When we have a kiss,

does it mean you’ll stay with me

when I start crying?

Or will you never notice

and go away with your friends?

When we have a hug,

will I hold on desperately?

Or will it just be

with no meaning because we

are still just strangers dating....

We all own our own flowers:

orchids, roses, peonies.

Mine are kinda ugly.

The ends are rotted and brownish and weird.

The color is tainted over time but —

maybe it was always tainted.

Everyone else holds these pretty flowers

that smell beautiful and

everything I’m not.

I’m too scared to ask them to share a few

and I’m terrified to get too close.

I spray over my own flowers

with the most expen...

You meet at your lowest—

no money, no connections, and nothing to fall back on.

Love isn’t unconditional nor conditional, but rather situational in which

Your parents only smile when well rested and

your classmates only smile when they get an “A” on the most recent test.

So you prepare your backpack with a flashlight to see future troubles,

a GPS to decide your path,

and food to sustain you.

Yo...

Everything is a battle.

The scuffle with my boss the other day, getting my cat to stop provoking my dog, and resisting the urge to ask the handsome man across the table for his phone number.

The original mission was simply to treat my boss and our business competitors to some drinks. Getting them drunk make them vulnerable to predatory attacks for their information.

Which is especially crucial...

I had a wonderful life.

My parents pride and joy —

I danced on marble floors and played elaborate instruments others my age couldn’t afford to touch.

Without the stress of kid,

My mom gleefully spent time with me:

I looked forward to the 1 hour every day.

With all my material

The ring was soon sitting on my bedstand and

I had my own child.

He screamed and yelled so I

Locked him until he w...

First light arrives,

but does not touch me.

It hangs at the edge of the horizon as

the sunrise falls and the sunset rises.

But the light stays.

I move like a shadow among shadows —

my outline recognized,

my being overlooked.

I am present but transcribed wrong and

translated into a symbol, a reminder,

an other.

The tunnel lengthens and the light stays still.

It flickers, beckoning

anyone but...

Dreaming of

Flawless skin – unscarred by time,

Eyes mirror the endless sky.

Tragedy? here but no pain.

Pain hurts and scars and ruins, yet

It has to be realistic.

Dreaming of

Hair like silken light, shining,

Euphonious voice; also

She weeps but don’t worry so–

It is all for show because

It has to be realistic.

Anyway

Dreaming of

Hands that heal – “thank you,” they cry.

Feet that dance on paths o...

The thin, trembling instance — a crack in the delirium —

descends

cold as iron, twice as heavy.

Each object a dissonant note in this

incongruous melody of color.

It stabs my brain.

The sky glares down,

flat and inane:

a blank sheet spread across the horizon.

Trees jut upwards, branches too deliberate —

each lead screaming in it’s own geometry.

The shoes earlier tossed into the corner look...

I snuck out before nighttime fully arrived to make sure I had extra time. I wasn’t allowed to do this after all.

I needed this win. For the car I completely totaled yesterday and to fit in at my new school.

$2,000. All I had in my pocket.

The room had blazing lights and it burned my eyes and seared my brain. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. I got this.

One bet is all it takes. All on red.

-...

The planets shifted up and down, and left to right. They would be beautiful until the very end.

The sky’s are no longer grey but rather an intoxicating mix of rainbow hues. My cat’s fur stayed the same dark black it always was — absorbing the light and letting none out.

My cat didn’t look at me; it was captivated by the clashing of planets up ahead. I’ve failed. At my duty, role, and only purpos...