Poetri

Frigid weather:

uncomfortable if you like being warm
deadly if you can’t find warmth
wonderful if you don’t like mosquitoes

Rainstorm:

uncomfortable if you like being dry
deadly if you need to be dry
wonderful if you enjoy flowers

Blazing sun:

uncomfortable if you burn easy
deadly if you’re dehydrated
wonderful if you need energy

Arguments:

uncomfortable if you prefer peace
deadly if irreconcilable
wonderful if you’re seeking the truth

Love:

uncomfortable if you’ve built up walls
deadly if its merciful
wonderful if its the reason you live

Truth:

uncomfortable if you’re living a lie
deadly if you are a liar
wonderful if you want understanding

Me:

uncomfortable when I tell it like it is
deadly when I’m misunderstood
wonderful if you know whose I am

Who do you
Who do you
Who do you
Who do you think you are?

Ha!ha!ha!
Bless your soul!

You think you’re in control?
Well I think you’re crazy
I think I’m crazy
I think we’re crazy
probably…

“For God so loved the world
that he gave His only son…”

that’s how we know
what love is
that it is measured
and how it is measured…

How do you know
that I love you?

what do you love most?
who do you love most?
do you believe most
you love all the same?

then what’s the point of saying, I love you
if it’s all the same
then all the words
like dear, beloved, and soul mate are all in vain

but if they’re not (in vain)
and they denote intimacy
how do you get your fingers dirty with me
and do you sniff them
after we play?

do you cover yourself
do you smear me all over you
and inside your mind to get high
oh my!

does your stomach get to growling
when you see me?

do you suddenly get warm
whenever you hear my voice?
a rush of fever
whenever I come close?

do you allow yourself
to get weak in the knees
when you feel a touch of love from me?
are you into me?

do you hear the song I sing to you everyday
or do the winds of the world blow it all away?
isn’t it amazing
that melody?

sometimes we get used to beauty
looking only one way
so when it’s right in front of our face
we say its in our way
we even call it ugly

just because a lemon is a bitter fruit
does that mean it has no use
and how much sugar can a person enjoy?

so the sun is sometimes locked behind the sky
the day still comes
as does the moon and the night

people often say that they don’t have the time
but you never hear them say they don’t have the life
life is what you make it
and likewise with time

so I’ll leave you with this final thought
learn how to love deep
learn how to love high
learn how to love the hidden things
learn how to love why
learn how to love more
learn how to love poor
learn how to love the end
to know where to begin
learn how to love you
so that you can love me
learn how to love, not philosophically
but from the groin of your heart
learn how to love intensely
learn how to love gently
and after you’ve learned all that
know that there’s more…

believe it or not
that’s the way I love you. (smile)

mouth machined words
cut cut cut cut cut cut
conveyor belted up against
the base of my psychology

easily spoken innocence
dust blown off the surface of
an emptiness with no depth
ah-chooed violently
earthquake of the soul

but nothing moves you

letters lined up to pass the time
played per turn, time to kill
listening, I hear things you mean and don’t mean
and listen harder
to you listen less

sentences bump, backed up as I
try to understand
but you’re not saying anything more
moving your mouth automatically
to fill the space I’ve opened and offered you

believing “we” had meaning

She was shaking a quilt out in the backyard sun
Padded colors billowing at the end of her arms
Bare calves firmly planted
Her silhouette like a cookie jar

A dog barked when she snapped a sheet
I growled from behind a shrub
Confusing my stomach, heart, and loins
Licking my chops while she bent over into her basket

Dirty all her laundry
Stains that won’t come out
Lower lip bitten, hair wild in the grass
Legs knowing
I’d be vicious

My hellish heart racing
Working her into the dirt
Guilty sweet pulp of ass
Incarcerating me for another eighteen years

Before we got to the outdoor cafe
And the waitresses had a chance to look at us sideways
I had to blow my nose so I could breathe better
Jumped up and down a couple of times
Stamping the wet sidewalk
Just to make sure it wouldn’t break

So I blew… hard and loud
And all this shit came out
So that the sun seemed brighter when I finished wiping my nose
Rain clouds got wet again
Clearing up my eyes
I took another look at that ass you squeezed into your jeans
And said,

Are you sure you’re hungry?

You laughed
For the first time since the last time I acted like myself in public
Which had been awhile
Because I let myself believe you sometimes got embarrassed

And I smiled
And wanted to reach inside your blouse and pull out a breast
And suck it right there with
You pressed against the window glass of
That jewelry shop you always talk about
And wished you’d let me
Like it was the most important thing in the world at that moment

I settled for asking for our menus
Sending back the waitress for clean glasses
Wondering if she was on her period
Because of how her pants fit

Then turned to you and asked
Just as a warm spring breeze gently muffed me
Why we don’t do it in the car anymore
My fingers on your silky smooth knee
Under the table

You’d forgotten the ocean in your hair
White sun, the grit of sand between your toes
Salty skin
Smooth lips on your neck
And the burning groan between your thighs

Or when alone in the hallway
I pushed past your tears
Made it fit
Until those horrible sounds melted into sighs
My lovely broken animal

We laid on the warm wooden floor
Staring at candles down the hall
Works of art wrought of exhaustion
And satisfaction

Thrown through forest tree tops in winter
I was torn to shreds like a flock of crows beating the air
Pink pieces of me clinging to twigs, waving in cold wind
Mind disappeared into gray sky
Unable to find a dream

But she was sitting in a wooden rocker
High back, barefoot on the floor
The split up her dress – careless
Would have been dangerous had I not been freezing
Now fortunate
Burned the air with a question

Sounded more like a breath of readiness
Than a string of words falling the wrong way

I forget the in-between
My metal lips on her cold nipples
Made everything she spilled delicious
Like honey dipped caramel
Thawed by a teasing sun

So when she smacked me
The water in my eyes
Was actually a thank you

hands up
fingers spread among the stars
close your eyes and look inside
drift across the space between us
and embrace the warmth of my words

what can I tell you about this life
the world of you and I
or anything
when all I want to do
is hug you into me
and breath easy feeling love

even if that love only comes through me
and not to me
the joy of loving will heal me
for in loving you
I love myself