Shackles -- 2 February 2017

I never knew

That when you offered me your hands

The only place they’d feel right

Would be around my neck

Mama Didn’t Raise a Quitter -- 23 January 2017

Blooming bruises dot my skin like sunspots

I’ve become so accustomed to them

They’re now like freckles

Just a part of my skin

My hands were not meant to be my own nurse

Stitches and sutures and split lips

I can fix others but never myself

Love is but an economic exchange

And the aches put food on the table

I can’t walk away because if I try

I know I’d be dragged back by the ends of my hair

And why would I even want to

When the moments after are sugar sweet

Gritty like a spoonful of sugar to distract from the burn
And you know Mama didn’t raise a quitter

Lake Michigan -- 20 January 2017

Honey, you make Lake Michigan seem warm

But my mother has never sang me a lullaby that put me more at ease

Than the way your cold hands holding mine does

And I’m so afraid you’ll melt at my touch

You make me tentative and I can’t catch my breath

You leave me gasping and numb

But I’d live every day frozen to keep you
I’ll just buy better gloves

Sharks -- 11 December 2016

You come into my home

And try to blame me

For you not knowing the rules 

Soft -- 10 December 2016

Your kiss was as soft as the rain

I was pelted by your downpour.

I’m left drenched

Shaking
But unrepentant

Peter Pan -- 1 December 2016

When I was fifteen, I looked to adulthood

As if that would provide all the answers I needed

Too young to know that your world can still change at nineteen,

At twenty, at twenty-four, at thirty-two

When I was fifteen, I was too scared to be frivolous

But now I’m too old to be reckless

I spent my youth laser-focused

Who was I to know that all I craved was stability?

But I’m not Peter Pan and people don’t ever stop growing
We just learn to leave things behind

I Want To Swallow You Whole -- 28 November 2016

I want to swallow you whole

Encompass you in the folds of my stomach

Churning with the sweetmeats and sin

You dig deep and get under my skin

But it always seems to blister

I give you soft smiles and rough hands

I’ve never been careful with things that can break

The effects of your hands on mine would be devastating

I never saw love coming until it pulled me over a cliff

And are there rocks at the bottom

Or is this just another example of “love hurts”?

I offer to you the pulse in my chest

And neck and wrists

The word love is lodged in my throat

But every day it loosens until soon

My words pour out like honey, sweet and thick

But oh so slow

I love when you use plural pronouns

‘Us’ and ‘we’ and ‘our’

Please whisper promises into the crevices of my collarbone

That I’m not sure we’ll be able to keep

I want to carve my poetry into your heart
So everyone can see you were loved