games

talk of the night falls apart
tastes like gas
we bow like minions
for plastic kings
look at us, raising our glass

normal's insane
tracing stars out the window
a night game
and some moments
are a burn
and we
take another left turn

our parachutes become
luminaries 
worn and see through
will not carry us home
defense is broken

forget what we want to be
that and now will 
never intersect
wearing red for the party
will cover your beautiful
bitter injustice and 
will never let them see
your next step

secret battles in courtyards
ice on kisses in backyards
and the lavender color 
of the sky will be a color
you will never see again

it's all just a game
 

midnight musing

I am not
afraid of the light
or of the fact
my shadow disappears
at midnight
my eyes know more
than my lips will
ever tell 

Lilah

Lilah likes the rain and pretty boys
she'll ride in his old truck but she's not
fooling him 
he knows where she wants to go

his hands are warm
her heart is cold
she's in his eyes
but her lover don't know
that she never looks at him
this way

Lilah likes to play
keeps her kisses out of reach
wants to feel forever seventeen
because she'll never feel this way
again

Lilah likes to walk away
her questions are a chiseled
icy wind
eyes like Christmas in July
Lilah goes to church
but never prays

she's in his blood
he don't stand a chance
time is a ransomed midnight
stolen dance
she'll drink from his cup
but it's never full enough
cause Lilah likes to play with love

Stuck

 I am stuck
on you
all the lines
the places I can't 
touch
I am in love
with the words
that form on
your lips
before you
set them free
I am in awe of
your silence that
wraps us together
and folds the day
 in perforated perfection
I am amused 
at your elegant hands
that love and command 
what they want
I love that you 
know what you
want 
and love what you
have
and how you 
make me yours without
a word
I trust your capability
and that my heart
is safe with you
I am high from
the magic light
in your eyes
I am stuck 
on the way you
make morning coffee
and I love the time
you spend in
my mind
I am stuck on you
that you don't 
give a damn to
be caught in 
the rain
I don't mind that I
fall a little behind
so you may lead
I am stuck on the 
slow dance 
of our life 
and I can never say
too much or be
too quiet
I am in love with 
your foot fall
next to mine
I am stuck 
in the place
I always plan to be
and happy that your 
heart is beating
existing
in this life
that's anything
but stuck
next to me

more than ghosts

we shredded their doubt
and left their thought bruised
we shattered their bone of contention 
and left their crookedness 
in their own selfish lungs
the burning house smudged
the light of the smallest firefly
but we are more than ghosts
our spine is sacred
our walk is perfect
our paths deserved 
hands are seasoned well from prayer
we are not afraid of shadows
or the sound of our own voice

where were we

I have misplaced the dot
 above the i
my fingers tingle
reaching and reaching
my blood flows faster
and I can't understand
the chaos
nothing's happening 
and yet I am dizzy

I am swimming in darkness
and the sun that just passed
my universe hours ago
is still burning my skin
my mind, my very existence

I can't remember our last kiss
did it taste like a peach
did I lean into you
or you me
were my hands inky from 
poems that steal my time 

were we at the bottom
of what was left of us
or was it just time 
to change clothes

linger

I lingered in the thrift store, my hands deep in vinyl
our past was releasing through my head
lyrical
thoughts and memories were whispering in my
mind like broken eggs slip through fingers
years lay behind, I was falling backward
into emerald green eyes of my first love and 
the feel and fit of summer sun on our skin
intoxicated by the lingering sweet innocence
reservations melted, left and right dissolved
but we never felt lost
we were living a dream, loving reality
with runaway hearts and sky blue dreams
the days were too slow and too fast as our
heartbeat could have fueled a train
perfect magic 
once you love this way the taste of love will
never be the same
summer slipped away into a crimson colored 
atmosphere
as you slipped into the future without me
autumn leaves sparkled and decorated the brilliantly
staged goodbye
and I was left wondering how much of me did I
leave in your eyes
because you still linger
in mine

choosing sides

wedding of words die in the water
swallowed whole by pretty summer lights
fingers are pointing
ravens are circling
we're choosing sides


rain is romantic for kisses on fire
the moon carved from honey
dreams dangle from a fictious
high wire


well running's for runners
bridges for walking away
sometimes sorry is sorry
and don't mean a thing


false love is a rebound
a passing flame
and to the one that holds you
you're a faceless kind of fling


leaves you fighting with shadows
craving summers that don't fade
ruining perfection, changing your game
familiar is over
don't let hate beome leftovers


those who love you will get you there
as you leave your soul
in trails on paper
like pretty summer fireflies

Quiet Boy

he has a slow Sunday kind of smile
she'll fall in love with the sunset 
in his eyes
he's a poet, pen for a weapon
quiet boy
purposely getting lost
but then
he's killing midnight
getting dirty for a dream
he's eating moonlight
dying from the poisons
of youth
know it all's tread on him 
lucky to be graced by his presence
one more day
he ponders the moment
wonders what Bob Dylan might say 
too many illusions getting 
in his way
fragile heart's antiqued on concrete
end meets end
middle incomplete
but he's easy to love
disappears too easily
he knows she loves him
so he'll leave quietly
the only place he'll be captured
is in her smile
as she's sleeping

and this will be us

I will make spaghetti dinners and serve them outdoors on the patio
starlight will always fall on our bed and we'll have a ballroom for dancing
we will never drink to forget, only to celebrate
our ribs will ache but only from laughter
loving won't be just physical but spiritual as well
summer will always feel like home
we'll catch fireflies at twilight
the grass between our toes will make us feel alive
our hands will always entertain life
we'll live poetry, write movies and eat the words of others to show our appreciation
good music will make us drunk
and I will hold you like the one I would miss most and let you go knowing I won't have to
we won't be in love with the past because now is too good
we'll carry one another in our hearts because that's the perfect cage
always we'll lift a glass to the future because we know what we have
our mouths will be happy, full of beautiful words as love wraps around us in scarlet moonlight
we'll share soul stories beneath a canopy of starlit libraries
the wind will be fair on our face
and the fire in our lungs will not be exterminated because we'll be lovers of rain
our lives will be somersaults and art, pretty musical graffitti 
couches and moonlight and miracles of snow at midnight

waiting room photos

we're all waiting
for numbness to be
measured out
averted eyes
treading silence
forgetting the color
of black
afraid of sinking
into the void of
absence
we're dreaming of 
sunshine
staring at floors
and walls full of
perfect family
waiting room photos
and if we stare long
enough
we'll be pretty and 
good and rich
and we'll place ourselves
in those photos
we still wouldn't belong
but no one will know 
we thought we possibly
could