Fortuitously my memories are stumbled upon,
Like smooth river rocks beneath the flow of a gentle stream,
Triggered by an anomaly in the day,
A bump in the pavement,
A loud bang,
A missed step up a flight of stairs causing a momentary stumble.
The provocation for today was innocent:
My feet pushing against the artificial pavement--the treadmill
Memories seemingly harmless take a dark turn.
I'm now running down memory lane,
A dark well once thought empty,
Gushes forth with a violent burst.
Some memories, especially violent ones, call for severance,
Or the mind will deteriorate.
Heavy breath, sweat cascading down my brow,
This is the only time I can feel her talk to me,
You see, she and I are disconnected;
And we have been for quite some time,
I increase speed, not listening to her cries,
She pleads with me to stop, I ignore her.
The only acknowledgement she gives is a stabbing sensation,
She reminds me I have a heart and lungs,
She tells me I am alive.
My body and my mind are two separate beings,
One within the other,
Like oil and water,
We do not mix.

Oh my love,
Let us hold each other,
You in my icy embrace,
I in your thorny arms,
A poison arrow pierces my back,
From the target you secretly painted on me,
You take a dagger to the heart,
A concealed weapon you didn't see.
Oh my love let us lie,
As we bleed out in silence,
In this puddle of love-red distrust,
Feeling nothing, let us die entwined,
Our bones will tell our story written in the dust

A gentle push
Towards the harsh terrain below
Is all I need
To let this go
Love was never the question
Being alone is the answer
I was not afraid
Of this crippling disaster
We thought it was love
But I'm sure it's loneliness
Just push me out
Of this poorly built nest

Quick to forgive,
Slow to heal,
All I wanted,
Was something real,
I give my all,
And ask for nothing in return,
Is it any wonder why,
I slowly smolder and burn?

Original Cheese,
Wishes he was right,
Jealousy gets you embarassed,
In front of everyone,
Instead of attempting to call me out,
You could've learned it was me,
And what it was all about.

Socrates consumed Hemlock,
Cleopatra embraced the Asp,
Alan Turing ate an apple laced with cyanide,
I, like those before me,
Have picked my poison;
An absinthe-eyed, quicksilver-tongued boy.
He was unsettled when I answered with the truth of his query,
Yes, he is poison,
I knowingly and willingly consume every drop of him,
Not all toxicity is solely adverse,
Radiation treats cancer,
Venom in low doses is an antidote,
Ethanol relaxes muscle and numbs the emotions.
He is my poison and my antidote,
He is the corrosive acid that dissolves gear-stopping rust,
I, in kind, am the poison apple of his eye,
Or so he says,
And so, we two, bask in the destruction of ourselves,
Consuming each other's pain, insecurity, madness, and lust,
Why is it that he, a poison, is the one I trust?

Clinging to what's left,
The debris of us,
Floats down the calmed delta mouth,
A night of turbulent storms,
Has laid waste to our ship, "Golden Heart,"
Mighty was she, but no match,
For the storm of lies that welled up,
The waves carelessly consumed us whole,
You steered us right into the storm,
Instead of running you faced it head on,
Ramon, a formidable captain with the best of intentions,
Chose poorly that night,
Yes, he'd sailed that course a-plenty,
Assuming we could skip port and rest...
But this night was different,
The air was abnormally still,
I questioned the Captain's choices,
I too had sailed these waters,
I'd seen these types of clouds before,
I'd smelled this still and seemingly calm air,
A maelstrom of despair, doubt, and, anger
Violently rocked her,
We couldn't keep the sails,
The mast snapped like a twig,
We were at the black water's mercy now,
Two beloved crew members float lifelessly face down
Their skin, pale and bruised from the rocks,
Which tore into the ship's bow,
The black water, now satiated,
Basks in the afterglow of our destruction,
The warm golden sun rise brings no comfort,
It illuminates the debris of us, laughing in our faces,
The ship is gone,
We managed to lash together a few jagged pieces of love-red deck,
She was beautiful, a pain to navigate, but beautiful nonetheless,
All that's left of her are us,
Clinging to each other with calloused hands,
Cold, damp, exhausted, and bitter,
A waterfall is up ahead,
Nothing but a few pieces of rope and broken wood,
Stand between us and the jagged rocks below...