Oh, queen of ice
your sacrifice
was the skirt your mother threw out of her window
because she didn't want to think about
   the boys
   with their cigarettes
their hormones and sweaty fingers
pawing at your bare thighs

and the idea
of us being together
is like a bad joke
all the buildup
   and none of the satisfaction

March comes in like a lion
and will leave like a lamb
coughing up teeth on the bathroom floor
you didn't give a ****
    I wish to be stern, resolute
    how a panther stalks its prey
    in a jungle weaving winding vines
    until the judgment day
but somewhere
you could see yourself
gums bleeding bright and red
so you spat in the sink
climbed under the sheets
and wished that you were dead

I love you, silently
selfishly
with bones searing white-hot
and skin speckled blue
or sometimes,
when sleep’s so far
and my lips half chewed,
I can even remember you-
steaming and steeping
and oh-so-almost-real

Its been a long time
since I’ve seen you smile
with those teeth that light your face
like cigarettes on a clouded night
and baby-

I don’t even know
what I’m doing here anymore
sickness seeps from bathroom doors
and when I wake up
tangled, gasping for air
I can just about smell the smoke in your hair

and almost savor the cracked lips
you only let me taste
if I’m not sober

fingers crossed
your skin is seeping with
the things you didn't say
its sort of like sweat
but it won't wash away
   engine sputtering
        eyelashes fluttering
as you roll the skin of my wrist
  between your fingers
and somewhere in my brain
        I know
you don't care what I say
you just want me to look pretty while I say it
  but hush little darling,
its better this way.

your face is leaking shadows, baby
you ain't got nothing to lose today
so tie up your white shoelaces
and get on your way

deep inside yourself you'll find
something glistening to remind
you that you've got to get a move on
and never look behind

Of all the things I’ve ever heard
(a song sung sweetly by a bird,
the hollow rumbling of a drum,
the trembling strings of every strum)

there’s nothing
like the way you sing
when you think
no one’s listening