Behind,
the season of snows and sorrows.
Bygone are its long frozen nights.

Spring brings
the promise of brighter morrows
and wonder to everyday sights.

I watch
as beautiful cherries blossom.
With them,
a light in my heart ignites.

maybe i leave it all till the last minute because some gritty part of me loves the rapid pulse of pulling back right before the truck turns the corner and blows through the stretch of hot asphalt i was just lying down and burning my skin on. it tears down the road, out of sight, and i’ve still got all my limbs intact. maybe almost failing feels a bit like cheating death, like how breathing feels after a contest of who can hold it longer in the motel pool, or how good a glass of ice-cold water tastes after downing a bag of potato chips. there are plenty of hours in the day. i could wake up at six or sleep in till noon and it wouldn’t make much of a difference. i’m just a girl who loves the taste of scraping by.

Cut, cut until I bleed,
Watch the blood flow out,
I feel
Relieved

Filled with hunger,
High with greed,
The blood is the water
And the knife is the seed

Watch, watch in silence,
Intrigued
At how the pain transforms into
An inescapable need

And now, now,
I am a fiend
Red marks all over my body,
I can tell you’re displeased

Come on, come on,
Baby please,
What else was I to do
When you ignored my screams

Sometimes it’s just nice, to not be nice

To not be inviting

To not be warm

Relief:                                                        ­                  that’s love.

Not having to perform,
Just be in my form

To not do anything about anything
When there is something in doing nothing
With people who despite everything, think
                                                                ­               I’m everything.

At last,

My stresses wane for but a moment.
Overcoming worry with silence,
My heart eases to a softer beat.
Everything around me becomes still.
Nothing but the pressing future can disturb me.
The past is finally laid to rest.

This is the time to recuperate.
On this moment I stake my claim to a portion of tranquility.

Before I move to my next goal,
Relaxation must come.
Endless worries are circumferenced by brief breaks.
A temporal paradox in the body of a mere mortal.
This will never end until eternal rest has come.
Handing down from generation to generation, worry upon worry,
Eons of troubles built upon the backs of all, released for but a moment.

Drip, drop, rain.
Drip, drop, rain--
Listen as the rain falls:
Falling on the new walls.
Cool returned; Heat gone.
Wash away the pain.