NATURAL PREDATORS

The forest is full of predators Majestic feathers or soft fur Brutal hunters underneath A chorus of sweet bird songs Escaping from piercing beaks Colorful patterns that play and hide Just waiting with their toxins To protect, paralyze, or kill Humans are scary beautiful too Men are the apparent hunters Some are natural protectors And…

A STORY

Don’t think Walk slow Stay steady Focus on steps Close off sound Close off smell Shallow breath Step into shower It’s cold Sharp inhale Shock Water warms Wash hair Wash body Then cry Cry harder Feel your body Shaking Breaking Washing down drain… No… Stop thinking Feel the water Stand until It grows cold again…

SEEING RED

I woke up seeing red Red fall trees dropping leaves Red lipstick stains on my pillow Red comforter piled on top of me The red blood Leaking from cracks Scratched onto my skin The red liquid on my nightstand The red behind my eyelids As I try to go back to sleep Hoping sleep will…

FADING

Daylight fades As the dark chases Mercy away It’s not night It’s darker Where choice Meets forever And says Goodnight One Last Time

DEADFALL

Deadfall seasons Come like the night Sneaky and silent Waiting quietly with its Blood red oranges And copper smells A soft wet decay With no words to say Rain without cover Cold without a coat Dark without light This is the last place I’ll see until spring Peeks into my soul again

CUT SANDWICHES

The shoes were thin and worn The day was windy and rainy The voices demanded volume And the faces… they were blurry They don’t care. They don’t care. They don’t care. They don’t care. And the tears don’t matter They’ve just made it harder Can’t breathe underwater And the blood doesn’t matter It’s just wet…

THE SINS OF TRAUMA

There are lots of things I hate About trauma Real honest to goodness trauma Like… How it automatically steals Future joy How it cripples effective communication How it makes trenches With one way signs in brains How it dictates patterns Of protection Of avoidance Of self-sabotage Of self- destruction Of hyper-vigilance How it demands boundaries…

UNFOCUSED

The days are too short The minutes too few I wasted so many already On hurt feelings On tears of surrender On disliking myself On anger and frustration On wishes and hopes On sleep… on avoidance On escapism and heartache Precious golden seconds Carelessly spent On too many of the wrong Small things And not…

SPRING MIX

Green leaves sit Vibrate and valuable Huddled together Inside plastic Waiting They did their job They grew big Got picked And packaged And ended up In my fridge Where good intentions For health and happiness Wilt slowly Eight dollars and change Each week Wasted on Not following through