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She nuzzled into my bare chest upset
That I could do nothing but stand and watch.
She knew me to be strong, which I regret
For I could not feel guilt, not by a notch.
This made me weak within her judging eyes
And I could not hide from the focused glow.
Why try? She could always see through my guise-
In which I once found vast comfort, then slow,
Sudden pain seared, hatred forging through.
I longed to push her hugging arms from me
But I abstained, my stand for her held true.
I then knew from her I would not be free.
To flee the only one who understands what I am
Is what I want, to be nothing but a sham.

Blank Verse

Recognition

As I emerge from bracken walls
My long shadow is comforting
It warms the pale, damp, dying light.

A dark piece leads me down the path,
Tempting me to follow slowly.
Eventually it hides behind,
Racing between dark silhouettes,
Fleeing from the open abyss-
Fleeing superfluous freedom.

I pull my thin coat round my self,
Covering my ashen shoulders.

Something sinister closing in...
Moving effortlessly towards...

Following too quickly behind,
Biting, clamoring at my heels,
It has found me and it wants me.

In the open with no control,
Nowhere to hide, nowhere to go
In this bleak, faintly breathing world,
My shadow finds me. It claims me.

Haiku

Wistful glances flash
Towards the open window
Flying to unknown

Pantoum

She stalks and prowls deep
In the heart of the forest
A vile, seducing power
Leaking out her golden bulbs

In the heart of the forest
She treads lightly, her evil
Leaking out her golden bulbs
Calling our attention

She treads lightly, her evil-
Nothing but gorgeous nature
Calling our attention,
And she's licking her lips in response

Nothing but gorgeous nature
In the throbbing heart of the forest
And she's licking her lips in response
A vile, seducing power

A Valentine’s day to do list:

Number 1: Embody, recreate and reminisce on any love moment together.
For us, an Indian day; Salwar and bellbottoms, cycling to Indian fast food.

Number 2: Go to the movies and bounce from one to the other until bored.
For us, start at two o’clock, then blissful look and hot kiss in dark theater.

Number 3: Share with the bed and with the sheets a bottle of wine or two.
For us, a cheap bottle from Athina, sweet pink garter belt, brandied lips speak.

Number 4 impromptu: Paint with your saturated mind the naked body of your love.
For us, easel and canvas at hand, many echoes of laughter, subtle affection.

Number 5: Finally, a dreamy day encapsulated, two paintings forming one body.
For us, we reach, not far, for soft colored limbs, and proverbial wholeness.

Response to McDaniel

A response to Origins by Jeffrey McDaniel

I'm from biking in the woods and warnings of prowlers
I'm from detached family values and sad limbs of family trees
I'm from mutt blood and hiding behind clothes racks
I'm from forced love and alcohol stained ceilings
I'm from stealing scenes in high school plays
I'm from uniforms and moonlit tag on golf courses
I'm from across the playground as the pretty girls learned about popular boys
I'm from lying to get out of babysitting and nomadic pupils
I'm from unwashed hair in good company and hands in mismatched pairs
I'm from not heeding warnings and empty shells
I'm from don't drive like your father because it's unsafe and don't interrupt like your mother because I can't stand it
I'm from men exploiting my sweetness to get a grab, a taste, a feel, of my nineteen year old sex
I'm from fuck you when my friends are around and why, why, why when I'm alone
I'm from talking behind my back and the spitting of it in my face from drama queens
I'm from nuzzled necks in cold wind
I'm from you're the reason I want to leave this family
I'm from exit plans that involve pills and cars and cliffs
I'm from you're not allowed to be a feminist until you stop letting shitty guys abuse you

If she could she'd watch the world
Through panes of stained glass

He doesn't see himself in reflections
He only sees lies in the looking glass

She finds the world in splinters;
Shards of glass across the linoleum

Attempting to achieve understanding
There are only eyes of glass

Look inside Liane, what do we find?
A chest full of organs made of glass?