Empty Jar

(untitled)

Flung–
into a corner,
Regret fluttered
in chiffon unable
to figure out
what she did wrong.

In the other room
I banged my head
against the counter
until blood oozed
large droplets from my lips,

the cuts
bubbling from impact.

I dragged myself out
of the room and

into another. Put

on the chiffon
and sat in silence.

With blood
still dripping

I thought,

“It’s wonders
what clarity
does for the
body.”

A Magritte Relationship

At Abraco,
Lookman and I sat
on a bench,
chatting about love
and other maladies.

Our coffee melting
in the
humid
spring
gust.

When a man and his woman
walked by, pushing a
stroller – I assume – with

their baby
in tow.

I thought,
wow, what a beautiful
sight:
to be in love,
to love someone,
to be thought of.

The image caved and lingered.

Later on into the night,
the man returns home
without his woman
or the baby.

Instead he slips into
bed, to his sleeping
wife.

And his mistress
and their love child
never emerge
from his double life.

mahogany marmalade

He was not coming back – she had reached that conclusion months ago. But in the midst of it all, the unyielding possibility that his coarse mahogany boots would dribble against the floor and she would be sitting on the couch – that she had bought before him – waiting for him, she decided it was better to keep the jar of marmalade half-eaten, in case he returned.

A Scenario:

A, who, still in love with B, decides C is the better, ‘now.’ B, no longer in love with A – probably never has been – comes to the conclusion that D, is the better choice. D is not. D is mentally fucked up. D is partially wounded. B and D conclude regretfully. A and C continue on.

You are A.

You are B.

You are C.

You are D.

atrophy

Last night, the cold cornered me and pinned me down; I barely had time to greet hello. I thought it rude but winter does that to you. To your head, to your body, to the parts of us we rarely think about. It makes us undone. I plopped down on the snow, legs giving out, tired of standing up for things I never believed in. I made his lips buzz last night.