Our Love was Lost

Dogs were sent out

Flyers were displayed.

But there was no sign of your return.

All I had was the repeat of the setting sun

Reminding me that another night alone was beginning.

All I had left was the dusty crime scene

Of the bedroom we once called ours.



And so I went to all your favorite places

Wondering into stores and cafes

To see if the person holding you captive

had released you yet.



And now,

The sorrows I feel are being forgotten.

The public that had once comforted me

has lost interest in my story.

There are others going missing each day passing

and finding them holds more promise

than my missing persons report ever held.

Man-Made Diamonds

The stars become overdone

And unwilling to help

As forever turned into tomorrow

My fate was left in the hands of the dirt

The ground cut me into pieces

And buried me beneath

Believing it was best to keep me as far

Away from the sun's melting kiss as possible

When I started to crystallize

My skin began to glow and turned

My blood turned into mirrors

And I was destined to become jewels

Ones set in rings and given before dessert arrived

But when I was born anew, I couldn't help but notice

That even after my facets had been reshaped and polished

The sky still continued to stare back blankly

while my arms fell asleep wrapped around a finger

As We Became Lions

The white faucet handles became green and frumpy

From not being touched or turned for so long

The cold water in my bathtub

Heated up to the memory of you

My imagination traveled far

As we became lions

Aggressive with simple intentions.

Thirteen, fourteen, nineteen years had passed

And the image of us sharpened

As my eyes are repeatedly kissed by first times

Second times, and third ones.

My neck blistered

As steam began to rise from my bath.

I picked my cooked arm up to run

My browned fingers through my brown strains of hair.

My mind was back to the golden lions

That have fallen in love for a few hours in the summer heat.

It isn't until the part where they go their own separate ways

That I realized that

I had forgotten where I was

And the splash of sudden reality caused my

My breath to crash against my ribs

And my head to sink below the surface.

Imprinted

She dove in

With no fear of drowning

Her lungs were already shattered

From the night she discovered another’s name

Written on the bottom of his foot

And suddenly realized

That there were other lips.

 

So now breathing had become a routine

Only the fortunate were lucky to have.

 

She floated in place

Allowing the seaweed to grow and take hold.

Their vines-

Careful not to startle her

Gently kissed her neck

And wrapped around her ankles

And her wrists.

 

They told her it was best if she just rested for a while.

 

Her mind drifted in and out of sleep

As the saltwater worked to bring oxygen

To the lungs he had knocked life out of.

She woke one night to find the bracelet

He had forgotten to get engraved

 Was rusting away.

But when she tried to catch the pieces of orange metal

That fell away,

The vines tightened.

 

When all the words in a letter she was holding

Tightly in her wrinkled hand

Melted away

The vines held strong

And she wasn’t able to take one final look.

But she didn’t care for the lose of exact quotes

Or the pain from the vines rough kisses

Because the ink and the promises for

A repaired future

Had already seeped into her pruned fingers

And became imprinted in her sleep.

To My First Love

I know you're embarrassed when your stomach flushes

The sweetest shade of purple.

And there's no need to explain body parts

Or to remove lint and eye gook.

Leave the crumbs in your teeth and forget

To scrub behind your ears.

I want to be able to tell how long it's been

Since our last embrace

By looking at the soles of your feet

And how long your nails have grown.

My cracks grow

Under the pressure of your chandelier

So let's say cheers with moldy glasses

Ignoring the bugs floating in our champagne.

I want to be the termites

That eat away at your bed post

Destroying notches that had been so deeply carved.

Yet, even as your hand wipes them all away

They become engraved just above my ear

So that my fingers can trace each valley that lies under the skin.

We sit apart. Watching a sundial turn into a grandfather clock

The newly formed hands mistakenly spin in the wrong direction

And as time ticks away, we devour

Every minute passing, savoring the taste of the past

that its given back to us.

We grow young together, allowing the moments to flood our eyes

And take us for granted

As we had to them so many times.

Street Lamps

Running

under hundreds of street lamps,

 I fall into yours

My melting skin drips

until I press against your metal spine

Once I’ve turned solid again,

I hopelessly pace around your base,

waiting.

Waiting for your face to die out

 so I may climb up high

And kiss the light back into your wires.

Romance

Her Body Bent awkwardly
As he fell in love with her scrawny legs
And hopelessly wanted to kiss
Every freckle that covered her arms
Her glazed eyes shifted and shifted to escape his
She held out her hand and as money fell into it
So did his own hand, tight and desperate.
He reached for her rough skin
That had willingly leaped into his arms the night before
But that worn-down hand
Was already pulling away
Before he could even remember her name.