They’re green now, your eyes,

portals to the waters filling

Caribbean reefs; usually filled

with brooding, churning fog,

how refreshing it is to see

them match the vastness on

distant shores.

So delicate, your porcelain skin;

my fingers flutter, yearning

to feel their silk, yet

remain incapable of shattering

the pristinity, brought by layers

of makeup covering

thinly veiled scars.

Scars which ca...

There’s this sentiment, this lie, this need

stuck between the folds of my irises,

Laced in seamlessly with my eardrums,

Glinting off compassion and appreciations.

Your compliments strike my ears

the way chips fill my gut, fattening

my ego with empty calories.

I can’t ignore the love handles

in the mirror, not as I clasp the loose skin around my waist; it looks like a swallowed a car

tire whole. I...

I know what depression is,

A mind-addled sickness brought

On by broken wings, hobbled.

The same way love turns the

Eyes to rose, it turns the

Eyes bloodshot yellow.

My heart ached so much

Those days, pounded so loudly,

Striking hand held to breast.

Turgid pulse brought with it pain,

Twisted the world,

Inched me closer towards bitter shadows.

Years later, I sit with those memories

And remember ...

I have never felt like

More of an animal than when

I was on a school bus full

Of boys, a shaken jar

Of bees.

I had forgotten this feeling

Until recently, when driving back

Over a bridge from my grandparent’s house,

I asked my partner to put on

Credence Clearwater Revival.

I was feeling a particular blend

Of freedom and righteousness,

The kind which spurs the horses

Of justice, the same one

Which...

I was there, laying on

A mossy patch of rock

As a brook gurgled by,

Fresh with glacial waters.

Birds flew above earnestly,

Clear conscience on spread wings.

Tips of pine trees poked

Out holes in the smoke-filled sky

headed for the early afternoon Sun.

Tree blossoms picked

Up by the dense air twist

Away in the wind to welcome

The distant droning of

Sirens, growing until the

Forest itself slows do...

The dark, frigid waters

Are waters dark and frigid.

They’re cold, making

Them never warm.

It’s that way because….

Of something.

Since I was a whippersnapper

Ive known where I’m from.

That’s enough for me.

I mean, why do I have to express

Myself in this manner? It feels

Like I’m just making incomplete

Sentences to unclearly

Portray how I’m feeling.

Let’s be honest: most poetry

We call good would p...

When the Phoenix flames

Shine upon the rocks

Of Gibraltar, shaking

Their very roots to the

Core, you will find my

Eyes ablaze, carrying

Full purpose.

The day is coming;

A spark shall light red

Razor-feathers and

Cast beams bright

Enough to blot the Sun’s

Rays themselves.

And when meager times

Arrive, I will not wither.

I will be the candle which

Never fades, my resolve

The endless

Wick, the fuel...

Just out of my reach.

Beckon the words to the edge of my lips.

Interloping thoughts:

Bring me there,

Where little beauties

Are spoken in common

Tongues, pains and

Sorrows are swaddled

Away in palm leaf cocoons,

Sunlight splits into seams,

Shining pillars bathing

Undergrowth, coaxing

Worries away.

Bland sheaths of wheat

Aren’t grayed; they show

So thick with gold they

Summon memories of

Ancient g...

Love is the lie that keeps us alive.

It catches the string of our shirt

As we jump for the edge

Of the cliff.

Falling, the string will unravel,

thinning all the while.

Foam will curl and

Spray; the acrid taste

of salt water will sting

Your eyes.

There you’ll strain against it, yearning for

the dark waters, beckoning you

with their mysterious

depths, all to no avail.

Love will pull you by

That sin...

The fireflies flirted with the dark

Giving eyes to the shadows.

It was them who had seen

Me sneak into Mr. Gramintz’s yard

And swipe his golf club.

A different set of flashing lights

Now flood the driveway;

I remember it clearly,

The changing colors

Striking my father’s face.

In the corner was my shame,

Poorly hidden.

His child; cursed child.

He stood, his legs broad trunks

Anchored to the ground ...