comatose but audible

a wallet sized reminder of
the hands I held
the neck I kissed
the lips whose taste I always miss

every word I write has already been sung
every memory kept
every ship already sunk
every bone of mine in a bed of sand
every story told
every soul content
every thought of mine to find escape
every dying wish
of every soul astray
every last request the seas have heard
sink as fast as every loaded word
from every liar's lips and every coward's hands
who sunk as fast as the most honest lead

any words of comfort I can find
I will keep in gentle kisses, yours,
those that I love, and ask for more
and want you, more than anything, to ask for mine

 is it selfish to say you're happy and warm?

be careful,
she'll break your heart with her perfect teeth
and outlined eyes that see into me
without her warmth you're sweating cold
without emotions in control
without a voice to calm the noise
with gentle grace and haughty poise

a second movement to her speech
a conversation lent to me
a gift of weakness no one's seen
afraid of treasure that can break
fragile crystal memories

mother night with shining eyes
a silence shared is talk enough
you clarify why things transgress
you tell me what I'm doing here
/

oh, stranger pretty, stranger kind,
a warm embrace would you provide?
a hand to trace my fingers through,
a mind to melt with mine for you?
a word of kindness and of age,
of fears of death or hope for change?
a smile that can quietly say
that I love you more with everyday,
I love you more than yesterday. 


/
poor sister dear is free to dream
a mind apart, a mind astray
with smiles tearing at the seams
I don't know why she would complain

/
dear mother light confines herself
to colors, leaves, and symphonies
she split her head to scratch the itch
like eggshells underfoot to fix
her brains and thoughts of crimson paint
on canvas stretched, and smiles traced
her features drawn in a gentler shape
her eyes in places mine can't go,
her mouth tells secrets we all know
 
/ 
Oh, brother please,
commit a crime
and sell your soul
to salvage mine

take no prisoners
taste your tears
count on one hands
remaining years
count on three fingers
what you know
and count on one
a bullet hole

everything is ridiculous, I've decided.
I've chosen to ignore, close my eyes for a little while and see if anything changes on its own.

drink up, beautiful
the night is young and lonely
and you're begging for some fun

white wine, balanced in your hand
meets your lips with the sweetest kiss
and the breath you taste is sweetest bliss
and your eyes burn up with confidence

every word you speak is lovely slurred
and every complicated choice is gone
and all you want to do is live again 
with smile that says that nothing's wrong

white wine washes from your lips the liar's stain
but you know the taste is tempting, you'll be coming back again

to break, to fall, to want it all


to sink or swim, but never win


to keep on flowing with the tide


to keep on blowing with the breeze


to keep your voices tucked inside


to see that she is never free

get me the fuck out of here





/
Nately's whore was standing right outside the door.

our hands were made to play these games.

 the novel wouldn't let him in
the novel couldn't let him stay
of all the moments in a day
he chose the hour stale.

monotony of setting moons
compares with that of rising suns.
breaking things just for the fun
compares to nothing else.

so many pictures in their frames,
so many stories in a room.
we share our stories and conclude
that breaking other people's lives
is the only way to live our own.

'Just do as I say', said one to the other.

'Just do as you're told', said the other to the first.

 quite fittingly, yours is not an intimidating name
you may threaten to buck and flail,
but yours is one that you've already tamed

you're not one to lose yourself to impulsive wind
or drift on unmapped waters guided only by emotive tides
you're a sweetheart, at heart
with a smile like time and a tempest's eye

when the portrait decorates the frame
it's time to start over again

 It needs to snow.

a spectacle of touch and talk
and a foreign drunken fragile heart

vessels dry and skin to bone
uppercase carved into stone

apples to apples,
dust to dust

treat the symptoms, hide the cause

Lesbians lick envelopes especially well.

greetings from Providence

*
*
 "He loves you not, I have an even number of petals."

 
we all recall the worst, the best,
but look behind and struggle through the rest

surprise me with a kind reminder
of what was wasted, what was shared.
what we measured with the waning sunlight
tracing lines in the dusty air.

remind me why I watched and waited
for the moon to reach its highest point
and slowed down every second that 
into minutes, into hours, joined



Time just changes what it can't erase,
smoothes sharpened edges into a gentler shape
time just seals the wounds
that memories open,
every puncture, every scrape