Kiss my neck
The way spring kisses Paris
Make my colors
Come to life

No matter how much she tries
Blushes and buffs
Dips and foams
Softens or scuffs
The resounding feedback is:
You’re just.. not good enough

She’s hungry & patient
A deadly combination
Slinking low, undetected
Hidden in her station
She’s locked you in
Presence unannounced
Step by cautious step
She’s ready for the pounce
She is a warrior, a hunter
With refined, lethal finesse
Don’t be fooled by her kitten eyes
The girl’s a lioness

The days pass & he lingers
I sip on the memory  
Of his calloused fingers
Like he etched his initials into my skin
I, robed in his jacket
That still smells like him

I dance whenever I recall
Our nights together
When we exposed it all
I was the sea
We took and gave
& elated, he splashed
Inside my waves

Fear gripped his heart
His head dropped, in a bow
mouthing anxious prayers
He wiped the sweat from his brow

Adrenaline clothed his spirit
Palms bloodied with astillas
As trembling hands grasped his rosary
& he pled with Maria

The crowd thundered with cheers
The stadium started to quake
As he stood and sheathed his sword
The ground began to shake

He waved his right hand to the masses
The applause rumbled in floods
Drunk on a prehistoric instinct
& a twisted thirst for blood

The beast snorted in
Fierce, wild & hostile
He lowered his horns for battle
Rage plumed from his nostrils

The matador, stood unmoved
Not showing the creature his fear
Yet as the crowd trickled silent
He allowed himself a single tear

The victory was already his
The animal would never glimpse tomorrow
Yet he swirled his cape before the congregation
& to his opponent shouted “TORO!”

Control,
It wasn’t hard letting go of you.
It was hard letting go of the person,
I thought I was when I was with you.

the light drips in through
narrow slats of our curtains
he rolls out of bed
another day of toiling
i see him slip off his pajamas
and pull his work pants on
he sees himself as nothing,
but i see a mighty man
girding himself with a belt
his shirt, a breastplate
his work boots, comparable to the caligae of Roman soldiers
his hat, a warriors helmet
and in this moment as
this humble knight stands before my bedside
i can only think
“other women can keep their prince charmings. I have found a true king.”

I must. Think of. A title
And I must do it now
It has to be eye-catching
It has to be WOW!
It has to have the perfect pop
To match my poems beat
It’ll have to be mysterious
Thoughtful and discrete
Been sitting here for hours
This is such a tedious stall
But as I read this poem I realize
It doesn’t need a title at all

Black bark looms
Deep inside the misty forest
Moss intertwines
With branches
We hike side by side
Until we realize
We are chanting
A haunting composition
Of quiet wishes
And confessions to each other
Naked in each other presence
Yet fully clothed
Naked underneath these branches
We whisper our hearts
To the earth and each other
Silently
We scatter the ashes of our brokenness
Beneath the leaves

If you truly love someone
You will delight in
Covering and healing their deepest shame
Never will you exploit and expose it more

My heart is beating
But I’m not telling it to beat
My nose keeps gulping in air
But I’m not telling it to breathe
Right now I feel dead
Though my eyes still blink
By Gods will alone
My life keeps going
Some purpose unknown
That still needs fulfilling
Who am I to question why I go or stay
Living on Heavens life support
He whispers “I’ll get you to the next moment. I’ll get you to the next day.”

Your love was like
An atomic blast in my heart
I wasn’t expecting that kind of power
Nor that kind of destruction

When you kissed me
Gravity lost its restraints
My feet dangling above the ground
Elated, transcendent
The clock wasn’t ticking
The earth wasn’t rotating
Length, depth, height
Were memories
Every dimensional fundamental ceased
When you kissed me

I traced the texture of your words
Like my heart was blind
And your voice was braille

You kissed my mouth
And brushed your tongue against mine
The land flowing with milk and honey
I tasted the depths of your soul
And felt the edges of the details of words
That never escaped our lips
But were confessed
With our beautiful exchange
In one embrace
O my love, you are my promise land