Being Nice

Nice never got me 

anywhere good

so let the pink lipstick

provocatively caressing 

this cigarette

be the thing that makes

you want to inhale every

mean part of me. 

Untitled

I was in a corner

when you told me

don't harm yourself. 

How would I?

The burning of

your hand

still debilitates me. 

Rain

I will teach you to talk 

to my sadness 

and you will treasure 

the conversations 

in the same way 

I appreciate the smell 

of an awaited rain. 

Origins

Sometimes your rage

fuels me to find

better men

but mostly I wonder 

if I'll ever be something

other than bored

with men who

make me feel 

more than broken 

Preemptive

I miss you

while you are pushing

my hair away from my eyes

and mine meet yours

but there is no contact. 

Angst

No one wants

to publish

these words

I am writing. 

Even neatly typed,

hiding the chicken

scratch, I can't

seen to perfect

these words. 

And the worst?

My epiphany

is lost on

my reader. 

Burning Bridges

How alarming

that sometimes you burn

bridges

only to be swimming 

carefree some months

later

when one of the broken

boards bounced downstream 

and hits you

hard. 

I'm underwater 

and I can't breathe.