a-i

Say eyes,
Were icy in the noon daylight
and covered, thick in trees
Frost had ridden, concealing quite
the scent of dunes and leaves
Say eyes,
That packed so sweet and fresh
smelling closely of caress
How burned into the basin -
Mesh, that fell below our knees
Say eyes,
whose copper bent our joints
Delicate, the furnace
That drank us slowly of our wine
and stole our quiet earnest
Say eyes,
that lay beneath the moisture -
Single, from the sun
wilted in the coldest season
With only roots to run
Say eyes,
our flowers hid by whispers
abandoned all their hopes
and stems that hardened by the gates
that pulled our hair like ropes
Who left alone in these
fast Winters, stood by shadow -
Lay, remain to
nurse the warmth and foster
and break the glass,
I say.

Kid & Little Lady - Against the Night

Against the Night

They fell in love at fifteen.

It had been a fine March on the outskirts of Houston and the land was blooming all around them – in the form of twinges of Spring sneaking up through the weeds and the housing developments that were being bought out by strange creatures from the West Coast. She was one of them.

The mosquitoes were beginning to breed in the swimming pools and parents were rather cautious of their allergic, Californian children whose immune systems could not ward off the native pathogens. They were also very careful because of their children’s ever-changing bodies on the cusp of awkward and delightful. Mothers watched their daughters nervously as some fathers shook their boys’ hands. The thin hair resting beneath their underwear functioned as a well-kept secret, the pendant of an exclusive club. They were leaving behind the days of middle school. Next year they would be freshmen.

They would meet that Autumn, after the sweeping days of Summer, when she learned how to apply eye-liner and mascara, when he learned how to masturbate properly. They waited, collecting their teenage angst and rebellion. Privately, they watched themselves in the mirror, anticipating the sleek, warm kiss of August that would wake them and let them race into the loose leaves of September.

stuff to talk about

Rickey: "Nothing says love better."

People speculate that you can tell how much a person cares about someone by how they watch that person.

Justin would cock his head to the right as he’d watch her sleep, kiss her fingers goodnight.

Marie would stare him down. As if to say, “Yes. I am yours.” She would fly her tiny lashes across the table, distracting him from dinner.

But, sometimes, they would close their eyes and touch each other. Discover the folds of their eyelids, the curve of their cheeks. And watch each other blindly in darkness.

And the smart ones speculate… Nothing says love better.

-

bsAlways
(blue skies ahead, always)

back and such.

by the time i tell you all of this,
you will be forced to listen.
biting your breath against
the heavy-duty, slip-free night.
i will read to you, calmly
and reassuringly - suppressing
every emotion your eyes beg
me to release.
slowly, i will pronounce words
that remind you of your childhood
and your sea-faring father,
who would take you to see Her
at the peak of summer dusk.
the hands he held were little then -
as i remember, thick and fragile -
dirt-covered and easy to lose
if not grasped tightly while
seeping into the waves.
you would watch him tower
against the horizon and wait,
until the constellations stole the sunset
and he would return to you
smelling of a woman - you understood -
your mother could never touch.
you rub your hands together
and feel the skin peel against the grain,
the sound of broken-record breathing
tells me you would do anything to
stop listening.
but i continue
and you remember
shadows against sandboxes,
kitchens full of spoiling pots,
echoes of a car tire bursting
and a tile walkway we stood on
as you brushed aside my hair -
and as i come to a close, I look at
you, align our pupils
and we relive the time
i slipped through your fingers
like sand in the wind

v

you were the little bright lights' silhouettes
against the dorm room wall,
staring down at us while we were
making mistakes -
scrutinizing, when all
you should've done
was keep your eyes closed,
letting your hands lead the way.