Don’t open your chest up
let the butterflies out
burn the velvet gloves and seek to trust
hands held over hands in circles
dancing to the gravy of secure claim
Don’t risk dissolution
by the marble hands of your own family
it never gets easier
a little death upon a little death
pursed words kissing with violence
and just as you know all these things
you hang yourself by the neck
that’s the fool who is a child
keeps returning to empty chairs
all fall down
such is the rope burn
when love turns cruel
when love lets you down
family existing to crush the lotus
how then does the bloom float
something wide and spectacular
with waterlogged roots seeking ground
how then does the moon touch water?
reflecting shapes of wonder against glass
the hurt is
fierce and terrible
the tiger is
open mouthed
the knife digs
deep into sound
stars blitz like warm shower
lights echo in soft purr
you can cut me down with one word
you hold the key, you are my blood
and I love you when you hurt me
more than I should allow
how do we learn
to avoid exposure when
our wrists are bound
by family ties and emptiness
perhaps the pain is reminder
life is a knife, it can butter, it can cut
if we try we can surf
the upside more than down
like migrating streams releasing winter’s cold