I am

both shades

of midnight

when you

slip into

my mind

*

tell me again

that she wasn’t

as good as me

when you

explored her skin

instead of mine

*

the things

left unsaid

burn in my chest

look at me

a black hole

playing human

*Published in and still (the cherita book 37)

*tell me again and the things left unsaid were designated as a cherita lighthouse (editor’s choice) 

summer

my mind is still

winter

*Published in the June 2020 issue of Stardust Haiku

making a joke of me one pine needle

*Published in the June 2020 edition of is/let

Absolute Zero

dad’s greatest hit

a kick

between mother’s legs

children services

we memorize

our lines

5th Commandment

another beating

justified

family photo

I learn

to grind my teeth

gaslight

suffocation

is play

slow death

he demands

to share my bed

absolute zero

our roles shift

to predator-prey

no exit

he name drops

a hitman

*Published in Issue #24 of Prune Juice (under the pseudonym, Coda)

Join Me

I am nowhere near an ocean,

but I can imagine it so clearly:

the waves gently crashing

against the shore;

the sand nestled between each toe,

warming, easing

the aches I’ve accumulated

from daily stress and woe;

and the sound,

oh God yes,

the call of seagulls as they glide

effortlessly through the air.

I am far away from this,

I know,

but in my heart I am there,

with the sand, waves, and birds;

and for once,

the anxiety that so often

holds my body and mind hostage

cannot reach me,

cannot bind and torment me

while I am in the midst

of this momentary illusion.

*Published by the Tipp City Area Arts Council on 6/15/20

finally comfy

in my skin

magenta twilight

*Published via the Poetry Pea podcast (Series 3, Episode 12: Aging)

a woodpecker

pecking pecking

each day

is a constant battle

to stay sober

*Published in Issue #22 of Moonbathing

tonight’s wind

you roar

and then you whisper

thank you

for trusting me

with your thoughts

*

tidal

just once

i want to know

what the moon has to say

about us

*

roses are rebels

they face each storm

head on

and yet

they always return

perhaps this is why

they so often

carry thorns

*

ephemeral

sometimes

music makes me

forget

i am mortal

*

in awe

while i know

the science behind

the twinkling of stars

just for this moment

i will feign ignorance

simply to enjoy

their silent hymn

*Published in Fireflies’ Light: A Magazine of Short Poems #19

impermanence

but the night

wasn’t always

and neither

was the rain

*

everyday sacred

as i approach

the sun-soaked forest

i stop and inhale

this, too

is hallowed ground

*

on butterflies (and humans)

you are

a painting in motion

never let

the world tell you otherwise

*

better days ahead

the hungry way

daffodils reach

for the sun

my joy

hinges on recounting

such lovely things

*

astray

tossing and turning

in this bed hewn

from jagged stone

i am

so lost

without your light

*Published in Fireflies’ Light: A Magazine of Short Poems #19

metamorphosis

i chose to hide

hiding until not even

the moon and constellations

could find me now

see, this is the quandary

of innocence

your crime becomes my skin

becomes my marrow

where your violence went is

a roadmap of never will

i may have chosen

the dusty attic and cobwebs

with a bed tightly smashed against

the broken wall, but i never

chose such marred sheets

in dreams

i still have fingers replaced by tentacles

and the quiet streets are the ones

i most fear

*Published in Black Flowers Literary Journal, Volume Five

perhaps

we have misread

the moon

*

now that

we have become

spiders burning

under glass

*

Jupiter

I am the one

called ant

*Published by Heliosparrow on 6/5/20

the ends justify the means (or some shit like that)

i didn’t learn much

from my 8 a.m. economics class

during my sophomore year of college

partly because of the tortuous

time of day, but mostly

because i dropped it

however, i have since developed

a working knowledge of this subject

courtesy of #45, who when faced

with America’s impending economic doom

suggested that the sick, quite literally

inject themselves with Clorox

*Published in The Alien Buddha Destroys the Economy by Alien Buddha Press