when he took words from me and stole my voice
i had given up the notion of having any choice

my life became a muted scene
i lived each day in a nightmarish dream

when he stole my words from me

reaching down into my throat
he pulled them, one by one by force

my words lay in a puddle on the floor

i left them there, not knowing how to get them back
one day he simply swept them away, they tumbled into a dark crack

now that he is gone, i've pulled them out, washed them off.
i arrange them on a page. but some words, i've noticed, have gone missing.

i wonder did they blow away in the wind? never to be found again?
or are they broken in the dust, waiting for me to find them,
to mend them with my hand

or perhaps they are smashed beyond repair,
and i will have to live my life as such
never being able to say all that i feel,
unable to find the words that can mean so much


--bruised orange

i can't write anything good until i've had my morning coffee,
the words are comatose inside me

i can't write anything good until i've brushed my teeth
the words are rotting inside each breath

i can't write anything good until i've taken a shower
the words will shine or be washed away

i can't write anything good until i've sobered up
until then all you get is
belligerent
repetitive
uncreative
pathetic

i have
some vague idea of
any possible universe
without any laws
designed by an idiot

designed by a diety
thinking of something much more abstract

I rember when we used to live
In a filthy little apartment
I had no money to my name
Just a box fan and a microwave
I was so poor back then... What else is new?
I lived from day to day
Worked my hands to the bone
Just for some food and water
I rember you said
As we sat on our bed
Looking at the color
Of peeling walls
"Kiss me til' I'm tired"
We were poor as could be you and me
Not a penny, nickel, quarter
But we had a piano and an old guiar sitting in the corner
We  played love songs late into night
Laughing at our lyrics

Our little bed
Was big enough
To sleep each night together
The neighbors would come knocking
YET
We loved
We loved
And swore and swore
We'd never love another
Those were the days
I must say
Although we slept some nights hungry
Dirt poor we were in others eyes
But rich in love
Together