at first, the thunder cracks my eardrum.
the rain punches the soft ground after
being held back by the clouds for so long,
and I cannot see past the blanket of darkness.
as the storm rages on, the thunder roars,
but my body knows best like it always does.
my hands carefully craft a cup of strong tea,
and my body rests in front of the fireplace,
and the obnoxious thunder lowers its voice,
and the violent rain's touch becomes softer,
and I finally see the light peeking through.

I can feel the memories being pulled away
stolen in broad daylight
dragged from my consciousness
and
shoved into the compartment labeled neatly with your name

your voice stumbles its way through long hallways and down seemingly incessant stairwells
until it reaches a room with security so adept that not so much as a whisper goes unnoticed

your touch floats from neuron to neuron
getting lost in my space
until it is drawn into an empty corner
where it will stay tucked away out of my reach

I am losing you
piece by piece and moment by moment
exactly the way I knew I would

I am losing you, being robbed of my remembrances

but don't you dare, not even for a second, think that I ever let you go

~
connected particles settling

as evidence

of the blissful graze

the brush with chemistry

the aftersome

and there the flashover

reframing time

by the warm places

one isolated touch sends you to
~

Fingers set to graze
Like starved cattle or silver
Raised my skin to peaks

The birds are whistling
and the trees are listening

To the sway of a branch
and the ending of a decade
gone away with the facade

Of trickery wrought from calloused tongues
And seeds of deceit planted in the young

Come away my friend, watch the decade of the end
Again once more, before the flowers get sore
Bending into death, and ending their breath
Come away to endings, and the long awaited sending
Watch the decade of the end
my dearest friend

I hope the supple touch
          Of all the women I have ever loved
Cascades like rain
          Over every inch of this Earth’s terrain
Let the sunrise kiss from her crescent lips
          Chase away the nights gangly grip
Turning barren fields
          To blooming bastions
Of roots and seeds, nurtured into
          The smile underneath a weeping willow tree
Raise the bones of change
          From their dusty graves of grief
Discard your flesh and,
          Bare to me only what lies beneath

like a compass that has lost north
spinning without pattern, without end
my heart races erratically, unmoored
by just the soft touch of your hand

What is it that makes me miss
The lighter fluid on your lips. Toothaches from a temptress,
And her candy kiss. Arm’s elastics wrap me up. So foreign,
Is this human touch. Like a siren she swims and sings,
To lure me close enough to clutch. An ephemeral embrace,
That chews me out and spits me up.
Love eats hearts for lunch.