Lullaby

She leaned over and whispered
Sing me a lullaby
For I have forgotten this shine
My fingers fell short of her tear stained cheek
Collapsing in my lap of sighs
Smoke haloed our eyes, and her whispers slipped from mouth
Hardships planted in the wrinkles, carrying her worries in bags of sleep under eyes

She leaned over and whispered
Sing me a lullaby
For I have forgotten this smile
My feet stopped short of meeting her on the dance floor
Clattering against the boards of grief
Music choked our ears, and her silence slipped around me
Mysteries tucked under nails, holding pain in the back pocket of her jeans

She leaned over and whispered
Sing me a lullaby
For I have forgotten this hope
My eyes froze upon the background
Focusing on the exhaustion reflected back
Alcohol filled our veins, and her addiction clothed her
Angst pinned up her pant’s legs, clutching fear in the cracks of her lips

She leaned over and whispered
Sing me a lullaby
For I have forgotten this laughter
My breath stopped shy of her skin
Fogging over the disregard clamped in her chest
The crowd framed us, and her loneliness held her hand
Insecurity flashed in the twinkle of her earrings, gasping for freedom with every plea

She leaned over and whispered
Sing me a lullaby
For I have forgotten this faith
My lips pursed against the advice
Choking back the invitation she desired
The hours spilled away, and her outline faded against the bar
Disappointment collected under nails, walking away from this shattered place

She leaned over and whispered
Sing me a lullaby
For I have forgotten this shine
My body pressed close to hers
Losing myself in this reflection
My sight blurred, and her resentment cupped in my palms
She is me, and I am her

I leaned over and whispered
Sing me a lullaby
-------------------------------------------------
A Year in Retrospective

Left the yellow background
I wonder
If I ceased to exist or did I become
An image in the corner of your eye
Echoing through the cigarette smoke dancing from your lips
Tangled in smile, cloaking eyes in stale afterthoughts

Or…

Did you hide me in the graffiti in the public restroom?
Scrawling my words across your mirrored image
Jagged and crude, reaching out to gaze
Intriguing to listen, read tawdry details
Lingering on tip of tongue

Perhaps….

You just made me a shadow to a memory to a thought
Tucked behind a building, a tree, an event
Flatten my corridors into a picture for the refrigerator
A short chuckle when my name passes your mouth
My body a simple gesture lurking behind heels


Dreamed the other night
We lived in a house of building blocks
I sat in a chair on the porch
Rocking and singing a friendship lullaby, while you
Hung from the tree, showing me how monkeys swing
But it all ended, when the lightning struck down the tree
The wind took away the house
You fell and began to wave a contract in my face
Stating our friendship had officially expired two years ago
I ran to write a letter to the company in protest, we had been issued a lifetime warranty
Stopped when I realized indeed two years ago, we had started to not see eye to eye
It all began when I lost my voice


Men are like shoes
The ones that last a few weeks being the most expensive
The ones that last the longest being the cheapest
They still prick at my feet; their names leave pungent after taste in mouth
See ghosts of their faces in reflections
Trace effects of past relationships in creases of pain
Cobwebs stretched across face swirling around empty gaze
I watch their outlines dance and linger across town
Memories become sour, and their redolence burns at my nose
I leave the door open these days

It felt good to release a fraction, a moment

A handful of people laugh blindly amongst the flickering lights
In an alcoholic haze gathered more information with hand shakes and pats
Dancing, smiling with happiness glittering the corners of our eyes
Giggles spiraling around heads leaving dizzy with simple relief
Placing our troubles in dark corners with coats
A handful of people in a big room enjoying simple company
Found warmth in their own skins, and

Two friends learn to smile again

I remembered what being beautiful truly meant


How do you collect new friends?
In a Jar, I reply


Eventually, if you give all of yourself to the company, they take it all away
Scraping away at the surface, peeling away the flesh
So you can dance for them on a single cord of emotion
A machine works like this
Forcing hands within boiling orders
Polishing off the knobs of balding heads
Standing still while they pound out the kinks in your personality
Left rigid and voiceless
Gearshifts and pulleys replace individuality
Oil and rage course through veins
And you wonder how many more pots will it take…
How many more dollars they make…
How many more smiles you fake…
Before they realize…
The tears pouring down your face


When the wind shifts,
I feel it in my bones
These days,
I am a ghost with breezes whistling through me
Sounds of past laughter, thoughts singing out of joints
Stiffened, calcified with bitterness
Stress has aged my skin
Decayed gaze and cracked lips

My friends believe
I am dead


Drove out of town going eighty-five with a single suitcase and thought upon my mind, I dangled a raven’s feather from my rearview mirror in case of an emergency or two with my window wide open and a smile curving along with the road, the feather took flight…
I heard
I heard
I heard it became a flock of sparrows heading for the border, but if you look closely, you can see my smile.

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