it's easy to give in to a dispassionate tomorrowwhen weapons of war are unshelled like musselsand bright-eyed coral creatures make their hidden homes in bottle caps.it's easy to assure yourself there's nothing to be done."this is the way the world works," the doubters say,with silent smiling smirks and pockets overstuffed with excuses, unwilling to believe.the … Continue reading Impassioned

early morning: waking, yawning, stretching,coffee-making, breakfast-eating, masking, leaving.walking, talking, rushing, catching,riding, standing, swaying, leaning.greeting, working, boring meeting,day-dreaming, typing, stopping, fleeing.walking, texting, rushing, catching,riding, sitting, nodding, sleeping.shaking, waking, startling feeling.finding, running, navigating.asking, speaking, showing, reaching.crowding, gathering, standing, seeing.shouting, chanting, hearing, being.standing, arms-raising, pleading.sign-carrying, screaming, no-one listening,solemn leaving, walking, whispering.taxi-hailing, wondering, feeling.home, sitting, breathing, thinking.laying, sleeping, snoring, … Continue reading Universal

The dust in the air is visible from the slivers of light shining from the glass knobon the door to your room. You sit quietly, facing those double doorsleading out to the front yard, thinking.What do you think about? Is it your noxious perfume,subterranean mushrooms puffing clouds of toxic gas?Is it the smoke from the … Continue reading Toxicity

I want to know the answer, I want to know the truth.There is no single answer, there’s nothing that can soothe.What wrongs have I committed, then? What crimes have cracked me through?No sins, no debts, no wrongs, there’s nothing to review.So everything’s done right? I’m perfect as I am?No single man is perfect, but you’re … Continue reading An argument that happens in my head

There's an icy rage inside of me. It's not a white-hot rage, boiling over, kicking in the door and setting fire to your curtains. It's a cold, vengeful rage. "I know what you've done," it says, and it glares at you with glacier-blue eyes and a throat of glass, condensation dripping down its steely cheek. … Continue reading Beggar

Break slowly, as if the pain in your temple hasn’t crippled you yet,and your spirit endures softly still, whispering haunting sorrowswhile you pour your coffee or walk up the stairs in the morning.Pretend you’re not listening. Tell yourself it’s a lie and that you aren’t a burden,or that everything will be fine isn’t just an … Continue reading Dereality

I think when I was younger I tried to eat the sun.The gods, fearing for the star, punished my greed.I’ve been struck by lightning, my body disfigured,My jaw broken so I cannot protest,And my air scooped from my shaky lungs.I didn’t know it was a sin—no one told me it was.What kind of being has … Continue reading Hanuman

There is a strident voice that whispers sternWhen night awakens and desire hums.She makes my blood boil and my stomach churn. She tells me I’m a lie and I should burn—That hope is futile when the devil comes.There is a strident voice that whispers stern. I cannot purge myself of her concern,Regardless if I know … Continue reading The Voice I Once Was

I am not stone, and neither am I holy.There are mistakes carved into my flesh that cannot be.I am cast out of the paradisiacal realms, forbidden to dream of somewhere better for a beastWhose body and soul do not match, whose broken muscles pulse sweat onto its unwieldy skin,Whose heartaches cannot be quantified by man.You … Continue reading Envy

I need to ask you: What are my flaws?What are my lying-on-the-floor-sobbing hours, my grinding teeth or my worn-down shirts,my anxious glances, my cracked hands, or my wrist scars?What are my up-until-three-in-the-morning habits,my cracked and swollen knuckles or my red and acne-covered freckles,my dry lips, my facial hair, or my torn fingernails?Are they unfinished journals, … Continue reading I need/want to ask you