Friends

To who it may concern
I haven't the skills of relationship
that soft interpretation of the unsaids
got lost when I wasn't allowed
to be a friend

I was confined to surmount circumstances
make up for choices
define another before I knew
who I was
or if I liked her

I had imagination
friends who listened with creativity
walked boldly into my dreams
held my hand
and waited for my smile

Nobody saw them but me
They escaped
left me to fight the words of high school boys
disfiguring my frame
on a daily

Friend became this telephone distant
only defendable
when it's not punitive
failing
fallacy

I cried for acceptance
but was given awards
trophies collect dust
and are painful
to hug

If you choose me,
I own my imperfectly human
desire to stay starry eyed
to find more than disappointment
in being a friend.

Guerrillas

Silverbacks dance free
high up in the hills
clutching to clean mountain air
shrouded and lush
sophistication

I peer
dew drenched
like an akward student
between observation and actual study
hesitant

death tastes like defense
instinct and bloody canines
the rustle
the wrestle
the resistance

domain detracts
the delicacy of living
shrinks symbiosis
makes our diet of grapes
a handful of raisins

My society says you are
more me
than I am to myself
easily
existing

I crave more than your exotic
closer than the distance
of otherness;
Your fur is soft and warm
if I trust

Friday

I was
elected
evolved out of Irish Pubs
Concrete
and a flirty spirit

I sat at the corner
of barstool conversations
and art
nursing them
like craft beers

both conduit and messenger
a mediocre conjure
bubbled before our eyes
and sat in the center
of us 6

between laughter and connection
we built bridges
out of a lexicon
left the world
different

smolders of understanding
hidden in the rafters
and hugged us
like eternity was
holding our hands

Or at least
watching
from the top of the stairs
framed
smiling

Black women give birth to Art

Leniency looks like
she's ready to tie him up
rug burn ready
leaving nothing but desire
and fantasy
dripping

opaque silks
ambiguity
building trust
somewhere around 3 am
a mouth full of effervescence

a free and forbidden
Fuck
stanking syllables
grace
beyond mistakes

She is ravenous
gentle
He sucks her life
and inhales
her tears

Tropical Mic

He storms
festering quickly
zero to 100 in a blink
blank and brooding
seated

between what we used to be
and what we are
angry that he's only
enjoying the breezes
He has needs

His necessary
travels
rage through states
in screaming escapades
deceiving and destroying

everything he touches
grappling with his mistakes
like he dropped a mic
before the set ended
and he's standing embarrassed

looking for me
collateral damage
thrift store treasure
discarded comforts
the salvation in his army

That's when I touch him
stand in his disappointment
use my fingertip to write
a new direction
and point to his heart

cover my lips
watch him defuse
wait for him to melt
and catch his wax
 between my fingers

The corner of Zaire and Epiphany

I am sunken
almost swallowed by your embrace
and you laugh
as if my wholeness
can be consumed

used or kissed away
erased
crumbled, crayoned
a craving for
completion

but you compete with me
arm your ego
with self grandeur
to cast shadows
My shine isn't an option

Steel conducts heat
and it doesn't shield you from
who I am
no matter how skilled
a warrior you may be

I fight with stakes
tasty sharpness
driven through your heart
from under my breast
through your chest cavity

demolishing proximity
reducing intimacy
to the death
it really
is

Vampires in the Midst

Dawn makes us watch exhausted
from rain and reconciliation
we see each other
opaque and tacit
sharing spaces

The bed becomes a bath
a place to drown
drench
drain each other
of the secrets

that we lie within
deny
cringe at their burning light
seek shelter
in each other

gingerly grazing upon necks
tasting eternity
between our teeth
desperate for incisor bites
to deliver us

from ourselves
suckle on this life
the irony of our existence
until resurrection isn't a goal
or an icon

We are that which we become
timeless
suspended beyond death
not a duality
just doing