Discounted Poetry

I saw you at the party Sitting on the bottom stair, The many all about your throne. I forgot the way your hooded eyes Could hold a holy fountain  Glistening to burst, The way your smile charged entire cities. I have tried for years To learn unhating you. The world's a vicious biting dog Inside a cat disguise. You never tried apologizing. You are always unaware of guilt, Mistaking sin for fear and doubt. My skin Was thirsty Desert sand Unwatered too long, I didn't let you know my presence As I left. You go with God When realizing You can go without. - 3/13/26

The constant shrieking call, The weight of mud above your body, You imagined peace  To be a place along the road, A prince or princess waiting If you only picked the proper door? You want the demons Underneath the ground? You must embrace The broken mess Your life exploded to And loneliness, Especially the loneliness. You've got to love it all. - 3/12/26

I loved the fish, But like my loves, It flirted, But proved most unsure. Believing itself too mature, It couldn't quite return My wishes for our delightful future Together. Bananas, toast, and yogurt. - 3/11/26

You spied her with the other guys, She has no secret smile Just for you, Her lips Red  So Red, Nature Cruel, Chaotic, Tooth and claw For all the boys. Is this exotic treat an ice cream Spilling sugary delights From cone onto concrete, Across bed sheets? Does everybody get a lick? Your pride is caught, Her dress, a wiry twist of calico, A mess of cotton, Mouth your cosmos entire, Tongue along the underside. - 3/6/26

You can squeeze Until your veins Arise upon your brow. The water never flows Or drips A bit. She lands her hand On top your shoulder. She will always lay her hand. She looks into your eyes. The grating on the furnace Slides aside, The heat is unbelievable, Unbearable, Invigorating. She lands her hand On top your knee, On top your thigh. It always finds its way So close. The spark will light the fuse. It never reaches dynamite. A stone is ever stone, No matter  If you swear You see it sweat. You can squeeze Until your veins Explode from out your brow. - 3/5/26

I strain to lift you near me From the tides. I fear you're slipping down Despite my grip. You don't see All the evenings Wasted wondering How many of your daily smiles I have earned, How many were angelic gifts of grace. Before you sink to bed, Do fragments of headlights glide Across your midnight overhead, Shifting to a phantom cast of faces, Swells of cheeks Or blurs of waiting lips? Does 4 o'clock entice your mouth Imagining my taste? I see nocturnal paradises Burn away beneath the orange hues Sent by the brutal sun. How late were you awake? Inside the shade and shadows, In the shimmer on the surface of your ceiling, Did your drowsy eyes Chance spy me in your room, An undulating image on the water, Or have currents wrapped around your fleshy thigh And pulled you gently too far down, Away? - 3/4/26