Hold

Hold me until first light
Cover me with covers and delicate
skin. Fluttered eyelids and deep
breaths, encompass me in
your sleep. Ignore the too bright
windows and the un-hung curtains.
Tomorrow’s problem, that was once
yesterday’s. Of course the trash
trucks are here, and the guy who
can’t seem to start his car without
the alarm. Fold me under the blankets
you subconsciously stole, no malice
just a yearning for comfort. Let
me, my darling, let me hold until
the first light.

Imposter

Fraud! Shouts the voice I’ve
always trusted. Subconscious betrayal
made manifest in my morning
routine. You are nothing of what
you claim to be. A shadow, a shade
upon the self portrait you’ve painted.
How can you stand to stand here,
with no rightful or true claim?
Who are you?
To be so ignorant and poorly place,
you’ve taken someone else’s chance
their time, they’re opportunity and
squandered it. We are not who we claim
to be on days like these.

Smoke Break

She draws a cigraette to her lips
like a forlorn love. Breathing their being
in, slowly out, in, slowly out. A long
enough breath that thoughts of cancer are
quelled quickly by a quiet silence. A
silence we all yearn for. The kind of silence
that tells us we are going to make it, that this
world isn’t twice as crushing as it could
be. Calm, shattered by hollering streets
and honking cars, an alarm clock for
my dear smoke break. Back to the life
we have crafted for ourselves, back
to the ceaseless emotional toll we must
pay for survival. Where the sounds of emails
and messages are unending, and the tone of our
coworkers is too grating. Count down the
seconds to my next
smoke break.

Like a Brick

I’ve been dying to know the reasons
why my hand fits so,
perfectly in the small of your back.
Pressed gently, a gentle
reminder that I am here, and will
be for as long as
forever takes.