kiss the darkest corners of my mind,
Take it all.
Take the pillows, the mattress,
The clothes,

I only want you.

Replace the noose around my neck
With your arms,
Tell me it'll be okay.
Lie to me.