Monsters

Seems a fright
to loathe the monster
and pine for the teeth,
tears in the screen door,
flies hover,
perineum twitch.

Startled by toes
between my cold wet feet,
gutters groan
drowned in promise
while unlocked gates
squeak in a primal wind.

The tension of this long meal,
devouring hours,
It's always warmer
where the cannibals perch.

Not from Around Here

Tyrone had never really traveled anywhere
but he always seemed as if he wasn't from
around here.
His goodbyes
a preamble to distances
that had resolve.
His hellos
could inherent
the earth.

Postcards from Florin

I'll send you postcards
from Florin
across this barren sea,
Paintings of girls
never seen
with borrowed eyes,
I could swim in this brackish water,
but I can't shine.

Surprised

Tyrone knew there were things
that could not be fucked away.
She had taken him by surprise
in the most predictable of ways.
Tyrone woke
with his eyes glued shut
and felt for a pulse.

Hitchhiker

She seemed clean for a hitchhiker. Sometimes the abuse was easy to see, with her you had to look hard. It was there, in the way she paused just before speaking. As if, balancing up high, and a deep breath, in or out, mattered.

Forgiven

Tyrone loved the taste of her mouth
When she'd been drinking.
She hated the taste of their mouths
In the morning.
Tyrone should have beat her
Like her father did.
She would have forgiven him
Like his mother did.

Tigers

Tyrone had tigers
In his tummy,
Gremlins in his head
And icecicles between
His toes.
She knew that being submissive
Allowed her to be petulant.
Tyrone courted these monsters.
Pride was her bump
In the night.