dishonest
stranger
each response
my hesitancy
toes icy
water
a lie coerced
grabs hold of
teeth & tongue
to avoid its
birth
so
why don't you
ask for a
truth
& he does
in continuous
breath, what is
held sacred,
concealed
answers this
call &
response,
a repeated
verse
grateful to
be found,
if not
recognized
art is simply the
attempt to explain
truth in the context
of a lie
a beautiful form of
self-preservation where
one can create a
replica
completely traceable
but ultimately
deniable
insanity that
assumes,
infuriates yet
consumes
is easily named
men
the impulse to
jump to my death
when standing at
the edge of
great heights
the fear I might,
for no reason,
drive my car off
a bridge on a
dark whim
is still less absurd
than this urge to
fall & shatter
continuously on a
loop for their
amusement
such a simple
difference,
the memory of
lamplight
brushing skin
attaches an
extra layer to
a film of which
I'd already been
spellbound
it's unfair
being a woman
in this
incapable
(no)
unwilling to
separate mind
from body
In lieu of
drinking
[it is after
midnight &
I have
nothing &
(also)
I am waiting
to be certain
that the world
isn't ending]
I made a
decision
at some
point
to just
go ahead
allow the
flood
because
dammit
I'll drown
in anything
& if I can't
tap out
I may as well
go all in.