This Tuesday Maybe

you can help me move that dresser out of your place
and into mine
the chest freezer can remain
just a while longer
weighted
with all the frozen meals
prepped months before
for our then
bright and splendid
future

This Tuesday maybe
I can swing by
toss a few more of my belongings
into some of my reusable
grocery bags
and you can watch me
brows scrunched
over your piercing blues
sadly?
with confusion?
regretfully?
with relief?

This Tuesday maybe
we can make idle small talk
while I keep my eyes
averted from yours
focusing only
on the task at hand
erasing my previous presence
from your home
one item at a time
I'll awkwardly joke
now you have your space again

and neither of us
will find the heart
to laugh

This Tuesday maybe
we'll want to give
or receive
a reassuring hug
a tender kiss
promises
that we can find a way
to make this work
anything
to make it hurt
somewhat less
but
we won't.
Not for the lack of
genuine want.
No.

Because lies do not suit us
and what remains
of our love
would never
deign to
lie.

Minnie Sans Moskowitz

The faint,
niggling itch
which began
at the root
of my
subconscious desires
wriggled its way
ever so more insistently
up its stem
fattening
its leaves
attempting to
unfurl
perfumed petals
hungering
to
fully blossom

i stood
wanting for the sun
of you

instead

that un-scratchable
annoyance
still persistent
unrelenting
and now
becoming the bane
of my muddled
existence

the itch
i
could not
scratch

always
just almost
always
never there

you
will never know
that you
are the tickle
upon my
goosebumped flesh

the elusive
almost
the resigned
never

your touch
is
a memory
kept
vibrant and hidden
fertilizing
the soil
within my soul

i look towards the east
but the sun
has since set

i miss being your bloom










Commiseration

We were both lost and broken
And had given up hope when
we met one another

Tequila told the truth
As we conversed in that booth
and got to know more of the other

The more we chose to share
Of life and love being unfair
The closer we soon became

The bar lights gleamed bright
What to do with the end of our night
Both of us the lonely same

We ended up falling tipsy into bed
But became better friends instead
and it's been oh so nice

You've since asked what of him I've missed
Was it the way he and I kissed
His heat melting my ice?

Was it his smile or his charm
the ease in which he disarmed
my defenses - one two three?

The way he unmasked my disguise
sturdy shovels for eyes
digging down to the deep of me...

I gave it thought, honest and true
I'd not want to lie to you
my newest cohort in loss

I tried to put into words
The tumbled thoughts which occurred
And all I could say was -

"The ease in which we spoke
the stupid silly jokes
I miss his sad rueful grin.

The way he made me feel
Seen, accepted, and real
My qualities and my sins...

I miss how he made me believe
in forgiveness and reprieve
That I had been absolved.

But mostly, I miss my friend
I miss what could have been
How we could have evolved."

With commiseration you gave a sigh
No more talk for tonight
Quietly we took our leave

I can't help but think of him still
Against my best wishes and will
I remain unrelieved.






Baby Boy

my youngest son 
runs his fingers through my hair
it is long
not wavy
not straight
a thick, dark, gleaming mass
of unruly poof

but he claims to 
like the softness
and i feel his tiny hands
grooming me
gentle
with love
and sweetness

these days are short
soon
he'll be of the age
where this will be
taboo
inappropriate
"gross"

but right now
he is my baby boy
loving his mother
in the kindest
most simplest
of ways.

Too Much

Brilliant and glowing
A star
A Sun
And you,
blinking,
wandered towards the warmth
the brightness…
this was new
and for a minute
you were happy

But the heat
The sweltering heat
What once soothed
now scorched
What once gave soft light
Now blinded

It was too much of what it was
And not enough of what you wanted

Stars burn until they don’t.
And one
cannot hold jurisdiction over stars.

the rain

it’s raining and i miss you.
i wish you knew how extraordinary a thing that is.

the rain talks to me
softest pit-pat of drops against the glass pane
like
a gang of cats jogging across hot summer pavement
too quick to count
slightly silent
save for the rhythm
a staccato in unison
what a paradox

but it’s singing to me
and i think of you
your voice
(sweet songs kissing my ears)
your words
(drowsy mumbled love notes late at night)
and echos of
your laughter
(the happiest of dreams)

it’s raining and my arms feel empty
(where are you)
my hands restless
(i need to touch you)
the gnawing ache in my stomach
(i am empty)

my body is in a frenzied disparate hunger
one which cannot be easily sated
appeased
quelled

so

alone
i listen to the wind
whipping water
at my window
imagining
it’s you next to me
speaking to me
singing to me
whispering to me
instead of
the rain

Imprisoned

Pouring regrets,
mistakes,
guilt,
into this
rocks glass

*neat please*

it’s the way…
the road
to perdition

a constant
hell
of one’s own making

exoneration
is a
pipe dream

as lucidity fades
culpability
becomes
a
faint tendril
disintegrating into
the dawn

forgiveness
teasing
with the
rising
of the sun

self-delusion

as it
diminishes

returns
to the
blurred
and sloppy
self-loathing
as the
exhaustion
of BEING
becomes a dense,
thickened, hairy
weight
on the
soul

all that is left
for respite
is sleep

only to
repeat
on the morrow

Dominoes

The ones I loved
The ones I wanted
The ones I lusted

All could give a
flying fig
for me

a history of

chasing men
who had been
nothing but
back alley
beggar boys
sneakily dressed
in much
fancier clothing
just
(faintly squint)
a tiny bit
too large
for their
diminutive
frames

all whilst
my woman’s heart,
devotion,
and
hunger
had remained
far more feeling,
staunch,
and ravenous

And like dominoes

I kept queuing
them up

Each had
been
placed
and
balanced,
precariously
forming that tenuous line
of repeated
fowls and
heartaches.

the fickleness
of the foolish

a test of my
patience

Until I
came to realize
this was
far more trouble
than it
was worth

weary sigh
head tilted
my finger gave
the smallest
poke
to the very first
pip

and

The quiet rhythmic
clacking

soothed

the
*click
*click
*click
of each
falling into the
other

closure,

leaving
a flawless
mess…
a pile
of ivory rectangles
pieces
with no
discernible match

Gingerly,
with care
and reverence

I placed each tenderly
within the case

This was a game
I no longer
cared to play.

Final Vice

I rebuilt myself
I kept the good
Dropped
*an anvil thud*
everything else

Almost.

I gave up dairy
and the smokes
the bourbon
at late night dives
the wine
while vacantly
watching
the telly
pisssssing
away
time

No more sweets
snacks
mid-afternoon donuts
as breakfast
and lunch
sometimes dinner

stopped talking
to the sociopathic
ex
listening
to their
false promises
drenched in
candy covered
shit

The Fair weather
friends
Whom I’ve bled for
While they never
broke a sweat
for
me

I let go
of my past
the mistakes
the self-loathing
the doubts
the hammering anxiety
at the weakening
bark
of my being

I did all of this.

*improvement*
*progress*
*growth*

But there’s still you.

lightly
Heavily
subtly
Obviously

Tearing it all apart.