harm
(Originally released by Bottlecap Press, now out of print)
hello
snow like little milk wings
music on a small speaker
the cleanest mind i've ever seen
the strongest twig i've ever seen, haha
you sing on a big stage
when i was ten i played violin
in this friendly bed i talk to ghosts
i wave a flag of dust,
unthinking
24 karats of ash
i'm in love with a blue fish
a blue so deep it could save you
& here we are
sad eyes pointing
mere white air
can you believe this
ah,
fingers watertwirling,
unregulated,
moving like a black shoe
folded (not coddled)
i saw a chocolate bar in
half i swim in pools of liquid
gold and it's ok that we can't
talk because when we are
together we don't riot inside
i feel like you've been here before, in fact you know it
we roll down a hill without trying
our hands dissolve into tiny crystals
poem 1
there is harm between our fingers
& i sewed a sweater out of harm
(harm harm harm harm harm)
i put my eyelids on fire
cold towel; steel wool
small broken house board drifting
eggshell white,
covered in snot,
ORGAN GRINDER ORGAN GRINDER
i want to never die
whats wrong why don't you talk
noggin tips:
(quiet addict)
kiss my specky eyes
i know exactly what i want
this is new territory
can we do it without touching my hair
i'm sorry things got all mangled
palmful of ash
river rocks
when you cry i cry
there's no one down here
too good to be true
sitting
whale-ish
by an
angel
lake
it's so weird to push
i crack a bottle in my
hands
like ice
i wipe my blue
hands
clean
soft like with a
friend
i just wanna say
i feel you
at least a little bit
i've never felt as home as in these socks
white hairs
glove
chop
my carrot
hands
like little stars
i hold your
marble
sight
in them
faded a light pink
lightless room
model
citizen
tied up
in a pink little bow
cook your tiny thoughts & know your
self
there's no one coming for you
(and yet,
this place is not as
cruel as you think)
magic poem / price of progress
handful of death,
scrubbed away,
& we kissed
i am very tired
finger trap
pull the pin out of my mouth
tell me what to do next
i can't talk myself out of this one
we were getting too close
strangers gathered on a small towel
no fences
one million miles of
air
grass
completely free red moon
so soft and sticky when you tear it apart
a thick jacket
keeps my shoulders from the cold
to see yourself as a person
i sew my cuts with an icicle
you compose a little smile
i can move the whole ocean
lightning cannot stop me
not ice but something stronger, less cold
picking bleeding flies out of molasses
its time to change the bandage on your nose
we're creating our new little home together
it's funny how you can live through anything
eyelash soup
tell me even the
smallest
thing
i won't listen
handling raw soap
with gloves on
i squeeze my knuckles
right out of my hands
themed prom
red milk
without caution
am i being the best me that i can be?
dye a hero dye a hero
why can't i do this for you
i've never eaten; i've
only been sucking on rocks,
please forgive me
bad tree poem
bad tree
rough tree
bad tree
i am afraid of everything
despite everything i can't stop trying
your eyes are empty
your hands are cold
rollerblading on a blue
night
i'm sliding
down a mountain
the friendly
sun is shining
again anyway
as if with a pulse
if not then what?
it's all a big dumb mystery
like pushing my thumb into soft clay
waterfalls of fire / waterfalls of ice
i eat green peas with a fork
i feel like it shouldn't be this easy
amberstuck
ketchup fingers
free your tigers
what are you afraid of
what are you afraid of
what are you afraid of
i write my feelings sincere
i feel it is 1997 & the rain is doing its 1997 rain
beige computers
future skeletons
save yourself
you tiny bringer of trees you
terrifying accident of nature
you loved them in spite of
how really strange it all was
i know it's your first time here but the only rule is not to kill anything, not to kill even the smallest part of anything
there's nothing beautiful here
go home
acknowledgments
"hello" originally appeared in Pajama Party Zine.
"i feel like you've been here before, in fact you know it" originally appeared in fog.
"i know it's your first time here but the only rule is not to kill anything, not to kill even the smallest part of anything" originally appeared in Truman State University's The Monitor.
"poem 1" and "what's wrong why don't you talk" originally appeared in Prelude.
"& here we are" originally appeared in Potluck.
"cold towel; steel wool" originally appeared in The Moon Zine.
"themed prom" and "amberstuck" originally appeared in Wu-Wei Fashion Mag.
/poetry/