My relationship with life was as unhealthy as mine with death
I took them like pills, small doses each time
Never at once, I've always been told not to mix alcohol with antidepressants
Me and life lived like Romeo and Juliet
We only met in secret
Quiet smiles at stupid stuff, subtle and unsound
Death always took me away though
It carved my skin and tied me in red
Little red ribbons
Carved deep into my thighs, the wrist was too predictable
Again i'd try to be taken, my dearest start crossed lover
They'd bubble smiles across my lips
I wonder when they started to feel fake

My Maypole mind unravels
reverses centrifugal force
its streamer shreds of ribbons
spinning backwards
in one grand and splendid rush.

Mind loosened and snapped
tatters
fluttering free
electric after-images
of me.


© M.L.Emmett

Ribbons calling against the wind,
stronger than our fences.
   Ribbons crawling to our feet
speak of our potential--
   They break our defenses

You love me in intervals of the short beats
Hidden in the blue ribbons beneath the skin,
With a spiral breath you envelope my lost sorrows
In cascades of soft desires.
You dream of me.
Maybe.
You lean your cheek on the purple shadows
Of curved petals of saffron in the frost
Not knowing that
In every line of my heart I seek a part of you.
I stop in the mists of endless contours
Imagining the smell of your hair
And lips of raspberry
Crushed under the fingertips.
Wanting you is like walking on the wire
In another universe drowned in darkness,
Like touching a hot cup
Left on the edge of the table
And like melting the honey under the tongue.
And you,
You love me with a look, gesture,
With every lash that pops into your palm.
Sometimes.
Maybe.

Like ribbons of smoke dancing in the air
You were beautiful
You were the Northern lights
Important enough to be watched in the freezing cold
You were fleeting and sweet
Cream swirling in coffee
Ripples in a pond
I loved you
But like all ephemeral things
Eventually you left too.

Trouble, love...
You drown me in
Quick
Beats;
Palpitations of my
Red *****.
My waters run for you.

Tied with
Ribbons of
Silk,
I shout proclamations
To the clouds who
Threaten to rain on us.