I promise you,
this chest cracks
from the force of my gasp
scrabbling every ounce of
frigid mist I can
warming it with time,
face turned black from pressure.

wait for the release, darling.

it may not thaw
the distance between poles
but I can whistle something sweet
just like you taught me
when the summer was a running river
and our hearts
were not these
frostbitten bird wings
strung out across the dunes

I burnt my harmonica
in the coals you left me
it could not play the blues

we are grey
with nothing between the static
a monochromatic flicker
on long-dead television sets
shattered-glass hope breath
sputtered out in the slip-shape of smoke

my wrists are broken
from digging you out of yourself
so

let’s take a minute to mourn.

let’s see if I can hold the soft silence
on my sharpened shoulders
and keep it from breaking

bring out your paints.
show me how the only thing I couldn't see
was your brushstroke
your choke-face
your pathways
your patched-up heart strings
those holy rolling white things,

I would give my backbone
for another look at your insides.

because young men are never good to their bodies.

i can see where we stood,
slanted tin sheets on the second story,
commercial street lit up with excitement
brought about only by the prospect
of another friday night.
the moon wasn't out then,
but if you laid back just right,
the metal and the cold and the stars
made it better than the moon,
and that's what i would call it
if anyone ever asked.

(now) i can see where we stand,
like marble giants skipping disci,
or stones by the lakeside,
where august on the shore
can't throw enough
to change the season,
and as much as i'd like to blame the kid,
it's not his fault summer isn't here yet.

and there's some weird comfort
in being around you;
maybe it's the crazy talking,
or whatever was in that bottle,
or maybe it's because you smoke
the same cigarettes as i do,
or because you ditch money
faster than the interest rates.

*******, it's empathy.

you've been sad like i've been sad,
and that's what it boils down to.

A lion tamer
Couldn't keep me down
A doctors drugs
Couldn't drag me under
Nothing provided
By my society
Could tame the wild emptiness
Some do call the sea
But it's inside me
Inside my soul
the waves do roll
and I become the sea
Calm, vast, empty
to those who do not see
but for those who notice me
They spot my rocky coves
my floating islands
of discarded goods
They spy the world in me
Wild and outrageous
Untamed
Alive

Crumbling
You crumble me
Between your palms
I'm rubbed ragged
When you pull your hands apart
I slip to the mossy floor
Nothing but dust
You do this to me
And I trust
Trust that you mean the best
Trust that you'll retrieve me
From this forest underfoot
Pick me up
Make me whole
But I've crumbled
There's no going back

One day
You tell me
We'll run away
That's what you say
I don't trust you
Your promise
Already broken
Already gone
If we were to run
Where could we go
No car no train
No **** money
Weighing down our pockets
Empty we would roam
And alone I'd go
Alone to go home.

My daddy told me
As I reached for another
Cinnamon heart
A moment on the lips
A lifetime on the hips
I still don't know what to think...
I might laugh it off
Or maybe get upset
Most likely I'll nod
And think about a time
When you would love me
Unconditionally

In that moment
When he looked at her
She seemed small
Like a child
Sweet and innocent
Well loved

But then

She turns her head
Away from him
And the shining metel
Embedded in her face
Catches the light
The dark under her eyes
Pulls him in
Like a black hole
The sweet child in her
Is replaced
By her cold hard shield.

Weary brittle bone
Shuffling feet
To the beat
Of the dial tone

Smoke sticks
Full of cancer
Ride in enhancers
Of death for kicks

Tantalize our skin
With jewels and lust
Always a must
Going again & again

Testing ourselves
Wanting stories
Can get gory
Tearing books from their shelves

*I''ll never stop