Hues of green dance across the treetops,
Rolling hills meet dark shadows of the valley.
Beams of sunlight canopy the earth...
     radiating beauty,
     illustrating a serene landscape.
A mist blankets the cool air,
Fog pushes down as the trees fight to remain seen.

A figure appears on a bench,
     overlooking mother nature's art,
Still as a rock,
          statuesque and serene.
     Tranquil, quiet, somber.

A rhythmic pattern of breaths breaks the silence,
In, pause.
Out, pause.
In, pause,
Out, pause.
                    Steady, patterned, slow breaths...
          Synchronized with whispers of the unknown.
In, pause.
Out, pause.

The undisturbed calmness screeches to a halt!

The ground begins to crumble,
     Slowly at first...
     Quickly gaining momentum.
The bench and the earth become one as it begins its descent,
Mud and dirt,
Tree limbs and debris,
Brush and leaves,
               tumble down,
               melt together with the figure,
As the earth swallows it all,
     with one large gulp.

Mother nature claims another soul.

You fade...
Like a bruise.

Like the ones your mouth left on my neck and shoulders with its lustful pressure.
Your teeth, which brought moments of bright pain/pleasure,
Are now bared in an artificial, animal smile.

Your lips, which parted to ******* skin like it was salvation,
Barely part now to speak to me.
You whispered my name like a prayer.
You screamed it like a curse.
You sighed it in contentment,
And now you won't even speak it in passing.

Your hands, which half-playfully pulled my hair...
Now won't pause to brush it from my face.

All these parts of you,
None more telling than your eyes.
Those new windows, which once let me pry...
Now have blinds drawn tight behind them,
Leaving only a pretty, shiny reflection-
A passing, glancing imitation-
Of the passion they once held
When they beheld
Me.

No color left to them but the muddy colors of
Boredom,
And possibly mistrust.

You fade...
Like a bruise.
Like the one you left on my mind with your brilliant conversation
And beautiful, rusty prose.
Like the many you left on my tongue...
Which now can speak nothing but trite and meaningless words,
Which now can barely remember the shapes
Of all the shimmering, liquid phrases it spoke to you
That seemed so important at the time.

You fade...
Like a bruise.
Once lover and friend,
Now barely one
And never the other again.

all alone
im in my bed
lights so low
and my family gone

i washed my hair
scrubbed skin for hours to remove his touch
yet he
clings
on.

but im barely hanging on
and i dont think anyone else is
sometimes i think about you

and
         i
             am
                      wet.