Okay, so, you’re dying.

At least you’re sure you are.

For eight years, you’ve at least

been sure that you are.

But you aren’t dead yet.

You searched it up and you have

most of the symptoms.

You aren’t eating. At least not much.

You aren’t sleeping. At least not well.

And you can’t remember anything.

At least not the things you don’t

want to.

So, you’re dying.

But why hasn’t it happened already?...

On a random day in September,

my dad woke up from his ten-day slumber

and quietly walked down the stairs.

I watched him from the couch,

not daring to make a sound

that might startle him—

in case he thought he was dreaming.

He walked into the kitchen,

stared out the window for five seconds,

then turned to look at me.

For a moment, I didn’t know who he was.

His eyes were so silver,

so moonlike—

I...

Every night, in the small, snowy, abandoned town,

There was a house with a small boy that would make sounds.

Not normal house-sounds that normal houses should make,

No, these sounds sounded like a man stepped on a rake!

A loud, painful scream would shoot down the halls each night,

A scream so loud, it gave the small boy a big fright.

The small boy hid in his room, hoping it would end,

He would ...

You told me, “fuck humanity,”

And something about your insanity.

I made a joke about profanity

(And said that I love you).

You were bleeding everywhere,

Drawing lines without a care.

I melted under your brown-eyed glare

(And from that moment, I knew).

You found the darkest spot in heaven,

And your biggest, heaviest sin.

I found the softest place on your skin

(And turned the sky back blue).

I ...

Summer wakes up,

smokes a cigarette,

says a prayer,

and kisses winter goodbye.

I find winter’s decaying corpse

shoved into a grave

too small, and I

don’t know when, but I end

up on the ground—my knees

sinking into the dirt,

my hands digging into

the skin of my thighs,

begging for God to save it.

My dad is dead in his room.

I pretend

that I don’t know—

that I’m not secretly begging for

something ...

High in the sky, I glimpse a face,

Shaped from the drifting clay;

It calls me forth from this weary place,

“Onward march,” I hear it say.

Through the pale cries of morning,

Through the dark weight of night,

Through the rain’s relentless storming,

That face still points to light.

Though my limbs ache for surrender,

Though despair would have me roam,

Though hope grows frail and s...

I knew that I was going to die the moment Elliot kissed me. Well, I knew something bad was going to happen—something horrible. And what could be more horrible than death?

It was after science class, in the hallway—back by my locker. He looked at me as if he almost didn’t want to go through with it, like he knew he shouldn’t. But before I realized it, his lips were on mine, and I felt blood trickl...

Well, I was seven years old

and I sure thought I was.

As tall as the branches on

the tree I was too

afraid to climb.

But I begged my mom to

let me see the stars.

Told her— I’m old enough

to see disaster.

She showed me a different

kind—one with two syllables

and bruises all over.

Blood the color

of melted strawberry ice cream.

In the summer,

I swam in my neighbors pool.

I said— I’m _old en...

Your teeth are silver—

you swear they are white.

Sun dripping through your fingers—

you tell me it does not shine.

God bless you, sir,

and your endless hunt

for reason.

I remember every name of you,

every mask you

tried to scrub away.

I sing your poems,

your praises,

burning with

condescension.

Is it great,

feeling known?

Is it great,

to have so many

willing to die

by your words?

Well—

you’r...

I have seen more dead things

Than my eyes dare accept.

I have watched birds

Break open beneath the

Wheels of cars, and thought:

This is what God intended.

A rabbit drowning

In its own blood

Clamped in the jaws

Of a tiger.

Soft white fur,

A cloud in hell.

So tragic—

So beautiful

You cannot look away.

This is how bleeding leads

To beauty….

So desperate to be prey,

To belong to someon...