Rescue me soon

Sitting in the cold, wet slush gathering against my thighs
My body shakes with the effort, just to keep from freezing
I won’t move until you notice I am missing
So far it’s taken all my life, but you will rescue me soon

Toast

Never forget that darkened look from the girl
Who sat in the corner.
We held hands and joked,
We ate cake,
Met your friends.
She sat in the corner
With a coffee
And toast
And smiled.
A tragic look that never reached her shoulders
Or her hands.
It’s not my fault,
I didn’t know.
Not my responsibility,
Should be yours.

Don’t look behind
Although you know its there.
The darkness lurking at every turn,
Goblins in enchanted trees,
Dark and red and harsh and cold.

Blood drips.
Nails scrape.
Whispers haunt the halls.
Blinking nothings in the corners
Worming their way into reality.

Each noise judged.
Each voice assessed.
Reality or fiction?
Anxiously biting nails,
Scratching wrists
Makes the blood real.

Fighting, screaming
Turns to sobbing.
Hysterical and sane,
Keep it out and lock it in,
Shut the bad thoughts away.

Disley Street

Remember the summer on the garage roof
Too hot to move
Tar melting on winding streets
Heroic gusts of wind
One, two and the third knocks you down

Remember the nights with us alone
Watching the TV in endless cycles
Watching each other, always learning
As she fights and wins never-ending battles
We claw and scratch to get at what’s inside

Remember when this all started
You picked me up and brought me here
Away from all that before
A fortress where you can protect me
As we crouch beneath damp floorboards

Remember that first winter
When the house started falling apart
I could feel skin come off in my fingers
As the walls peeled from their frames
And we began to decay

Carlton Grove

I forget sometimes:
Legs tangled,
Summer mornings,
With sheets,
With you.

Couplets and roses and kisses and grass
Damp beneath cold morning feet
Mists rising up ‘round your nose and your mouth
Dew on eyelashes and pebbles and petals
Running to dispirit sun showers

Goodbyes and train stations and bootleg perfume
Rain and markets and sandals and scarves and wine
Narcoleptic buses in never ending circles
Movies and music and beds too small
Screaming and crying and laughing at once

Dreams in my head of missing you crazy
An idea that sticks to my mind, to my lips
Pebbles and rainclouds and summer dew fall
Squirrels and pigeons and flies that bite
And parks that lock at dusk