One moment you are here reaching,Until I’m honest instead of easy,Then I’m dangling alone,I try and I reach,Grasping and gasping for air,You’re gone, then you’re back,But I’m still dangling,And you don’t know whyI’m grasping and gasping,Pulling myself up,Out of this black hole,This void from which no effort returns,I try and […]
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After Midnight
He dresses you up in my sweater,Though it doesn’t quite suit you, andLets you stab stitch the hole I left in his roster,He has more time for your services now.You are exactly his type,Convenient proximity, easy to sway,Eager to give, but you won’t receive.You deserve to know the truth, andMaybe […]
FNA
Dim lightsTowels tucked into my collarNumb just enough to get the needle to the noduleProbe on my thyroidThe ultra sound appears on the screenThe doctor guides the needle inSix passes scraping to collect enough sampleTo not do this againThe icky gel never wipes cleanThe puncture blood tattoos under my skinI […]
Don’t Ask Me If I Love You
Don’t ask me if I love you.What is love?I know how I love my son and my sister,Unconditional, without limits.It’s my only guide to love myself.I know attraction and limerence,The unrequited care I pour,Inconsistencies and confusion received.But what is love beyond what I give?Can you take me there,Through presence and […]
A Pinecone Gave In To Gravity At 3:25 AM
A pinecone gave in to gravity at 3:25 a.m.,The wind serenades the leaves,Hip-hop affirmations grant my reprieve,A baited video claimsSomeone told you about me,But how could theyWhen I keep so much bound and buried,Because they won’t understand,Because admission is taboo,Even when they crave it, too,How brutal it isWhen limerence sings […]
He Had a Face I Could Always Forgive
He had a faceI could always forgive,but he never .-Melissa Donley
The Saints Took Up Smoking
A card or a bladeTo finely mince,Separate seed and bud,Pack and roll in paper,Lick and seal,Pinch and twist the ends,Hemostats if clips are too bougie,Or raw pawBetween two fingers,Light up, drag deep, hold,Hold,Hold,Release.When we slaughtered the lamb,And left the flesh to rot,And the coat to mat,And the blood sticky across […]
Before Midnight
Can we waltz aroundthis fading almosta moment more?Please?We are a breathand a blinkbefore midnight,and your scars areso damn beautiful.I won’t touch,unless …-Melissa Donley
Handsome Thief
While his eyes steal cookiesfrom the jars I fill,I watch his hands,and just maybe,he could take me, too.-Melissa Donley
Tortellini
It’s too hot to cook,but I don’t drink,so tortellini will have to do.He’s got beef with agingand erased birthdayfrom the message I leftmonths ago.Happy plus his namememorialized in my best handwritingon a dry erase.I don’t understand why he keeps pieces of me.He won’t say anything,but I have fresh basil,so tortellini […]