the lemon tree

i crouched behind a white
curtain. it danced around me,
tangled me in its hands. the
floor on which i stood snarled at
the sunlight staining its face,
groaning beneath my feet.
but i knew i couldn't fall through.

i peeked through the open window,
watching blades of grass flutter.
among them was a lemon tree,
waving at clouds with new leaves.
it looked around, rustled lullabies
and danced as a man in black came to
trim its branches.

i knew this man.
his footsteps, hard and loud,
smashed the whimpering grass and
shook the trunk of this tree.
he raised his eyes to the budding blossoms
hiding beneath the leaves. his hand reached
and snatched a yellow fruit with violent grip.

i gasped and cursed this man in black as
he plucked the fruit from the tree. it yelped
as its branches sprung up and down and
the man cackled, throwing his head back as the
fruit landed with a thud.
it spattered, spitting caustic tears and searing
the white drapes i'd cloaked myself in.

i shifted and the ruined curtain
fell to shreds around me and
i finally saw the truth.
the floor cried out and i cried out as
my world fell through the cracks.

for you, nobody

this poem is for nobody.

nobody is perfect.

nobody tells me what to do,

and nobody tells me who i am.

nobody is perfect.

nobody makes me lose what i love,

and nobody questions my intentions.

nobody is perfect.

nobody made me laugh,

and nobody made me cry.

this poem is for Nobody,

whoever you are.

skeleton key

i hid the heart of a recluse

beneath a locked cage of ribs

and i stowed the key in the

outside of my left sneaker

but i was always running with my

shoes untied and one day

you found that key lying still in a field of tombstones

its stem glimmering, untouched

you found my footprints

skidding through a blizzard of ashes

thin contrails whipping behind

and then you ran to me

the key groaned in your hand

as you fitted it between my bones

a sharp click and you were alive

and i was alive with you

we were always running with our

shoes tied together and the wind swirling around us

but one day you leaped ahead and dragged me

and you watched me fall

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

you hid the heart of a pirate

beneath a locked cage of ribs

you buried the tarnished key

with the rest of your stolen treasures

i always walk with my shoes tied

but i catch them loosening and

i know they miss the runningwind

like i do

[dad]

I have a brain of tangled rubber bands

that keep getting caught on you

they snag onto your crooked sneer

snap back when you bare your teeth

and I trace the rising welts with weary eyes

they stretch to the darkest corners

bundle up your haunting whispers

and I play them in my head a thousand times

they bind together our broken house

forge a phony link between us

and I mourn your life as you die alone.