Who’s to Blame? (I think we can all relate)

You are guilty.
Your pointing finger trembles
with your lower lip.
The louder you blame others
the harder it is to hear the voice in your heart
blaming you.

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Replacement

Dear Aunt Shirley,
I know you didn’t read the letter I sent. Uncle Jerry tattled on you when we all got there a week or so after I sent it. I’m glad you didn’t read it–it was a goodbye letter and I never really wanted to write it anyway. Tracy mentioned that you thought the flowers [...]

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King of Guilt

He begs his cigarettes to kill him
wears his crown on his breath
and no matter how much you love him
its never enough since her death.

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Cold

It was cold when you died.
I walked into the kitchen and mom was sitting on the dryer crying.
I didn’t ask, just turned and left.
The next day we flew to Tennessee.
I’d wanted to go a week earlier, but mom and dad said I’d miss too much school.
I expected you to be there, making everything perfect.
I expected [...]

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Heartbreakers

well-meaning, hardworking failures at love
other people’s hearts in hand,
slipping and tripping
like two drunks on rollerskates
falling and watching
them shatter in our hands.
Hey Carl!
I’ll bandage your bleeding palms
if you’ll pull this shard of Cale’s ticker
from my spleen . . .
Agreed.

Here, let me get the tweezers . . .

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The Memory

It burns and festers underneath–
a layer of boiling between soul and skin
making them hate proximity.
Blamed–Body bears full responsibility for Soul’s mutilation.
I’m sorry, I’m sorry
Mutilated–Soul lies still–but only mostly dead–five years south of here.

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secrets and lies

secrets and lies
we told
with smiles that hid
yes’s that meant no’s
no’s that meant yes’s
blank eyes
creating false impressions
for those we most feared
hurting or being hurt by
secrets and lies
relationships built
on air
nothing more
than a meaningless breath
holding us together
with our lied-to’s
Secrets and lies
not in our compliments
or our “I love you’s”
it was our happiness
we lied and lied and lied
even to ourselves [...]

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I’m Sorry

Speaking in daggers I reap regret with every word.
Genuine feelings, magnified under the microscope [...]

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Punished

Punished for the pride I cast away to lie here
I wonder, two feet from his cold back,
what he is thinking.
The bitterness he bites as it leaves his mouth
holds the answer to my question.
I suppose its not fair to expect his patience all the time.
Quietly I get up to leave.
I suppose its not fair to wish [...]

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Used to

I used to speak between the lines
because that’s where everything important
is hidden from everyone it pertains to.
They all signed with smiles
satisfied with the bold print–
the lies I justified
I don’t remember how.
No one ever noticed
I never signed in ink.
When he came
I presented him [...]

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disappointment

the forbidden curve of her hip
beckons every
unmade mistake-
unwittingly
she collects them
feeling awkward
under their eyes
pretty pink shame
rises to her cheeks
lids fall quickly to cover
her eventual realization-
her weak eyes
that even experience couldn’t open
to the darker truth
beneath their kindness-
intentions written
in fine print
under greedy fingertips.
always disappointed-
she slowly falls asleep alone
aching with embarrassment
at her own naivete-
Always disappointing
she never fulfills
the promises they [...]

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Aunt Shirley

Sometimes it feels like I can talk to you
the way I talk to God.
In my mind,
sending messages
with nothing but intention
for an address.
I miss you and I wish
I’d paid closer attention
when you were teaching me to cook.
I would make your biscuits
when I need your advice
and at least feel comforted.
Some days,
I want to wear your watch,
it will [...]

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