Shed

Grab your keys
don’t waste your youth tied
to one place
one idea –
slacks and button-downs
Monday through Thursday
casual Friday
leave
take your lover
go see it all

(Photo featuring art by Barbara Kruger; courtesy of The Broad Museum)

Vodka, Whiskey, Gin – A Reflection

Vodka
First taste, first touch.
Long nights throwing up.
Hard lessons growing up.
Can’t say I’ll miss you all that much.

Whiskey
Tears and regret spilling onto hardwood floors.
Climbing out of taxis, searching for the love we all deserve.
Used to steady my soul (or so I thought).
The writer’s choice of self-destructive elixirs.

Gin
Bitter all the way down, ‘til you add olives and vermouth.
Held me up when I was but a husk.
Kept me together, kept me numb.
Pushed my body to the point of breaking.

All I’ve learned from these three, buried in my bones like hidden treasure.

Vodka, Whiskey, Gin – nearly a decade of love/hate, now it’s farewell, so long, our time has finally come.

Full Circle

lights

this is your story

love

no matter how hard you tried

couldn’t get enough

all wrapped up in

pain/pity

plated in glory

a crash, a bang

how IT all began

and nearly ended

spinning

glass flying through the air

out onto road

now you’re here

alive

all wrapped up in

love

xanax

can’t see straight,

too many li(n)es to make anything into solid shapes,

eyes wide, head no longer filled with ache,

heart dancing, mind awake,

every nerve unsettled, watching every wall break,

when sleep finally calls

take me and let it

all

fall

away.

Mornings

Tea cooling next to love letters on the window sill,
dreams real yet surreal, almost tangible.
Sea and mountains in your lungs,
memories, monuments to beloved moments past.
Lessons sewn into your very marrow,
tangled up with the movements of your unconscious mind.
Breathing in every millisecond,
each precious opportunity for growth and death.
Growth and death, an endless cycle,
swirling in your teacup, like leaves
in the autumn breeze.