I don't wish to be
where you're not — your absence has
embittered life there

ᴵ don't just undress me
unwrap me like a fresh bound
book straight from the press

ᴵᴵ then don't just kiss me
seek me for air and for warmth —
as you would the sun

ᴵᴵᴵ and don't just make me
feel good — savour me — show me
just how good I taste

if you're looking for
CONSISTENT, search no more — I'm
                                  consistently tired

ᴵ touch me
on my palm
like I'm a flower
you mean to open

ᴵᴵ touch me
between my fingers
like I'm a sea
you mean to part

ᴵᴵᴵ touch me
in my arm
like I'm a sheep
you mean to guide

ᴵⱽ touch me
on my shoulders
like I'm a wall
you mean to hold

ⱽ touch me
on the nape
like I'm cards
you mean to shuffle

ⱽᴵ touch me
on the side of my face
like I'm braille
you mean to read

ⱽᴵᴵ touch me
on the lips
like I'm cherries
you mean to pick

ⱽᴵᴵᴵ touch me
on my neck
like I'm a glass
you mean to drink

ᴵˣ touch me
on my chest
like I'm a drum
you mean to beat

ˣ touch me
like you mean it

we had that one old
photo that always reminds
me how I wanted
to have kids with you, and you
did have kids — just not with me

Mondays are for things
often left open from the
night before — close me

**** I keep losing
you in the crowd, guy who looks
like Kido Taisei

sometimes when people
go, they do it for themselves —
so while they're still here
give them a home and try to
take them out of the warzone

living alone, I
thought the sea was a distant
dream — 'til I cried one

please just let me melt
like small pats of  French butter
on warm Sunday toasts

I am losing sleep
over the matter of why
I am losing sleep

I was up, writing
my ink — cold and raven like
                               rain at 2 am

they only see the
tiredness in your eyes when they're
mad at you for it

the PARABLE of
the PLEASER:      "can you help with . . ."

YEAH
             SURE THING
                                       WHY NOT

I'm always stealing
glances and end up getting
lost in your eyes, or
is it the ocean — to be
honest, what's the difference

if you want to shut
me up, lock my lower lip
in-between your teeth

I have what you would
call a sleeper build — only
mine is built to sleep

that's when I knew you're
good for me — I liked myself
more, for liking you

tell me a story
who, what, where, when, how and why
I'll always listen

and I find rest in
knowing that you're the keeper
of the rest of me ☄

my patience would leave
me like its house — it'd always
find a home in you