Stars always became tangled in her hair when she played in the sky.
They twinkled like glitter on her skin when she stood beneath the red, hot sun and glowed in the darkness of his shadow.

I draw with silver 'till it turns red
Not on surface, but in depth
I draw in time, in life, in motion
I draw in pain and create art

-

an icicle broke off from
the gutter of my porch,

stabbing my hydrangea
bush right in the heart.

i could reprimand the
shattered remains of an
icy spear,

and then bandage the
wound with a layer
of snow–

yet it occurs to me to maybe
quarter an apple with a
Swiss Army knife,

this pooling of thoughts like
pale blood seeping out of a
painfully frozen morning—

turning me white like
heavy frost over
so many early roses...


s jones
2021


.

The rose,
Staid on the porch rail,
Was forbidden in the parlor.
First frost arrived,
Enrobing petals in velvet,
Crimson thick and skin softened,
Bewildering. Those who stroll by
Behold,
But not take —

Who could handle
The scentless spectacle
Spoiling inside?

A private decay in a white blanket tomb,
A fading in a deafened hollow.
Next year the neighbor will plant
New roses to surrender.

In Summer,
Our love was set ablaze
Like the marigolds,
Red and yellow all throughout.

As if the Sun kissed a flower,
The embodiment of our fire--
It would grow until it burned out.

Sometimes I feel blue.
Sometimes I see red.
Sometimes I smell orange
Or eat yellow bananas
when I get out of bed.
Sometimes I'm green with envy.
I'm sure there's indigo and violet
Somewhere in there too.
But just because sometimes the only color people see
Is the color of your skin,
It doesn't mean you don't have
A rainbow within you.

"red pants
burning bottom
soft cream prescription."

"pantalonasi rosii foc
dos colorat
prescriem crema."

"les pantalons rouges
quel bel cul ardent
douce creme prescrite."

This is where our course had led:
On your bed,
In my head,
Your errant thoughts were read:
Why is it we so dread
Joining ranks with deathless dead
When they their mortal cares have fled?:
These thoughts you gave to me unsaid
As our blood was shed
Beautiful, crimson red:
To new horizons tread