UNRIPE

it was a lost conversation.

sunk deep, buried treasure.

choking on the sweaty air

it was too dark to see in their wet eyes

and too loud to hear anything other than

the hollering in your own mind.

you know when you aren't sure if you said anything out loud?

you know how you'll never take a picture that hasn't already been taken?

it was like that.

that hollowed out lemon pucker

feeling

of it all just being smoke and mirrors.

YOU DRAW BIRDS WITH BEAKS WIDE OPEN

the butterfly bush is skeletal now.

fat blossoms gone,
sweet scent night time purple flowers missing.
we were on our bicycles
and i can't remember if i was trying to make my boyfriend jealous or not.

who knew a summer night's butterfly bush could be so ominous?

MARY OLIVER

lustrous and pink.

two-faced and hot,

playing music in the street.

he: aged and gray.

like color like sky. 

agitated he turns, all corn whiskered face to the lightning sky.

asks, "tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

THIS NIGHT IN HAIKU:3

as your door opened-

i knew that i must push through

this instant regret

THIS NIGHT IN HAIKU:2

together we sit.

spilling our feelings like paint,

we watch the trains pass

THIS NIGHT IN HAIKU:1

I apologize,

but seeing your half moon face

pulls me deep in doubt.

THE UNREASONABLE COLD

and your ghost and you.

it's unreal

the movements forward are masked by the thick heavy right now-

which feels like the devil is blowing on my bones.

making them rattle

alone

but walking through a million particles

that fly in the air.

and did you know that when we shift

we part them?

millions of particles

reflected and changed

through even the smallest of movements.

i think of them constantly.

but here i am,

i have been.

and i believe that i would feel deserted 

if you stopped haunting me.

empty hearted,

empty handed,

i can always take solace

i can find deep appreciation

for all the millions of movements i am creating,

that are born of my own action.

my shiver, my shake, my rattle, my twitch.

even though it is

accompanied by your ghost and you.

image by andrea heimer