Sun shafts leaned easily through the door

Sun shafts leaned easily through the door
Cracked open to relieve you of the sauna
Falling against the dark wood of the bannister
The top of the stairs, and the landing
Pushing out of their way
The scent of the warm fog from the bathroom
Mixed with the scent of some light spray
Of vanilla and honey

Relaxed
I curled myself, comfortably wrapped
In my warm blankets
My bed just made with clean sheets
And a fresh pillow case
Eyes heavy and half opened
Waiting to say goodnight one more time
Before you left for work

e.12.14.2016

Death waits kindly

Death waits kindly
Like a sneeze that stops your heart
While everyone’s downstairs laughing
Waiting for you to come back from the bathroom

Your last breath
Didn’t even have a name or number
It left, turned around
And realized no one was there

The warmth which was you
Disappeared like a vapor
On the tail of your spirit
No one heard leave

And when we realized you were gone
Something stopped
And we got stuck in it
Backed up without you

e.12.14.2016

She cried

She cried
Beating her hands red
Against the stone beneath the snow
While snowflakes took their time
Falling a hundred miles
To cover the evidence
Of her pain

e.12.14.2016

There’s something outside my door

There’s something outside my door
Some whispering snow outside my window
And its cold
The furnace working like some tired slave
While ghosts stand patiently in the hallway
With nothing in particular to wait for

As I sit in front of my computer
Restlessly trapped in my boredom
Eyes falling out of my head
And sleep
Shaken into a thousand harvestmen
Climbing over me

And when I finally succumb
Under the weight of dream’s insistence
The door and window open
The furnace goes silent
And the ghosts come in
To carry me away

e.12.14.2016

You can carve yourself

You can carve yourself
to give out to the world
you can bring up all the suffering
to justify your love

but the hunger will not go away
they can never get enough
just when you think they're satisfied
they'll go and break your heart

in time you know they will return
that's what beggars do
and show you both their empty hands
needing all of you

and when you're naked in the world
having given everything
they'll curse you for being useless
the pauper once a king

they'll catch a scent and be on their way
that's what beggars do
full of all you've given them
to find another fool

e.12.7.2016

She came like morning snow

She came like morning snow
Cold and silent
While I stood there
Hating that I hated her
Because I loved to love her
And even then wanted to wipe away this frost between us
Melt away her freezing reign
With a warm and forgiving embrace
But my wish was interrupted
By the clacking of hangers stripped bare
The skeletons of what we had laughing
As she drug a garbage bag of her things
Through our room and down the stairs
And when she closed the door behind her
I listened to her footsteps on the walkway fade
Pulled the covers over me
A chill settling into my bones
And closed my eyes, resolved to stay there
Until she came back to me

e.12.9.2016

Night was never as sweet

night was never as sweet
as when the moon was warmed on your skin
the stars giggled over in a corner of the sky
and the evening silhouettes whispered jealously
of your comeliness...

all because I happened to notice
a fresh, dark flower
brooding in the glow of candlelight
whose lips glistened like water in moonlight
some sliver of sun still burning upon their
secret smile...

and I was drawn in toward the scent of
plum flavored thoughts of
the deepest color
something exciting the fireflies
and my imagination...
of who you might be

e.12.5.2016