From Behind

You're a jagged pill 

tearing apart my insides,

But I swallow you anyway because

I'm addicted to the way your shoulder blades feel

underneath my hands.

You're an iron mountain 

screwing with my compass,

But I climb you anyway because

I love to admire the back of your neck 

when you're not looking.

I'm supposed to fall for someone

who loves all the things about me that confuse you,

But the skin behind your ears

is so soft when I touch it.

I could say I never want to see you again
and you could walk away,

But then I'd be faced with 

the silhouette of you from behind.

So I'll climb that mountain 

and swallow that pill forever 

If it means I can keep running 

my hands down your back 

when you hug me.

Little Darling, Little Darling

Stand on your tiptoes 

Little darling

Crane your neck

Raise your hands over your head

     palms to the sky and

Wail at the moon until all the ash escapes

from your lungs

You are a spectacle-wearer

Little darling

Your world is tinted rose

Open your mouth wide and laugh

     so loud and so terrible and

Stare at the tip of your nose
through the cracks in your glasses

Mark off your calendar

Little darling

The days you find yourself hollow

And revel in the covered weeks

     Press the tip of the marker

Into the day you felt most happy

until it can never be used again

Shake out your rain-boots

Little darling

Go out onto the streets and

Stand in the rain until you feel clean

     Until the gutters are flooded

And you can no longer feel the dirt

from his hands on your body

Little darling, little darling

Flowers grow in your belly

     And every time you cry 

     they dry up

Swallowing bumblebees to pollinate 

Flowers that he has already killed

     is not a sacrifice of love

It's a way to get yourself stung

He is not sunshine

     Little darling

Do not let him kill your flowers

"They constantly told me

that my first love

would be a handsome boy

who'd save me

or a pretty girl

who'd hold me.

So I searched the world

for another,

never knowing that

my first love

should have been

me."

-k.v.

Bandages

I want to crawl into your wounds 

And make a home for myself 

in all that pain

Rearrange the furniture in your veins to make room for my old sofa

And stow my luggage 

in your heart

The tag on my suitcase still has your name on it

From the last time I flew home

I want to rip off your bandages and revel in the beauty 

of all those scars

Shine a light into your mouth 

so they glow

As bright and beautiful 

as the stars

After all, the blinking bulbs of this lonely, glittering city

Have nothing on the sky seen from your bedroom window

Poetry

Take a pencil and slice open your own Stomach

Let someone poke and prod

your Intestines

Until they are satisfied

with the amount of Blood 

covering their hands

And you'll know how it feels to write Poetry

Anchored

She is a ship

A beautiful vessel

Anchored in a dock

Where storms can occur at any moment

"Hope" and "secure" were never synonyms

Until they were cargo sent across an ocean

Without the destination stamped on the crate

At times, she gets seasick 

She doesn't worry, she knows

A boat becalmed just means the wind has stopped blowing

Not that the journey 

is over

The entire purpose of an anchor is to "sink" 

But change that word to "ground" 

And you can keep your soul from floating away

Into the June clouds

She's always had a marine soul

A transporter of people and a carrier of beloved goods

She'll navigate this ocean until the entire boat goes under

Today, she looked out her curtain and could swear she saw a mermaid in the sky

I love you quietly

I love you in a prayer

From inside a hospital chapel

Where I can worship idols

With hands like yours

Surrounded by people

With cemeteries in their minds

I love you in a whisper

From inside a public library

Where I can read novels

With words that remind me of you

Surrounded by people

With better things to do than read

I love you quietly

but with conviction

Because I don't believe in love

But I believe in the way I love you 

An adoration so divine 

I see God

When I look at you 

Because the truth is

I could fill libraries 

Writing about how

I fell in love

With how I love you