beautiful

the weeds

in my garden

*Published in The Haiku Foundation’s Haiku Dialogue on 10/26/22

“i don’t write love poems”

i said

before i

met you

although i’m too shy to admit this

when i ask

how the stars are tonight

what i mean is

i want to be there with you

believe me

i want to tell you everything

but in order to do so

i would need

to strip down to the bone

and do you understand

my dear

how frightening it is

to be so raw

you fall asleep so quickly

and that’s fine with me

to see your golden waves, spilling

over your closed eyes, dreaming

is perhaps

one of the most beautiful things

i have ever seen

and after the pepper spray

the rise and fall

of your belly

was the only thing

that stilled me -

that held my scream

inside

recently

while on a walk i saw

a small white butterfly

it moved more easily than

a quiet summer breeze

*Published by Fresh Out: An Arts and Poetry Collective on 10/8/22

 not like the other girls in the grinder

*Published by horror senryu journal on 10/6/22