Embrace

The first time we embraced I couldn't tell
Which was was up. I was delirious
With possibility, hoping like hell
That you were right--this could get serious.
The next time we embraced the planet stopped
Moving just long enough for us to share
A night that you told me couldn't be topped.
I knew what that implied, I didn't care.
The last time we embraced I wanted to
Know why I didn't know and how you could
Keep it from me. Some stupid secret grew
Into proof that you never understood.
     Now you are leaving and I will not chase
     Because I reject your shallow embrace.

There Is No Synthroid in the Apocalypse

Nine pills rattle reckless at the very
Bottom of their bottle. Four-and-a-half
Days supply, and then no more. I carry
Their container, held together with gaff
Tape that covers a label that once bore
My name. Four-and-a-half days, then they're gone.
And I will wander this wasteland no more.
I have five more mornings to catch the dawn.
Four more nights of moonlight bathing my skin,
Comforting a heart that's destined to stop.
But I have an advantage, I know when
It's last beat will come. I'll dance 'till I drop
     Celebrating sunset. Know this my friends--
     Life is a gift no matter how it ends.

True Romance

The most romantic thing I've ever heard
Escaped from her lips during the orgy,
Her voice raspy, shuddering every word,
"You're the only one I want inside me."
And it was as though pleasure suddenly
Had its own gravity, and we became
Mere satellites in orbit around the
Hands he used to take hold of her hips. Flame
Filled up the ever-diminishing space
Between them until it was smothered by
The collision of want and need. Her face
Full of joy, new clarity in his eye.
     Years later they're together, no regret
     Though they don't tell the children where they met.

Jessie and Charley

I've never seen such concern in her eyes.
Tears swell like tides. Subtle. Overwhelming.
She's unable to keep up the disguise
Of the fun-time friend who can't see the thing
Consuming him slowly from inside-out.
She wants to be the strength that he's missing
To learn what his sickness is all about,
As though knowledge could stop him from pissing
Away the life that she finds so precious,
That he's escaping like an old burden.
It's too late, though, when she tries to discuss
'Cause he wrote these words to her in the end--
     "Don't call it love when it looks like pity
     Fucking give up on trying to save me."

I Am Not Weak

It's that special feeling deep down inside
When you realize that she doesn't feel the
Same way that you feel about her. You hide
The awful ache and wonder what could be
Worse than this. Or perhaps it's more like when
You find that all of your friends have moved on,
You'll never be so close to them again,
What you called family was illusion
And now you have to face your life alone.
That's the tide rising around my ankles,
The winds of this emotional cyclone.
I know this feeling is the one that culls
     The weak and tortured souls that cannot see--
     Even at its darkest, life is beauty.

Kiss & Tell

I'm much better at kissing than talking.
I can communicate so much more when
My voice is still and my lips are walking
Softly up to the nape of your neck than
I could ever hope to do with these words
That seem to only be good for masking
What we really mean. Like when we were birds,
My lips were tearful confessors, asking
Questions they didn't want to hear answered,
And though our words said everything was fine
It was with my lips that the truth was heard.
I was not yours, and you could not be mine.
     It was the purest way to feel that pain.
     You won't taste the truth on my lips again.

So I Still Have Your...

My nightstand carries a collection of
Jetsam, cast adrift when waters were wild.
The things they took off before making love
To me are ever-so-neatly compiled
In that special corner, should their owners
Ever decide they need the stray hair pin,
The rogue left earring, that scrunchie of hers.
Yet somehow the pile never seems to thin,
New nights of passion leaving deposits
That sensible mornings somehow forget.
I'm left feeling confused by this, 'cause it's
Some kind of sign I don't understand yet.
     So I'll continue sorting carefully
     Until such time that someone will claim me.

Unfortunately, Dreams Do Come True

All my life I have wanted nothing more
Than to be wanted and desired. I dreamed
Of lusty gazes launched like bombs in war,
Exploding as they land on me. It seemed
The day when I was longed-for would never
Arrive. But then it did, and now I know
The heat of hearts that will do whatever
It takes to feel my fire and share my glow.
Now that my greatest dream has come in bloom
I'm finding its fragrance acrid and tart,
Because when someone wants you, you assume
The power to deny, to break their heart.
     So please know, when I deny you this kiss,
     I never wanted it to be like this.

Set It Free

Oh, the pure power of your potential
Pulls at my heart and stirs a strong sly smile
On my face, 'cause I see your essential
Excellence and envy your so-sweet style.
I know that you've yet to bring out your best,
That you've been dazzling us with mere play.
I want to see your skills made manifest.
I want to see you blow us all away
With wonders falling from your fingertips
Like confetti too numerous to count,
And there will be poetry on the lips
Of everyone as they try to account
     For what has just transpired, the majesty
     You will unleash when you set your self free

Heros Need Victims

I have a healthy and well-earned distrust
Of all those who want to be a hero
There's something sinister inside the lust
For "knight in shining armor" status. No,
It's not that I'm against saving the day,
But for you to be a white knight there has
To be a damsel in distress, okay?
Your glory springs from her danger, and as
Honest as your motives may be, you're still
Hoping someone else is put in a place
They can't escape without your help. So will
You let selfish fantasies die and face
     Reality? Those you would save become
     The tragic victims of your idiom.