i didn't light my house on fire to be consoled by ashes and fragments
i did it to prove that
between puddles and eggshells, there isn't too much room to move
i hope that you can see that now

if you smile
commit yourself to it
clench your grin between your jaws

capacity and expression
are not mutually exclusive
assign yourself an emotion
and delve into it until your bones crack
stiff and under pressure

before he died
his breath was sour
it smelled like whiskey

flock to me
adorn me in funerary robes
build me into a messiah
so i can bruise myself in your name

i promise to you
i ******* swear to all i have left that i would finish creating you
but our time has run out

don't worry about the mountaintops
don't worry about memorizing prayers
don't worry about the cheshire murders
don't worry about the economy
don't worry about voices
don't worry about the weather
don't worry about heaven
don't worry about hell
don't worry about ships
don't worry about haircuts
don't worry about fabric
you aren't here

fumigate me
remove me
release me
because
it is warranted
follow the rules
tear into my bloated carcass
see what real hunger feels like
see

soothe the mitochondria back into function
prove your worth
show us what a thousand years worth of natural selection can do

make the animals angry by replacing their medicine with salt
they are animals after all
they should be made to delicately pry it from under your fingernails

we don't do funerals around here
we don't wear black clothes around here
we don't eat three square meals a day around here
we don't get between six to eight hours of sleep every week night around here

pry my ******* teeth out with dental floss and a hammer
remembering only to wash your hands first
because all of your temporary muses have died
and you have nothing better to do

for a contract killer
you keep good company
and have a lovely bedside manner

cut off all features starting with the eyes
because no one likes to be looked at
while doing something they know they should not
be doing

a carcass is as productive here as something with a pulse
you think it will never happen to you
but there's always a margin of error
for everything
always