Red Geraniums

my thoughts spill over like
mismatched socks
and I've got piles of them
refrigerator empty of drink
the kind that tastes good
but numbs quickly
the walls are empty now
the pictures stashed in an
overcrowded closet
too many stories in the eyes 
of all my loves

I've bypassed lots of traps
I saw beauty spill from absolute
nothing but marrow soaked in pain 

I got burned once or twice
got lust mixed up with love
tried to cage it
then I wrote it off as a romantic idea
it was everything I wanted to avoid
like black ice

all the squandered sunsets
I thought I'd have a million
sorry now I wasted even one

and the red geraniums by the door
scenting the summer air
were so simple in elegance
but I never found words for them