02-02-2015, 05:40 PM
Crawling like a wolf, sniffing beneath newspapers
for that cousin’s girlfriend who also likes knitting,
to hold up and shake in the face of a steely, impersonal world;
a currency to stave off the predator.
We talked more than once, shared coffee with no spills.
At least a penny’s worth, at least a little!
Crouching in bars, the folly of enthusiasm,
as you realize your words have gone unheard
for the last twenty minutes, the conversation
scattered and rough like sand stuck in your shoes.
Lives rushing by in dark streams, too fast,
and the banks are muddy beneath your bare feet.
Swallow the pity, with love thrown in thick globs,
honeyed bits that cling to your hair
as they skate away, haloes waving in the breeze.
Love is universal so have as much as you’d like.
God will forgive you for being a broken washout.
Advice applied over swollen skin like bandaids,
and you should be a just bit more grateful, you know?
Reaching for the cold, at least it’s honest.
Sweetly scorn the morons who will never care.
Cling to the comfort of hating in spades,
at least you’re not being pretentious.
Just don’t let them see you, sobbing,
sticking parts of your chest cavity back in
behind that dumpster they love to complain about.
It’s not you, it’s you, and I really mean that.
You’re not naked to the blind,
so stop wringing yourself over the sink.
No need for contortions on the kitchen table.
Your honesty is a discombobulated dead language,
your face the mask of a writhing sea.
They would know you if they could...
and you would know me.
for that cousin’s girlfriend who also likes knitting,
to hold up and shake in the face of a steely, impersonal world;
a currency to stave off the predator.
We talked more than once, shared coffee with no spills.
At least a penny’s worth, at least a little!
Crouching in bars, the folly of enthusiasm,
as you realize your words have gone unheard
for the last twenty minutes, the conversation
scattered and rough like sand stuck in your shoes.
Lives rushing by in dark streams, too fast,
and the banks are muddy beneath your bare feet.
Swallow the pity, with love thrown in thick globs,
honeyed bits that cling to your hair
as they skate away, haloes waving in the breeze.
Love is universal so have as much as you’d like.
God will forgive you for being a broken washout.
Advice applied over swollen skin like bandaids,
and you should be a just bit more grateful, you know?
Reaching for the cold, at least it’s honest.
Sweetly scorn the morons who will never care.
Cling to the comfort of hating in spades,
at least you’re not being pretentious.
Just don’t let them see you, sobbing,
sticking parts of your chest cavity back in
behind that dumpster they love to complain about.
It’s not you, it’s you, and I really mean that.
You’re not naked to the blind,
so stop wringing yourself over the sink.
No need for contortions on the kitchen table.
Your honesty is a discombobulated dead language,
your face the mask of a writhing sea.
They would know you if they could...
and you would know me.