A dilapidated sunflower

Its feathery yellow petals
Droop like a shaggy lion’s mane
The summer rains dash relentlessly
Draining us of joy
And washing life away

goodbye

lips drooping like a pale withering rose petal
lips parting to say our partings
we end up getting used to everything
but i wont get used to this

pre-sleep musings

The truth is, you make my cheeks flush and my
stomach churn with hunger for your pouty
lips. The truth is, at night I go to sleep
with a smile again. The truth is, I roll
unto my side and don’t picture him, I
see you instead. The truth is, you chase him
out of my nightmares, with your firm tanned chest
squared against my fears.

I catch myself replaying your jokes in
my head when it hits me: the blush in my
bluff, our furtive glances, they’re things I’d done
with him. Your warmth too will get too hot, it
too, will burn my heart. A shiver runs down
my spine and though I pull blankets around
me, they fail to seal my heart. False hope
possesses me, its fingers wringing my
neck. The truth is, you could easily snap it,
just like he did.

Him and You

It’s been so l o n g since my heart POUNDed like
a drum. Even longer since my cheeks flushed-
pink. Feels like f o r e v e r since I yearned for
someone’s kissss, since I felt that SPark in my
stomach. It’s been a g e s since lying in
my blanket fortress, I thought about some-
one new on the whim. It’s been so l o n g since
I let someone in my heart. But I don’t want
this… it. was. enough. to. be. b-r-o-k-e-n. once.

Granddaughter

She didn’t cry at his funeral.

Missing

Where are my jars of sunshine?

The dandelion in us

A snow-white bed sheet flaps in the gentle
breeze, with milky tendrils of cloth, beckons
towards the ash sky and the grass and the
trees. Clumps of dandelions surf the wind
lazily, like wisps of cotton candy
against the silvery clouds, coming to
a rest on a blade of gaunt grass. Tipping
precariously, the blade dips its head
in defeat, and the dandelion is
off, again. Damned to an eternity
of travelling alone, of settling, then
being ripped from home, of searching within
for the answer, the dandelion is
tossed into the hungry grey waves, consumed,
it sinks to the bottom of charcoal sea.

Oranges

The sun barges in through the crack in my
curtain, reaching every nook and cranny,
And storming all my safe havens. The world
outside seems to be on fast forward as
lights flicker red to green, car engines growl
to match driver’s scowls, as white hands wring the
wheels to death. Coffee machines purr and eye-
lids peel back, stubbornly like oranges.

Jars of Sunshine

Golden rays of sunshine sit bottled up
In jars, jars of every size and color,
Labelled, wrapped, ribboned and borrowed,
Plonked on a dusty shelf, with nothing but
A splattering of cotton candy cobwebs
And a littering of caramel sand,
Lulled to sleep by tinkling tears of seashells,
The biding jars of sunshine stand.

Static Time

After you left, time ceased to exist.
I guess time only mattered
When I was with you.

After you left, the colors all drained.
I guess blues, greens and purples had no use,
When I only needed the red of your lips.

After you left, sounds drowned in silence.
I guess I was only tuned in
To the frequency of your voice.

After you left, it was so cold.
There was never a day when my hands were warm.
I guess without you
I’m lifeless as stone.