as we melt

skin

we did not deserve
to look up at the stars
we were never granted
the right to breathe the air
to punish us all
we get old and start to melt
as the goddess of the heart
pulls the skin right off our bones
and as we melt
we start to think
that maybe we just don't belong

wax

a dark room with many things
i can barely make out with my eyes,
but when i get closer to get a good look
they tell me that i'm a lost soul,
and the room lights up
in a flaming red burst
to reveal the hearts that i've hurt.
and the window opens up
breathing white and yellow fog
that binds around my skin
like wax around a wick.
and outside the window
a giant orange circle
like the painting of a dreamscape
in the crystal navy sky
demands my attention like hypnosis
and its silence tells me all i need to know.

time

what will you do
in the time that remains?

a plastic fork

a factory at night,
the freeway's lonely song,
the distant neighbourhood,
an old overgrown lawn,
a weed-ridden alley,
a broken plastic fork.
a mother's soothing voice.
the playground's rusty swing.
everything's so profound,
so long as you sit down,
to get a proper look,
and take the time to think.

step

i've been told to touch the sky,
and i have been given a stool.
they tell me it's been done before,
by those less skilled than i.
so i stand on the step,
and i stretch out my arm,
of course this isn't working,
i finally give up,
and as i turn around,
and step back to the ground,
they all look dissapointed,
as if it were my fault.

the honeybee song

the navy stars shone on you and asked you how it feels
to be a loser in the world full sharks and eels
where tamaracks and honeybees and flies, spiders, and dogs
all dance under the full moon's light and sing that haunting song
that song about rhythm and hearts that do not beat
that song about needles, and icicles and heat
that song that makes no sense
as you peek over your fence
and shyly tell them "it's too late, i really want to sleep."

murder

you woke up again this morning
tears rolling down tear-stained cheeks
for something you don't understand
that bathroom mirror calls you a freak.

do you shake your fist at the stars
when the stars aren't there for you?
the ones you love are way too far
you just wish they loved you, too.

you can play this game again
the game of needles and pills
spirits came to make ammends
for a little boy they've killed

oh, the little boy they killed

and while you're at it go get changed
change your face and your name and your heart
what can you say now, now that we all believe you
that we all believe that you are what you aren't

february 27, 2021