bruised knuckles and broken toys (revised)

we trade making a scene
for quiet today
is the cessation of dreams
the price we must pay?

hold onto these words, less we forget
that a lifetime of almosts
is one of regret

the longer I live
the more that I find
the things I miss most
are the dreams left behind

not callous, not simple, not shallow or clothed
but bared and complex, deep and exposed

not careful, not silent, not restrained or delayed
but reckless and furied, freed and remade

not counting the rings in the circles I’ve walked
but remembering the falls and the chances I’ve stalked

you can promise the peace of a path well traveled and tested
and I’ll show you my scars where the best have been bested

now tell me you’re listening
and I’ll tell you this:
a life that’s worth living
is too easily missed

portal

even though it’s closed
there must be another side
to this door

I’ve never seen it open.
but I know you went through it

I think –
you lean against it
listening
for my voice

even though its closed
there must be another side
to your story.

origami


there are so many ways
for you to unfold

remember that fortune-telling game
at school
calling out numbers
and colors
to determine 
what kind of house you will live in
hut / boathouse / mansion

life would be so much
simpler
if we limited to just 
a few
options.

but anyone who has tried origami
can tell you.
even folding paper
is not simple

hid[den]

the beauty of darkness
is the absence
of shame
and the possibility
of
everything else.

“No, don’t turn on the light. Stand there.”

You are silhouette in my door.

I am a voice in the room.

“Strip.”

You do. Of course you do.

“Turn around.”

I watch you make a slow, almost timid, turn in place. There is just enough light for me to take in your naked curves.

“Good girl.”

“Now come in.”

“And close the door.”

balance

“No, don’t move.”

My words rest precariously upon your skin.

You sway. Teeter.

It is hard to stand with your ankles bound tightly together.

And my fingers curled deep inside you from behind.

And my teeth nipping the edge of your ear.

And my cock pressing rigid and hot against your thigh.

But I expect you to do it anyway.