i didn’t used to need you to convince me to breatheit used to come naturally:inhale, exhaleinhale, exhalebut then the weight of moments stacked upone on top of anotherand my lungs became afraidafraid they would seize up at just the wrong momentafraid they would disrupt the natural orderthe natural flowthe way things are supposed to bethe…
Category: Poetry
in the shopping mall
The man with the greasy hairwondersas he tries on the shoeif this is the way life issupposed to be. The woman with the overloaded bagsthinksas she looks at the Star(at Woolworth’s)that there were a few too manyUFOsto be so few. And the lights turn onand the gates are raisedand the gates are droppedand the lights…
Libraries
libraries sound like bookswhispering to each otherbeneath the rolling murmurof the air conditioning libraries are too brightfor the books to sleepand so they chatterrestlesslyof memories and futuresand worlds unseen dim the lights,turn off the fans,and let those poor booksrest 08.27.24
it’s oh so quiet
there are time when the world is quiet enoughbut there are times when it isn’tthe swell creeps up slowlywhile i’m not paying attentionwhile i’m otherwise occupiedwhile i’m thinking that the world is quiet enoughbut then it’s screamingand i’m screaming so loudlythat i can’t hear myself thinkthat everything is so loudand bright and janglyand all the…
okay, so
okay, so i just wanted to let you know that i hope it’s okay for me to have even thought about saying what i was thinking about saying if it isn’t, please let me know (although i feel like you won’t) (i feel like your lack of saying anything is because you’re so offended that…
in that order
in the morningas i leave for work:i start the car,back out of the garage,close the garage door,and put on my seat belt in that order i’m annoyed by the nagging chimereminding me to put on my seatbeltbut it’s part of the routine if i don’t hear it,i will wonder(halfway to work)if i left the garage…
once upon a time
back in the dayswhen i was an alien(before i’d crawled into the fleshthat now calls itself me): i was free to soaramong the stars this is the freedomi seek to find againhidden deep in the labyrinthof my soul inside the husk of humanityi pretend to inhabitthere is a mei used to beuntil i decided it…
monsters and jigsaws
sixth grade: i hid my monstersin the closetat the back of the trailerthat was our classroom it had once been a bathroom,when the trailer had once been a home,but now it was a storage areafilled with stacks of papersand booksand the sort of office suppliesthat only teachers kept i was wedged in that closethiding from…
Sarcophagus / Cocoon
the woman who was the motherto the son i used to beis now a shellfilled with venom and bile her ancient skin is a sarcophagusmine is a cocoonhousing a frightened butterfly and i cannot stay mooredto her millstonefor i am to take flightand fly away 03.30.24
enough about me
but enough about melet’s talk about youlet’s talk about how you’ve shaped an image of me out of clay and mud and the pieces of last night’s dinner and a memory you had a long time ago about a person i’ve never even metlet’s talk about how once upon a time you were hurt by…