the scales on his back
were part of his leather jacket.
His short legs ran in family.
His mother and father
were not gangly.
And even if he left me gutted,
I hadn't a thought
that he was cold-blooded.

is so hot
it fries eggs
on the sidewalk

His lips
so sweet
he curls them up
and shows his pearly teeth

His tongue
is a red carpet
rolling out as
as a chocolate barbet

There's a line
running up
from his lips
to his eyes
like a live wire
the sparks fly

He has me
in that smile
I guess I’ll stay
a while

to fall. My face is
on the ground covered in
dirt. Worms as my floss. It hurts
to stand up. I’m at a loss.

I have nowhere
to go. Not a thing to
do. Every day is the same. The only
thing that I change are my clothes
and my shoes.

I have nowhere
to turn. Everyone's left
me. I'm ashes in an urn,
sitting on the shelf all to myself.

I have nowhere
to reach. My arms are
cut off. Flat on my belly;
I'm a sucker like a leech.

I have nowhere
to run or no man
to run from. Nowhere is
a place that I've outrun.

where a garden shouldn't
bloom. Taking root in his bed-
room. His lips sprouting
fangs. His viper hanging in

the grass.  The man has
a heart of glass. He shook her
like a ***** collins. Rocked her
till her teeth fallen. And as

her belly swell
he told her sharply not to
tell. She watered this dandelion,
called him Brian. But as winter

cold snuck in the air
her hold on him did not fare. So,
this show like autumn leaves
blew out of town in one fell sneeze.

of my innocence.
Robbed me of my youth.
I can't unsee all I saw.
It’s planted in me/I'm the flaw.
Can't erase all I heard.
You can't make fly a dead bird.
Can't wipe clean all this,
with just a hug and a kiss.
Can't reshape the mold I grew in.
I can't glue back pieces broken.
Some were lost to men just joking.
I can't go back.
Can't move up.
I'm stuck.

I take when I leave
home. Pithy and sharp,
plucking the strings
as a harp. It has a golden

case, polished
and engraved. I lay it
down on wood from trees
in the neighborhood. It dances

pirouettes smoking
cigarettes. Lighting up
as a firefly every man's lie. It's the
torch everyone can see

from my back porch,
periodically. It fills my nights
with song. And strings
the days along.

off his back. Pull
the buttons from his shirt and
the snaps. Break all the teeth
in his zipper, till he's naked

as a stripper. Hang him by his
pant legs upside-down. Fry him
like an egg/paint him as a clown. Take
off his shoes and string them on

a wire. Gag him with his socks,
expose this rotten liar. Use his ****
strap as a sling. Place his oversized head

in and fling it in the fire. Roll him out
onto the city streets just like a tire. Stand
back to view the show. See the horror
and the shock of the many men he knows.