Shirt

Once I slept on a girl's sofa
When there was a boy with her in the other room

I had your shirt pressed against my cheek
It was almost like you were there

And in the morning you woke me up
Loud, rude, impatient as usual

And with phones buzzing and kettles singing
It was almost like you were there

Now I feel like I am back on that sofa
And she has another boy with her in the other room

But your shirt is on the floor, not in my arms
Because that boy is you

Don't wake me up in the morning
I don't want to be there

Love

What use is a pat on the back

If it is done with a knife?

Take your hands off him

Because he's the only one that I have ever loved

If you must dispose of me

If the light in my eyes is too bright for you to bear

Please don't find her skin

When you turn the lights out 

At least have the decency to hang me from the trees

For everyone to see

I don't want to imagine words you spoke to her that night

Naked bodies look like porcelain 

Let me die with your blood stained, guilty hands 

Around my neck

You both knew I'd be bleeding inside. 

Inspired by Love by Daughter 

Nemesis

No.
You cannot treat me like this.

You cannot treat me like a child now
When we were slaves to the beat
When your hands fumbled and found me
When my hips swayed and I tumbled into your arms

I was woman enough then.

No.
You cannot do this to me

We cannot be strangers now
Remember your place is sealed with a kiss
Remember you stand your ground because I stand at your side
Remember I can destroy you as easily as I raised you

I am Nemesis.
You do not toy with me.

Q.

Indifference is not a language we know,
You and I
We care too much

Love is a language we no longer trust
Lust is our common tongue

But that smile
That sweet swell off affection
Such a strange, alien rush

It's a beautiful lilt to our little song

You are more forgiving than you know,
My vengeful little beast

You have felt too much, you bruise too easily
You have known pain you never show
You have known hurt that the world will never know

But I cannot unman you.
You have always been a boy to me.

I love the way your head absently rests against my shoulder
I love how quick you are to pick me up, carry me away from my sorrows

I love that you kiss back.

I love sitting next to you in your favourite shirt
I love our clothes strewn across your floor

I love that you kissed back.

I love that you were the first to hold me through the night
I love the way you hold me as if you would never let me go

I cannot carry you in my broken, ugly heart
I do not have the heart to gaol you here
But you are on my lips, my thighs, my hair

I love knowing that for us
This will always be enough

I love not loving you, my love.
Goodnight.

Imminent.

I am afraid of the day that you die
I am afraid a part of me will die too

I am afraid I will forget
All those times you tried to kill me

I am afraid that your death will hurt me more than life ever could.

But I am more afraid that that day
Will slip by unnoticed

And the little girl who loved you
Will be worlds away

And the woman who loathed you
Will hate you even in memory

Is this what we have become?
Why have you wasted your days

Your beautiful, precious, chocolate-eyed days
Destroying me?

Think of me one last time
Try to think of me fondly

And I will try, too
For you.

Here.

Even in this heat I'll put another jacket on

Wrap the blanket a little closer 

So it feels like you are here

I can still smell you on me

And that's enough for me

It feels like you are here 

Pretend my flinches are your heartbeats 

Pretend my sobs are your sighs

Pretend my demons are your whispered goodbyes 

I put another jacket on

Yet it still grows colder 

But there's so much ice in your voice

That even in this blistering cold 

It feels like you are here 

Dark Shadow

Someone once told me
That little girls want to marry their fathers

I found one just like you, you know
When I was a little girl

I never knew when he would snap
I never knew if he was hot or cold

He was just like you.

And when I swirled on ice
(Not that you ever saw)
I was never afraid

I am not afraid of pain, or failure
I have had enough practice as your daughter.

You are my darkest shadow
And my deepest fears
You are screams in the dead of the night

There is too much of you in me
But without you, I am incomplete.

I am tired of men who say
'My God, I love a strong woman'.

I cannot love anyone
Who loves my war wounds
More than me.

They will let anyone
Say anything, do anything
And watch in glee as you grit your teeth

And when finally you snarl and roar
Like a baited bear

They will say

Look
Look how fierce she is
'My God, I love a strong woman'.

Pearls Before Swine

I know you think badly of me
For my ravishing, voluptuous, lascivious nights

I know it is not love, but
I think the fence is beautiful
I think vicious, vapid lust is beautiful

I admire its purity
I admire its integrity
I admire all that is bold and brazen in this world.

And when I float down the stairs
With kisses on my thighs
And knots in my hair

I feel beautiful

Believe me, my friend, I know what it is to be used
I know what it is to be betrayed and abused

Not by them
By you.

My lovers have loved me well
Only if for a night

But my friends
My honest, honourable, patient friends
The ones I would cross oceans for
Do not even walk over puddles for me

If my body be sacred, like
The cathedral on 8th Street
A thousand men may enter me
And I will still have my sanctity

But there are other things that break much more easily

Do not give what is holy to the dogs
Nor cast your pearls before swine
Lest they trample them under their feet
And turn and tear you in pieces.

Cloud High

Will you live your life as a tree for me?

Never changing
Ever changing

What God has put on this earth
Let only an act of God
Or child of God

Tear asunder

And I

I will live my life as the hummingbird

Whimsical, beautiful, ethereal

A heartbeat away from death
A bullet away from the grave

But, my love
Aren't we all the same?

My love,
I do not leave you on the ground

Birds and trees alike
Soar

Cloud high

I do not have your strength
To bear the burden of

Snow fall
Snow melt

God never made me for the earth
He made me for the trees and the sky

He made me to fly

Up to His kingdom

Cloud high