Sleep called faintly, so
Whispers tucked me in tonight
Poems, I dreamt of them

But what is a poem
If a writer cannot write
Words that come to mind

Blankness overtook
So they reside in my mind
And not on paper

The night is old
And my eyes are heavy
Heavy, a puppy held too long.
You’d think I’d sleep. But the door lies open
Staring at me,
The threshold slathered in anxious thoughts
Responsibility, a feather, a mountain
The reminder is onerous and incessant
Inescapable, tied to the wall
Must sleep. Please!

i would like to burn your name off my lips,
make you take back every sleepless night i spent
sobbing over you.
the problem is you do not know about those nights,
don't know about the little pieces of my heart that break off everytime i see you.
don't tell me unrequited isn't love.
it's simply the worst kind,
a product of what happens when you give your all,
and it's simply not good enough.

there is an insistent pressure on
my back as i take
one step,
then two,
then three.
then for as long as i can
remember it is my thighs that
give away, it is not the
breathless touch of a hesitant
lover but it is the teeth
marks from left over
bottle caps at the foot of the
bed in my room.
then it is my toes,
they flex and dance
and sometimes they whisper
on the blinding white
tiles on my bathroom floor

it is 4am
and i am awake.

Ceilings up above me
Oh where do you lead us?
Cold air on my feet
Where may i walk?

Walls all around me
What is outside?
Door handles jiggle
But why can't i escape?

Black vision full of serenity
But why the nightmares?
Windows glisten with raindrops
Why is the thunder in my head?

Sheets lay bare on my body
But why do i feel naked?
Mattress forms to my body
But yet im all alone.

Dear Mirror,

It's  my bad luck that
you are just as broken as
I am.