Love in the Winter

Time slows

As his shovel slams

Cracks and destroys the ice

My breath freezes and

Shatters in my chest

As my thoughts stop

To a point of reversal.

Our bodies pass,

Lips alined to his neck

And musky smell

Of wood and age.

As my foot takes it’s final moment

In slow motion

I have to catch my fingertips

From reaching back

And touching

His wool cap and wrinkled jeans

I have to catch my eyelashes

From wishing they could be the razors

That hugged and kissed

His neck—his chin

And embraced his deep smile lines.

Through the Nights

This bed I lay upon reaches its hands up through

the mattress and ties the muscles in my back as if

they were laces in a shoe. Ones to be laces and

unlaced without mercy. This bed I rest my head

upon that once embraced the two of us now holds me

hostage as sheets wrap around my mouth. My legs

and arms unable to move as the sheets wrap secure

around them. This bed that was able to soak up all

of our movements and sweat for so long has turned

it pillows to cold pavement and whispers the mocking

words of “how can you stomach yourself” while lusting

after the tears that fall between the cracks. But with each day,

the knots loosen and the words are silenced as my dreams

of falling fast into my pillow of concrete fades to black.

Sometimes

Sometimes I want to rip the gold specs out of your blue eyes

Sometimes I forget to finish my wine and the life of the party

Begins and ends without me

Sometimes concrete is the only pillow I want to fall onto

After a long day of failing to get anything accomplished

Sometimes I wake up with sheets covered in blood

And torn apart teddy bears

Sometimes forever isn't even mentioned

But sometimes life is slow

Sometimes you help me find the reason

I'm able to disappear within my dreams

Sometimes it's your arms that keep the stars

From falling and burning me up

And sometimes who I am melts away

And words no longer make sense as they flood my ears

But you're always there

With your hands kissing mine

whispering until I am able to sing back the words you speak

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.