The brittle oak legs hold up my taut canvas
They have endured years of feelings without buckling
And here they stand, facing me, asking me
When will you stop?

The splintered paintbrush drips colour on the soil beneath me Unwavering in the palm of my hand, it stays steady, solid
Yet it groans under the pressure of my fingers
Crying out for mercy with every stroke.

The canvas calls, beckoning my delivery of mind and heart
It whispers calm claims of serenity and peaceful hours
Whilst these are compelling words
There's only one use it can give to me.

The paint dries in the southern sun, untouchable but delicate
A portrait so realistic, only her stillness betrayed her
She gazes at me with lapis coloured eyes that don't move
If only I could recall who she was.

The memory of her explodes in my mind like a carpet bomb
But it's stripped away just as soon, ripped from my fingers
A crystalline tear cascades as I pummel the bare sod with fury
But until I remember again,

The brittle oak legs shake violently under my taut canvas.
The bent paintbrush leaks paint onto the soil beneath me.
The canvas whispers, beckoning my delivery of tears and anger.
The paint drips in the moonlight, distorted and warped.

Shriek

Throw this flesh into wind for to be tattered.

Flense & flay me; sprayed hot onto cold asphalt. Ribbon shred.

This isn't loving Summer, no. Springtime is
planting-
     gestation--
          gasping births---
                violence.
The invasion that is existing.

The Green of April is no gleaming emerald;
It is fury. It is ravenous hunger. It is manic desperation to be
It is the razor's edge of bleeding insistence.

Remove these bones. Festoon your thoughts with the sting and the ache. These verbs are command form. It is Spring.

That ripping. That fibrous, fluid tear. You hear it, yes?

Tilt me over and spill my ******* guts out.
Clouds of grey and bright red rain--squall of ichor. Knife wind.

Let us weep thunderstorms. Chagrin these Gods of Drought.

Howl

Scream for us both. Wail until the throat bleeds. Blood decanter.
Pour us out of you until the sidewalk hides from the cold.

Chilly today! Should've brought an anorak, eh?

Gale force wind. Tear me up. Spare no expense, accept no substitutes.
Leave no intact iota. Return me to my component parts. Atomize me.
Untangle us, we are a tragedy.
...And, after all, this is a slasher, yeah?

I mean. At least distract me. Ya know?

It’s all Choreography, you see,
How I know just what to say,
How I smile at your life,
My enthusiasm about your new boo.
Don’t worry,
Don’t worry,
Don’t worry your perfect little head,
About my loss,
About my body,
About my hair.

It’s all Choreography, you see,
I’ll probably tell you about the one good day,
Some award I won for being nice,
And spew some pseudo-intelligent *******
But I know
Oh, I know
I know all too well you’ll see through me

It’s all Choreography, you see,
I’ve been training since I was five,
It’s meticulously planned
And executed flawlessly as
Warm hugs, laughs, kind eyes and sweet, sweet words.

It’s all Choreography, I know
I’d rather do this,
Because,
I dance alone anyway!

Collapse in me like a calamity
We break bones like friends break bread
Suitable to eat all the fiction we leave
Leave no crumbs upon the porcelain
Dripping from the maw,
It’s a gathered storm we twist in the rain
Cyclic sick, motion parody
Parroting in the air we see in our periphery.

An animal touch
Gnawing through the skin
Gnashing at the veins
Tapping ancient knowledge from within
Tasting the copper essence, thicker than buttermilk
Oat notes inside iron smell,
Rust color dyed under the fingernails.
This is what I meant when I said
I want to get inside you.

Collapse in me like a black hole
Supernova laser beams bouncing through the temples
Lobotomize consciousness in conscience bliss
Constant this, a battle waged with no winners
If I take it, what would you give
And if I give what would you take?
Would the odds meet even?
Would the world cease its grievance?
Coastal in the irony
Serfs off the shore.
Surfs up collected Moores
Served up in pallid doors
Serve up to pad the wallets, sure.
I’m not immune to your history,
Hang me for my skin tone and pedigree
Take my culture and use that pasta to bury me.

Infinite waters,
Drain my colors
Paint me a new face,
Bring me to Zion
Let me see my creations
Batter me in heinous
Fry me with jealousy
Greed bleeds in green envious eyes
And I doubt you realize…
I only wanted to love the best in you.

Collapse in me like a crumpled page
Wrinkled and discarded
Rage billowed in dried ink and crude letters
Words cursed from the spittle of angered throats
Vibrating viral vehemence through the echoes of a time
No longer sated in the universes we’ve depleted
In still-born births upon our rotted stage
We play alone.

Collapse in me!