On the Knees of Seven Words

Bile bubbling up the slit of my throat
Beside seven words that I'm choking down:
You are the one that got away.
Knees against tainted linoleum
I do my best thinking while powerless,
With you I always have been.
They're pushing back up, cannot be consumed
Those seven words I can't accept
Rupture between my lips in black.
My tongue is being attacked by teeth
I do my best thinking while powerless,
With you I always have been.
Droplets of arrow-shaped longing,
Messier than blood, pus, spit
Coating every surface within legs' reach.
Eyes closed to the mess I've made,
I do my best thinking while powerless,
With you I always have been.

Above Alive

A brushstroke, a fume, a painting, a price tag
Dictating numbers in ink too dry to quantify
The rush of breathlessness when the air grows thin
And the live energy that clouds can share with fingertips.
A note, a crescendo, a song, a label
Attempting to describe what is alive as stagnant
But in your D minor lives a flock of double-winged birds
Without stomachs, without eyesight, only flight.
A word, a sentiment, a novella, a synopsis
Overlooking the city of substance which lives between the lines
With glowing steel too tall to understand
And it close enough to the sun to set every inch on fire.
A bolt, a wire, a sculpture, a photograph
Losing the curvature, the depth of all that's intertwined
As growth takes the shape of the moon
Complete with the reflection of light set to stun...
No, a photograph could never capture you.

This is What I Remember

I kept crumpled pieces of you hidden in the niches of my clothes.
Dreamed about all that you entailed.
Lapped up your exhaled air as if it could save me.

I used your body to fill the off-white rooms of a empty house.
Echoes absorbed by your shirt on the floor.
Silence banished by labored breathing.

I had yet to lose all of the saccharin innocence that kept me so thin.
Bones were still growing then.
Parents were still vaguely loved.

I had yet to lose all of the saccharin innocence that kept me so thin.

Too Cold, Too Bright, Too Humid

Dear lovely, my sweetest apple blossom,
You are the pearl in every single clam,
Oh, my adorable little pocket possum,
You are the softness of every lamb,
You are spark of every fire,
Therefore our ties I must hereby sever.
You are the harmony of every choir,
And yes, that's right, dearest, we must never be together.
Not because I don't think you would make everything better,
After all, you make me happier than a rabbit in clover,
But because, quite frankly, I'd rather complain about the weather.
You take away my melancholy and it has to be over.
It's true, my princess, your presence eases my mind into zen.
So I never want to see you ever again.

Open-Ended [Air] Without Any Nerve [Endings]

Fingertips!
Numb to the touch but they're feeling so much
Every nook of your skin to every cranny of mine
Don't stop!
You might be imaginary but you'll do just fine.

Darkness!
Drawing you near and discouraging all fear
Treebottoms coated in the most sexy still
Don't look!
Only feeling them is half the thrill.

Breathing!
Just as I like it, staggered and ever haphazard
You don't get stability while taking this chance
Don't worry!
I'll protect you from the sharp edge of romance.

Separate!
I'm just a toy and you're a big invisible boy
Plastic and secret do make a good pair
Don't fall!
Treat me like a Barbie doll and never care.

Notation!
Do, though, remember this September
As the month you succame but didn't succumb
Don't forget!
That you finally met a woman properly numb.

Two Ears, Four Paws, Etc.

A mouse.
Wide-eyed and limp in spirit
Buried deep within the walls
Four paws scratching
Exactly when you need silence.
Buried deep within the left ventricle
Scratch thumping away.
A mouse.
Worn thin and soft spoken
Dancing within your secrets
Sneaking beneath the pantry door
Oh, the lack of light
Twenty teeth rotting
Chewing your artisan head hollow.
A mouse.
With the love of each of your goodbyes.
With the secrets and the stench of old kisses
With the shaking movement of your eyes
With the jarring shifting of near misses
With the confusion of the sweet disguise
With all of the the fluidity of the listless.

This Fire Wasn't Cute, and It Wasn't In Our Hearts

You were my brilliant disaster
And you were my favorite disease
I do apologize, my sweet venom
For never making things easy

Could I Ask You a Huge Favor?

Turn me off.
Sympathies like coins.
Plink plink in homeless cups.
But desired even less.

(After all, with these you can't purchase:
Liquor.
Wendy's.
Or portable electronics.)

Turn me off.
Compassion like health food.
Crunch crunch begrudgingly.
But desired even less.

(After all, from this you can't glean:
B-12
Lean protein
Or useful roughage.)

Turn me off.
Care like an old mattress.
Free! Free! Take it off my hands!
But desired even less.

(After all, with this you can't make:
A giant sled.
Padded walls.
Or sweet, sweet love.)

Turn me off.
Just turn me off.
Push, push, I need this so much or even it's only a little...
I desire it even less.