Fissures -- 22 March 2017

I heard you tried to find me in someone else
You want to be loved so badly
That you can't recognize when you have it
So instead you fumble around in the dark
Looking for me between someone else's silk sheets
The way you break your own heart is so debilitating
Because half of the time you don't even know what you're breaking
And even God asks himself why
And shakes his head in disbelief

Graveyard Shift -- 23 February 2017

Do not plant your hopes in me

And leave them to die
My body will not be your graveyard

Deep Sea Diving -- 10 February 2017

You remind me of the deep sea

I feel vulnerable in your open waters

Your darkness hides parts of you that I can’t see

And the parts that I can see

Freak me the fuck out
And make me want you 80 million miles away from me

Tempo -- 10 February 2017

You taught me

How to dance

To the beat of my heart

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