For as long as I can remember,

the women of my family have lived

in hunger like hulking tigers in a cramped cage.

Love is quickly used up, its quality fading

from golden light into grainy shadows

flicked haphazardly across God’s great canvas.

After Love departs, nothing remains but

the splinters where we have torn away limbs

and dug holes in search of that light again,

the flecks of gold streaked through our hair,

the ones that know better than revisit our homes.

When we give up, we sit in our drab backyards

to watch the sun sink over a…

Long nights I spent with forever at my feet

And the knocker at my fingertips

I couldn’t close the distance, I was scared

Of your door. I know you never want to see me again,

And I’m alright with that, I swear I am.

Sometimes when I think of you, I recall

Every second with you was me begging

For what you were never willing to give.

And I’m finished with it. So forget me,

Forget the promises I made to you,

I will not spend the rest of my life

Searching every pair of eyes in the room

To…

I will love you in the pouring rain,

See you down streets glimmering,

See you as an adventurer set free.

I’m sorry I can’t bleed beautifully

Or paint you the prettiest pictures

Like all your other dreamy lovers do

For what it’s worth, I have unrivaled expertise

In the art of quieting worried hearts

So every moment can be savored,

Just one puzzle of piece of thousands

Like a heart as infinite as my hunger for knowledge of it

And I can learn to love anything at all-

I can be a miracle beyond words for you.

Passing by an old brick building on a slow road

I almost laugh to think the last time I was there,

I thought I’d found who I was supposed to be

When I barely knew how to do anything more

Than stay quiet and stay out of everyone’s way.

I told my old soul sisters I’d see them soon

But I haven’t seen those pieces of my heart in a while.

TW: sexual assault

At the party you press me against the wall

Your tongue is an invader more than an inquirer in my mouth

My dress is too tight, my dress is too short

I don’t remember how I got here, I don’t even want to.

It’s been about a year of stolen glances

But I never thought you would go so far

Except that one time when maybe I thought-

But no, now I can’t think at all because you’re like a dragon

Shooting fire down my neck. Why can’t I breathe?

I see you in dated Polaroid frames chasing after a new girl,

Younger than me and prettier than me, her eyes sparkle

And thanks to you, mine carry the weight of a soul’s death

Her smile screams I have nothing at all to be insecure about,

Not a worry plaguing my heart- you’ve yet to snatch from her

All the happiness, the hope, and whatever else you stole from me

A blink of an eye later, it’s like you never waltzed through my door

So right now I’m sitting all by myself just like I always wanted

But I still…