Wednesday, December 09, 2015

I don't like you

It's ok to get caught
It's not ok to drown

I don't like you
with your eyes of cloudy skies
and hair of hay just snowed on.

I don't like you
with your voice, laced with acid
and your words, casually sharpened knives.

I don't like you
even for the sake of times past
even for the sake of all the hugs.

I don't like you
and yet, I liked liking you
I think that is what hurts the most.



Friday, December 04, 2015

High fidelity

Let me make my list of top fives
Just like in that movie:

First, the boy with autumn leaves in his eyes
All our discussions about life
Walking along the seaside
Sharing a cigarette
Me, always wanting
something more than he can offer
lending a sympathetic ear as ransom
to keep his lips prisoner.
He thought I wanted to change him
I only wanted to be loved.

Second, another boy, ivory skin, long fingers
Following me like a stray cat
While I was battling my own demons
and planning my big escape.
I expected to find him there
Upon my return, unchanged
Instead he just broke my heart
Like I broke his
Without any malice, without even noticing.

Third, the man who found me
when I was lost, afraid, insecure
first talking about life, universe and everything
then exploring all the secret corners of passion
like kids playing in the sand
I poured all my surplus affection into him
all my unwritten, forbidden, shunned words
all my admiration, all the overflowing sensual energy
and he never took advantage of it
he never broke my heart, yet he has pieces of it
I still send kisses his way with every passing sparrow.

Fourth, the boy I first reluctantly shared my time with
then willingly and enthusiastically my body, inch by inch
finally, after a world of suffering
my heart, which I did not even know existed.
The boy I first painted my nails for
the one for whom I straightened my long curly hair
wore high heeled shoes, white stockings,
and finally, a ring.
the man I built my life around
who let me breathe for the first time
his smell, my oxygen
his skin, my home
trapped in the cage of his eyelashes, forever, my soul.

Yes, here's where the list ends,
there were others, for sure, pretty faces and all.
But not every heartache deserves a place in the top
Even when they make me stay up late at night
Trying to heal myself using just words...

Secret lives of strays

Secret lives of stray beasts
tiger cubs who made it out of the zoo
hiding in the bushes, hoping to blend in

My ribcage is a reinforced cell
designed to hold wild animals in
the only exit is through my stomach
that's where I store all the excess pain

I have a long beautiful scar there
sometimes I want to rip it wide open
and let all the anger out
all the hurt, and the frustration, too
all the words I keep swallowing
all burning holes in their places.

Secret lives of stray poets
scribbling on the backs of used notebooks
and on forgotten blogs nobody reads.

Never befriend a child if you can help it
They are fickle things, cruel and remorseless
They either grow up too soon
Or find a new toy and disappear

Never expect life to be simple
After years of lull it can twist and turn
You can't turn tiger cubs into alley cats
You can't take emotions out of poets
Even if your force them into hiding.