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 Apr 2013 Taylor Henry
Justin
My father was carved from a mountain,
his features were etched from the stone,
but like all mountains my father will crumble,
he was in need of an heir to his throne.
My brother was forged of hot iron,
no straighter a path could he walk,
he draws all his strength from the mountain,
his veins run deep through the rock.
My brother was grown in the forest,
so vivid, alive and in sync,
he draws all his strength from the ocean,
his roots thrive on the water they drink.
My mother was born of the ocean,
like a flower she bloomed from the sea,
but when the tide overcame the mountain,
all that remained on the shore was me.
I was born of my father and mother,
I crawled from the ocean and stone,
and when my father finally crumbles,
his two heirs will inherit his throne.
I will travel to nations of bloodshed,
I will not let my death go to waste,
I will lay down my life in the desert,
to keep my fathers throne safe.
That smile
That stupid smile
That **** eating grin of yours
Beautiful pearly rounded chompers
Okay, so maybe they are a little yellow
Who’s aren’t?
When one has smoked filterless filters for the last 10 years
What does one expect?

It’s exquisite really.
It brings me to the ground
Mostly from the weak knees that it incites
Nostalgia doesn’t even begin to describe
I’ve seen it in my dreams
It’s been with me for the last decade
It’s something that I will never be able to forget

The largest mouth I ever done seent
3 ounces of liquids in one easy swallow
I could put my foot in there
And there would still be room

Belches and burps
Curses and yells
Loud laughs
Sweet whimpers
All the things that are expelled

Every time a smile appears
A smug smirk
A gushing grin
I smile back
Despite my anger
Or fears
It doesn’t seem to matter how upset you make me
I smile back

The history we share is complex
Predating all the things
All the peoples
All the events
All the places
Spanning such far distances
In space, place, and time

And here we are.
How long have I known that bittersweet smile?
A better question is how long I will continue to be graced with it.
Even if that is shorter than I hope
I’ll still remember.
It’s something I can never forget.

CHEESE!
 Apr 2013 Taylor Henry
Redshift
i will save time,
littlest brother.
i will wrap it up
and put it into a box
to mature,
like a rare cheese
only for you and me.

on the day
that you come to me
and want to know
what it was like
before mom left
because you won't remember,
i will open our box
and show you.

first i will take out
a lock of mom's blonde hair
that used to fall
down to her waist
and i will tell you
what it looked like
in the sunshine
while we made
daisy chains.
i will tell you
how it turned brown
later on
and how mom let me sit
on her bed
and twist, twist, twist
for hours,
because i didn't know how to braid.
and how me and Erika sat
in front of the space heater
and dried off
after a bath
mom crocheting
on the bed,
singing.

then i will remove from our box
a crisp, shriveled leaf
from the Big Tree
and i will let you smell it.
i will say,
this is what
home smells like...
never forget,
littlest brother.
i will sit you on my lap
and paint you pictures with my fingers
i will reveal to you little indian huts
and smoky firepits
and *****, chipped toes.

lastly
i will steal from time
and will take from our box,
what is rightfully ours
and i will give you
the last shred
that i have saved
for so long...
just for you, littlest brother.
i will give you mom and dad
together.
happy.
i will give you mom and dad
in their funky, attic-smelling bathing suits
mom's tummy protruding with another older sister for you
standing on the hot stones
dad's big, funny glasses
glinting in the sun,
a sun that shown down
on something whole
something perfect.
i will give you mom and dad
snuggled under a blanket
on the couch
watching a movie together
mom giving dad 'the look'
as he chuckles...

littlest brother,
i will do all i can
to create memories for you...
because everyone deserves to remember
something happy...
littlest brother,
i will steal from time
all i can
all for you...
until time decides to take back
what is rightfully his.
this life
can sorta pile up on you
so much so
that you begin to feel like Atlas
waking up every morning
complaining about your sore back and shoulders,
sometimes it gets to the point where
you feel it rising up inside of you
thrashing it's way upwards
from the pit of your stomach
and you feel like if you don't scream
or curse
or break something
that you will go truly mad,
I was on my way to either being mad
or having a very sore throat
until I decided to write in an old school notebook one day
and it all changed,
I still need to scream,
I just scream with my fingertips
 Apr 2013 Taylor Henry
Redshift
i love that i am getting
farther away from you.
if i wanted to be close to you
it would be easy...
i don't like anything
that is easy.
i love *******
this long
spacious
gap
i love stretching
testing
seeing how far i can reach
in the opposite
direction.
i love this
big
empty
space
between us
i love how it gets bigger and bigger
the more i pry my heart
out of yours.
i love
how much room there is
for dancing
for leaping
for doing all the things
there wasn't a spot for
before.
i love that i can take
huge
deep
breathes
and not breathe the same air
as you.
i love
that i am not so close to you
that i have to mimic
your every move
i love that my hair
doesn't get tangled
in your fingers
anymore...
you left my hair
in knots.
i love that if you reached for me
not even your fingertips
would brush me
i love that if you yelled for me
i would never
hear you
i love that if you wanted to kiss me
you would be
disappointed.

i love
that i am not
near
you.
 Mar 2013 Taylor Henry
Redshift
i lay on this bed
like a daisy
smashed by a rubber tire
limply
peaceful
but crushed
all the same.
 Mar 2013 Taylor Henry
Redshift
if when you take
an afternoon stroll
in the fresh spring air
to the library
down the street
and you spend your time
not listening to the birds
or examining the new buds
but wishing that every car
that passed
would run you over
you probably
should rethink
a couple things
 Mar 2013 Taylor Henry
Redshift
didn't eat
a single thing
all day
if being
a size 0
doesn't make you happy
what
will
 Mar 2013 Taylor Henry
Mary
Tell me about the day our hip bones
said hello.

Your eyebrows curved
like cupped hands,
how that was more than I’d expected,
how the hope bleeding through your fingers
stained my temples when you touched them.

You believe and it makes me want
to build you a skylight,
sunk in the rafters like a baby tooth
peering shyly from dark gums,

my heart is a broken down *****
but you play it just right.

You’ve got the body of a musician and
there’s something beautiful about your
skeleton being on display,
your shoulders are blades
and they cut right through me.  

I was a safety deposit box,
holding things that were not mine.
I was springtime in New England,
all baited anticipation and lasting chill.

You are an Arizona rainstorm.
You are moisture in the desert, thunder in the silence,
utterly unprecedented warmth.

I have been many things, but never once
enough.
the grayness has a way
of coming from the sky
and seeping into the earth
the dark clouds which never produce rain
casting a shadow over the world
the city streets and buildings are overwhelming
the buildings reach up like fingers from the ground
trying to touch the face of God
it was gray today
but it won't be tomorrow
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